I went to Connie's beautiful farm in Selingsgrove to evaluate the two cream Standard poodle puppies. They're both 10 weeks old and from the same litter.

Connie was incredibly welcoming and had even set up an area for us to test so that we didn't have to lug our x-pen out! It was a beautiful day of low 70's and a slight breeze. We tested in the grass next to a quaint barn, on a hill where neither puppy had never been.

Both puppies passed the evaluations (and passed better than most puppies i've tested in a year or so!)

"Collar" Puppy, as we referred to him as because he was the one in a collar - did well with the test over all. His highest point was wearing the harnesses, and his lowest point was his response to the 30 second light/sound portion.

"Naked" Puppy, who wasn't wearing a collar, - did great on his test. He recovered great from the 30 second light/sound portion, accepted the harness, walked over the under footings and my favorite moment with him was with the loud sudden sound:

When the tin with rocks was shook 1 foot from his head he noted it, but did not move away. When we sat it down he immediately sniffed it to check it out. We responded by saying "yes!" and giving him a treat, which he gladly ate. He stop for a BRIEF second before tapping the tin with his paw, holding his paw there and looking up at the tester, waiting for another treat! GREAT - and IDEAL - response for a service dog!!!

Needless to say, although both puppies passed I quickly chose "Naked" puppy. There were other areas he excelled in as well such as calming down in the middle of play time when toys are removed, staying near the tester when they disconnect, and over all being interested in the test but not rude.

Enjoy the photos! 

"collar" puppy enjoys the tarp underfooting...a bit much!

"collar" puppy plays tug of war

"naked" puppy shows his ability to follow the tester, his food drive, and his lack of sensitivity to under footings!

"naked" puppy showing the same traits as listed above!

 "naked" puppy shows his ability to focus on the tester while in a harness for the first time!

"naked" puppy displays his confident response to a tin can filled with rocks being shook and dropped!

Moving Forward With A Breeder

One of the breeders that I contacted was for Standard Poodles. Connies breeding program is nestled in the country fields of Selingsgrove, PA. She does no more than 2 litters a year - ever, and the puppies are not only part of her family but her life!

They are whelped and raised in her home, but also have a fabulous indoor/outdoor barn kennel where they have the ability to be socialized on many different surfaces (steps, ramps, wood, cement, etc!). On the farm they are raised with horses, goats and ducks! Connie works diligently to socialize them with guests from two weeks old up. Connie also has a wonderful grooming room where the puppies have been receiving daily handling with regards to grooming for many weeks.

All dogs are tested for OFA hips and elbows, CERF (eyes), Thyroid, Sebaceous Adenitis and cardio. They truly go above and beyond in the health testing to ensure they are doing everything possible to only breed the best standard poodles.

When Connie emailed me back, my heart was beyond excited!  I have to admit though, that I was nervous that, as it's been going in the past, things would still not work out. Over the Memorial Day weekend Connie and I emailed back and forth a lot. She indicated that she had two males available (thank heavens!) and that after reading the links I sent along about myself (a news article, Winstons blog and Gretels blog) she was confident that she'd place a puppy with me! The excitement really grew!!

The beginning of my quest!

At 17, only two years after receiving my first service dog, if you had asked me what my dream service dog breed was, I would have exclaimed a poodle or a pit bull! I know they couldn't be further apart on the breed spectrum, but I have always felt that Poodles were an incredible, hard working breed that, like the Pit bull, was very misjudged. In saying that, I never actually felt I would have a poodle of my own for one reason or another.

After Gretel, my second service dog was diagnosed with Arthritis in April of 2011 I began my quest.  This consisted of a ton of research and soul searching for the specifics of what I wanted in my 3rd service dog. I was lucky enough to work with a Labradoodle, who taught me that what I loved from afar in the Poodle, I loved in real life.

They are truly gentle dogs, who love to retrieve. They are noble, yet silly characters and above all else, they are smart.  This helped me narrow my search down to:

• Labrador Retrievers
• Golden Retrievers
• Poodles
• Any cross of those three
• Pit Bulls

I began emailing rescues and breeders to ask if they'd all me to evaluate puppies and began testing any litters available.  One by one I was learning more about what I wanted (for myself) and saying "the puppies are nice but unfortunately not matches for me.".  Whether or not they were too small, too fearful or too wild - they were undoubtably not the dog for me.