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Pupdate! Bliss' Pups are 18 Weeks Old
Bliss’ pups are teenagers! Jasper, now Danner, is doing great as a service dog candidate with Joys of Living Service Dogs in Oregon. He spends 2 weeks in a prison learning skills and body conditioning, with some of the best, most skilled trainers I have ever had the pleasure of observing! Then 2 weeks each month he stays with a socializer who takes him out and about to practice in the real world. Here are some current pictures of him.
In bigger news, I decided to donate my “keeper” pup, Sierra, a black tri girl to the same organization. We’re waiting on her flight which should happen soon. I’ll drop some videos in the comments. She’s bold and at the same time soft & social. She’s gonna ROCK service dog work. I can’t wait to see what she does.
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13 Replies
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All the other pups are doing great: Sedona, now Skye, is living in Ohio with the breeder who sold me my sweet Joy girl a dozen years ago; very cool full circle. Paris, now Sienna, flew to California to help a woman begin her service dog breeding program. Kauai, now Leilani Kauai, is working as a therapy dog with a high school psychologist right here in Oklahoma. And sweet Tulum, now Fern, is in a loving pet home with the potential for therapy dog work in a church in Indiana.
Raising these pups is the culumination of a life-long dream and I couldn’t be prouder!
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I hope that you’ll get to continue to follow their incredible journeys. They are so beautiful.
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Thank you! Yes, in about 2 years I’ll absolutely be heading to OR for the graduation if they make it.
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What an incredible update. I’m so happy for you, @catherine . All that hard work you did has really paid off. You have so much of which to be proud. ????
And, my goodness, the pups are gorge!-
Thanks! They really are! ????
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OH! I just got these from Joy at JLAD – Here’s Danner last week in the prison. They do a TON of this kind of work, teaching the dogs to know where their feet are, how to balance, how to navigate tricky things while maintaining attention. All of it builds trust and confidence. I had to laugh because I have that exact teeter and he LOVED it with his sibs! Each puppy in training has 2 handlers – a primary and a secondary. The program allows for mentoring and team building. What a difference JLAD has made at this prison over the past couple of decades!
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Just fabulous! Makes me really miss the work I used to do at prisons in VA!
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Right!? Me too – it wasn’t a service dog program but we were able to help a few needy shelter dogs in the prison program I helped with. I LOVED working with those guys. They did everything exactly as I asked and were some amazing, grateful humans. It was really special. What was the focus of yours, @virginiad ?
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We took in dogs from area shelters, trained them, and then placed them in pet homes. Occasionally, a few special dogs were adopted by therapists at the prisons to become a therapeutic part of their work with inmates.
Over the course of 8 years, I worked at 5 different prisons and 1 jail. By far my favorite location was the maximum security women’s prison.
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OH! That’s so amazing, @virginiad what an incredible experience. You changed so many lives for the better, for sure. Such redemption.
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Oh wow! Talk about specialty adolescent pups, @catherine ! I am proud of you and all of them. It’s been amazing seeing this lovely bunch of babies grow and blossom into fine young dogs. To have so many of them in one litter!!! Yowzers!!!
Yay for Bliss! What an amazing momma!
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Thank you @bernerlabreclectus – I learned a lot, for sure. I’m so grateful to have found Bliss (and papa Tripp). These are some amazing pups to be sure.
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