amazing friendships

While at CCI I was lucky enough to meet Kim.

We had a lot of fun going through team training together and we've been keeping in touch.

I truly believe that Kim is someone that I was meant to meet and have in my life.

Coincidently, Keaton's kennel mate at CCI was Caitlin (Kim's service dog).

~We both found forever friends~

Public Access Testing

During public access testing the trainers drop food on the floor in front of the dogs.

The dogs are not suppose to eat the food. You can see in this photo both Keaton (on the right) and Harley are concentrating at NOT looking at the food.

It's a dog's life

Keaton

keaton's first new toy

Every time I have gotten a CCI dog, I have always bought

them a new toy. I chose a kong for Rex and Ezra got a new dog bone so

I needed to think of something original for Keaton.

I finally settled on this cigar!!

Dog Tags

While at the kennels in CCI, the dogs are given tags to alert staff of any health or behavioral issues a dog may be having. We had to borrow some of the tags because Jeremy wasn't feeling well.

Kevin

Kim gave each graduate a bag filled with goodies - a scarf, a tennis ball, and dog treats. Maybe Kevin didn't realize the scarf was for Harley.

Kevin had a great sense of humor and lots of funny stories to share. My favorite was about a college prank that involved loading up a cow onto his van lift and getting it into his car. Needless, to say the prank didn't go as planned. Kevin got bite in the back of the neck by the cow and a angry farmer gave chase!!!

Crystal Spring

The long ride home

The van was absolutely packed on our way home, but we made the best of it

Jeremy bought Darin these sunglasses (they are like the pair at our wedding)

fire smile

Another of Darin's pictures

Cleveland Rocks!!

Lake Michigan

Jeremy and I on the pier

captain amazing strikes again

its true......

pre emergency room visit

Jeremy and Darin had this great idea to try out some moves at the skate park.

You don't want to know how this move ended. . . .

Gift for Instructors

Kim (our class speaker) presented the North Central Training

Staff with a plate with the CCI logo on it and the signatures

of everyone from our class.

Marty, Sharon, and Keaton

Marty Malatt (Keaton's puppyraiser) presenting me with

Keaton during the graduation ceremony.

true story . . .

Jeremy and I watching the graduation video.

Graduation Day

Gwen and Kim at graduation.

Keaton cookie

One of the puppy raisers made cookies for each graduate

with their dog's name on the cookie.

Graduation

I am sorry for how long it has taken me to get this site updated. It has been a busy week since we arrived home. Ezra and Keaton have both had a lot of adjustments to make, but they are getting along well. In fact, a few days ago I had to split them up because they were playing a little too rowdy in the house. Keaton seems to like his life in Minnesota. We are practicing daily and still getting to know each other. Although Ezra seems to like Keaton, it is very confusing and hard for him to see me leave the house with Keaton. Because of this, he has recently become a little escape artist. He darts out the door right before it closes and tries to follow us. This is hard to see, but I am sure that it will get better with time. Ezra is also keeping Keaton in check, retrieving items off the floor needs to be done quickly because Ezra is always ready to swoop in if Keaton shows the slightest hesitation.

Graduation day went well. We loaded up all of our things so we could leave right from the ceremony. The car was absolutely packed. Keaton probably was the most comfortable traveling in his kennel and having plenty of room. It took us a little longer than we expected to fit everything into the car, so we were a little late. When we arrived, I handed Keaton to one of the CCI instructors and sat down in a room to wait to meet his puppy raiser. Keaton would get to spend a half hour with her before she would come and eat brunch with Darin, Jeremy, Crystal and I. I felt nervous and anxious.

Keaton's puppy raiser is a woman named Marty Marlatt. She is from Columbus, Ohio and Keaton is the 12th service dog she has raised. She gave me a really detailed scrapbook filled with pictures of Keaton as a puppy. She even included pictures of Keaton's parents in California and some of his siblings, who are also CCI dogs. It was fun to look at and I was excited to see that Keaton was raised in a home filled with animals! His bestfriend was a cat and there were two other dogs in the house! This was encouraging to see because I was concerned how Keaton would get along with Ezra and Icarus. I also learned that Keaton likes to swim and is quite the water dog! Marty also brought Keaton one of his favorite toys - a frog stuffed animal. It was nice to meet Marty and know more about Keaton's life before he became mine.

