New Hampshire Ranch

Greetings everybody! Bene here! It’s been a while since my previous update, and some things have changed… I am not a tiny fluff anymore. Well, I can still be fluffy but definitely not tiny… I came back to the ranch after spending time with a foster, and no one could believe how big I’ve gotten! I am HUGE! But still just as adorable. Even though some things have changed, some things never do… I am a very happy and goofy boy! I love being around my trainer, and I love to work. I’ve learned lots of tricks like alert, down, stay, sit and heel. You could also say I am lucky because I was living with a foster during this pandemic. I got to play with the tiny hoomans and went to many different places. I love getting to know new places; however, I don’t love the car rides to get to these places… I get very stressed. The other doggos are telling me I shouldn’t worry about them. They say I will get used to them. Some of my friends even say they LOVE car rides!! Maybe they are right and I’ll get used to them, but for now, I think they are crazy! Now that I am back at the ranch, I got to meet my new Trainer Girl! Her name is Kat, and I love her already!! We are spending a lot of time bonding and just reinforcing and improving what I already know. She is also helping me with my car rides issues. She is doing positivity training in the back seat (meaning lots of treats for me), and we will be doing short car rides around the ranch until I start feeling more comfortable. I hope that with her help and lots of treats, I overcome my fear… I am training to become a psych dog, so I need to learn a new task called “paws up.” I love learning new tricks! It means lots of treats! And this trick is the best! On top of the treats, I get to be extra close to my hooman! It reminds me of when I was a puppy and I could sit on people’s lap. I also need to practice my heel and just to chill. I can be whiny in my crate, I am very interested in the cats, I sometimes pull while doing heel, I have trouble staying down, and I get overexcited at first when I am let out of my crate. I am a good boy, but Trainer Girl says I need to chill… I will work on that and let you know how this good boy does. Love, Bene! (10/16/2020)

New Hampshire Ranch

DOB 06/24/2019

About Bess: Bess is an energetic girl, who loves to chill and is eager to please. Bess plays the role of couch potato very well.  A stable and consistent environment is where she excels.  Bess was released from service dog training as her curiosity can get the best of her.  She loves nothing more than to explore the world around her and not necessarily focus on being a working dog.  Bess has passed her basic obedience training and some advanced training. Bess will need to be the only fur child in the house.  She doesn't like her muzzle held, hence, she will not be placed in a home with children or a home where small children frequently visit.    

Adoption Fee: $3,000

New Hampshire Ranch

As we have done in the past, I would like to continue updating the dogs in the prison program in their trainers’ words. I think there's something special in the way they express themselves about training and the dogs. Every time I read them, it brings a smile to my face to picture the training going on, that we often do not get to see first hand. I love their openness when describing the dogs’ behaviors and how they try different techniques to work through it all. You can also here the affection the trainers have for their dogs when you read their descriptions!  When there is a trainer’s name used in the report, I will always use the name ‘Joe’ for privacy reasons. Here is the last trainer’s update on how Dori was doing before leaving the prison program…

“Hi, it is me Dori checking in from Chowchilla. I am on the last leg of my journey here and let me tell you. I am so ready to be someone’s forever service dog. I love DPT and advanced retrieval. I am great at my stays, I stay everywhere my trainer tells me to. I have also learned tethering and it doesn’t bother me at all that someone is behind me on my tether making all kinds of racket, I just pay attention to my trainer. My trainer tells me I am a very sweet girl. I love to train and please my humans because when they are happy, I am very happy. I don’t like my vest much, I feel it is really confining so I get mad at it going on me, but I eventually get over it. Anyhow, I am excited for you all to see where I am at in my training and am even more excited to meet my forever person that I am going to help. Until next time!” (03/01/2021)

Dori graduated from the prison program and joined Kat’s pack in Sky Valley Ranch. She is warming up to the East Coast and is now training with a foster family located in New Hampshire!

(04/25/2021)

