We're Going to School!

Louie showing how good he'll be as a therapy dog.

Exciting news Blind Louie friends!

We've enrolled in a class! This will be our first time ever, we have only trained at home and at the dog parks when Louie was a pup and still had some sight.

This will be a six week, once a week class starting early December. At the end of this class Louie and I will have to pass a test and if we do well, we will be CGC certified!

CGC stands for Canine Good Citizen.
It's a program put on my the American Kennel Club (AKC). Any dog, mutts included, are welcome. This is basically a test in good manners. I think we will do well. After we have the CGC stamp of approval I'm hoping this will open doors for us to volunteer!

 



That's where all of this gets pretty exciting.

I have been interested in volunteer with Louie as a therapy dog for years, but just didn't know where to start. I also wasn't sure they wouldn't just shun Louie because of his blindness or hit breed and send us away. I'm not saying Louie is going to be a seeing eye dog for a blind person of course! Ha, talk about the blind leading the blind right? I'm just thinking about taking Louie to nursing homes or hospitals where he can be pet and do what he does best: warm hearts and open minds. We could raise awareness about his breed (pit bull mix) and other breeds that have been demonized in the media like Rottweilers, Doberman, Mastiffs, and the German Shepard.

I want people to see what a good dog is, and see past his looks. Louie has a knack for breaking through those barriers. When people are scared of him on the street at first, I say he is blind, they immediately soften and want to pet him. Then they see a very nice dog that might look scary if you didn't know any better. I hope this class will open some doors for us to be able to get out and work in our community. I will be documenting this process. Hopefully this will inspire others to do something similar. Louie's blindness isn't holding us back!