The graduation ceremony went well. The highlight of the ceremony was Kim's speech as well as the photo slide show which featured some of Darin's photography. Before heading home, we made a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Keaton was a rock star!! He was very well behaved.

Stay tuned for other adventures in service dogs!!

Thursday

It was Jeremy and Crystal's first day here and it was a pretty laid back day as far as team training goes. We didn't even go to the CCI training center! Class started at 11:30 at the Tuttle Mall. Each graduate team had a schedule follow that was broken up into 30 minute time increments. We ate at the food court and Cheri (a former CCI trainer) ate with us. It was a lot of fun. As a part of our test the instructors came by and dropped food in front of the dogs while we were eating to make sure they didn't snag food off the floor. Then I had to take a solo exam through the mall, I had a list of tasks to complete with Keaton. Crystal critiqued us as we completed the tasks. Next I had some free time to do a little shopping. Lastly, I took my public access test with Keaton. We did really well. The only part Keaton had trouble with was picking a credit card up from the floor. He started playing with it a little, but there was also a lot of people watching and a photographer so that may have had something to do with it. Last night we went out to eat with David and Kim and then just hung out at the hotel.

Today I have my third and final exam which will be a practical at the training center in front of the instructors. If my test goes well, I will then sign papers and Keaton will officially be mine!!

Tomorrow morning we will check out of the hotel early and go to the graduation ceremony. Unfortunately I won't be able to post any photos from the graduation on here until I am back in Minnesota. So, check next week for grad pics. I hope you have enjoyed my blog!!!

Sharon

public relations

While at the mall we had several chances to show off our public relations skills. This little girl ran up to Caitlin and gave her a big hug. Part of our testing includes being good representatives for CCI and educating others about the use of service dogs.

Doggles

Keaton looking fly . . .

photo of a photo

During my public access test, this photographer wanted me to pose with Keaton while he was retrieving an item. Darin shot this from the 2nd floor of the mall. No pressure - just taking an exam and having a photo shoot!!!!

guess who's back?/?

Cheri Mouser-Turner surprised me by meeting me a the mall for lunch!

sisters

What a little trude!!

aaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnn.....

EVERYONE gets a little tired towards the end of team training.

freestyle

At the mall, waiting to do our public access test.

Tuesday and Wednesday

I am sorry that I was not able to update the post yesterday. Our internet connection was down at the hotel due to some construction going on down the street. Yesterday we started out at the center with class and then we all met at the mall for lunch. After lunch we went through a practice test as a group to get ready for our public access test which we will be doing tomorrow. Keaton was well behaved and did a nice job at the mall. I am feeling confident about taking the test tomorrow. After the mall, we went to Petsmart and did some shopping. The CCI instructors were there to help us make safe choices and purchase toys that were CCI approved. I bought Keaton a new toy that he can play retrieve with, a new collar and an ID tag. I also bought a lint brush because all of my clothes are covered in black hair. We were at the pet store for a long time and I was tempted to buy Keaton a lot more toys, but I think he will have plenty since he and Ezra have a toy box full at home to share. So far, Keaton seems to like different kinds of toys than Ezra. As most of you know, Ezra really loves bones and Keaton hasn't touched his yet (we got one from CCI). Keaton seems to be more interested in interactive toys especially anything he can retrieve. After class we hung out with Kim and David. Kim gave me a practice run through of her graduation speech - it was great! We also went out to eat at Max and Erma's and enjoyed sitting outside on the patio there. I am getting a little bit of cabin fever from sitting in our hotel room.

Today we started class by meeting at the zoo. It was a fun and relaxing morning. We had one bad incident at the zoo. I was sitting with Kim and our dogs and an oranguatang was walking by the display glass and he spotted the dogs and stood up and banged his fists into the glass! It happened so fast, it scared both me and Kim and of course the dogs. Keaton actually started barking and we had to leave the area because the monkey continued to taunt Keaton and Caitlin. I was a little disappointed that I didn't react quicker to Keaton barker, but I was so surprised and it took me a while to figure out what dog was even barking. Keaton was quite scared after that incident and didn't want to turn his back to the display when we were trying to leave. Gwen had to help me get him back under control.