San Diego Ranch

Hello people! Drew here. I graduated from the prison program, and currently, I am living at the San Diego Ranch. Life has been good. I’ve grown into one good looking boy! Or at least that is what everyone says… When I got to the ranch, I was assigned to Trainer Girl Dominique pack. I like all the other dogs and love my trainer girl. At first, I could not stop using my sniffer while heeling, I wanted to know every unique smell in the ranch. Trainer Girl said this kind of excessive sniffing can cause issues, I was also hyper in DPT and had a VERY happy paw for alert. So we had to make a couple of adjustments. I was already responsive to basic obedience; it was just a matter of fine-tuning some of my tasks. After working with Trainer Girl for only ONE week, my heel was WAY better and I was no longer excessive sniffing all over the place, my DPT was calmer and I was already learning signal instead of alert, to fix the heavy paw. After the second week of training, I had signal down! No hand cue and all. Bossman was very proud of Trainer Girl and me. And even Trainer Girl was impressed with how fast I learn. DPT was also better, still excited, but I was not squirming as much. This is so hard, but I am improving! I am learning to chill and merely enjoy the moment without getting too hyper. Since I am improving so much and my basics are looking good, the hoomans think I am ready for the next level of training! I heard the trainers say something about mobility, and after that, we started playing fetch during training. I didn’t know what mobility meant but I like this new stage of training; and according to my trainers, I am a natural. For now, we are working on the basics of structured fetch. I get to play, but there are more rules compared to when we play fetch during break time. I gotta do a stay and hold it WHILE she throws the toy, then I get released to retrieve the item, and when I come back I have to sit and return the item placing it on Trainer Girl’s hand. I am doing pretty good with the whole structured fetch thing, there is just one part I am struggling with. Either I sit or return the item; I cannot sit with the toy in my mouth. It just feels odd to me, and I have to drop the item. Trainer Girl says I’ll get there with a little (or a lot) more practice, and Boss Man said we can work on turning structured fetch into advanced retrieval! I will learn to retrieve all kinds of items! Even metal things like keys or slippery things like pill bottles! I am excited to keep learning this and other mobility tasks! I heard I will learn to open doors, cabinets, drawers! I love this idea; I like to be of help and cannot wait to be helping my person one day. Little Angel Drew, mobility service dog! That’s gonna be me! But before that, I gotta go to the vet. Even though my training is going awesome, a month ago I started whining. I whine in the crate and also while heeling. According to Boss Man, it is the hormones getting me crazy; so after the vet takes care of that (whatever that means) and I get a vacation to recover, I’ll be back! Ready to train and ready to work! So come back to get an update soon! Love, Drew (09/27/2020)

New Hampshire Ranch

We have some amazing fosters that have sent us an update on how their pupper is doing, and as we have done in the past with dogs that are in the prison program, I would like to continue updating the dogs in their trainers’ words. There’s something special in the relationship a foster creates with their dogs, I’ve loved reading these updates, hearing the affection the fosters have for their dogs when you read their description and having a deeper insight on the lives of our service dogs in training when they are growing, learning and going on adventures with their foster families, getting ready for their VERY important job. I hope you enjoy them as much I did. Here is the trainers’ update on how Ellie is doing…

Woof-woof, hello my name is Ellie, although I also go by Ellie-Mae, Ellie-Belly, Ellie-Belly Baby girl… but my real name is Eleven! Funny story about that one… Netflix sponsored my training and named me after the character 11 from Stranger Things (although the first few months I was known as Baby-girl, I guess it was a tough decision).

It has been a long journey; I was born in California and took a long plane ride and then a long car ride with my Trainer-girl up to New Hampshire. From there it was another long car ride to Massachusetts where I have been staying with my Foster Family doing lots of training and visiting some pretty interesting places like Boston Children’s Museum and Science Museum, Roller Skating, Beaches, Movie Theatres and Arcades but the most interesting place to visit was the high school where my Fosters work. Always something “different” happening at that place!

Throughout it all I have learned how to behave in all sort of situations.

I have tons of fun playing fetch and taking long walks but my most favorite thing to do is swim in the pool. It took me a while to get up the nerve to jump in but once I did; I didn’t want to come out.

All of these trips, activities and play-time have really helped me to learn the tasks to be a good worker.

Basic Skills are a breeze!

I am able to push and pull to open and close cabinets and drawers including my kennel door and can be in a down stay for lengthy periods of time (although I really want to get up and play). I have learned to alert carefully using my paws, can dial an ADA phone pad and can brace to assist in helping to get up. I am still learning to pick items up and bring them to my Fosters; I currently like to pick up my vest, leash, and bowl on command but sometimes I try to get them to chase me– fun!

I do very well when walking or interacting with my Foster kid. When I have my vest on, I try to stay as close to his wheelchair and carriage as possible and am very careful when he asks to say hi to me with a “paws up”. When that vest is off though, we tend to cause some havoc… I have so much fun playing with him, he lets me do some things that the other Fosters won’t; which tends to get us both into a bit of trouble. We’re both learning though.

I really enjoy playing and have a ton of energy. I love playing with other dogs and kids. I look forward to car rides because you never know where we’ll end up. Our daily adventure always ends with “Quiet-Time” and a belly rub before bed.

