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1. Summer Solstice Litter Turns 2 –
Growing up Guide Pup
Puppiesfromlefttoright:Pixie,Edison,Paddington,Carmin,Trudy,Tango,Ollie,Scarlett,and
Hampton
Pixie turnstwothismonth.Howdidthat happen?!Itseemslike itwasjustyesterdaythatwe were
doingthe flightof the bumblebee toclearoutone of ourbedroomsandprepit for a soonto arrive
litterof puppies.Nowhere we are twoyearslater.
Pixie sure hasgrowna lotthislast yearand I’msure all her siblingshave too.All nineof the puppies
fromthe litterare nowintheirpermanentplacementsandwe couldn’tbe more proudof how they
have turnedout.We were toldbythe womenwhobredthe litterthatshe has had multiple service
dogscome fromher line of poodlessoIguessthatwe shouldn’tbe surprisedthatsevenof the nine
had whatit tookfor service dogwork.
So where iseveryone now?Scarlett(Ms.Red) wasreleasedfromtrainingthispastwinterbecause of
car sicknessandsome fearissuesandwasadoptedbya lovingfamily.Tango( Mr. Green) was
matchedwitha personwithMultiple sclerosis(MS).Gurtrude,akaTrudy(Ms,Purple) wasreleased
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: mobilitydog,
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For more details,please visitus at: http://www.growingupguidepup.org/
as a puppyand adoptedbya lovingfamily.Unfortunatelyshe neverreallyhada chance to trainand
it isunknownwhatherfull potential reallycouldhave been.Hampton(Mr.Blue) wasplacedwitha

2. handlerandappearsto be doingwell,butwe’ve notbeeninformedaboutwhattypesof taskshe is
trainedtodo. Carmin(Ms. Orange) was matchedwitha veteranthrougha organizationcalled4
Paws4 Patriots.Oliver,akaOllie,( Mr.Pink) wasmatchedwitha teenwhousesa wheelchair.
Paddington.AkaPaddy,(Mr.Yellow) wasthe lastof the littertobe matched.He wasmatched
by Brigadoon Service Dogs andwenttoa veteran.Lastbut notleastthere isEdison( Mr. Gray) who
has beenmatchedwithateenagerwithPOTS(Postural orthostatictachycardiasyndrome) anddoing
fantastic.
Thiswas a verysuccessful litterandwhata wide varietyof disabilitiestheyare helpingtoassist.As
babypuppiestheywere anabsolute joytoraise,butalsokeptuson our toes.I will neverforget
whenthe puppieswere about6weeksoldandwe put everyone tobedforthe night.Iwas inbed
readyto driftoff to sleepandheardthe quietestwhine.Iwentdownstairsandsaw Edisonsitting
outside the puppypen.Thatwasthe firsttime he figuredouthow toclimbout of theirenclosure.
The nextweekIwas wokenupto overhalf the puppieshavinganadventure outside the enclosure.It
tookme almosttwohoursto cleanup the messtheyleftbehindandfigure outhow tocontainthem.
Theyendeduphavingmultipleescapes.Letme tell younine puppiescanmake a BIG mess. But
otherthan thembeingcuriouspuppies whowantedtoexploretheirenvironment,theywere avery
quiet,calm,andeasylittertohave around.
Most people don’tknowthis,butMatt and I actuallydiscussedadifferenttype of operational
program forGrowingUp Guide Pup.We were ona ferryinWashingtonState withPennywhile ona
short vacationandwe talkedaboutproducingpuppiesandgivingthemtosmallerservice dog
organizationswhoneedhelp.Ourideal organizationtogive puppiestowouldbe anorganization
that couldn’taffordtobreed theirownpuppiesorwasn’tina positiontohave a biggroup of
puppies/dogsthatwere all the same age.
Some organizationsare sosmall thattheycan not accommodate a large litter.Theymightnothave
enoughraisersavailableatthe same time,orthey may not have the meansto trainthe dogs as they
getolderwhentheyare readyfor formal training.Sometimesorganizationsneedtospreadoutthe
age of theirdogsto be able tomaintainthe differentneedsof theirdogpopulationproperly.Inthis
case an organizationmayonlybe able tohandle afew dogsthe same age or stage at a time.
