How can you give her up?by Mary Lee Bensman
From the day I decided to raise my second puppy for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), Gamay III, the Number One comment I hear is either, "How can you give her up?" or "I could never give her up." 1. I signed a seven-page contract that basically says: Many of you will get to know Gamay during the next year or so, through her columns and mine, meeting us on the street and at events. Gamay and I want to share our journey with you during this training time. If we do a good job, you'll have to "let her go," too.
This is why I can give her up. For more information on CCI go to cci.org. |
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Drop the Sock and Nobody Gets Hurt (Or, Are You Smarter Than a Puppy?) by Mary Lee Bensman
The first thing she did when I showed her where she would sleep (in my bedroom) was crawl under the bed, night stand and desk and nab stray tissues and dust bunnies. Okay, so I didn't realize just how small she would be. I had spent my time gathering up electric cords, not thinking she could effortlessly slip under just about everything. I had forgotten about under. I mean, really under. Then there's the living room. Sure, I had read all the CCI material about not letting the pups eat shoes. I forgot about socks–those soft, yummy, smelly things that stuff easily into a puppy's mouth and come out soaking wet. She is slowly learning to "drop" a sock on command, but the sock needs to be hung out to dry. Plus, if she becomes the "stuff-picker-upper" that she wants to be, she may very well need to retrieve someone's socks for them. So I need to focus on the "drop" command and not reprimand her for picking them up in the first place. The kitchen floor is off-limits to CCI pups. They are not supposed to lick the floor or eat food off floors. This is training for future good restaurant manners. When she starts going into eating establishments with me, it is not good form for the pup to lick the floor. Too bad for me. I used to rely on my personal dogs to clean up my food messes. Floors can be so yummy. I find myself sweeping more than ever, to remove temptation, and even on my hands and knees to clean up sticky spots with a wet towel. That one's going to be hard. So when people ask me how Gamay is doing, I say, "Great! And I'm doing pretty good, too!" We are both learning!
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Raising a puppy for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) is a big commitment of time, money and emotions. One of the great things about working with a CCI puppy is the support system available.
All of this support makes a huge difference in my experience of being a puppy raiser.The most special thing about CCI puppy sitters is that they know what I am experiencing. They understand the 24/7 commitment, they understand Gamay's ultimate potential and they know and understand what "giving them up" is all about.
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Gamay, Free Will and Me What I want more than anything is for Gamay to "make it" as some kind of assistance dog. On Aug. 22, I turn her in to the Southwest Regional Center for Canine Companions for Independence in Oceanside, Calif. The first thing they do is health and temperament testing. If she passes that, she goes on for 6-9 months of Advanced Training. Passing that, she would have two weeks of "team training," to be paired up with someone with a disability. At any point along the way, she could be "released" for any number of reasons. Like I mentioned in a previous column, I try not to think about that and just send her positive messages. One morning, I was in the kitchen getting her ready to go with me to meet some friends. I held up her yellow cape and she ran the other way! Understand that the "Dress" command means, at the very least, she stands still while I put her cape and gentle leader on. The ultimate goal is that she will move into each of them. Darting away is not one of the techniques on her training DVD! She came back into the kitchen, sheepishly, and I moved to her to herd her toward the door. Quick as a flash she dashed downstairs where she ran around like a crazy dog. One thing trainers have suggested to me for certain behavior is to ignore it, because what she wants is interaction and play. So I turned off the basement light and started to get my coat on. Pretty soon, she came back upstairs and sat like an angel while I put her outfit on. And I'm thinking, "We have less than six months before turn-in and she's running from her cape!" We met up with my friends and the first thing she did was jump up on one of them! A full-body, 60-pound high 10. Then she wiggled and squirmed almost the entire time we visited. I kept having to tell her "Don't" "Down" "Sit" "Quiet". Not a good day. Just the day before, two people in the Post Office came up and pet her and she didn't even wag a hair! Perfect puppy. Things for me to remember: Number 1. I'm not training her to be an assistance dog; I'm puppy raising her to teenage-hood. I'm not a trainer, I'm a puppy raiser. Hopefully I can turn in a well-behaved trainable puppy on Aug. 22, a puppy that the real trainers can mold into an assistance dog. Number 2. I'm not in control here. Her destiny is in God's hands, not mine. I do my part, place her in God's care and then need to let go of the outcome. It is like that in my own life. I believe God has a plan for my life. I can run from it and dart around in my life like a crazy woman. It's called Free Will. I can also choose to surrender my own plans and schemes, hopes, dreams to the Creator. When I do, I have to let go of the outcome. If I try and tell God the best way to run my life, that's not surrender!
