Newly retired, I convinced my husband Gary that I had the time and we were ready to take on another guide-puppy-in-training. On July 12, 2015 we welcomed little Elsa in our home late on a Sunday night.

As the staff from the guide dog school carried the 12 lb., 9-week old puppy into our home the first thing we noticed was that her pointed ears were fully up and she was very alert and inquisitive. They explained that she just finished her first car ride (8 hours) and this was her first day in a crate, away from her mother, away from her siblings; the first time wearing collar and the first time on a leash. Oh wow.

Expecting a somewhat shy response to this new home with a new big dog, we held our breaths as they put her down on the floor in our entryway. She stood up; she pranced, and calmly, but thoroughly circumnavigated all our BarkBed Covered dog beds and checked out the first three rooms, while barely acknowledging the 75 lb. German Shepherd that already lived there. With the air of an Upper East Side heiress inspecting Co-Ops, she looked at all four of us and implied dismissively, “It will do.”

The four of us seasoned dog-handlers looked at each other with amazement as the two staff members said with a little embarrassment, “Well, she is confident.” We knew then we were in for a ride.

I guess if you have to save people’s lives on a daily basis as a guide dog, you need confidence, but right then I was wondering how I was going to be able to work full time growing BarkBed Covers to provide removable, washable dog bed covers to dog owners while training Little Miss Confident. Stay tuned.