The Story of CCI and Korina Korina is our sweet, beautiful black lab / golden retriever cross. She is a breeder for Canine Companions for Independence, in Santa Rosa, California. She belongs to CCI, but will live with us, her Breeder Caretakers, for the rest of her life. She is expected to have 5 or 6 litters of puppies in her breeding career. CCI is a national non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs. The breeding and puppy-training is accomplished by volunteers, while the advanced dog training, and human-dog team training is done by professional trainers (with the support of many volunteers).

As Korina's Breeder Caretakers we have agreed to whelp her litters of puppies in our home, providing care, play and lots of love to them for the first several weeks of life. At eight weeks, the puppies are turned into the Northwest Training Center for health checks, and are then sent out to their Puppy Raisers all across the country. Puppy Raisers have the puppies in their homes for a little over a year, are agree to introduce the puppies to new people and situations, attend basic obedience classes, of course, provide lots of love, play, and attention! In a little over a year, the pups will head back to one of five CCI National Training centers for advanced training, and those that pass will be placed with a person with a disability. (Those that don't succeed in Advanced Training "change careers" and are adopted as pets, or into other kinds of service such as therapy or search and rescue dogs.) These dogs bring the miracle of love, support, and independence to their disabled owners. By the time Korina's first litter of puppies graduate, she will have had more puppies, and the process will continue. Some people wait a lifetime for a miracle, at CCI we raise them one (or more) at a time. Our History with CCI began with Dawn (the Border Collie) in 1988... Visit the CCI Community

	The Dogwood Branch of the Family Tree
To learn more about each pup - and where they are now visit the Current pUpdates --  Current photos, final placements, and stories of how Korina pups are doing and where they are now.  Also check KorinaPups Yahoo Groups to hear the very latest updates and see photos posted from Puppy Raisers and Forever Homes.

Korina's friends can keep in touch at Yahoo Groups: Korina Pups! Like the Yahoo Groups CCI People, this is a place for Korina's puppie's Puppy Raisers (and other friends) to post ideas, stories and questions, share pictures, or even chat! --The latest pictures of the H, M, S, P and B puppies can be found at YahooGroups under "Photos" Check out their albums!!
Litters in Order	Birthday Photos	Week Seven Bench Shots
Korina had her First "H" litter of puppies on January 26th, 2002. Read about the birth of the Happy, Healthy, 'Holesome "H" litter, see pictures of their growth and development, and hear about their lives as "ADITs" in the messages on YahooGroups.   Hilani was chosen as a breeder, Hoku and Hoaka graduated as Service Dogs.  The others are still with the Puppy Raisers going to work with them as companion or therapy dogs.
1st Litter Six "H" Puppies Hilo - with PR at work Hanai - with PRs Therapy Dog Hoana - with PRs at school Hilani - Breeder (deceased) Hilo - Service Dog SE Region Hoaka - Service Dog NW Region
Korina had her Second "M" litter of puppies on September 15th, 2002. Read all about the birth and growth of the Merry, Marvelous, Magnificent "M" litter as they grow and develop into the Magnificent M's they are! They are Assistance Dogs in Training, still in their puppy raisers homes all around the county, waiting to be turned in early 2004.  Makia was chosen as a breeder, Malana is a Hearing Dog in Sequim Washington and Mahi a Service Dog with his boy "Luke" in San Diego, CA.  Mary was placed privately as a Service Dog.  The others are with their Puppy Raisers and living happily ever after.
2nd Litter Seven "M" Puppies  Maila - with PR Makia - Breeder Mara - with PR Mahi - Service Dog SW Region Malana - Hearing Dog NW Region Moku - with PR Therapy Dog Mary - outside placed Service Dog Malulani - stillborn Angel Pup
Korina had her Third "S" litter of puppies on November 17th, 2003. Read all about the birth of the Six Super-sized Spectacular "S" litter in first 8 weeks in our home, and updates on their time with the Puppy Raisers in 2004 and turn in's in the Spring of 2005.  Sashi and Shira were chosen as Breeders! In November 2005 several S pups were in Advanced Training and the November Team Training -- with preliminary matches!  We keep you updated on Samoa, Sakai, Stevo and Sandia.
3rd Litter Six "S" Puppies Samoa - Advanced Training Sakai - Advanced Training Stevo - Advanced Training Sandia - Advanced Training Sashi - Breeder Shira - Breeder
Korina had her Fourth "P" litter of puppies on January 26, 2005. Korina was bred for her 4th Litter on Sunday, November 22, 2004.  The Positively Precious and Precocious "P" litter arrived January 28th -- check back here for regular photo updates and stories of the progress and antics of the P pups.
4th Litter Eight "P" Puppies Pele - NW Region Pokeli - NW Region Pakuna - SW Region Pili - NC Region Peggy - SW Region Pukea - NC Region Puna - NE Region Pilot - NE Region
Korina had her Fifth "B" litter of puppies on November 10th, 2005.
5th Litter Three "B" Puppies Bakari - SE Region Banyon - SE Region Brindy - NW Region Batya - stillborn Angel Pup B'mbye - stillborn Angel Pup Baloha - stillborn Angel Pup

