Some background: JoJo first

JoJo: female black lab mix (part golden, part blk lab, looked like a Curly-Coated Retriever).

At the time we got JoJo as a puppy, my symptoms were just starting in my legs. I had always said that I never wanted a dog because dogs were like having kids: tie you down, responsibilities, time-consuming... (of course, you don't have to save for college and don't have to worry about them getting thrown in jail at 16!).

But for some reason, all of a sudden, I wanted a dog. It probably had something to do with my illness, especially because I was having to take more sick days and was sitting home alone and lonely.

The timing of finding JoJo was very interesting. I had gone to see my first neurologist (a very scary proposition at the time, meant that things were serious) and the receptionist told the folks in the waiting room that her dog just had puppies and did anyone want one. I got very excited.

But, alas, Rick did not want a dog. He still had the above mindset of not wanting to be tied down. I started trying to convince him to get a puppy, but he wasn't budging. I even thought of telling him I needed to stop by at a friend's house and take him to the puppy house, but this probably would have been a big mistake.

Luckily, a co-worker of his got wind of his apprehension, and brought to work her new schnauzer puppy to show Rick. Next thing I know, Rick calls me at work and asks me if I'd like to go look at puppies that evening. Puppies will do that.

We went to look at all the puppies. I had a big, gargantuan male in my lap and was lovin' on him. But then I looked over at Rick and he has this little female on his lap and it was obvious he was in love. We went over a few times a week to bond with her, and we'd bring cans of dog food for the mommy. These folks were "accidental" breeders and they knew little about nutrition for the momma dog. So we did what we could to help.

The day we went to pick up JoJo, she was 8 weeks old. She came running right to Rick when he called her name.

She was raised as a regular "pet" dog for the first 4 years of her life. It wasn't until we moved to Vermont, and I was using my wheelchair more regularly, that our vet there mentioned Wheelchair Service Dogs. I had never heard of such a thing. She hooked us up with a local trainer who evaluated JoJo and then started training her and us. It took about a year of training. JoJo already had the basic and advance obedience skills, she needed the exposure training and pulling training. We actually found a sled-dog trainer (only in Vermont!) and she taught us a lot.

JoJo worked for me until she was 7 years old. Then she started exhibiting some stress-related symptoms after taking her to an amusement park. I think the experience was sensory overload for her, and she never really regained her composure for stressful outings. Soon, even "normal" outings were too much and I decided to retire her.

Her retirement was pretty easy to accomplish. She seemed very ready to retire. When I would come home from outings with Willie (sdog #2, more on him in another blog post), I would undress him and them I'd let JoJo do her "undress ritual" with me. She'd jump up and put her paws on my shoulders and smooch me. I loved doing that with her.

She died at the young age of 9. She had always had chronic infections (ear, anal, urinary). The urinary infections caused pitting in her bladder and she got severe bladder cancer. She had no symptoms until 4 days before she died. Once the cancer was found, it had filled almost the entire bladder.

She will be greatly missed. She's the dog that made me the dog trainer I am today.