Team Intrepid!

Yesterday was the BIG day to meet Intrepid. It started with a round table of discussions with all the trainers, Susan R, Susan, Elizabeth, Becky (the training manager), and Al Kordowski the new training director. Pretty amazing training team they have now at THSD. Dad, Mom, and even Eric went.

The lady that found Intrepid was there and his story is as such: He was adopted for Town Lake Animal Shelter by THSD. Somehow they original owner tracked him down and got him back. Well the original owner ended up dumping him out on the streets. Intrepid ended up actually living with a homeless couple for about 10mos. and somehow the lady (which works for THSD I forgot to add) found him again through calling the local police--I may have some of this story distorted as parts were not real clear. But anyway, she convinced the homeless couple to let her have him and PROMISED them he would get an excellent home. She said it was very sad, they spent hours with him saying goodbye.

I found out the story about the wounded war veteran that he was matched with for the 2nd time just never returned calls after the matching. So yes, they never made it to training camp. His loss, my gain.

So what I have to say about Intrepid is this... he is very sweet and has this "puppy-like" way about him. He seems a lot more athletic and energetic than Nellie was, but in a good way... not in an annoying way. His eyes are crazy intense and he is VERY tall and LEAN... which I am gonna keep him that way and not let weight get out of control like I did with Nellie. He also loves standing on my foot piece which I always wished Nellie could do so I could hug her.

Anyway, the training team and everyone on board had HUGE smiles on their faces and all said me and Intrepid were the perfect match. So I will have a week of training camp November 28-December 2 and then we can bring him home and start the once a week--12 weeks of in-home training. Even though he is already a seasoned service dog they will customize his commands for me and my abilities, likes, and dislikes. We will be training him also to drop retrieved items in my lap instead of to my hand, and moving my feet for me (as I have my mom or dad shift them frequently throughout the day).

So without further ado... here is the pics and a couple of videos from training.