| Her second puppy was a Golden Retriever named Irbe. Irbe's mom was South
Bay Chapter Breeder Issel. Irbe made it all the way through Advanced Training but was
released just before Team Training. He was a little too energetic for people with a
disability to handle. With Vikki's consent, Irbe was referred to Makor which trains dogs
for law enforcement agencies. Irbe made a successful career change to a Bomb Detection
Dog. The trainers said he was the best Golden they had trained. Irbe now is teamed with an
officer with the Phoenix Police Department. |
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| Vikki with Irbe (center) |
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| They changed his name to Herby because they were having to answer too
many questions about his name instead of what he does. Irbe didn't waste any time in
impressing his fellow officers with his keen nose for finding explosives. He is much
better suited to this career. He can be his natural goofy self and although he has a
serious job, he thinks it's fun; he gets to meet lots of people; and he is very happy.
Vikki occasionally hears from Irbe's partner and received a big stack of "trading
cards" with his and Irbe's picture on it. One of Irbe's littermates (Irving) was also
referred to Makor and is now a drug sniffing dog. |
| Vikki's third puppy was Thalia, one of Fawn's puppies. Thalia and her
littermates were featured in one of CCI's donor solicitation campaigns. Thalia (AKA
Tallie) was co-raised by Vikki and Jill Leipelt. Tallie spent part of her puppyhood in a
class with first grade students and celebrated her first birthday with them. Some fellow
CCI puppies joined them for a class party. Tallie was released from Advanced Training for
being too distractible. She is now a pampered pet with a family who adores her in San
Jose. Tallie has a very sweet personality and now gets all the attention she craves. |
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Vikki and Jill are currently co-raising Buchner. Buchner's mom is South
Bay Chapter Breeder, Faith, and he was named by South Bay Chapter in honor of one of our
volunteers, Kathy Buchner. He actually has four puppy raisers. Mechele Duhamel and Linda
Lady co-raised him the first five months until he was ready to come to work; then Vikki
and Jill took over. Buchner has adapted well to these changes and gets to experience a
variety of different situations. Buchner is our special pup and has his own page on this website. |
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| Vikki and Linda are now CCI's contract trainers in the South Bay. Vikki
trains the puppy raisers with young pups and Linda trains the puppy raisers with the older
dogs |
