Promoting Justice with Compassion
Molly B - Courthouse Dog
February 12, 2010
Celeste, Ellen, and courthouse dog Molly B graduated from Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) as a facility dog team.
Molly B spent the first eighteen months of her life with her puppy raisers JoAnn Ranish and Thea Ranish-O’Donnell. This is a picture of Molly B with Thea when she was eight weeks old. During that time, Thea and JoAnn taught Molly B basic commands and provided her with a number of experiences with different people, places and things. This early socialization process is the foundation for the training of an assistance dog
The next stage of her schooling began when she returned to the CCI campus in Santa Rosa, CA, and received an additional nine months of instruction from professional dog trainers.
Molly B’s training is the equivalent to that of a service dog. However, she was chosen for us because of her quiet, calm demeanor.
From now on, Molly B will accompany us on our travels and assist us in our conference presentations by demonstrating the type of training needed for use as a courthouse dogs. She will also begin working with domestic violence victims in Seattle on a regular basis.
We are very grateful to CCI for placing Molly B with us and hope you will enjoy reading about our future travels and adventures together.
Ellen, Molly B, Celeste