Iola (long)

First, this week has been much better. I was very busy helping with the motivational activity that our departments plan every other month. This time around, my team had chosen to do "The Amazing Race" as a theme. It was a lot of fun coming up with things for people to figure out and run around. I think I just needed a bit of fun to cheer me up.


(My manager running like crazy after a clue)

I said I would write more about the other dogs I have raised, I'll start with Iola since that was the beginning of raising puppies.

When I was in 5th grade, a girl in my class had a little female lab named Bayla she was training. I thought she was the meanest girl for jerking at her dog's leash. But when I found out I could raise a puppy, I went home and tried to convince mom it was a good idea. She told me "no" because we had a dog that dad wouldn't let in the house already and plenty of animals. I was a kid, course I didn't agree, but really she was right at the time. The younger the raiser, often the more involved parents are in caring for the dog because it is a big responsibility. We did have a lot of animals. That was my first experience with puppy raising. Amazing how things change...

In the summer before my senior year in high school, a neighbor who was raising a little female black lab called Dory had suggested that I start going to puppy raising meetings with her. She knew I enjoyed working with animals and thought I would enjoy raising. Thank you so much to Fara Nowak for starting me out.

I attended the meetings, a little confused at first by some of the handling. But people were welcoming and willing to teach. The first puppy I remember handling was named Nicholas, a male black lab that graduated and went Anchorage AK. The first dog I puppy sat was a male yellow lab named Malcolm, he became a guide and went to Utah County to work.


Nicholas, part of a 5 piece panel I painted for an old leader


Malcolm before he entered training.


The week before Thanksgiving that year, I was working at Pizza Hut (so glad I don't anymore) and a few family members and people from my club came in with their dogs and started shouting incoherently. After the chanting was done, I asked them to repeat the message slowly. I was getting a female yellow lab next week and her name started with an "I". They had brought me balloons and a toy for my future pup.


Iola at 8weeks

So on Nov. 19th, I was ready to pick up my puppy. I was excited all through school, my friends thought I was dork. That evening I had first got a call that the person driving the puppy was going to be late due to weather. Then someone else that I really didn't know called me that the driver arrived, but they'd pick up my puppy from the truck and take her to their house. So confused, I called my leader and he told me my puppy is waiting for me off the Woods Cross exit at the Motel 6.

I picked up Iola late that evening from a raiser on her way back to Colorado. Thank you Darla for your time.


Iola was born 09/17/01 and her parents were Sprig and Gloria. I loved raising Iola, as I did with the five other pups after her. The way I convinced my parents to let me raise (in the house) was it was a senior project and the dog would eventually leave for training.



I learned a lot from Iola. We were both hard headed and had our own agenda's. She was the first dog I learned about "heat cycles" from and how to use a gentle leader. She was also the first and LAST dog to chew on furniture.



Iola left for training Nov. 18th, 2002. She was slow at going through the phases, but I had received a letter in October of 2003 she was matched with a woman from Texas and was set to graduate in Nov. Unfortunately, the woman changed her mind about getting a guide at the time and went home without a dog. Iola was put into training again to await a match.



She was paired up again with a woman from Kentucky and graduated in January 2004. It seemed the match was good. The woman always praised Iola of her work. But at the year went by, it seems I got more negative news than positive of Iola. Iola's handler always praised her work, but she often mentioned her last guide that was a male golden. He would do things like curl under the desk, but that it seemed to bother Iola to do that. She called me another time and let me know that Iola was getting a gentle leader. Not a big deal since guides are trained to wear them, but the woman didn't seem to like it because she wasn't used to it.

Later in November, I got a call that broke my heart. The woman said that Iola was being returned to Guide Dogs. She had been letting a co-worker take Iola out for exercise and potty breaks. The woman said the co-worker approached her to ask to do this. It had been at least several weeks when the woman noticed Iola was more distracted by this co-worker. She would guide great unless she saw this co-worker in the office and would pull over to her. The straw that broke the camels back was the co-worker had taken Iola out and had pulled the co-worker and she hit her head on a cabinet. Iola's handler was concerned about the dog's behavior, but then the co-worker confessed she had been feeding Iola treats every time she took her out. Not dog biscuits, but things like string cheese and even a Burger King Whopper. The co-worker was sorry and hoped she hadn't done anything damaging to Iola or her training.

Also as part of this depressing phone call, Iola's handler said her vet diagnosed Iola with incontinence after she had two accidents in her sleep on the bed and that Iola would have to be on medication the rest of her life.

I talked with my parents and we decided to fly Iola home. After she had been returned to Guide Dogs and her handler refusing the offer for Iola to be re-trained and returned to her, they decided it would be best to retire Iola. She had been through enough.



I gave Iola to live with my sister, Val. She is a happy lab with a black kitten to tease. I see her on a regular basis. In fact, next week we are hanging out for a week and half while Val goes on vacation.

Iola's former handler had called me several times after Iola retired that she was sorry and kept checking on how Iola was doing. Eventually I had to ask Guide Dogs to be involved to stop her from contacting me. I do feel it was not entirely Iola's fault. She could have gone back to be a guide and the incontinence was never rechecked by Guide Dogs. After a year, my sister and I decided to take her off the medication. Guess, no incontinence. Hmmm.

Anyway, long post, sorry. I'm sure the grammar was bad and I didn't always make sense, but that was something I needed to share.