I wanted to puppy raise in order to give someone the love, joy, and freedom that Bonni had given to Tom. We had just started discussing the possibility of my puppy raising since I was no longer part of Bonni's training and I was feeling left out. We decided to wait until after the first of the year. Then Tom got a call from Bonni's first trainer. She knew of a Lab who needed a home right away. It had a great personality and willingness to do things. The trainer knew she'd be a great Therapy dog, or perhaps she might be a candidate for a Service Dog. When we went to see her, the people had her packed and ready to go.
Sandy had some issues at first; she had never been on a leash. The people had just let her run the neighborhood. She lived in a cage where she couldn't stand, or even sit up. She did have use of one room in the house, the kitchen. Which was a very bad thing as the three children in the family sat at the breakfast bar for their meals, and taught her to jump up there for food.
I started classes with her a couple of weeks after getting her. She loved the car ride, but when we got to class she was too interested in everyone and everything else to pay attention. She did start to get the idea though that we were there to work, and started to show interest. I had learned by this time that if she wasn't excited by what we were doing she would just tune me out.
I have to be honest now though, I had her for only three months when Tom died, and I lost interest. I still worked some with her, but it wasn't in my heart to give her up. Then a new person started working at my company. They had a severely disabled grandchild and we would talk about service dogs and what they can do for people. Slowly I remembered the joy I'd had watching Tom with Bonni, and the gift she was to his soul and his life. I promised myself that somehow Sandy would get trained and she would be a service dog. Someone deserved that love and friendship. So I started back to classes. It wasn't easy. Sandy was stubborn and there were things I just couldn't teach her. In September 2001 she went to Rhonda. That had to be one of the hardest things I'd ever done. Even though I was going home with another puppy, I cried all the way home.
Now it's ten months later and it is wonderful to see Sandy. She has matured so much. She is doing things I couldn't get her to do. She loves to please, and her whole body shows it when she gets praise for completing a task correctly. She is going out in public, and you can see her taking in everything around her. She will give someone the joy of life, because she simply lives life. She won't let someone miss anything, because she won't miss it. I still miss her, but I love her, and know in my heart it is all worth it.
Home Sandy's Last Night Passing the Leash