 

Check out the Information for Puppy Raisers on how the pups were raised, what they like to play with, what they are used to eating, and how they use a litter box -- and more !

Learn More About Korina's Life

Korina, and her buddy Kalani, are both certified Therapy Dogs  first with Paws for Healing, and now with Delta Society Pet Partners. When Korina is not busy with puppies, she works at Kaiser Vallejo's Rehabilitation Center doing Canine Assisted Therapy.  Kalani, her buddy joins her -- and fills in for her when she is on maternity leave. (They even has their own Kaiser ID tags!) --

Korina's Vital Statistics Korina is Black Lab / Golden Retriever mix (3/4 Lab, 1/4 Golden) Her Sire is "Quester II" (Black Lab), and her Dam "Terry" (1/2 Lab 1/2 Golden), and she had 12 other littermates! She was born May 6, 2000, and weighs about 67 pounds She was raised by volunteer "Puppy Raisers" in Longview, Washington She came back to CCI's Regional Training Center in Santa Rosa in August 2001 for advanced training and screening, and being in the top 5% of her class, was chosen to become a breeder. She came home with us October 20th, 2001, and officially adopted her November 2nd, 2001. She was presented to us as a Breeder at the February 2002 Northwest Graduation. She is sweet, and charming, playful and very smart! Korina even has her own song! (Which is over 70 years old and been recorded over 100 times!) I heard from her Mom's Breeder Caretaker that Korina was named for the song. Check out the "Corrine, Corrina Web Site." Her favorite versions are on the "Corrina, Corrina" Soundtrack from the movie of the same name (you can hear a clip of it), and Eric Clapton's "Alberta" (same song, different name) on his "Unplugged" Album. How did Korina become a breeder? Because we had raised a puppy for CCI back in 1988 (see the story of Dawn), we knew about the Breeder program. In April 2001 we applied to become Breeder Caretakers, and then waited for the call "our girl" was ready for us. In October 2001 we got the call, and were told her name was Korina. It was love at first sight! So we officially adopted her, and made her part of our family. (See pictures of her "Welcome Home!"). While Korina will spend her life with us, for the next 5 years, or so, she will provide Service Dog puppies to the CCI program. Only the top 5% of dogs in Advanced Training are pulled out to be breeders, so we are very proud of Korina! And there are puppy raisers all around the country waiting for her pups, to help them get started on their Service Dog careers. Learn more about CCI Breeder Dogs and about how to become a Breeder Caretaker. Fall 2004: CCI needs new Breeder Caretakers! Contact Esther Molina, the CCI Breeding Coordinator Learn about the Breeder Caretaker Community, or Share BC Ideas at Breeder Caretaker Ideas Index .