On vacation

When I first heard about CCI and puppy-raising, one of the things that instantly appealed to me was hearing that the community included folks who were happy to puppy-sit. As much as Steve and I enjoy raising these dogs, we also love to travel, and we do it as much as we can. One of the worst thing about dog-ownership, for me, has always been figuring out what to do with the dog(s) when we're away. Putting any pet in a commercial kennel is the choice of last resort, given that they're potentially dangerous, expensive, and we suspect the dogs hate it.

The puppy-sitting promise has proven to be true, over the years. For the most part, we've received great support and wonderful care for our pups from folks we've gotten to know and trust -- and have asked personally. But this spring we have an unusually busy schedule of upcoming trips, including a last-minute run up to San Francisco this weekend. To my dismay, all the folks in my normal cadre of puppy-sitters were unavailable, so in desperation I sent off a plea to the CCI puppy-sitting coordinator.

Dionne was glowing with excitement at the
opportunity to stay with Linda Dreyfuss, who together with her daughter
has previously raised 9 CCI pups! 

Nancy Fairfield is relatively new to that job, but now that I've tried out the system, I want to sing her praises. When I e-mailed her, she passed along my request to her network within minutes. Early the next morning, I got a call from volunteer in Del Mar who sounded wonderful, and we made plans for her and her husband to take Dionne over the long weekend. But a week later, the husband developed a health problem, and they had to cancel. Even closer to our departure date, I was beginning to imagine having to cancel the whole trip. But I e-mailed Nancy again and got no less than 5 responses within a day or so.

I find this wonderfully gratifying. We in America today may not have fellow villagers to help us raise our children. But it feels like we CCI puppy-raisers in San Diego do have that sort of support. It feels great.