Doni, an 8 week old golden retriever puppy, was donated by a breeder to Brigadoon Service Dogs, a service dog organization. The founders of Growing Up Guide Pup and Puppy in Training helped facilitate transporting Doni from Southern California to Washington. The author flew to pick up Doni and brought her back to their home for a few days before Doni continued on to Brigadoon. Doni was a well-behaved puppy and adapted well to crate training and new environments. After a few days with the author, Doni was transported by a Brigadoon volunteer to her new home to begin service dog training.

1. The Doni Co-Op - Growing Up Guide Pup
We have hadthe privilege tobuildalotof relationshipswithservice dogpeopleonthe internet.
GrowingUp Guide Puphas beena fire starterfornew ideas,experimentationandpushingservice dog
culture foralmosta decade.WhenColbyMorita,the founder of puppyintraining.com, contactedMatt
aboutdonatinga puppyto BrigadoonService Dogs,Matt hadto immediatelycontactDenise andinform
herof the unique opportunityathand.GrowingUpGuide Pupand PuppyinTraininghave similar
missionsandsowe saw thisisa special opportunityforall three of ourorganizationstoworktogether
and followapuppygrowingupanddeveloping.Itisveryunique thata service dogorganizationwould
welcome suchaprogressive ideaandthisjustone more reasonwhyBrigadoonService Dogsisamazing
and has grabbedourheart.
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: psychiatricservice dog,
veterandog, medical alert dog, puppy, puppies.
For more details,please visitus at: https://growingupguidepup.org/
Overthe last17 yearswe have had a lot of puppiescome andgo throughour home.We have had both
service dogpuppiesintrainingandwe have hadrescue puppyfosters.Butrecentlywe hadachance to
be part of facilitatingthe transportof aservice dogpuppyfroma AKCbreeder/donortoa service dog
organizationforthe firsttime. We have knownColbyfromPuppyinTrainingfora few yearsandhave
alwaysrespectedandsupportedhiswork.He recentlyhadalitterof goldenretrieverpuppiesandafter

2. a talk withMatt, he offeredtodonate a puppytoBrigadoonService Dogs.We were superexcitedto
helpfacilitate thisaswe watchedthe recent“D”littergrow and developonthe PuppyinTrainingsocial
mediaplatforms.We hadnoideawhichpuppywascoming,but we knew itwasgoingto be a great
puppy.
Last monthwe were toldthat the puppieswere close tobeingreadytoleave theirmom.We neededto
figure outhowto get the puppyfromSouthernCaliforniauptoBellingham, Washington.We lookedat
our schedule anddecidedthatitwouldbe bestforme to flydownandthenflyback to our house,keep
the puppywithus fora little bit,andthenfigure outhow together to Brigadoonassoon as possible.
Matt stayedinthe Bay Area.I had a flighttoLos Angelesbookedfirstthinginthe morningand Imade it
to the airport withwhatI thoughtwasplentyof time.Butonce I checkedinfor myflight,InoticedthatI
leftmycell phone inthe car and I had to go back to the parkinggarage to get it.Not a huge deal but
once I grabbedmy phone andwent back to getintothe securityline,Iwasgettingpressedfortime.The
securityline wasmovingveryslow.The x-raymachinesthatTSA screenedpeople withwasdownand
theystoppedpeoplehalfwaythroughthe line forthe detectiondogtoinspecteveryone.We walkedtwo
people ata time pastthe dogand thento a line forthe metal detector.The interestingpartwasthat the
TSA agentswere alittle confusedwhythe petcarrierIhad was empty.All of thisslowedme down
enoughtomissmy flightby2 minutes.Iwasworriedaboutgettingonanotherflightthatwould make it
possible formyreturnflighttobe made on time now.Withthe helpof the ticketagentI was puton
anotherflightgoingintoLAXthatleftonly20 minutesaftermyoriginal flight,butmyoriginal flightwas
goingintoSanta AnaAirport.I made the new flightnoproblem.AssoonasI landedIgrabbedan Uber to
take me to the Santa Anawhere Iwas goingto meetColbyandreceive the puppy.Itwasabouta 40
minute drive andIgot there withenoughtime tomake myoriginal flighthome.Phew!
Colbymetme at the airportand we had a few minutestocatch up.He toldme a little bitaboutthe little
female.She wasabsolutelyadorable,andsotiny!ItoldColbyhername wouldbe Doni.The stipulation
was thather name neededtostartwiththe letter“D” since thiswasColby’sfourthlitter.A weekprior
we had alreadydiscussednamingoptionswithDeniseoverdinnerandshe made itclear she didn’twant
us to name the pup afterher.We all talkedandagreedwe shouldname the pupafterDonald,the new
Brigadoonpresident.Althoughshe isafemale andDonaldobviouslyisnot,Doni wasa perfectsolution.
Aftera quickhelloandgoodbye,Doni andIwere off to tackle throughairportsecurity.Little Doni was
only8 weeksoldand8lbs.I feltthatthe safestwayfor herto travel wasby petcarrier. I wasconcerned
that she wouldnotbe acceptingof the carriersince she had neverbeeninabag style carrierbefore
accordingto Colby.To mysurprise she quicklysettledinanddidn’tmake apeep.Once we gotto the x-
ray machine IremovedDoni fromthe carrier.The “oh mygod she is socute” and “lookat that cuteness”
commentsbegan.Doni wassupercalmas I carried herthroughthe metal detector. All the TSA agents
wantedtopet herwhichshe was more thanhappy to allow.Once throughsecurityDoni wasgently
placedback intothe carrierand she once againsettledrightin. Since the gate wasn’ttoofar away and
my flighthadn’tstartingboarding yet,IthoughtIwouldsee if Doni neededtopottyone lasttime.The
gate we were atwas onlyabout20 yards awayfrom the petrelief area.BeingthatDoni wasonly8
weeksoldandwasn’tfullyvaccinatedIwasa little apprehensivetoputherdownin the petarea. There
was a small patchof fake grass,but plentyof concrete too.I hadsome pottypads and I wasable to lay

