The Essentials

It was just last October that we at the Cornell Chronicle office bade farewell to Tanner, the beloved yellow Labrador retriever seeing-eye-puppy-in-training we were lucky enough to help raise until she was old enough to begin her life of service.

With Tanner’s departure came the arrival of Doco, the eight-week-old chocolate Lab who would be her successor. Doco, raised primarily by Cornell Chronicle managing editor Susan Lang, joined us as a cuddly, dark-brown puppy full of both love and sass – and grew up to be a smart, gentle, affectionate and treasured member of our office.

Which is all to say – Doco is ready to begin her intensive training with the Freedom Guide Dog Foundation, and then to take her place at the side of a human who needs her.

It hasn’t quite hit us yet. We will miss her, as we still miss Tanner. But we’re also preparing for a new puppy – another female yellow Lab, from the foundation through Franklin Hill Labrador Retrievers, who will join us on Monday.

And here’s the thing: The new puppy doesn’t have a name yet. We have a few ideas, but we need your help.

So, e-mail your ideas! If we choose your suggestion, you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing you were a part of the giant effort that goes into raising a service dog – one of the biggest prizes there is.

– Lauren Gold

This entry was posted on November 11, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Around Campus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.