Evan and Mindy!

Evan and Mindy are becoming fast friends. He really loves having her with him and she follows him if he leaves the room so I think it's a perfect match! Here are a few pictures of the two of them together...

Hanging with Mindy and Dinky!


Playing DS with Mindy.

And of course, throwing the Frisbee!

Evan and Mindy in Ohio before we came home.

Homeward Bound!

We are on our way home after a wonderful but exhausting trip! After being here so long it feels a little strange to leave. We had great families in our class and everyone at 4 Paws for Ability was helpful and encouraging. They do amazing work and we feel blessed to be part of the 4 Paws family.

I also have to give a huge shout out to Homewood Suites. They were welcoming and accommodating to all of us. Every morning started with a complimentary full breakfast buffet and the staff was so kind. It didn't take long before they figured out that Aria and Evan really liked the chocolate muffins and somehow our kids even got muffin deliveries when they were fresh from the oven! On Monday - Thursday we were greeted in the evening with a complimentary dinner complete with wine and beer! Homewood Suites quickly became a haven for us. This was also the first public place we brought Mindy and all the staff were so good about having several service dogs around. As we were checking out we complimented them on this and the reply was, "we love 4 Paws for Ability and seeing the dogs here." That's certainly a nice feeling, especially as we were learning how to work with Mindy!

It's a long trip and electronics are a great distraction!

Testing!

Today was the big day! We had our public access test. The test was done at the mall and included a restaurant experience in the food court. We decided it would be easier to just send Rob and Mindy for the test and it also gave Aria and Evan a little down time. Rob said Mindy was great and made him look good. She passed with flying colors and we are an official service dog team.

After the test we went to 4 Paws for Ability to go over all the paperwork, medical history, etc. We also were given Mindy's tags and a new collar that Evan picked out from a huge bin. The afternoon ended in a graduation for all the dogs. We each received our service dog certificate and celebrated with cake and a gathering of our class, the 4 Paws trainers and staff and several puppy foster parents. It was great to have the chance to celebrate together and it felt so strange to say our goodbyes after spending so much time together. We have all come so far.

Jeremy told us the first year will be the hardest and that there will be bumps along the way. We will leave Ohio with everything we have learned...and Jeremy's cell phone number!

 We signed the Graduation Wall Hanging in permanent marker so we are official!

  

 Evan, Jeremy and Mindy after Graduation

 These are the two best big sisters ever! So glad they got to spend so much time together!

Training, Day 10

Wow, we've really come a long way. This was our last day of training! Tomorrow we will take a pretty intensive test to show we can do everything we need to do as a service dog team. If all goes well it will be the last day Mindy wears her "in training" card!

This morning I took Evan to see an orthopedist about his finger. They were pretty insistent in the ER about following up as soon as possible and not waiting until we got home. The doctor looked at it, verified the fracture, re-splinted it and off we went. He said it should heal completely in two weeks and said Evan can swim as long as he wears the splint. This was the best thing he could have said!

There was a news crew at 4 Paws for Ability doing a story about a little Papillion with one eye who will be a service dog one day. He is appropriately named Pirate and is so sweet! Here is the link to the story...all 5 of my family are in the video but some are more stealth appearances than others!

Channel 2 News: Pirate the Papillion Ready for Service

While Evan and I spent most if the morning in the doctor's office, Rob, Aria and Mindy were at 4 Paws for Ability. Rob and Mindy went over what we've learned. We also talked about life in general with a service dog, how long dogs will work and when to retire them. We learned about how to introduce Mindy to Dinky and what to expect when we get home.

It's been a lot of information to absorb in 10 days of training and everyone is tired! Evan and Mindy are all tucked in -- she is a bit of a pampered dog already and likes her pillow and blankets!

Training, Day 9

Practice, practice, practice! Heel, sit, down, obstacle course, lap...whew!

Evan with Mindy doing the "lap" command which is used as a way to soothe Evan during a medical procedure or after a seizure. She basically lays her head in his lap to comfort him.

Another photo of the "lap" command with Evan multitasking as he enjoys his dog and his YouTube video.

Mindy gets cold with her short haircut but is nice an cozy under a fleece blanket!

In the afternoon we learned some tricks. We learned how to get Mindy to play dead and roll over. Then we did all the commands off leash. It was amazing to watch Mindy walk around in a heel without a leash. Rob also gave her commands from a distance and she listened beautifully. We also talked a bit about our TEST! Yes there will be a test and it looks like it is pass or fail. I don't even want to think about the fail option!

Training, Day 8

Mindy was great last night and was really tired when she went to bed. We were practicing before bed and she got excited and overtired. It roll a little whole to calm her down and then Rob was talking to her and quietly said, "Do you want to to lay down with Evan?) and off she went! He didn't even mean it as a command!

This morning we were seeing the puppy in Mindy a bit. She picked up a brush an did some substantial nibbling in record time. I can't blame her too much though, it does look a lot like a nylabone. Then when I was in the shower she did some counter surfing and got the milk steaming pot for our lattes (yes, we brought an espresso machine with us) and was lapping up milk from the floor. We are working on correcting that now and she is doing very well at resisting a freshly popped bag of popcorn on the counter. So proud of her!

Today at training we went over everything we learned and also got to help Mindy get used to umbrellas. It was raining this morning and the umbrella scared her so Jeremy took some time to demonstrate the technique of helping her to gain confidence around something unsettling. Jeremy opened the umbrella from across the room so she could approach it on her terms. Then he had Rob bring her up with a tennis ball so she could connect the new experience with something good. It's all so logical and yet I'd have never come up with this solution on my own.

After lunch we were back at the mall for more public accesstraining. Walking into the mall is funny because as we walk past people in acrowded area, I've noticed there is a chorus of "awww" as peoplewatched Mindy go past.

Mindy seems pretty comfortable in the mall!

After training we had a ride on the train that goes through the mall. This trio had a blast!

After training today we picked up a movie for the kids so we could just relax a bit before dinner. Mindy sat with Evan the whole time and they were really cute together. After dinner the kids played basketball with some new friends they've made, both from class and from the hotel. When they were done playing Evan told us his finger hurt and from the swollen look and purplish hue we knew it was a trip to the ER. He barely complained of pain but to make a long story short, it looks like it's broken. Mindy went to the ER and was absolutely perfect.

Training, Day 7

I can't believe we have completed seven days of training already! Today Jeremy increased the obstacle course challenge by having the dogs walk through a maze of dogs. Two people would work their dogs while the rest if the class created the obstacle course. We also worked on all our commands.

After lunch Karen talked about public access with service dogs and answered all our questions. She has pretty much seen / heard it all and is a wealth of information. She also shared some pretty funny stories about some if her experiences with having a device dog. It was an extremely informative afternoon.

Devyn challenged Rob to a horse race! Devyn won and challenged another dad next. 

We got back to the hotel after class and it was such a hot day that we headed straight for the pool. We put Mindy in her kennel because it was much too hot for her. Several families from our class were also at the pool and we had a great time being in the water and watching all the kids play. Two families with children in wheelchairs brought their kids down to join in the fun and they both seemed enjoy being in the water and were all smiles. Several of us ordered pizza and ate by the pool. It was the perfect end to another long day.

Back in the room we practiced with Mindy and put our very tired kids to bed!