I Have Faith.

 Heading into Boot Camp in just one week - and in the meantime "trading dogs" with other students this Monday through Friday - Chew and I are coming up on some major change; and it is not going to be easy.

While my loftiest goal is to keep every emotion in check, so as not to heap it onto Chew and weigh him down, I have a pit in my stomach when I imagine that Chew might think I'm abandoning him when I let go of his leash, hand it to someone else, and shut off our deeply rooted bond like I'm shutting off a faucet. But this is exactly what I will have to do. There is no other way. Because in order for Chew to bond with his potential life mate during Boot Camp, I must remove my influence as much as possible. Considering that dogs can read our every emotion whether we attempt to disguise it or not, this will be a great challenge indeed.

I have to believe...that when I hand Chew over to his forever-person, he will on some level, imperceptible though it may be, understand why it's happening. I imagine the dogs simply MUST KNOW. If they didn't, this whole "service dog thing" just could not work. But it does. I mean think about it, had Chew's puppy parents - or any of the other puppy raisers - not been able to let the dogs go, and find it within themselves to TRUST in their new partnerships with us (the students), none of us would be where we are today.

It is also true though that Chew is a very sensitive dog; and I am a very emotionally charged person. He will struggle with the transition, as will I. So, yes. No getting around the fact that THIS IS GOING TO BE HARD. 

Above all, though, I HAVE FAITH IN US!