After the zoo, we met back at CCI and had a lecture on public relations. We also recieved some goodies from CCI including a tote bag, brochures, an educational video about CCI, a t-shirt, and some other items. We also received a really cool gift today from some puppy raisers. They made little beds out of quilt material for each dog in our class and each bed has the dog's name and graduation date embroidered onto the material. It is blue and yellow and really nice. I am excited to take some photos of Keaton on his new bed!

The CCI instructors actually gave us our written test tonight and I just completed mine. Tomorrow I will have the public access test and then on Friday morning I will have my practical exam at the CCI center. It is hard to believe that team training is almost over. I am so excited to bring Keaton home with me and introduce him to Ezra and Icarus. It will be nice to have a few weeks before school starts to get him on a schedule and help him get transitioned into our home.

Jeremy and Crystal will be arriving tonight!!!

We're not Monkeys!

Kim, David, Tony, and Sharon

ZOO REFLECTIONS

Keaton and I watching the penguins swimming

Cookie Monster

During lunch today Darin snuck a cookie to Jordan when her mom was out of the room - as you can see she REALLY enjoyed it!

Rainbow Connection

Tony

being a good leader

im doing the right thing

kim diane & kim

Kim and Diane reflections in the manatee tank

hilarious

this reaction was probably not the result of one of dave's jokes.......

are we idiots? do you still like us?

Bug Eyes!

itsy bitsy world

starring david robb

dewey

Team Dewey . . .

Today was Jacob's brother Tony's last day of class. We had a fun time at the zoo joking around. Tony and Jacob were a really fun set of brothers. It was apparent by watching them to see that they had a good relationship and really cared about each other. At the same time, they were often wrestling around and just hanging out. They were a lot of fun. Today at the zoo, J really cracked me up. We were looking at the gorillas and he hollered out "They are butt naked" and then insisted that someone take a picture of their butts! It was so funny!!

guess we were wrong .......

we always thought that you were too cool to carry a purse .....

KEATON!

By now everyone should have gotten their cards (or at least I hope you have). If not, I cannot wait any longer to announce that my new service dog is Keaton. I am very happy with my placement. Keaton has been very responsive and he is a fun dog with a lot of personality. He is the smallest service dog I have ever had - weighing in at 53.5! However, he makes up for his small size with his high energy. Keaton loves playing with tennis balls and so far his favorite command seems to be lap.

Week Two

Monday Monday

Darin and I tried to start the week right by bringing donuts in the morning! We had a lecture this morning on advanced learning theory and then we had a fun and challenging practice session. The CCI instructors set up stations throughout CCI (both outside and inside) and we moved around through the different stations. Some of the stations were simple activities like retrieving items and others were trickier like teaching your dog a new behavior. I was surprised to learn that Keaton actually speaks on command!!! He is my first CCI dog to do this command.

Following our delicious lunch of Roxie Tacos, we went on a field trip to a store called TARGET. This was very interesting to me because as you all know I am not familiar with that particular store. As a class we took turns playing follow the leader through the store practicing different commands.

After class, we all got together at our hotel and made arrangements for our graduation. Kim will be representing our class and speaking at our graduation. We all contributed ideas for the speech. I think it will be great!!

Lars phoning for help

Target Field Trip

official target greeter

During our Target field trip, this young lady volunteered to assist with our training by greeting each of our dogs with a handshake.

case closed ....

a lot of the students and staff at cci have been noticing a lot of missing snacks and deserts since "tony fast fingers" showed up. we finally busted him today swiping a half eaten cookie off jordans plate when she wasn't looking..........

Weird coincidence

Caitlin looking adorable

I went out to eat on Sunday morning with Ezra's puppyraiser Beth Schroeder. While we were at the restaurant, the waitress approached me and asked me if my dog's name was Caitlin. I thought this was very bizarre since there was a dog named Caitlin in our class and she was a dog I worked with several times the first two days of class.

Keaton loves playing with tennis balls!

Catching some air!

Random

kevin & harley

whats up katie?/?

Kim and Caitlin

showdown

keaton and whitey

keaton