3. those downsoher feetdidn’tactuallycome intocontactwiththe ground.She quicklypeed,whichIwas
ecstaticabout!A minute laterwe were backinthe carrier and readyto boardour flight.
Once aboard the plane I got her carrier all settled in (it was a pretty tight fit under the seat in
front of me), slipped her a tasty chew treat, and settled in myself. Doni barely moved and didn’t
make a peep the entire flight home. I was thinking “Wow! What a great little puppy!” Things
could not have gone any better than how they went. The night before I had left, I set up an
exercise pen for Doni with clean toys and a comfy bed so when we got home she was given a
chance to potty and then ready to be placed in the pen in our living room. All the dogs were
really excited when I walked in the door with the carrier. Ricki and Ozzy are very used to me
bringing baby animals into the house randomly. Penny has only had two other experiences with
baby animals. This would be Pixie’s first experience. So needless to say Penny and Pixie were
very excited to see what was in the bag.
Both Pixie andPennycangetveryexcitedwhentheymeetotherdogssowe kepttheircontactvery
controlled.Doni issolittle we carriedherinandout to go potty.She wasgivenseparate playtimeby
herself awayfromthe otherdogs.Pixie wasprobablythe mostdisappointedaboutthisaswe discovered
she loveslittle Doni.The firstnightwe preparedtonotgetmuch sleep.Mostof our puppieshave rough
firstnightsawayfromtheirlitter.Beinginthe kennel andinanew environmentforthe firsttime isa lot.
Doni was a rare exception.Atbedtime she wentouttopottyand thenshe was placedinherkennel.We
gave her a fewtoysas well astreatedher.Thenshe settledrightin.She watchedusgetreadyfor bed
but didn’tmake apeep.Once we turnedoutthe lightsshe wentrighttosleepanddidn’tmake asound
until about6am whenshe neededtogoout to potty.We thoughtmaybe the firstnightwas a fluke and
perhapsshe wasjusttiredfrom all the activitythe daybefore.Butthe secondnightwentexactlylike the
firstnightexceptthistime Doni didn’twake upuntil ouralarmwentoff.Outof the 20+ puppieswe had
crate trained,Doni isdefinitelyinthe top5 bestpups…easy.Doni was justas good at beingquietand
contentinher exercise pen.She alsowassupereagertolearnand earnfoodrewards.We startedclicker
trainingthe seconddaywe had her.She lovedthatgame.We startedwithattentionasbehavior,name
recognition,andwalkingcalmlyonaleash.She wasa lotof fun to workwith.Forfour daysour schedule
consistedof bothMatt and I sharingdog dutyas usual,butwe both workedwithPixieandDoni one on
one.It wasprettyobviouswhenwe were upinWashingtongettingfeedbackfromDenise thatPixie was
veryfocusedandattachedto me.She struggledsometimestoworkwithMatt. I have alwaysbeenher
primaryhandlerandspentthe mosttime withherso she naturallypaidmore attentiontome.We
wantedtomake sure that Doni got usedtobeinghandledbymore thanone personrightaway as to
preventasimilarscenario.Since we returnedfromBellinghamMatthasbeenworkingwithPixie more
and itis reallymakinganimpact.Matt is reinforcingwhatIhave beenworkingonanditis helpingherbe
more confident.
Doni was nevermeanttostay withuslongterm.Onlya few days aftershe arrivedMatt founda great
wayto get herup to Brigadoon.Tammy,one of Brigadoon’svolunteers,justhappenedtobe inthe Bay
Areawithanotherdog trainerattendingatrainingseminaratthe Marin CountyHumane Society.Thisis
onlyaboutan hour fromus. Matt reachedout to Tammyand theywere sokindto accept the missionto
take Doni north. SoDoni hitchedaride back to Washingtonandsavedusthe effortandcost.We are

4. veryappreciative of the support.Asmuchas we wantedDoni tostay (I meancome on,she is supercute,
superfunto workwith,supersweet,andjusta greatlittle puppy) we neededtogetbackto focusingon
Pixie andotherduties.Itishardenoughforus to balance work,home repairs,workingwithPixie,
makingsure our other3 dogsgetenoughattention,Mattbeingonthe Brigadoonboard,andmoving
forwardwithGUGP ideas.We reallydon’thave anyspare time totrain a secondpuppy.
It has has beenthree weekssince Doni arrivedinBellingham.She hasquicklybecome afavorite
accordingto Maria. She is learningskillsfromDenisethatshe needstohave the bestchance possible to
become a service dog.We are happy she isinthe besthandspossible.Movingforwarditwillbe exciting
to experimentwiththe mediaco-opandwatchlittle Doni grow up.We encourage everyone towatchfor
herthrough the three organizations. She isa special littlepupandwe can’t waitto see whatherfuture
holds.Whoknows,maybe we will helpbringmore co-opdeliveriesinthe future?Ialwaysenjoyfeeding
my puppyfix.
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: psychiatricservice dog,
veterandog, medical alert dog, puppy, puppies.