Photo Update

Ride home from KSDS, Inc.

First vet appointment

Crate training appears to be going well........

....for puppy and puppy raiser

Second Puppy in Training is Now With Us

Well it's that time, again, Puppy Raiser training, errr..... puppy training. It's true what they say, the second one will be a totally different experience! We went from yellow to black, Z to A (although there is still a Z in there) and first born to last born. Lots of other personality differences, too. Just enough to keep Kristi on her toes and make her feel like she has never done this before.

Now for the details, Anschutz is the little black fur ball blessing in our home, now. She is part of the KU litter theme. Fred and Marion Anschutz of Russell, KS have a couple of buildings on the KU campus named in their honor. They are the parents of the Mr. Anschutz you all are thinking about. This litter was donated by another puppy raiser who bought a female lab with the intention of donating puppies to KSDS, Inc. THANK YOU to her and her family!!! Here's the bio on Anschutz:

"Born last in her litter, Anschutz has actually had three names in her short life. She was originally marked with a red and green ribbon, so we called her Christmas. That then morphed into her first litter name of Crimson, but the name nerver really seemed to fit. She proclaimed her name proudly when visiting the KU campus for glamour shots. After a hot, grueling day of picture taking, Annie shined in front of her namsake. She was the smallest pup at birth, but not even close to being the runt! She has been stong from the start. She can be shy one moment then bold the next. The Anschutz name is assoicated with both the Anschutz Library and Anschutz Sports Pavillion. The library houses predmoninatly scinece-related literuature and also serves as a Federal depository for US documents and for the Unted Nations. The building was dedicated in 1989, the Pavillion in 1984."

We are already in love and look forward to the next 16-24 months of training and socializing her, before her return to KSDS, Inc. for formal training and hopefully partnership with some in need.

Welcome, Anschutz!

Zinfandel Updates and New Puppy on the Way

We've been keeping track of Zinfandel via KSDS, Inc.'s Facebook posts. Here are some photos of her training. She is doing well. They say she is smart, loves to work and picks up new things quickly.

And we have been blessed with a call and letter asking that we raise another puppy for KSDS. We are so excited and have been busy looking for a vet in our new area. July 17th is pick-up/training day!

Update on Zinfandel - 5-22-2014

We just received the latest status on Zinfandel. She is back at the KSDS facility and is working on her advanced skills. We are very excited that she remains in the program and is taking the next step to helping someone become/remain more independent. The next scheduled graduation is Oct. 25th. We hope to see her name on that roster. Enjoy your summer and be safe!

Update - Chardonnay and Zinfandel

Well it's been a very long time. As you know Zinfandel had her medical tests and passed her eye exam.

Since then lots has happened. Chardonnay joined Zinfandel in the KSDS, Inc. kennels on Jan. 12th. She too had medical tests and passed her eye exam. We heard back on Zinfandel's hips, they were rated excellent. YAY!

Shortly after getting word on Zin's hips we received word that Chardonnay was being released from the program. She did not like the guide dog harness and the service dog cape had always been bothersome for her. As for social dog, let's just say she is too social to be a good example. She is now living it up in Kansas City as a pet dog. She plays, plays and plays all day. Just what she was meant to do and is very happy!

Zinfandel and three of her brothers remain in the program. They made the cover a the latest issue of KSDS, Inc. newsletter. To see the photo click here.

Zinfandel went into the prison program shortly after. We know this is a good sign. It means she adjusts well to new environments and trainers. And that she likes to train so she will be keeping her known skill set up and may even learn a new thing or two in prison.

KSDS, Inc. had its spring graduation with 6 teams graduating on April 5th. Way to go KSDS and teams!!!

We hope Zinfandel will make it back to KSDS in a bit and begin working on choosing her career path and working on her skill set. We are anxious to see what is a good fit for her. We'd love to see her graduating in the fall class. We'll let you know.

K-Sate Medical Update

Zinfandel traveled to K-State, today to have her eyes and hips tested/certified. The eye results are in. She passed! Zinfandel has passed her first test/step towards helping someone become/remain more independent. We got such a sweet note from KSDS, Inc. and know that she is in good hands.

Zinfandel's Turn-In Day

Zinfandel and Kristi had a very safe and smooth journey to Washington, KS to turn her into KSDS, Inc. She is now in the transition phase, getting used to the kennels and will have her medical testing completed on Friday, at Kansas State University, (a big shout out to them for all they do for KSDS). Kristi made it safely back to MN and is surprised at how much she misses that sweet girl and their daily routine of exercise, training and grooming. (Anybody want to make wagers on how much weight Kristi gains in the next three weeks!?!) Lee misses his buddy big time. But Zinfandel is where she belongs and we are grateful to KSDS for allowing us to be a small part of the amazing process to give an individual the independence they so need and we all take for granted. Best wishes to one of God's sweetest souls.

Interesting sunrise, two hours into our journey.

The engineer must not have gotten the memo that we were in a hurry!

Wondering where we are going, now!

Proud to be a KSDS pup in formal training!

Dog interaction testing.



Off to the kennels and her next phase of life.