Tashi's Web Photo and Storybook

August 7 -- The pictures above are of me chewing on my goughnut toys that Stan got for me. I couldn't decide which picture I liked best so I put them all up. After Stan went to the graduate workshop last month and learned from the canine dentist that was a guest speaker what the risks were for me to chew on things like Nylabones and such he decided to take those away from me. Then on the graduates group online, he started to hear about other dogs that had broken teeth and he knew he made the right choice. Some of the graduates were talking about these things called "goughnuts" so Stan checked into them and discovered that not only are they recommended by Guide Dogs for the Blind for their puppy raisers, but they also have a lifetime gaurantee so that if I ever chew it enough to get a hole started or a deep enough chunk out of it Stan just sends it back and they will give me new one. I really like my goughnuts toys even better than the Nylabone and the sterilized bone I used to have. They come in two colors, green for average chewers like me, or black for "power chewers". Both colors have the same lifetime gaurantee. If there isn't a store where you live that has them, you can buy them online.

We also have some other exciting news. One of the puppy raisers from the Puget Sound CCI Chapter where I grew up has a puppy that is rotating through Team Training at the NW Region. We just found out last night that her puppy has made a pre-match as a Service Dog so she may have found her forever person to live with and help. Then this morning, we found out that Elon is going to rotate through Team Training starting on Monday. Of course the nice lady we met at Elon's going off to Advanced Training party, Gwen, has been invited to August's Team Training. You can see a picture of Elon from his party I went to on my January 2009 page. Stan says we are going to go to the graduation in two weeks.

August 24 -- Well Stan and I are back from the graduation. All of the dogs that I mentioned rotating through team training graduated. We got to see Brenda from the CCI Chapter where I grew up. Her puppy, Chesney, graduated as a service dog with one of three former US Marines that had sustained injuries in Iraq. When each of the Marines were introduced at the graduation the entire room (including me) of a few hundred people stood and cheered for several minutes each time in honor and support of these men. Two of the Marines were in wheelchairs now. The third one, Calvin, that Brenda's Chesney graduated with is able to walk, but it is an obvious struggle for him to do so. Getting to see Gwen graduate was exciting, too. Her new partner is Leif. I'm sure I'll have some pictures of us together eventually since we live so close by now.

While at the graduation, some people told Stan how much they like reading my stories up here on this website. I think I've become more popular with this than I expected. One person suggested that Stan set up RSS on my site so people can subscribe to it and know when it gets updated. Since it's gotten more popular than Stan or I expected Stan says he is going to set that up hopefully soon. Stan also got another comment on the demonstration we did at the golf tournament last month. For someone to comment about it a month later means we must have done a good job. We also found out that the dog on the left that is pictured on the "CCI Salutes Independence" T-Shirt is Elon.

Lastly in news from the graduation. Gwen and Leif, Zia, Buddy and Ellie, and Stan and I went back to CCI after graduation. We had a late lunch and kind of hung out for a while. While we were there, Stan and a puppy raiser for one of the dogs in Gwen's class were talking. The puppy raiser (Stan can't remember his name) told Stan that one of the puppies he raised graduated as a hearing dog. The man told Stan he and the graduate exchange e-mails and notes from time to time, but that he had received a note a couple of years ago from this graduate that was very special to him. Stan wasn't sure what to say and just smiled and told the man that he tries to keep in touch with my puppy raisers. As Stan was talking, the man took out a slightly worn, but treasured peice of paper from his wallet. As he carefully unfolded the now slightly tattered but prized peice of paper he told Stan he wanted him to read this note. The man didn't offer or mention the note to anyone else in the room. Stan said he felt priviledged. As Stan began to glance over the note the man said he was going to have to make himself a copy to carry around because the original which Stan was now holding was beginning to show signs of being carried around in his wallet for the past two years. The man told Stan that since he had a hearing dog he would understand how special this message was. With that the man turned aside to re-join the conversation he had been having and let Stan read. As Stan glanced over the note he saw that it was a printout of an e-mail message sent almost two years to the day prior. He noted the graduate dog name referenced in the note, Dakota. As Stan read the few facts contained in the very brief story of the message, he did understand. He understood more deeply how we graduate dogs become so closely tied to our partners and their families that we are able to do things that we have never been formally trained to do. He understood how all the love and hours invested by the puppy raisers can yeild the most wonderful and unexpected results years later. He understood a much more significant meaning behind the word "Companions" in "Canine Companions for Independence". He understood how I or any dog that has been through CCI's program could come to do such an exceptional job. He understood how just a simple story from a graduate about what us dogs do for our partners day in and day out can touch the life of a puppy raiser in a similar way that we enrich the lives of our partners. As Stan carefully folded the paper back to it's original configuration ready for the man to put back into his wallet and handed the page back to him, Stan said that was a special story and it showed what it really could mean for a graduate to have one of us CCI dogs spend our lives with them. I'm not sure I have permission to share the story, so I'm not going to give the details. After Stan gave the paper back to the man, he reached down and gave me good ear scratch, pat and a kiss on the nose.