Canine Companions for Independence Puppy Raiser

In November of 2003 I received Toma, a golden retriever Labrador retriever cross. I had Toma until January of 2005 and over those months I worked with him and trained him the list of commands which included normal dog tricks (sit stay, here) and also some other, more advanced tricks (side/heel, get, pull, hold, and touch). Along with being a puppy raiser, I designed an outreach component to educate people about the purpose of service dogs, how the dogs are trained, and appropriate etiquette when meeting someone with a service dog. For example, they should never call to a service animal or pet it as that may distract the animal from his or her job. At the end of my time to train Toma, I took him to advance training where he stayed for about a month an a half. Unfortunately, Toma was not able to become a service dog due to a health issue not noticed until he was already through part of his advanced training. Due to his health problems, he was released and my family was able to keep him. Toma's training has not gone to waste though. He is now a therapy dog and visits hospitals and schools so he is still able to make a difference.