I asked for permission to share this weeks ago, and now I am SO EXCITED…
I am a puppy-raiser. I am a puppy-raiser for Ortona, the most amazing Service-Puppy-to-be ever! He is mostly Black Lab, with a touch of Bernese Mountain Dog, which totally mellows him out, he is so incredibly chill. He comes to work with me everyday and my job is to reinforce good puppy behaviour and also socialize him, so there really is no limit to the number of cool things we can do (helicopters and bobcats this week). Also, incredibly cute dog - hello?
As part of raising him, we are going to be sharing all of his adventures online, so please come check us out.
Very cute. Is this your first? How long do you get to keep him?
We’ve raised four guide dog puppies. The last one became a breeder and we got to keep her. It is a great thing to do.
Do you get to take him everywhere?
I get to take him everywhere with one exception - I am not taking him to Ottawa next week because I have never been on this exercise or in these buildings, so I wasn’t sure about how dog-friendly everything would be. I am glad I decided that, very old range so not sure what is living in the ground!
I have him for 18-24 months. It’s our first and he is AWESOME.
I remember when my service puppy arrived. 8 week old lab/golden mix tho she looked pure Lab, and certainly shed like one. I went to the airport and inside the crate was a confused little puppy and an orange.
She was my pooch for 18 months. Had a long list of things to teach her during that time. Then she went back for formal training and, ta da!, graduation.
So much fun ahead for the two of you. I know you’ll do a great job.
He was sleeping on the floor near the Tim Horton’s, extra skin pooling around him (he has to grow into his 'Dog" suit). I knew then he was going to be a mellow dude…
Yes indeed, we were all over the news yesterday (and today, apparently?). Poor Ortona, so tired after all that attention, he fell asleep in his water bowl and had to have a soggy head for part of the day.
Very handsome guy, indeed. I must confess I don’t see any Bernese there at all, looks like a pure lab, but you said just “a touch”. Bernese are exceptionally intelligent dogs so hopefully he got that part of the genetic inheritance. So are labs. You’re doing great work there, and you’re obviously having a lot of fun, too!
I’m following your Facebook page and I see he graduated from Sexual Assault training? What is a dog’s role in sexual assault responding/preventing/healing?
He was actually more of a class mascot…but it’s good to bring some attention to this course. The training is excellent - everyone is taught how to best support someone that is disclosing a sexual assault. He definitely helped with the decompression though, many people took time out to have some puppy therapy