(09/12/2020)

San Diego Ranch

Hey guys! Kolby here! It has been a while since my last update; this time has been full of new experiences, learning, and training. I am writing this today very proud of myself, full of good news.

I must admit when I wrote my last update, I was kind of a mess. I knew my obedience commands. However, all the changes and stimuli in the real world (outside the prison) were too much for me. I would get startled, overwhelmed, and anxious. I was TERRIFIED of cars. At one point, I thought I was not going to make it. But after lots and lots of confidence-building with my former Trainer Girl, I started to get better. Then we started working towards being focus on new environments until I was ready to go out on my first field trip! Trainer Girls was SO surprised! She said I did great out in public! She felt like I was tricking her all along, but, I couldn’t have done it without her!

After that, everything started going uphill. I was not bothered by anything, and I was very confident. During field trips, I walked next to a cart perfectly; I sometimes got distracted, but I was able to focus back on my trainer quickly. Going out in public was so much fun! I regained my love for work. I was performing my tasks quickly and excitedly. I even performed my advanced tasks out in public. If you drop my leash, I pick it up and give it to you before you even realized you dropped it.

I got SO excited to work that then we had to work on doing them calmly and only the tasks I was asked, without rushing and offering them all at once. Eventually, I was able to channel my excitement.

I started learning more and more advanced tasks. My favorite kind is mobility tasks. I learned to open and close doors, bracing, and retrieving whatever you want. Since I was doing so good, I got introduced to a new vest, it is called a bracing harness, and only some special doggos get to wear it. I heard it took some getting used to, but I love it! I love retrieving it and wearing it.

There were only a couple of advanced tasks I was struggling with. Dial, I love to do it, but I have to be consistent with actually hitting the button. The same with turning the lights on, I can turn them off every time, but turning them back on requires more precision and focus, and I was too excited for all that detail. Finally, bracing, I pushed back well, but Boss Man said I am not allowed to sit on each pause. After fine-tuning these three tasks, I was golden. Obedience was perfect, even SUPER distracted down-stays, and advanced commands were just as good; on top of that, you could see how much I loved it. But there was one thing worrying Boss Man… This COVID thing happened, and even though my training didn’t stop, my socialization did. We were not allowed to go out for the longest time. Luckily, at this point, there were a couple of fosters going out in public, so I went to spend some time with one of them. I got lots of exposure to new environments and did really well. Now I am back at the ranch to finish up my training and will be ready to go.

I can’t believe I am almost ready to meet my furever hooman! I hear the trainers talk about one new hooman a lot when I am around. I think they are figuring out who is my perfect match! I am so excited! Love, Kolby (09/29/2020)

New Hampshire Ranch

As we have done in the past, I would like to continue updating the dogs in the prison program in their trainers’ words. I think there's something special in the way they express themselves about training and the dogs. Every time I read them, it brings a smile to my face to picture the training going on, that we often do not get to see first hand. I love their openness when describing the dogs’ behaviors and how they try different techniques to work through it all. You can also here the affection the trainers have for their dogs when you read their descriptions!  When there is a trainer’s name used in the report, I will always use the name ‘Joe’ for privacy reasons. Here is the last trainer’s update on how Diesel was doing before leaving the prison program…

“Diesel is SUCH a love bug! He is very calm and sweet. He loves to train and please. He is great with watch me and has calmed down tremendously when it comes to his advanced retrieval. He used to frap around when retrieving stuff but his self-control is amazing now. He loves to be right by your side. He hasn’t been doing Brace, Lights (jumping on wall) and DPT due to his past limping issues. When he was able to do DPT, he LOVED IT! He loves cuddles! His heel has gotten so much better. He stays right by your side, whether you are walking sideways or backwards. He is super attentive. He is also sensitive to peoples ailments. We had a trainer with a medical condition in her stomach and he kept pushing her stomach where the condition was at. Very great sniffer. He is going to be missed here but he is so ready for his next journey in finding his forever person. He will make them so happy!” (03/01/2021)

Diesel graduated from the prison program and joined Kat’s pack in Sky Valley Ranch. He is warming up to the East Coast, getting to know his new Trainer Girl and the other doggos in his pack. We will be hearing from his adventures soon!

