Seven years later, her parents finally said, "OK, we can get a dog." But the process dragged on and on and then finally became stagnant. They just couldn’t figure out what kind of dog would be best for their family. You see, Julia has a younger sister named Ellie who has an extra chromosome and sometimes requires extra patience. Getting a dog could be a really great thing for Ellie but it could also be not so great if it weren’t the right dog. The parents researched breed temperaments and personalities and narrowed the field down to a couple breeds including labs and golden retrievers. But still, nothing really felt like it was the right fit.
Until March 2026. In March, Julia’s family found out they could qualify for a service dog for Ellie. But it was a two year process. Could Julia wait that long to get a dog? No. She could not. She and her parents had learned that the service dog organization they applied to relies on volunteers to actually raise the dogs from 8 weeks old until about a year and a half when they are sent to a centralized location to learn all the tasks that come with the very important job of being a service dog. The company only uses labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and sometimes breeders will produce litters of a cross between the two breeds. The puppy gets brought to your home and then the feeding and care of the puppy is completely the responsibility of the family for 16 or so months. When the dog is the age to enter professional training, you give the dog a tight squeeze, grab a few tissues and tell yourself the dog was "born to serve". Three or four months later at the dog's "graduation", you are invited to a ceremony where you “pass the leash" of your former puppy to it's "forever handler" - the person you did all this for in the first place.
For whatever reason, this fits. It will be hard. It will be wonderful. It's something that our family had barely even heard of until a few months ago. Sort of like Holland.
For whatever reason, this fits. It will be hard. It will be wonderful. It's something that our family had barely even heard of until a few months ago. Sort of like Holland.
This blog will be a place where you can follow Julia and Ellie’s journey of raising the puppy! The experience will actually be a school elective for Julia's junior year in high school. She will post lots of pictures and updates here while also filing a monthly progress report with the organization on how the dog is doing. We have chosen mid-July as a start date. Since Julia is not yet 18, she will be a "junior handler" under her parents. We'll see what she wants to do two years from now when we've said goodbye to our "first" puppy and she's 18 years old.
Oh and we are still pursuing a service dog for Ellie. We'll see how all that plays out. Nothing is stopping us from doing the puppy thing more than once even if we were to be given an adult service dog. The program allows up to four dogs in a home at the same time. How did we go from zero dogs to now talking about the possibily of having two? Timing is everything. Thank you Julia for your patience and trust. God took the desires of your heart and multiplied them by one million. Speaking of - it's time to grade math.
We love you Julia and Ellie. Let's have some fun!
The Beginning.