I'm going to have good days and bad. Days when I can let go; days when I try to take back control. Days when I'm in sync with the Almighty; days when I'm a lunatic.
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The Community Helps With Training in More Ways Than One Ever since I moved to Buena Vista almost nine years ago, I've been reading letters to the editor expressing thanks to the community for helping people through rough times–medical crises, loss of family members, loss of a home. I understand the heartfelt appreciation all those people have expressed. Every time I see that someone has donated to the Puppy Raising Fund for Gamay, tears well up. It touches a deep place to know that people care about her and her "helping" potential. Someone saw me with Gamay at Walmart and asked, "Is this the community dog?" Yes. Most definitely yes. Not only am I receiving the financial support I need right now for Gamay's training, medical expenses and food, but every time we are out, people are helping her learn to behave. One of the most important traits Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) looks for in an assistance dog is being calm in all social situations. So whether people pet Gamay after asking, or ignoring her (she needs both), she is learning (hopefully) to be calm. Okay, that's the ideal! One puppy sitter commented that Gamay is a wiggly, affectionate little girl. Wiggly is right! It is called an "excitable greeting" and is taboo! Teaching her to behave in distracting environments is something I can't teach her by myself at home. We need you, the community, to either interact with or ignore her, in order for her to learn to behave. When people ask me if they can pet her, I generally say, "Yes, but she has to behave. If she starts to wiggle, lick or jump, take your hand away." Thank you to everyone who helps with this. I know it is really hard not to just love her to death because she is so irresistibly cute! We want pets to respond to our voices or touch. But I constantly remind myself that she is not a pet. The goal is that she learns to get the "good stuff" by sitting calmly, four on the floor. It takes tough love to stand and talk to me while ignoring the precious black four-legged beside me. The "tough" part is for you! I know. It is unnatural for a dog lover to ignore a puppy. All of you who do deserve gold stars! (By the way, she gets plenty of wiggle and play time at home when she is "off duty.") Another hard thing for me is knowing that there is no guarantee that Gamay will "make it." One of CCI's slogans is providing "Exceptional dogs for exceptional people." They take pride in providing well-trained, healthy dogs to people who need them. Puppies can get "released" from the program for any number of reasons: health, behavior, personality issues. But I try not to even think of that possibility. From the moment I got her I have been whispering in her ears, "You've got what it takes to make it!" Even when she is digging, eating dirt, playing keep-away when I've told her "Drop," I still try to feed her positive energy (most of the time.) I try to envision the thrill it will be to hand her leash over one day to someone in a wheelchair. |
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The puppy I have been raising for Canine Companions for Independence since June of 2008, Gamay III, and I leave for California Aug. 17. Her turn-in date is Aug. 22.I write this with a bit of a queasy stomach, having just received her "Turn-in Packet" from CCI. As the day draws nearer, many people have questions I'd like to answer.
Also, it is a huge commitment of time and energy. At the moment, I'm tired of the vigilance required to make sure she doesn't break any of the CCI rules like eating food off the floor, barking, digging, eating toys, eating everything in the yard, etc. You know - all the things Gamay and I have been writing about for about 14 months.
When I saw the "Turn-in Packet" from CCI, my stomach did flips. It details all the paperwork I need to turn in, dates final things are due, plus the schedule of the different events surrounding turn-in. The time has come - quickly.
