Saturday Blog Hop and an update on ther service dog process

We are participating in the Saturday blog hop! Check out sponsor Life With Dogs. LWD, along with Two Little Cavaliers and Baby Patches at Nip and Bones. Want to join? Check on the link or the button in my sidebar! We are looking forward to getting to know new friends!

We thought today we would update everyone on Mom's search for a new service dog.  When Mom adopted me and when Lola was dumped at our house, Mom had a lot more energy and her disease wasn't near as bad as it is today.  Because of that, Mom isn't up to finding a good service dog candidate puppy and raising and training him/her so she decided to go the route of a program trained service dog.
Mom has a pretty unique situation, so it was hard to find a program that would work with her.  First, she has two different disabilities that she needs a service dog's help with and only 5% of all service dog programs in the United States will train a dog for multiple disabilities.
Second, our family has a lot of four legged members and they are a part of our family as much as Uncle Andrew or Granddad or Grandmom is!  Many programs that Mom contacted told her they would only giver her a dog if the family gave up the other animals, which was totally out of the question.  Everyone here is well taken care of, spoiled and healthy and loved.
Finally we found CARES who was willing to train a dog for both of Mom's disabilities and who said they never penalize an applicant for having pets.  Mom e-mailed them a lot of questions and she got answers within hours of asking them.  They sent Mom their full application and she has been working hard to get everything it needs.
They want 2 letters of reference, they want a letter from Mom's doctor and the medical records that show she really is disabled and the application form filled out by Mom.  After they get the application, they find a dog that is good for Mom then will interview her so the know they have the perfect match for her.  Mom is asking for a Standard Poodle and they agree that a Standard is the best match for Mom's health and personality.  We will talk more about why in another entry.  It takes around $15,000 to $20,000 to train one service dog, but they only ask for a small portion of that from the handlers who receive service dogs and they won't refuse to give a dog to someone who can't pay that.  They are a non-profit and always welcome donations so they can help more people!
We hope everyone has a wonderful (and maybe long if you are here in the US) weekend!  Mom and the rest of the human family are having a cookout and hanging out by the pool on Monday