Evan met Mindy today!

The long awaited day finally arrived...Evan got to meet his service dog, Mindy. It was an amazing experience. When we got to 4 Paws for Ability, Evan went straight to Mindy's crate to coo at her. The day was full of sensory overload as we met Mindy and worked on some basic obedience skills. Mindy of course knows everything, it's just a matter of convincing her that we are worthy handlers.

Evan was overwhelmed and having a lot of trouble focusing, so watching him meet Mindy for the first time wasn't the magical boy and his dog moment everyone probably imagines. But go ahead and imagine that anyway, it makes for a better story.

Mindy is small-ish Goldendoodle with a velvety smooth coat and a sweet personality. She was groomed right before we got to Ohio and they clipped her pretty short and put pink ribbons in her hair. She is so cute and I'm looking forward to seeing her with more curls! The little pink bows didn't last long but Aria thought they were pretty cute.

 

Evan wasn't very interested in having his picture taken today so I had to be stealth! I'm looking forward to getting a nice portrait of the two of them together!

Mindy is sleeping at 4 Paws for Ability tonight and will come back to the hotel with us tomorrow after we have a little more experience and confidence. I'm guessing the magic will happen then when we have downtime with Mindy in a more calm environment. The day was thrilling and tiring and we came back to the hotel for dinner and a dip in the pool before bed.

While we were in training a girl in our class had a seizure and her dog alerted an hour before it started and then responded when she started seizing. When the seizure started Mindy started barking and we aren't sure if it was due to the seizure or just a random bark, but she didn't bark much except for that time.It was almost spooky to see the dogs react like that. Evan seems like he is gearing up for a seizure and I'm hoping he waits until after tonight so we'll have Mindy at the hotel and can see how she does.


Bonus for the day: my cousin Paul, his wife Pam and their son Andy were at 4 Paws for Ability to adopt a dog that didn't make it as a service dog. Her name is Vroom and I think she will be the perfect addition to their family! Which one has a bigger smile? I can't tell!