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Gamay has started advanced training; I flew to California last week with Gamay. In California, she will receive advanced training at the CCI campus. Gamay went into heat the morning of turn-in ceremony. That meant she had to be kenneled right away, and couldn't attend the celebration. What timing, the precious little thing. I felt very out of place taking part without a dog. Everyone was a-buzz getting photos taken and mingling with families and friends. I had my photo taken--with Gamay's stand-in-a stuffed dog. But I was keenly aware that I was missing the little furry friend who has been my shadow for 14 months. In addition to 27 dogs being turned in, 23 were being placed with a person with a disability. There were 50 canines and hundreds of humans at this event. It was huge. The program began with a slide show of the puppy raisers and their charges. Each of us had sent photos in, and they were projected onto the screen with our names. The CCI staff acknowledged all our work throughout the previous 14-16 months and frequently told us that the program wouldn't work without our efforts. After the slide show, each of us was introduced with our puppy (or, in my case, a stuffed dog) and we walked across the stage to the applause of the audience. We stood as a group. It was amazing to be part of such a large family of people who had mixed emotions about surrendering our cute little puppies over to such an important cause. Next was a slide show of the people who were receiving the working dogs. They had gone through an intensive two-weeks of training, learning the commands and being matched with the right dog. It was inspiring to listen to their stories of learning to handle an assistance dog and what it meant to them to graduate. These dogs change lives. Then each of the 23 recipients, children through adults, were introduced along with the dog he or she was getting. In most cases, the puppy raiser presented the graduate with his or her assistance dog. Four of the recipients were servicemen who had lost limbs in Iraq. As they were introduced, they received ovations from the audience in recognition of their sacrifices for our freedom. This is why we can "give them up." And so, now we wait. In six weeks, CCI will e-mail each puppy raiser a report on how his or her puppy is progressing in advanced training. Meanwhile, I have hundreds of photos and memories to treasure. |
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I recently received this letter and photo from Gamay. It is the first personalized contact I have received from Canine Companions for Independence other than the monthly reports. Puppy raisers are not allowed to call to see how their puppy is doing. We rely on the monthly reports. To get a photo is a thrill. It doesn’t mean she has “made it” but she must be doing something right. She’s still in! Gangee’s puppy raisers received a postcard from him (Gamay’s brother). He is still training with Guide Dogs for America. Here’s what he wrote: "Dear Family, How are you all doing? I'm great! I'm learning how to walk with a special black and white harness on. Boy, do I look handsome! Next we will be learning right and left turns. Hope you guys are doing well. Take Care. Wags and kisses, Gangee" Gamay’s friend Kelda has been released for excitable greetings (i.e. jumping on people). She has been posting a blog during her life thus far. If you are interested in reading more about her, here is her blog address: http://keldaskorner.blogspot.com Of course, puppy raisers all hope their puppies grow up to help someone with a disability. But we also know that only a relatively small percentage make it. For those that don’t, the puppy raisers are given the first option of taking them back. If they choose not to, there is a waiting list of people who want CCI released dogs. I am ever more hopeful that Gamay will actually make the cut. But dogs can get released at any time up to graduation. Graduation means actually being placed with a person as a working dog. The next graduation is scheduled for Feb. 20. At this writing, that is about seven weeks away. Two weeks prior to graduation, the people who have applied for a working dog go to the Oceanside campus to be matched with a dog and to learn commands and how to take care of them. So for now, I wait with bated breath and hopeful expectation. |
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Waiting to hear:Will Gamay enter team training? I am geared toward production. Many of the jobs in my life have been production-type jobs. I was a seamstress for a few years, sewing as many backpacks or jackets or wallet organizers as I could. The faster I sewed, the more money I made, since we were paid per piece. I was a silver/gold smith for years, mass producing as many wax patterns for casting as I could; buffing like mad; cutting hundreds of turquoise stones the same size to fit the cast jewelry pattern. I worked at Kinko's Copy Center for eight years, and became a key-op who could keep three production copy machines running while helping a customer on the phone. Even my job at The Chaffee County Times fits into that mode. Every week, we put out a paper. Every week, I deliver the paper as fast as I can. Even when I tell myself that I don't have to hurry, I hurry. It seems I'm more geared toward an end product or result than I am to enjoying the journey. This torments me. Even with the basics of living my life, I inwardly know that the journey is what is important, not the end result. In fact, the end result for me, as a person of faith, is "in the cards." I know where I came from and where I am going. The part in between–my human life–is what is currently important. And so, as I continue to wait to find out if the puppy I raised for Canine Companions for