Good for him that he gets to advance early.  Most likely sad for you as you have to give him up early.  When will your next pup arrive for his Meredith house training?

I want to take a little time off and am going to sit a pup for a week in April.  Then I think I may start a puppy for another raiser. After that --  we will see where we go from there. I may take a year and be a puppy starter and sitter.

Sigmund and other pups on program from the Prince William and other surrounding DC regions attended a "Pups and Popcorn" event at the Washington Hilton last night. This was a reception for folks attending a corporate conference. We mingle with them and get to share about puppy raising and GEB and we get a small contribution in return. Our pups get exposed to a lot of people, noise and distractions and this is one event where folks are allowed to pet and I try to teach Sig the difference between "Say Hello" and interacting with folks and not giving that command. People were very interested in what we were doing and loved all the pups. There were a lot of folks and noise so it was a good place to encorage calm energy and practice simple commands in a distracting environment. All the pups were great!! No barking, no issues, all good dogs! As always, Hilton was a joy to work with -- had a separate "rest area" for pups with water bowls (we could take them for a break if we thought they were getting too overwhelmed) and a little goodie bag for each dog with treats and water. What a class hotel it is.

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Sigmund is celebrating Mardi Gras as the King of the Meredith household and wants everyone to "laissez le bon temps rouler", And eat a doughnut for Sig since he can't have anything fried!!!

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Another last for me and Sig -- last time Sig will accompany me to our polling place (Virginia has off year statewide elections so he was with me when I voted in 2019). Sigmund would like to encourage all those in Super Tuesday states to exercise the franchise!

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Well, the big boy is in the van heading north to New York. He was pretty excited to go -- new sounds, new smells, look at all these dogs to keep me company, new experiences, finally rid of winter wheat and old people!!!! 

GEB made the decision, because of health concerns for its graduates and staff, to close the IFT to the public. They also decided that any raiser taking their dog had to just drop the dogs in the parking lot and a staff member would take them into the kennels etc. So we decided not to drive 14 hours RT just to drop him in a parking lot and instead drove 2 hours RT to put Sig on the van. GEB has advised that they are going to live stream the IFT for the raisers, so I am grateful for this thoughtfulness and will kind of get to be with Sig on Tuesday, even by internet. He is a great puppy -- smart, hardworking, big and powerful, lots of zest for life. I hope he decides to guide, but if not, whomever he ends up with will be a lucky person!!!

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Great work you did raising a dog that can possibly assist someone in need

Truly a fantastic journey. May he continue to be happy and share his talents to enrich others lives.

 Thank you for sharing your story Kristin.  I found it most interesting and informative as well seeing people that care about others as much as you is touching.

Well, the big boy did well at his IFT and is now in harness training. He looked good and happy and calm to me when I watched the IFT on the internet. Now to see if he likes training and will eventually guide. The future looks bright Siggy!!!

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ROCK ON, SIGMUND!!!

Not that anyone may care, but I realized I have not updated folks on Sigmund. Three days after his IFT, GEB closed their NY campuses because of the virus.  I had already committed to taking Knight and did not know if I could handle a 10 pound baby pup and a non-neutered, 85 pound teenage boy (I specifically asked if they would allow him to be neutered and was told no).  So Sig went to a foster home in Ohio.  The first of June, Knight left for Tn.  I also found out that they were going to allow Sig to be neutered, so I asked for him back.  For reasons which still have never been explained to me, he was not allowed back (even though his fosters did say he was so big and strong that they were having issues with him). 

So, I will cut the sob story short.  In mid-July, I was told he was neutered and on August 8 he returned to the Yorktown Heights campus to begin harness training.  I am eagerly awaiting his first report.  I know they spend the first 10 days just getting to know their initial trainer and doing some simple exercises. But I think he should now be in the first stage of training and I hope for a report in about 3 weeks.  He may not make it through all 4 stages, only time will tell -- but I sure hope so because he is a good boy!

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He is handsome as xxxx and we hope he excels. Thanks for sharing your sob story, I on the other hand am known to tell blubber stories, especially when it comes to babies and dogs.

So just received the first training report and I am relieved to find he has not started drinking and smoking and running with a bad crowd at college!  Instead he seems to be doing fairly well:

Trainer's Comments:

 Sigmund is progressing nicely so far in the early stages of training. He is a bright dog that learns quickly and has a high food drive. Sigmund is very enthusiastic about targeting and working in general. He can often times get frustrated easily and will resort to vocalizing at his trainer while working or while in the crate. This behavior has improved and he is no longer vocalizing while working or barking while in the crate. We have started working in the harness and he is doing a great job of leading out in harness with a consistent pull. Sigmund is a higher energy dog that performs everything with much enthusiasm but benefits from calm handling. In most situations he is able to channel his energy into the work. He is currently running in community run with about 20 other dogs and he loves playing with the dogs but often checks in with instructor. Sigmund has one roommate, a female black lab named Roma. It has been a lot of fun to work, play and relax with Sigmund, he is very smart and so loving! I can’t wait to see how he progresses throughout training!


So, on to Phase 2 Sig and hope things go well!!!!

Just received Sig's second report. He seems to be doing well at guide college. He has successfully guided/worked with his handler being in a blindfold and mastered escalators. They say he is an eager worker with a natural drive and seems to be slowly building confidence and getting better at his tasks. He will now move on to training in bigger cities, including NYC, and will also start working on traffic and train/subway platforms.  So proud of how well he is doing!!!!