Thomas and Diane Rampelberg and Dustin
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Thomas began training his first puppy, Dustin, in December of 1997 when
he was 16 and an Eagle Scout. With minor puppy raisers, a parent must also share the
responsibility. His mother, Diane, was Dustin's co-raiser. Diane is a Special Ed teacher
but she had stopped working several years ago to home-school Thomas. On one of their trips
to the CCI clinic in December 1998, they unexpectedly came home with a second puppy,
Geralyn.
Geralyn has several connections to the South Bay. Her mother is Giaco who was sponsored
by graduate, John Giacomazzi in San Jose. Giaco's Breeder Caretaker is Sarah Pink of
Felton who is the sister of graduate, Jeanette Kaliska, also of San Jose. Geralyn was
named in honor of their brother, Gerald, who passed away from complications with Muscular
Dystrophy. |
| Dustin entered Advanced Training at CCI in February 1999. By this time,
Thomas was in his senior year and eligible to take college level classes. Diane found
herself assuming more of the training responsibilities for Geralyn. During the previous
year, she had also learned a lot about CCI and became more committed to supporting the
program. With Thomas preparing for college, Diane decided to apply for a Facility Dog and
to use her skills to work as a volunteer for an agency serving disabled children.
Meanwhile Dustin made it through Advanced Training and would have graduated in August but
he was not matched with one of the graduates so he was held over for the next class. |
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| Since Diane was not employed by an agency, she had to find an
agency or agencies who were interested in working with a Facility Dog team before she
could complete the process of applying for a Facility Dog. She was able to spark the
interest of the Santa Clara County Office of Education and they agreed to her and a
Facility Dog working on special assignments with children at Chandler Tripp School and
Della Maggiore School. These are both schools for severely disabled children. |
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By chance, her completion of the process coincided with a slot being
available in the November team training class. Dustin could have been matched with one of
the other graduates who were all children receiving Skill Companion Dogs, but the best
match for Diane turned out to be Dustin. They graduated as a Facility Dog team on November
20 with Thomas presenting Dustin to his mother. |
Geralyn will be entering Advanced Training on February 26. In
the meantime, she and Dustin are having a great time together (when they are not working,
of course). Dustin is one of six SBC pups who has returned to the South Bay as a Breeder
or Assistance Dog.
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| Thomas with Geralyn and Dustin |
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