September Report Is In

Good news and bad news today.

Good news is that Ansel is still in training. He seems to be doing well, is willing to learn and is trainable. His trainer will start working on his commands using a wheel chair next month. He exhibits some of the same behaviors that he did with us, like pulling on the leash and whining, but apparently not so much as to warrant release.

Bad news is that he was not chosen to be a breeder and will be neutered. He obviously was not paying attention when I explained how his life COULD be! Oh well, not like that comes as a surprise.

Overall, we're happy that he's doing OK and still in the program....for now.

Looking Forward to Wednesday

Well, the Human-Animal Bond Conference is over and now it is time to look forward to Wednesday...when we will receive Ansel's next progress report (assuming he is not released between now and then!) His trainer will send us a standardized form with her ratings and comments. The one question we are most interested in seeing the answer to is the one that asks, "Do you want to see more of this dog?"--meaning: "Do you think this dog should go into the breeding program?" Although this rating in and of itself won't determine Ansel's future as a potential stud, it is the first hoop that he has to clear to move onward.

So stay tuned!

Ansel and his studly self...

Human-Animal Bond Conference

Natural Disasters... What about the Animals?

FREE AND WEBCAST

Sept 24, 2011
8:30am - 4:00 pm

This conference will take place in Manhattan KS and via a live webcast. Go to this page to view the livestream: http://ome.ksu.edu/webcast/human-animal-bond/

* Who Should Participate? *
Animal Owners
University Students/Faculty/Staff
Cooperative Extension Professionals
Public Safety Personnel (Police, Fire Fighters, Health Care Providers, etc.)
Staff of Pet-related Organizations

Sponsored by Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, K-State Research and Extension, and the Family Caregiving and Companion Animals Communities of Practice, members of the eXtension National Initiative.

Please contact me if you would like more information or if I can answer any questions for you. Please share broadly!

No New Report, But...

I just had to share this video with all of you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OEsMdy7324

This is KSDS Service Dog, Elf, showing off his mean skills! And our friend, Lisa Rickards behind the camera! She is quite the photographer/videographer. This photo of Ansel that she took during our swim date with Hosta and Spark made it into the official CCI newsletter this month--a surprise for us when we opened it up and there was our little man staring at us! (Page 9, all you CCI subscribers out there).



















Every day is a good day with no "release" phone call from CCI. Next report (if we make it that far) is September 28.