Remember the start

As I still adjust to having a year old CCI trainee I've been reflecting on one thing. What I thought before I started puppy raising. Yes, that's right I've remembering what I thought it would be like to raise a puppy. I thought that I would be able to help someone, have fun, learn a lot, get to watch a puppy grow from the time he was eight weeks old until the time he was a year and a half old. All of those things are definitely things that have been fulfilled. I wasn't sure how it would feel to raise a puppy. I mean like sentimentally. Would walking my puppy out in public give me a warm fuzzy, excited feeling or make me nervous? Would the puppy I raised always make me feel great when I saw him? Well, sometimes I get frustrated with Dembre and sometimes I mess up. I do get these happy feeling when I get to take Dembre with me places, though. I am really looking forward to raising again!

here is my little Dembre. I didn't think about it much at the time, but he was SO cute!

Here's the Dembre boy two weeks ago. How's that for a handsome dog?

On Saturday I had a puppy class in Worthington and I realized while walking around with friends and their CCI puppies-in-training that I'll never find a better group of animal lovers. They all care about dogs and dog training, but they all want  to help others overcome their disabilities. It's not only a focus on dogs, but it's a focus on what their dogs can do, and I love that about CCI! I love Dembre very, very  much, but I know that somehow I'll fit in just as much with my next puppy. I try to think of myself as a puppy raiser, not as Dembre's raiser. I don't want to picture myself with Dembre at my side. I want to picture myself with a dog at my side. Each dog is unique and a puppy raiser never forgets a dog that they raised, but somehow it gives me peace just to know that I can be happy with a black dog or a yellow dog, a male dog or a female dog, I'm just there to help. That is where I start to realize that no matter how hard parting with you puppy is that you can put the same love and effort into another dog!