Independence, Gamay III, will "make it" I am faced with the uncomfortable position of having to simply wait. As I write this, I am waiting for a phone call from CCI telling me if she will enter team training next month. Team Training is the two-week period before graduation (Feb. 20) where people with disabilities who have applied for a CCI dog go to the campus in Oceanside, Calif. to be matched with one of the dogs that matriculated Aug. 22 with Gamay and have been in Professional Training for five months now. The first puppy I raised for CCI 12 years ago, Doc IV, only lasted 3 weeks in Professional Training and so there wasn't much waiting involved! Gamay has been in five months now. Her last training report which I received the Jan. 8 said, "Gamay is in good health. Gamay will most likely be rotating through the next Team Training in February." I have been repeating those words over in my brain for weeks. Graduation is less than a month away and she is still in! Even with a few "black marks." She still barks in the kennel for attention, still is a bit possessive of her toys with other dogs and plays a little bit too rough. However, as a "mom" I tell myself those black marks are when she's off leash. Her progress as a "working dog" looks good. Her trainer, Becca, wrote, "In general in public she is very focused and easy to manage. At times she will show some sensitivity to novel noises in the environment and will show mild anxiety. She generally recovers quickly from this. Gamay has become much easier to motivate, and becomes overexcited at times when I first begin working with her. Her interactions with people are otherwise very appropriate." Even if Gamay enters Team Training, I won't know if she is actually placed with someone until a few days before graduation. This makes it a bit hard to plan a trip, although I discovered that Southwest Airlines has reusable tickets and I can cancel anytime before the plane leaves, basically, and reuse 100 percent of the ticket money on another flight at another time. And so, I have made plans to go to Oceanside on Feb. 18. But like I said, I won't know if I will actually make the trip until the day or so before. When I think of my tendency to produce, I look at this CCI program. Gamay is only one of hundreds of puppies who have been nearly two years in the process of becoming some type of assistance dog for one person with a disability. Many of the dogs have already been released for one reason or another. CCI's slogan is raising "exceptional dogs for exceptional people." The cream of the crop makes it. I hope with all my heart that Gamay turns out to be one of those dogs. But in the meantime, all I can do is hurry up and wait. |
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Gamay started team training on Monday, Feb.8. This is when CCI brings together the people who need a dog and matches them up with one. This takes place over a two-week period culminating in graduation on Feb. 20 in Oceanside, Calif. According to the puppy coordinator, most of the time there are more dogs than participants in team training. They do this in order to make sure there are enough dogs to work with the different personalities and abilities of the students that are in class. By the time this issue of The Chaffee County Times is published, Feb. 11, I will be anxiously anticipating a call from CCI to hear if Gamay has been pre-matched with someone. If she is, she will spend the weekend with that person. If all goes well over the weekend, that is a hopeful sign. CCI will then let me know early that second week, possibly Feb. 16, if she has been matched with someone. Once CCI knows a dog has been placed, puppy raisers who want to attend the graduation meet at the Dean, Gerda and Trixie Koontz Center in Oceanside on Feb. 20 at 9:30 a.m. CCI will provide a continental breakfast for the puppy raisers and the graduates. If Gamay in one of those placed, you bet I'll be at that breakfast! After breakfast, the puppy raisers get to spend about 20 minutes with the CCI dogs that they raised before taking him/her to the Mission San Luis Rey across the street at 11:30 a.m. for a short rehearsal and for the trainers to make any equipment changes. Again, if Gamay is part of this, she will stay with me during the ceremony until the time comes for me to present her to her new partner. Here's the disclaimer that keeps suspense in this whole process: "It is important at this point in Team Training that all puppy raisers understand that things could change at any moment. There have been times that we have had to switch a dog at the last minute before Graduation because he/she showed a behavior that we could not allow." Dogs that are not matched will be evaluated following graduation to see what the future will hold for them. It is quite a process, isn't it? |
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Gamay was not matched with anybody during team training. It is a situation not unlike "musical chairs." Ten applicants began the team training with 13 dogs to be placed. One applicant dropped out, leaving four dogs destined to not be matched at this time. Stu, the puppy coordinator who called me, repeatedly assured me that Gamay did not do anything wrong. She was just not the perfect match for anyone at this team training. So, what happens now? She will continue training until the next graduation that is scheduled for May 15. There is also a chance she might find a "side placement" before then. A side placement would be with someone whose current CCI dog is ready to retire. Someone in this position would not need to attend team training, since they already know how to handle an assistance dog. Kelda's puppy raiser, sent me an e-mail after I told her that Gamay was not matched. She, with her husband, have raised eight puppies for CCI over