Sometimes the hardest part of being a trainer and handler is not teaching the work. It is telling yourself the truth about who is happiest doing it, even when that truth hurts.
I had very high hopes for Terry, and this part is hard for me to write. He is a sweethearted boy, and this is important to say clearly: his path away from service work is not a failure as a puppy. Service work is brutally demanding. Public access can be mean and unforgiving to service dogs, and the dog has to truly want to be there. They have to find the work fun, rewarding, and worth the pressure.
Terry did not fail the tasks. He was simply unhappy in the job, and that matters more than my expectations ever will. As his trainer, it is my responsibility to be honest with him and with myself. My job is to match him with the right life, not force him into the wrong one because I wanted a different outcome. Terry is available to a very special home only, and he deserves one that fits his heart.
Letting go of the plan I had in my head for him is painful. But loving a dog well sometimes means releasing your own expectations first.
Charles is a different story. This boy loves his work. He is starting to check on me even when I am not coughing but still not feeling well. I am still sorting out whether he is alerting before the cough or whether I have become Pavlov's dog and I cough because he alerted first. Either way, he is reading me more deeply every week.
He has already done two life-saving alerts for me, and I am growing very fond of this boy. His public-access training is still limited and intentional. We only go where I have management permission. He even did his first restaurant outing at a place I go regularly, and for a first tuck, he did amazing. It took him a while to figure it out and relax, but when he settled, we were incredibly proud of him.
If I am being fully honest, I ended up with the dog I least expected, and somehow he is becoming the dog I have been looking for for years.
Both dogs are good dogs, and both roads are valid roads. One is heading deeper into training. One is heading toward the perfect home. Both are loved, and both are exactly where they should be.
Strength stands watch.