Shirley Comes Home

Today marks the culmination of several years of the kids asking for a dog. For many reasons, we finally acquiesced, with one caveat. The dog we got today is Shirley. Born 7/24/09, she is the property of Guiding Eyes, a program for raising and training canine guides for the visually impared. Shirley is with us on a trial basis; however, if the program agrees that we are a good match for each other, we will have the priviledge of training her for the next 16 months, or so. After that, she is tested; and, if she passes the test, she will go to a sort of puppy college, where she will learn the rigors of being a service dog. If everything works out well, she will graduate and be paired up with an impared partner, a celebration we will be able to witness.

Today, however, she is a puppy. And it is our opportunity and privilege to help her become socialized; and, to the degree that we are able, trained. This was a big surprise to the kids, who thought we were going to visit a friend of mine from school ("Shirley") who didn't have kids and wouldn't make us lunch when we got there...they were happily surprised...