the years. Four of them have graduated. "Gamay's staying a third term is good! They'll fine-tune her training and take her to demos and generally spoil her rotten. And next time they'll have a perfect match for her because they'll be looking for the perfect person (unlike this time, where she was one of many being considered). So you'll be doubly delighted when she graduates and gets her job." I will be repeating these words in my mind over the next three months as I continue to wait. I am ever more confident that Gamay will eventually be placed with someone with a disability. I believe there is the perfect match out there for her. Stu said that the dogs that have rotated through one team training (like Gamay and the other three) become the priority to place during the next few months or the next team training. In fact, since this "more dogs than people" concept is in place during each team training, then I am assuming that this time, there were a few dogs from the previous team training that got this priority treatment. Meanwhile, I am learning another lesson from this precious dog: life unfolds over time. I am so impatient with life, sometimes. I want to know how things will turn out before they do so that I can relax! I am constantly challenged to live one day at a time. Not just in this situation of waiting to learn Gamay's future, but in my own day-to-day life. The concept of "journey" is so hard for me to grasp. It is very had for me to stay in the moment. What I have come to realize with Gamay is that this is the road a CCI puppy travels in order to graduate. It is a matter of going through one phase of training at a time, one day at a time, until one day down the road the dog is placed with someone and changes their life forever. And oh, by the way, a lot of lives get changed along the way! |
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Gamay was matched to help people with autism By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Oceanside, Calif. for Gamay's graduation with Canine Companions for Independence. Gamay entered her second Team Training a week and a half ago and this time was matched! She was matched with a woman named Kate Andersen who is the founder of Autism Journeys which treats people of all ages who have autism. It was founded in March of 2007 and has been rapidly growing in Lehi, Utah. Gamay will be placed as a CCI Facility Dog. I received the call from CCI that Gamay had been pre-matched on Thursday of the first week of the two-week Team Training. The first thing I did was see if there was a Web site for Autism Journeys. Here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.autismjourneys.net/ I started to wonder just what types of things Gamay might do as a Facility Dog. I looked through CCI's Web site and found a 37-page manual with different suggestions for using a Facility Dog. I will hopefully have more specifics after meeting Kate, but in general, Facility Dogs can be used to help with rehabilitation (helping with exercises, motivation, balance, etc.), help to reduce the stress of difficult or painful situations, help with different types of learning-all in a fun, loving way. Gamay is destined to be loved on for a living! It has been nearly two years since I first brought this tiny 8-week-old black Lab home. For 14 months I (with the help of many people in this community) taught her basic obedience and socialized her to a variety of experiences. Nine months ago, I turned her back in to the Oceanside CCI campus where she has been in Professional Training, building on the basic puppy commands and learning new skills with the intent of becoming an assistance dog of some type. I am now on my way to the next phase of this journey: meeting the graduate (Kate) and handing Gamay's leash over to her. And the whole process begins again. |
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Hard work pays off as CCI dogs graduate I'm having trouble thinking of what to say about the Canine Companions for Independence graduation day in which Gamay III was officially placed with Kate Andersen, founder of Autism Journeys near Salt Lake City. It was an incredible day and I am still trying to process the ramifications of what has recently transpired. The day began with the puppy raisers (PRs) of the graduating dogs meeting at the XXXX (full name) Trixie Koonz Campus at the CCI Southwest Regional Center in Oceanside, Calif. This is where Gamay spent nine months in Professional Training. Most of the PRs had some type of gift for the person receiving their dog-gift bags, flowers. I had put together a scrap book of all the columns Gamay and I wrote during our time together, along with photos. It was fun to meet other PRs, to hear some of their stories of previous puppies they had raised, to share what how we handled not knowing for sure if our pups would "make it" until the last minute. I met Gamay's trainer, Becca, who said Gamay was a sweetie, did everything she was told, but had spunk. "I liked that," she said. Then we were given a brief orientation by the CCI staff of how the day would unfold. But that was wrapped in repeated expressions of thanks for all the PRs did to get to that day. I can't tell you how often the PRs were honored, appreciated and respected. "Soak in this day," the puppy coordinator told us. "You have worked hard for this day and you deserve to just enjoy this day." We were told that the graduates who were receiving the puppies we had raised had been given all of our contact information. It was then up to them if they wanted to share their contact information with us. Once our pup has graduated, there is no guarantee that we will stay in touch with the graduates. That is their option, and we have no further claims on the dog. Thankfully, Kate is enthusiastically willing and eager to stay in