I returned Paxton to Guiding Eyes for the Blind on April 6th, so he could settle in before his IFT (In For Training) test on April 8th. For those of you who wondered "how can you do it?" - I cried so hard I thought I would have to pull the car over, I cried off and on most of the rest of the day, while reading books about Guide Dogs, and watching a movie about a Guide Dog (all courtesy of the Staff House at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, where I was able to stay for the weekend). For the very first time, a small part of me thought "maybe he'll fail his test and I can just take him home"!

On Monday morning, I walked to the Breeding and Whelping Kennel to volunteer for the day. I helped to clean the kennels, feed the puppies, and take down and clean the crates and exercise pens from the Home Socializers who were returning puppies from their home visits. While I was there, my next (potential) puppy was with her brother in an x-pen in the main room, their first foray out of the whelping kennel. So in between each task I got to play with, pet and hold the German Shepherd Dog puppies! Next to them in another exercise pen was a litter of cute little fluff balls, some call them Golden Retrievers! All of this puppy exposure really helped to begin mending my heart. In case you don't know it, puppy breath has wonderful healing properties!

By Monday night I was able to go out to dinner with some other raisers without crying in my soup! Since the test on Tuesday was not until 11:00, I went back to the kennels in the morning to help them with morning chores and get a little more puppy breath to tide me over. Nessie and Nanook had gone off for their first home socialization visit on Monday night, but there are always puppies at the whelping kennel.

I agonized while driving back to the training school. Should I see Paxton after his test? Would it confuse him? Would it make the parting easier or more difficult? I finally decided that if they offered it to us, it couldn't be too bad for the dogs. Paxton was in the first group to be tested and he seemed distracted by the dog next to him (who I found out later was his new "kennel buddy") but he passed! Afterwards he was brought in and was happy to see me, but was also excited to visit with the other dogs in the room. He was brought back to the kennels and later I went to see him one more time. He was again happy to see me, but kept running back to pounce on his buddies. It's hard to explain, but always before when I'd left him, he was ready to go home when I returned. Now he was ready to stay. It made me feel so much better! And I'm really happy that he passed and is doing what he was born to do!

On my return home, I gave a ride to a retired guide dog, a black and tan Lab named Kahlua. His partner was unable to keep him after retirement, so he was returning to his raiser. We arrived at the Thruway exit where I was to meet Ami. I took Kahlua out on a long line to play fetch for a while after the long ride. Ami arrived and got out of her car. All she said was "hey, you" and Kahlua took off like a shot! Even after years of loving and helping someone else, the dogs remember their raisers - the full circle in one roller-coaster weekend!

Almost 3 weeks later, I returned to GEB with my friend Celeste to watch the puppy tests of Nessie and Nanook. We volunteered at the kennel, attended graduation for 3 of our Monroe Region dogs and came home with our new puppies on Saturday! Get ready for another year or so of puppy stories!

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