Hi everybody! While the summer hiatus will officially come
to an end once school (and serious training time!) starts up again, there a
couple of quick updates we think you should hear about!
Bobo the
Cuddlebug has OFFICIALLY been placed! He’s very happily settled in with the
Hance family, and being spoiled rotten, we’re sure of it. He and Juls are best
friends already, we can’t wait to see the amazing things that come from these
two!
Speaking of
placements, our favorite sweetheart Princess Cami is well on her way as well!
After a summer of incredibly hard work
with handler and foster Paula, Cami is going to be placed as a facility dog at
Smart Intermediate School in Davenport, Iowa, is just two weeks! Such a smart
girl, we’re all incredibly proud of her.
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| Cami sleeping over for the first time at her new place! |
On a sadder note, our lovely golden
boy Oden, has unfortunately had to be exited from the program. Oden developed a
barking habit, which is absolutely unacceptable in service dogs. Though a
sweetheart and a brilliant one at that, the leaders of our program have come to
the conclusion that Oden will have a better life as a family dog, and he is
(very, very happily) going to be
living out his days with handler Allie. Allie and Oden have been together since
Oden was a puppy, and they’ll make a great team.
Lil man Zorn is progressing so fast
it’s like a light bulb is perpetually lit above his head. Already developing
the thinking habits that are so important to service dogs, Zorn has been problem
solving all summer, learning the names of objects, how to pull a wheelchair,
and mastering ‘medicine’ and ‘phone’, which are two objects he will have to
retrieve often when he is placed. He’s even figuring out how to give money
and credit cards to tellers!
Additionally, at ten months, can we just say this ‘puppy’ has a WHOPPING
head! What are we feeding him?
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| Such a handsome man! |
And last, but certainly not least,
we would like to give a big shout out to the newest member of the family, Emmy!
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| What. A. Cutie. |
Emmy is an 8 week old German
Shepherd from West German Show lines, donated by the wonderful Robin and Carlos
Huerta of Team Huerta Hof! Emmy will be starting her training THIS WEEK, being
placed with her foster this very weekend! We’re so happy to have you, Emmy!
A special thanks to:
First and foremost, Christina Clark, our fabulous breeder and owner of Iron Hill Retrievers. All of our Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers have been donated by Christina and they are all spectacular, with wonderful temperaments and absolutely GREAT looks.
QCCAN
The Quad Cities Canine Assistant Network is the non-profit organization that makes our program possible. As sister organizations QCCAN is an integral part of the Viking Pups mission, helping us with training, putting us in contact with clients, and most importantly, training service dogs and reaching more people who need the dogs to live better lives.
A huge shoutout to Compassionate Care Veterinary Clinic, who takes care of our pups at a discounted rate.
And last but not least:
Thanks for taking all of your beautiful pictures, Lisa! They're amazing, and you show off our pups so much better than our grainy phone pictures! You're incredibly talented and deserve every bit of business you get!
And introducing....
Team Huerta Hof !!!
A huge thank you to the Huerta Hof family for donating our German Shepherd girl Emmy! Team Huerta Hof breeds gorgeous German Shepherds, and their dogs are found everywhere, from family homes to the Schutzhund field. We're sure Emmy will be a huge success!
To learn more / keep up to date about Viking Pups:
