For more details on our products and services, please feel free to visit us at: service dog law, service dog etiquette, service dog puppy raiser, guide dog, puppy in training.

1. The Doni Co-Op
We have hadthe privilege tobuildalotof relationshipswithservice dogpeopleonthe internet.
GrowingUp Guide Puphas beena fire starterfornew ideas,experimentationandpushingservice dog
culture foralmosta decade.WhenColbyMorita,the founderof 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.Itisvery unique thata service dogorganizationwould
welcome suchaprogressive ideaandthisjustone more reasonwhyBrigadoonService Dogsisamazing
and has grabbedourheart.
Overthe last 17 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
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.
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: service doglaw, service
dog etiquette, service dogpuppy raiser, guide dog, puppy in training.
For more details,please visitus at: https://growingupguidepup.org/

2. Last month we were toldthatthe puppieswere close tobeingreadytoleave theirmom.We neededto
figure outhowto get the puppyfromSouthernCaliforniauptoBellingham, Washington.We lookedat
our schedule anddecided thatitwouldbe 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 morningandImade 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 andwentback to getintothe securityline,Iwasgettingpressedfortime.The
securityline wasmovingveryslow.The x-raymachinesthatTSA screenedpeople withwasdownand
theystoppedpeoplehalfwaythroughthe line forthe detection dogtoinspecteveryone.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 minutesafter myoriginal 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 withenough time to make my original flight home. 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’tstartingboardingyet,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
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 gother carrierall settledin(itwasaprettytight fitunderthe seatinfront of
me),slippedheratastychewtreat,and settledinmyself.Doni barelymovedanddidn’tmake apeep

3. the entire flighthome.Iwasthinking“Wow!Whata great little puppy!”Thingscouldnothave gone any
betterthanhow theywent.The nightbefore Ihadleft,Isetup an exercise penforDoni withcleantoys
and a comfybedso whenwe got home she wasgivena chance to pottyand thenreadyto be placedin
the penin our livingroom.All the dogswere reallyexcitedwhenIwalkedinthe doorwiththe carrier.
Ricki and Ozzyare veryusedtome bringingbabyanimalsintothe house randomly.Pennyhasonlyhad
twoother experienceswithbabyanimals.Thiswouldbe Pixie’sfirstexperience.Soneedlesstosay
PennyandPixie were veryexcitedtosee whatwasinthe bag.
Both Pixie andPennycangetveryexcitedwhenthey meetotherdogssowe 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 returned fromBellinghamMatthasbeenworkingwithPixie more
and itis reallymakinganimpact.Matt is reinforcingwhatIhave beenworkingonanditis helpingherbe
more confident.
Doni was never meant to stay with us long term. Only a few days after she arrived Matt found a
great way to get her up to Brigadoon. Tammy, one of Brigadoon’s volunteers, just happened to
be in the Bay Area with another dog trainer attending a training seminar at the Marin County
Humane Society. This is only about an hour from us. Matt reached out to Tammy and they were
so kind to accept the mission to take Doni north. So Doni hitched a ride back to Washington and
saved us the effort and cost. We are very appreciative of the support. As much as we wanted
Doni to stay (I mean come on, she is super cute, super fun to work with, super sweet, and just a
great little puppy) we needed to get back to focusing on Pixie and other duties. It is hard enough
for us to balance work, home repairs, working with Pixie, making sure our other 3 dogs get

4. enough attention, Matt being on the Brigadoon board, and moving forward with GUGP ideas.
We really don’t have any spare time to train a second puppy.
It has has been three weeks since Doni arrived in Bellingham. She has quickly become a favorite
according to Maria. She is learning skills from Denise that she needs to have the best chance
possible to become a service dog. We are happy she is in the best hands possible. Moving
forward it will be exciting to experiment with the media co-op and watch little Doni grow up.
We encourage everyone to watch for her through the three organizations. She is a special little
pup and we can’t wait to see what her future holds. Who knows, maybe we will help bring more
co-op deliveries in the future? I always enjoy feeding my puppy fix.
For more detailson our products and services,please feel free tovisitus at: service doglaw, service
dog etiquette, service dogpuppy raiser, guide dog, puppy in training.