Gone to the Dogs!

Golf welcomes dogs at Muskoka Highlands Golf Links. Taking a page out of the script for the Olde Course at St. Andrews, dogs are welcome at any time, under your control.

We foster Dog Guide puppies for the Lions Foundation of Canada. Every year. We are on number 23. Russ (our GM and youngest son) is on number 2.

We spend lots of time socializing this notion with many players who come here. Here is the short version.

-?????????We travel to Breslau to pick up a Labrador (or some version there of as we have a cross with a Retriever this time) when they are 6 weeks old.

o??Breslau is the breeding center for the program and nearly every dog coming out of the program was born there.

o??The Lions Puppy Crew do an amazing job of raising them from birth to this 6 weeks.

o??Mom leaves the litter at about 1 month, and the litter continues to roll around for the next 2 weeks being loved and cuddled by the staff.

o??We arrive with our?paperwork in tow. We have done this so many times, it is almost a drive-through as they know that we understand the program/

§?Rookie families sit with mouths ajar in their mini-lecture as they walk our pup out of the kennel to hand them to us and we leave.

§?The rookies have a longer awareness training period as these pups are special.

-?????????We travel home with a wee pup who is usually trying to absorb the whole wide world outside the truck windows. Often this is too much and they fall asleep.

-?????????Our first visit is to Centennial Hospital where they will be tended through their inoculation stage in about 4 visits.

o??Some have liked the treats so much that they find their own way back there from the clubhouse – and we get the call – your dog is here…

-?????????For the next 2-3 nights, I am elected to sleep on the couch with my hand just beside the cage and the puppy whimpering as close to my hand as possible. We both get minimal sleep the first night – and by the 3rd night they make it through with no hand-holding.

-?????????We then go to work getting them to relieve themselves outside the house and not somewhere else in the house. This can take up to a week for the stubborn ones. But we take them outside every 15 minutes whether they whimper or not – and they hear “Busy Busy” enough to remember it for the rest of their lives.

-?????????Once we feel confident that their selection of relief spots has been established, we try some short trips into town. The liquor store and beer store have been great to help with the odd mistake. And the floors there vary so they get used to unfamiliar surfaces.

-?????????We then move to the sit command, then the down command and finally heal. The stay command makes its way into rotation at some point in there – but it is a tougher one and needs lots of practice.

-?????????Gradually we get to the point they move when we move. They get into the truck when I go there. They can come out of nowhere to do this – so they are very aware of our movements.

-?????????At about 13 months, we get THE call – your pup is due back for training. They give us a 10 day window.

o??We travel around the regular spots we took them – the various stores, Rotary meetings, church and special friends. The goodbyes are sad – but necessary.

-?????????We then head back to Breslau to return them.

o??We walk in and do a wee bit of paperwork, then they tell us to say good bye and remove our collar from our dog. They slip their collar over their dog and walk away.

-?????????We walk away trying to not look back (who wants to turn into salt) and head home in a quieter truck.

-?????????Waiting for the decision to get the next one.

• Rinse, repeat….