Every Dog Has His Blog

To all those who dare to explore this indulgent little spot, meet Charlie.  Charlie:  this is everyone.    Charlie took up residence with our family in Northern California a mere 3 weeks ago and since about day 2, I have had this inexplicable desire to blather on and on about him to any audience I could find (some of whom I'm certain were completely captive and desperately seeking a polite conversation exit strategy.)

Some say that timing is everything and I recently befriended a zealous blogger (see www.camandshan.blogspot.com).  I'm most certain that without her acquaintance, this blog would not have been born and I would continue to bore countless unwitting victims with endless drivel and excruciating detail about our life with this happy puppy.  So to those of you that have been spared, direct your gratitude to Shannon.

On to the subject of this blog.  While Charlie's good looks are patently obvious, it is his lesser known qualities that make this canine a very special animal.  Charlie is an assistance dog in training.  He was provided to us by the lovely folks at the North Star Foundation.  This wonderful organization breeds, trains, and places service animals with families of children who have autism.  Turns out that my kid is one of the lucky ones who is just beginning his North Star story and Charlie is his increasingly loyal servant.

First a quick history about Chuck:  He was born in Dec 2007 in Connecticut while in the care of Patty Dobbs Gross, the founder and executive director of North Star.   Then in February Charlie and several of his litter mates were sent to various puppy trainers.   Charlie was lucky enough to relocate to the loving home of puppy trainer extraordinaire, Judy of New Jersey.  (More on her later.)   Check out Charlie and some of his siblings on their trip out of Connecticut to New Jersey.

The next several months found Charlie living with Judy and her accommodating long haired dachshund, Keira.  I don't know exactly how she does it, but Ms. Judy apparently has magical powers over animals and she turned Charlie into a wonderful puppy.  She spent several months training him in the basic canine niceties (i.e. housebreaking, basic commands, and keeping his paws off people and furniture.)  In addition, because Charlie had been selected for my kid, she spent loads of time socializing Charlie in situations that mimic many of the daily routines of my son.  As a result, Charlie is very comfortable and polite around kids, schools, and other dogs.  (As an added bonus, Charlie enjoys occasional trips to various coffee shops which works well for me.) 

 Here's a pic of Charlie with Judy's Dachsie, Keira:

Here's another one of the marvelous Judy with Charlie the day before she gave him up to send him to us:

So, back to the point of this blog.  Now that Charlie is with us, I have a huge desire to obtain information, ask questions, share stories, and simply comment on my observations about life with this dog and on life with a service animal.  This is where I hope all of that will happen. 

Cheers!