touch. My situation is a little different in that Kate does not need an assistance dog for herself. She received one for her clients, people with autism who come to her treatment center. She has a Web site (autismjourneys.net) and is a public figure. To me, this is a huge difference from someone who struggles just to get through their private daily life and can benefit from a dog that can retrieve items, turn lights on and off, open and close doors and drawers. After the orientation, the PRs were escorted into a dining hall where the graduates were seated (no dogs yet). We were each taken to meet the person who was getting the dog we raised. Both Kate and I were eager to meet each other and immediately launched into conversation like we were old friends. I gave Kate the scrap book. She had a card for me. There was a framed photo of Kate and Gamay on the table for each of us. I wanted to hear about Team Training and how she and Gamay were matched, she enjoyed hearing puppy-raising stories and telling me how Gamay would use her assistance dog skills at her facility. Kate is enthusiastic about Gamay helping her with her autistic clients. She spent the two weeks of Team Training learning the 50 commands Gamay knows and shared different ideas she had for Gamay, like tug to help people with balance or to get up. She wants to make a Velcro vest that holds symbols of things so a client can pick the symbol of what she/he wants off the vest, if they can't verbalize it. After all the PRs visited with their graduates for about 30-40 minutes, the CCI staff played a DVD they had put together. Each of the graduates talked about what the dog meant to them. Then there were photos of the PRs and their pups. After the slide show, there was "open mic" and many of the graduates talked more about how they love their dog and how the dog will change their lives. I love hearing stories of what these canines do for their humans. I took the opportunity to explain that the single-most comment PRs hear is "How can you give them up?" This graduation day, these stories, these few people who got assistance dogs--this is why we can give them up. Next time, I will write about the time I spent with Gamay and the graduation ceremony.
About Kate:
Graduating dogs get last-minute attention from their puppy raisers before we handed the leashes over to the graduating recipients. Pictured here with me (left) and Gamay is Linda Dreyfuss (not shown is Shana Dreyfuss) of San Diego and Malibu II. Malibu and Gamay had the same trainer in Professional Traiing. Photo by Stacey Webb/Scout Photography |
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Before the graduation ceremony, the puppy raisers spent 30 minutes with their pups. Gamay gave me a body-wag and then I told her to "sit" and "shake." We shook on a job well done! We had been asked not to get our puppies excited so all the puppy raisers sat around the room calmly petting the puppies they had raised who had become Canine Companion Assistance Dogs. I sat on the floor with Gamay. At one point I released her from that position, but she just stayed there and let me get my fur fix! One man walked by with his dog and commented, "They sure polished them, didn't they?" Indeed. Stacey Webb/Scout Photography
Partway through the ceremony, I got a dog hair in my eye. I couldn't get it out, so Gamay and I (who were in the front row) trekked to the bathroom where I rinsed my eye out. No success. Something on the hair must have caused an allergic reaction, because it got worse. So there I was with Gamay, my face wet from washing my eyes out, holding a wet paper towel to my eyes. Yes, it looked very much like I was emotionally distraught and couldn't handle the day's events. I returned to my seat but the hair was still in my eye so I went back to the bathroom only to find Gamay's trainer and the puppy raising coordinator in the bathroom. I walked in, eyes red, wet and swollen and said, "Really-it's a dog hair!" Yeh, right. Back at my seat, I closed my eyes and prayed. I had waited a long time for this moment and didn't want someone else to have to lead me to the stage because my eyes had swollen shut! My prayers were answered and shortly thereafter, my eyes cleared completely. After about 30 puppies were turned in for Professional Training, each human graduate's name was called at which time the puppy raiser(s) did one more "Let's go" with the canine graduate - the pup they had spent 14-18 months raising -- and handed the leash over to their new partner. When Kate's name was called, I stood up, told Gamay "let's go" and met Kate in the middle of the stage where I handed the leash to Kate. We gave each other a big hug, I kissed Gamay on the head and returned to my seat. This moment was what I had worked toward for 14 months, and continued to pray for during her nine months in professional training. It was the sole reason for getting up in the middle of the night to take Gamay outside to potty on leash (as per the manual) when she first came to live with me. It was the reason I traveled to Denver for CCI training classes. It was why I did 100 things with Gamay that I would never have done with my own pet. It was why I was such a stickler with those of you who wanted desperately to pet Gamay, to make her keep "four on the floor." It worked! And I couldn't be happier!
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Gamay starts her job as K-9 Therapist at Autism Journeys
"CCI Team & Mary Lee- Gamee has a blog on the Autism Journeys Web site. For more photos and to keep up with Gamee's life, go to http://www.autismjourneys-aj.blogspot.com/ and look for Ms. Gamee's Gab. Also, if you haven't yet, check out her initial introduction of herself on June 6 of that same page.
Gamee on swing with Kate's son.
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