Andthenthere isthe costof breedingandraisingalitterof puppies,itisn’tacheapendeavor.There
are the costs of medical screeningof the parents.Itisimportanttomake sure there are noobvious
possible inheritedmedical issuesthatcouldbe passeddowntothe puppies.There are studfeesif
youdon’thave the studor an arrangementwiththe ownerof the stud.There are supplycoststo set
up a safe environment forthe momand puppiesforthe differentstagesof developmentduringthe
firsteightweeksof life.There are feedingcosts.Pixie’smomwaseatinguptotwelve cupsof dog
fooda day whenshe wasnursing,andshe still wasn’table toproduce enoughmilktofeedher
puppiesandwe hadto purchase formulatosupplementthem.Weaningthe puppies,followedby
feedingthemfromfive weekstoeighttotenweeksof age addsup. Thenthere isthe veterinary
costs.Prenatal care forthe dam,whichusuallyincludesx-raysandultrasounds.Vaccinationsand
checkup for the puppieswere neededaswell.Thisall addsupto a huge cost that manysmall
organizationsjustcan’taffordintotheirannual budget,andthese organizationsoftenrelyon
donatedpuppiesfromprivate breeders.

3. So howdoesthisall tie togetherwithPixie’s2ndBirthday?Well afterseeingthatherlitterwasso
successful,we are consideringusingPixietogetthisprogramstarted.Pixie isnow officiallyold
enoughtostart the healthpre screeningprocesstosee if she hasgoodenoughhealthtraitstopass
downto anothergeneration.Thiswouldincludetestinggenesforpossibleconditionscommonfor
herbreedto make sure she is nota carrier.Hipsand elbowsx-rayedandscoredfordysplasia
clearance.Heartultrasoundedbyacardiologisttocheckfor anyheart issuesthatcan be passed
down.Andan ophthalmologistforanyunderlyingeye issues.
If Pixie passesall herpre screeningtestshave apotential studcandidateforherthathas a historyof
producingsuccessful service dogs.Butthisisn’taprogram that we can do on ourown.We have
foundthe cost of producingand caringfor a litterof puppiesisveryexpensive dependingonthe
numberof puppiesandwe have alreadyfoundacouple of service dogorganizationsinterestedonce
we implementthe Service DogLitterProjectplan.
Anotherpartof The Service DogLitterProjectis to bringback ourwebseries.We wouldlove tobe
able to documentthe verybeginningstagesof whatgoesintocreatingaservice dog.Thiswould
require some newequipmentandalot of time and energytogetour footage outin real time.Most
people don’tfullyunderstandthe amountof time itrequirestoobtainandeditfootage tocreate our
series.Dependingonhowmuchsupportwe get,that will determine how longourserieswill go.We
hope at a minimumdocumentthe first8-10 weeksuntil the puppiesare droppedoff tothe
organizationsreceivingthem.Butbeingable tofollow all the puppiesprogressastheygrow until
theyare placedwouldbe ourultimate goal.Justlike Pixie’slitter,itwouldbe amazingtosee the
differenttypesof disabilitiesdogscanhelpmitigate.
Our seriescannot onlyopenthe doorto betterunderstandingof these typesof disabilities, butalso
openthe door forlesserknownorganizationsthathelpplace these dogs.These will be organizations
that couldreallybenefitfromussharingtheirstoriesaswell.We can’tdowhat we wantto by
ourselvesanymore,we needhelp.We willneedtotravel more thanbefore.Bringonvolunteers,get
all the supplieswe needandcreate jobstohelpmake thisprogramthe bestit can be.
The Service DogLitter Projectisjustone of five new outreachprogramswe are implementingwith
your support.Matt is in the processof designingtwonew websitesthatwe will use foroperations.
We are goingto offernewprogramsand provide adonationboutique thatpeople canuse tohelpus
getthe programsoperational.We are constantlyworkingonnew ideasonhow tobringsupportto
the service dogcommunity.We justhope thatwe can getthe fundswe require tobringthese
outreachprogramsto life.
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: mobilitydog,
psychiatric service dog, veterandog, medical alert dog, puppy.