A Service Dog for William = Priceless

No more counting down the days or even the hours! Pumpkin is here. She's beautiful & 4 Paws terrific.

All the dogs are bought out 1 by 1 and introduced to their adopted pawtner. William was first! As soon as he heard Pumpkin's name he yelled: "Yippie, me, Me, ME!"

My heart is overwhelmed and grateful to the many people who have made this miracle possible. To the 4 Paws trainers and staff, you have already made a different in one boy's life. Thank you!

Santa's Little Yelpers!

We would appreciate everyone's prayer while we're at training. Families are traveling from all over the country, including Canada. All have a very special someone who may have difficulties with change. Please pray for safety, for bonding between the service dogs & their pawtners, unity among the class, & for whatever else you feel led to. Here's the class roster:

Flutter (Bloodhound Retriever) Pawtner: Sean [Autism Assistance Dog]

Champ (Golden Retriever) Pawtner: Tucker [Autism Assistance Dog]

Beuford (Hound Retriever) Pawtner: Riley [Autism Assistance Dog]

Sushi (Golden Retriever) Pawtner: Drake [Autism Assistance Dog]

Pumpkin (Labrador Retriever) Pawtner: William [Multi-purpose Assistance Dog]

Flash (Bloodhound Retriever) Pawtner: Matthew [Autism Assistance Dog]

Jack (Labrador Retriever Mix) Pawtners: Owen & Annabelle [Multi-purpose Assistance Dog]

Mercy (Golden Retriever) Pawtner: Chris [Autism Assistance Dog]

Dublin (Labrador Retriever) Pawtner: Jacey [Autism Assistance Dog]

Kiwi (Labrador Retriever) Pawtner: Noel [Autism Assistance Dog]

Nokia (Labrador Retriever) Pawtner: Griffin [Autism Assistance Dog]

Zoom (Bloodhound Retriever) Pawtner: Alexander [Autism Assistance Dog]

Dear William

Hello!

My name is Pumpkin nut not like the Great Pumpkin or anything like that! I am a member of the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream litter and there is one flavor called Pumpkin. My sister Kiwi and my brother Dublin are also in this class. How cool is that? I like to play ball, do you? Do you really live in Cincinnati? Does that mean we can visit 4 Paws? That is awesome! I will miss everyone here but I have been dreaming of you for a whole year. My own boy to play ball and Frisbee with! My birthday is 11-1-2010 [born 11-1-2009]and I am a Labrador Retriever. I can't wait for you to come here. I will be counting down the days!

xoxo Pumpkin

(PS. I hope you do not mind if I am a girl)

Begging Songs

A fun tradition with families who are in the next class with 4 Paws for Ability is to "beg" for their matches. The matches don't come any sooner, but it is fun. Here's are try at begging:

Begging, begging time is here
Time for matches should be near
We've been good, but we can't last
...Hurry matches, hurry fast.
Want a dog to search and track
Need to know which [dog] brush to pack
We can hardly stand the wait
Please matches, don't be late.

(See if you can tell what Christmas song the words go with....)

20 days and counting down....

26 and Counting Down

Today we started making sure the winter clothes are ready to go especially since we are outside practicing searching and tracking for William. Last week he escaped from the public library out the back door. This week when Ed took the kids for their weekly visit, the librarian told him they turned the alarm on for that door.

Instead of months we're now down to weeks and days. We follow the blogs and updates of several families who already have their service dogs home. What a difference the dogs have made in the lives of their human friends.

We are so looking forward to having an extra set of eyes watching William when we are out and about as well as a super sensitive nose to track him down. 26 days and counting down!