First, the explanation......... A few days before a class of new guide dogs and their handlers graduate, the families that raised those dogs are invited to the school to see their clumsy little balls of puppy fur actually walk their new owners around in a very grownup and professional manner. Then the puppy raisers get to meet that new person and spend some quality time with their former (and forever) loved one.
Today was that day for us and Joey. It was amazing to see Joey walk the route with his new forever person, Bob. Then we got to meet Bob. I had pictured this meeting in my head dozens of times. Every time, he would get about 20 feet away from us before Joey would explode into an excited black blur, half dragging Bob the rest of the way to us. In actuality, Bob walked all the way to us with Joey totally ignoring us. We introduced ourselves, taking time to properly greet Bob before asking that long awaited question, "May we pet your dog?" I guess we took too much time, because Bob, who apparently was just as excited as we were, asked us if we wanted to pet Joey. Cindy and the boys all got down to greet Joey, who until that second, was still properly ignoring us. He suddenly turned back into a big puppy again. He was so excited to see us. After we all got a chance to calm down a little, we got to know Bob a little bit.
front and center
I am going to take a little trip back in time here, to our very first puppy raiser group meeting before ever getting Joey. One of the heavily experienced raisers and long time volunteer at Southeastern, was telling us about puppy raiser day. He told us that on that day, our dog would show us that he really wasn't our dog any longer. He was absolutly right. It was very clear to us that Joey was with Bob now. As happy as he was to see us, Joey kept physical contact with Bob's leg the entire time and instantly reacted to his voice. The way the trainers match up the students and dogs is wonderful. Some would say there is a science to it, but others would say it is an art. Those trainers are true artists of matching. Bob and Joey are, of course, the perfect match. We always knew that Joey would would be totally devoted to whoever he was matched with, but it was still amazing to see. We moved inside to the dining room to have a wonderful brunch and get to know each other more. Bob gave us a thank you card from the entire class. Last week was Joey's birthday and I had dropped off a cake for the students and trainers, and Frosty Paws doggy ice cream for the dogs. They all enjoyed their little party and everyone in the class signed the card. I was deeply touched by their gesture. We presented Bob with a bunch of Joey's old toys and a photo album of Joey's life prior to being matched; from a picture of the litter the day he was born, to the harness picture taken after he went in for training. There was also a DVD with a slide show of Joey set to music, and a CD with all our photos of Joey along with a diary of all his adventures, including a few that never made it onto this blog.
Far too quickly, we got the warning that our time together was coming to an end. After saying goodbye and assuring each other we that we would get back in touch after the mandatory 90 day no-contact period, I got down for a little man-to-man with Joey. I told him that there was only one thing I had asked of him when he went in for training, "Make us proud." He had done that. Now, there was one last thing for him to do------
Keep him safe.
