# Fun with Color



## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Whoa! Wild thing! How is she as a service dog?

--Q


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## 1sttimespoomom (Mar 23, 2012)

Priceless!


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Quossum said:


> Whoa! Wild thing! How is she as a service dog?
> 
> --Q


She's great! Super confident, loves to work, incredibly sensitive to and in tune with her handler. She has wonderful manners out in public. Great obedience. Super smart. The biggest thing is the confidence and how eager to please she is. The program-bred poodles tend to be too cautious and not as outgoing, so I think she's going to be a breath of fresh air to the trainers in NY (she's donated from outside lines). Hopefully, if they like her, we can get poodles from the same lines in the future.


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## PlayfulPup (Aug 8, 2012)

she is awesome....! not sure if I should show DH this photos or not... I am pretty sure he would want a rainbow spoo.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

That's not a parti poodle -- it's a PARTY poodle!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

She is a living piece of art. That must have been a challenge not to have the colors bleed into one another. What fun!


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

Love it! How did you get the color on her? Dye, chalk, blo-pens? She looks like when you mix all the play-doh colors together.


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## Locket (Jun 21, 2009)

She looks awesome all colourful!!! Maybe her future handler will recreate it for their graduation!


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

tokipoke said:


> Love it! How did you get the color on her? Dye, chalk, blo-pens? She looks like when you mix all the play-doh colors together.


We used soft pastels (a type of chalk). It was soooooo easy. The colors are actually all blended together, on her ears the hairs are several colors layered.


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## Bunny (Jun 14, 2012)

Love the colors! The poms on her legs are just so perfect with that look, too. Having a service dog that looks like that adds a whole new coolness factor!


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## KidWhisperer (Apr 3, 2012)

*Wow!!!!*

Whoa, I totally LOVE it!!!! I can't wait to show this pic to my kids. Does the pastel rub off onto everything in the house? She is too adorable:adore:


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## Laceypoo (Aug 23, 2011)

Love it!!!!


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## kukukachoo (Jul 26, 2012)

Very awesome! So, will she ever come back to you? What kind of service work is she going to do?

She is a grand looking girl! Best wishes!


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

Sookster said:


> She's great! Super confident, loves to work, incredibly sensitive to and in tune with her handler. She has wonderful manners out in public. Great obedience. Super smart. The biggest thing is the confidence and how eager to please she is. The program-bred poodles tend to be too cautious and not as outgoing, so I think she's going to be a breath of fresh air to the trainers in NY (she's donated from outside lines). Hopefully, if they like her, we can get poodles from the same lines in the future.


Sounds like she's as special and splendid on the inside as you made her look on the outside!!:rainbow:


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

KidWhisperer said:


> Whoa, I totally LOVE it!!!! I can't wait to show this pic to my kids. Does the pastel rub off onto everything in the house? She is too adorable:adore:


After we finished, we sprayed a light coat of hairspray (probably the worst thing in the world to do LOL, but she will get a bath pretty much as soon as she gets to her final destination) to seal the color. Not sure what would be better to use. But no, it didn't really rub off on anything, especially after she slept overnight in her crate and most of the excess chalk dust wore off. She rode in the passenger floorboard of a car for 5 hours today with someone sitting in the seat and didn't rub off on the car or on the person. 



kukukachoo said:


> Very awesome! So, will she ever come back to you? What kind of service work is she going to do?
> 
> She is a grand looking girl! Best wishes!


No, she won't come back. Likely, I will never see her again  When she left at 9am this morning headed north, that was a one-way ticket. She is going to be trained to assist a disabled veteran. What exact type of disability she will help with is not known yet, but I'm thinking wheelchair or PTSD (or both) just based on her personality. When she graduates, I will be invited to come up and meet her new handler (and see her one last time) but I probably will not be able to afford to go. I've had 3 dogs graduate so far and have never gotten to go, though it's something I'm hoping to do someday.


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## kukukachoo (Jul 26, 2012)

Awww, I do hope you get to go sometime. So, are you a breeder?


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

kukukachoo said:


> Awww, I do hope you get to go sometime. So, are you a breeder?


Oh, no, not at all LOL. I'm a puppy raiser for a service dog training program. I do house training, basic obedience, and public access training, and most importantly love them to pieces. Once the dogs are around about 18 months old, I send them on their way to be matched with a disabled or blind handler and to finish their training.

ETA: I then realized you are probably wondering where the dogs come from -- most of our dogs are bred by the program (hence the term "program bred" in one of my responses). But occasionally we accept donations from breeders. Hope was donated. Puppy raisers get the puppies at about 8-12 weeks old and keep them until 14-18 months old.


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

Awww. If I was a puppy raiser...I would have tons of poodles now. I don't think I would be able to give them up after a year. I'm sure it must be hard on u too.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

My babies said:


> Awww. If I was a puppy raiser...I would have tons of poodles now. I don't think I would be able to give them up after a year. I'm sure it must be hard on u too.


Unfortunately, they don't let you keep them even if you want to! Unless they flunk out, like Sookie did LOL. I've raised 6 dogs so far, 2 labs, a golden retriever, and 3 poodles. One of the labs, the golden, and one of the poodles made it. I adopted the other lab and the poodle that failed. Hopefully Hope makes it, because I can't keep her if she doesn't.


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## kukukachoo (Jul 26, 2012)

Incredible stuff I'm learning here! So, do you only have one dog at a time? How did you start doing this- if you don't mind my asking?


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

kukukachoo said:


> Incredible stuff I'm learning here! So, do you only have one dog at a time? How did you start doing this- if you don't mind my asking?


Yep, one dog at a time. Though, I'm also an area coordinator for the program so sometimes I have dogs in that I'm evaluating or hanging onto temporarily, in addition to the dog I'm raising at the time. 

I started when I was a sophomore in college, and found out about the program from a coworker at the time. It's a simple application process that starts with an online application. I'll PM you the organization and some more info.


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## Bunny (Jun 14, 2012)

sookster, what an amazing and generous gift you're providing! I've gotten all teary reading what you do and what happens to your "graduates." What a big heart you have!


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