It's been almost seven months since WZZM Paws With A Cause Puppy CJ left to continue her training. Since then, she's been to prison and back again.
Now, she's one step closer to finding her client.
The next leg of CJ's training involves meeting another new person, her trainer.
“At this point she's pleased with CJ's basics," said head PAWS trainer, Mike Hannah. "She's got a real feel for her personality and enjoys her -- and that's kind of where she's at."
Hannah explained why her trainer plays a significant role in CJ's journey, "Ultimately, that trainer is going to match that dog with a person who lives in a certain environment and has certain needs."
In the meantime, there's a lot of hard work to do.
"The dogs have to learn how to use their body and they have to use their body on cue because we have to set them up for certain things," Hannah said. "The majority of the problems that we face in the field are social in nature and we have to teach them to interact with humans the way we want them to behave.
"She just started to take those skills up a notch and she's been introduced to a lot of movement exercises."
The skills she's mastering now all started at just 10 weeks old with her puppy kindergarten training at Paws with A Cause.
We should find out who CJ's client is in January. She’ll be two years old, so that gives you an idea of how long it takes to train service dogs and why there is such a need for puppy raisers.
If you’re interested in being a puppy raiser contact Paws With A Cause -- and you can keep up with CJ's journey by following her on Facebook!
Photos: CJ
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