(04/25/2021)

New Hampshire Ranch

We have some amazing fosters that have sent us an update on how their pupper is doing, and as we have done in the past with dogs that are in the prison program, I would like to continue updating the dogs in their trainers’ words. There´s something special in the relationship a foster creates with their dogs. I’ve loved reading these updates, hearing the affection the fosters have for their dogs and having a deeper insight on the lives of our service dogs in training when they are growing, learning, and going on adventures with their foster families, getting ready for their VERY important job. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Here is the trainer’s update on how Archer is doing…

Hi! This is Archer checking in. I’m a fun loving BIG handsome, yet sensitive Yellow Lab. I’ve been doing such a great job with my downstays. I’ll let you walk into another room, say words that sound like ‘okay’, and I still won’t budge until you actually say ‘okay’. When I’m not working, I love playing fetch with my tennis balls, and finding big sticks and showing them off. I LOVE staying cool during the hot summer days by swimming. After swimming I am the best-behaved boy and stay very calm while I’m getting a bath! (08/26/2020)

New Hampshire Ranch

Bio Coming Soon…

New Hampshire Ranch

As we have done in the past, I would like to continue updating the dogs in the prison program in their trainers’ words. I think there's something special in the way they express themselves about training and the dogs. Every time I read them, it brings a smile to my face to picture the training going on, that we often do not get to see first hand. I love their openness when describing the dogs’ behaviors and how they try different techniques to work through it all. You can also here the affection the trainers have for their dogs when you read their descriptions!  When there is a trainer’s name used in the report, I will always use the name ‘Joe’ for privacy reasons. Here is the trainer’s update on how Dee-Dee is doing… 

“DeeDee is such a sweet girl. She is great at all of her commands and she loves to be challenged and trained. She feeds off of energy. If she is training with someone with excited energy, she will get excited/frappy. She is great with her advanced retrieval and loves DPT. She does great with mono-tones. Even her praise tone has to be mono-tone or she will get super excited. Great at recalls. Has calmed down quite a bit since her heat.” (03/01/2021)

Dee-Dee graduated from the prison program and joining Sherlee’s pack in Sky Valley Ranch, she is warming up to her new life in the East Coast. We will be hearing about her adventures soon.

(04/19/2021)

New Hampshire Ranch

As we have done in the past, I would like to continue updating the dogs in the prison program in their trainers’ words. I think there's something special in the way they express themselves about training and the dogs. Every time I read them, it brings a smile to my face to picture the training going on, that we often do not get to see first hand. I love their openness when describing the dogs’ behaviors and how they try different techniques to work through it all. You can also hear the affection the trainers have for their dogs when you read their descriptions!  When there is a trainer’s name used in the report, I will always use the name ‘Joe’ for privacy reasons. Here is the trainer’s update on how Demi is doing… 

“Demi is such a sweet, calm girl. She loves DPT and will stay in paws up for a long time with resting her head on your chest. She is very calm with advanced retrieval and is great at identifying objects. All of her advanced commands are on point as well as her basics. She doesn’t like bathing. She tries to run from the shower. This has been a work in progress and she has gotten better with some conditioning. She lags in her heel at times. She gets excited to socialize but calms after a minute.” 

Demi graduated from the prison program and joined Sherlee’s pack in Sky Valley Ranch. She is warming up to the East Coast and we will be hearing from her adventures soon! She is settling in beautifully and already going on a lot of outings.

(04/19/2021)

New Hampshire Ranch

As we have done in the past, I would like to continue updating the dogs in the prison program in their trainers’ words. I think there's something special in the way they express themselves about training and the dogs. Every time I read them, it brings a smile to my face to picture the training going on, that we often do not get to see first hand. I love their openness when describing the dogs’ behaviors and how they try different techniques to work through it all. You can also here the affection the trainers have for their dogs when you read their descriptions!  When there is a trainer’s name used in the report, I will always use the name ‘Joe’ for privacy reasons. Here is the last trainer’s update on how Duke was doing before leaving the prison program…

“Hi, it’s Duke, last entry at our wonderful prison program. I am getting ready to move on. Here is a couple of tips and fun things about me. I love kibble, even more than I love balls, if I don’t think I am going to get something (kibble, high value), I will not come back to you. I have gotten really good at staying on my place, it is hard to get me to move when I am placed on my nice padded bed. Paws up is my absolute favorite, I love to burrow in and lay my head on your shoulder, sometimes staring into your eyes. I am quick to get up if my person has fallen to brace sometimes I do not wait for my command when they are getting into position for brace. I love love and started to turn into an attention seeker. It has been difficult with this stupid Covid thing that is happening because I can’t be pet anymore. I am excited to see what my future holds and whose life I am going to change forever! Love, Duke” (03/01/2021)

Duke graduated from the prison program and joined Sherlee’s pack in Sky Valley Ranch. He is warming up to the East Coast and is now training with a foster family located in New Hampshire! They say he is a calm an easy boy, has been in a couple outings and behaved excellent. We will be hearing about his adventures soon.

(04/25/2021)