C's Dog

In April 2009, I started the process of applying for a skilled companion service dog for C from Canine Companions for Independence.

We had to go through several steps but we are finally on the home stretch. For the first two weeks of August, dh, C, and I are going to Oceanside, CA to be trained for C’s dog. And hopefully, at the end of the two weeks, C will graduate with a companion dog.

There were seven steps for us in applying for a dog. First, I had to fill out an online form. Second, they sent me a 14 page application. It took me 3 months to fill this out. DH and I wanted to make sure that we felt comfortable in getting a dog for C. Part of this form had pictures of C and our house and yard. The next step was a telephone interview with someone from CCI and dh and I. That interview lasted about 1 hour.

The 4th step was the medical/professional form. We had C’s pediatrician fill out this form. This happened in Sept or Oct of last year.

Fifth was the personal interview. We had to fly to CA for this part of the process. C hates flying. We almost missed our flight home because he kept saying he needed to go potty. J CCI only does the interviews 4 times a year. We could have done this in December, but K had a ice skating show the same day, so we had to wait until April. We found a babysitter for the other 4 kids and just dh, C and I flew to CA.

The personal interview lasted about 6 hours. They did a mini-class the first few hours. We also had a chance to practice with “carpet dog” and a real dog in giving commands. There were about six trainers in the room watching us work with the dog.

After lunch, we had a tour of the facilities and our personal interviews with a couple of trainers. The interview lasted about an hour.

The 6th step was being put on the waiting list for a service dog. I thought we’d be waiting close to a year (although, I never asked how long the list was)—but we got a phone call the beginning of June for team training in August.

I’m so excited and nervous for training next week. Both dh and I will be trained and certified as facilitators of the dog. But the dog will be C’s. And, even though we go to team training, that is not a guarantee that C will for sure get a dog. Although, I am not too worried about us not making it. I’m more concerned about not passing the public certification.

C doesn’t really understand that he is getting a dog. He did have a lot of fun at CCI playing with all the dogs there in April.