Isaac's new dog is named Crosley, her litter was born on opening day of baseball season and were all named after baseball stadiums. My Mom, Isaac and I just returned from a 5 day course in assistance dog training. The company is called CARES, it stands for Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Educations Services, Inc. It is a great program, and we were so impressed with all 19 of the dogs they trained in our graduating class. Our testing and training took place in Concordia, Kansas(an eight hour drive from Cheyenne). The dog has had 9 months of intense training. Most of the dogs spend 3 months in a State Prison where they live with an inmate 24-7. Then the dogs are trained by students from girl and boy academies(troubled teens, or teens with behavioral issues). Then the dogs are trained with Megan and Sarah, who are the amazing women who run Cares. We participated in many activities with the class, attending Pizza Hut, Super Wal-Mart, Applebees, the mall, and the park(where Isaac pointed out a sign reading "NO DOGS ALLOWED") Part of the public access testing was visiting a skilled care facility(old folks home) and the prison. Going to the prison was an experience I'll never forget. There were 5 inmates that talked to us, they said they couldn't change what they'd done in the past, but they wanted to give back and help people. It was really neat to see how the dogs had changed their lives, and how the dogs will benefit the people that take the dogs home. Crosley is trained with hand and voice commands, she is trained to sit, stay, lay down, shake, stand, stop, up, give 5, dance, brace(for handicapped purposes), come, wait, retrieve, heel, about turn, etc. The very best part of all is that a few times a day, we take her outside and say "take a break" and she'll go to the bathroom on the spot. Getting a dog that's already potty trained is wonderful! We are hoping that Crosley will help Isaac with his autism. She will help him with social opportunities and also provide safety for Isaac, as he tends to run out into traffic. Isaac hasn't taken full responsibility for Crosley yet, but he does play with her and feed her doggie treats. She sleeps on the floor at the foot of his bed. Hopefully Isaac will be able to take the dog to school with him. By law the dog is allowed anywhere Isaac goes, and has already been to many restaurants, stores and even 2 hotels. For our test, we had to put the dog in a down, stay position and leave for 3 minutes. She did great and didn't move. Crosley also had to line up with all of the other dogs in the class and couldn't move until I told her to come. The hardest test for her was not moving when they tempted her by putting food 2 inches from her mouth. (We failed this test during practice when she ate a chocolate chip cookie off the ground) They're not allowed to eat people food or pick up anything up off the ground. All of the dogs had to lay down and stay while they were tempted by children, balls, strollers, etc. All of the dogs did really well and passed. She's a big responsibility and it is an adjustment, but I think we are making a smooth transition in dog ownership. Thanks Mom for joining us for the adventure.
