Forever begins!

Sometimes you wonder what your kids are thinking. Then there are those times they left you know. This was one of those times Ashley let us know.

The last day of training at 4 Paws is full of activity. First, there is meeting the trainers at the mall for the Public Access Test. The test consists of three parts. You walk with your dog around the mall for about 20+ minutes. One of the trainers follows behind you to observe. Is your dog behaving? (Are you behaving? I think that's the real rest!) Do you have your dog under control? What do you do as a team when someone wants to pet your dog? When an unexpected sudden noise happens? A stroller or in our case a LOUD, squeaky cleaning cart goes by? People drop food as they pass by? You get the picture. Typical crowd in a mall at Christmas time. One of the things you must do is to be walking and drop the dog's leash. Will they take off or stay with you? Then you place your dog in a down position and people step over your dog, walk nearby, talk with you, etc. Will you dog stay in "command"?

The second part of the test was to sit in the food court area for another 20 minutes. The dog needs to stay in a "down" or be under the table. It's amazing with all kinds of food smells that the dog are so obedient. We were so proud of Pumpkin. A gentleman came up to us and offered to let Pumpkin "lick" his plate while another person offered to buy Pumpkin an ice cream cone. There are all kinds of different people out there.

Finally, you take your dog to your vehicle and the trainers observe you both in the parking lot and loading up in your vehicle. Pumpkin was on her best behavior despite me being nervous. And yes, we passed the Public Access Test. Pumpkin was the veteran while I was the newbie.

After that, you return to 4 Paws and sign all the paper work. That was exciting! When we finished signing, Ashley said to me: "Is Pumpkin adopted just like us?" "Yes!" "Yippee, that means she is part of our forever family and going home with us!"

And so forever begins!

We're Official!

We officially passed our "Public Access Test" on Friday morning. It was as though she knew I was a tad nervous about the test and was on her best 'command obeying' behavior. Pumpkin had to sit, heel, down, come, weave in and out of clothing racks, allow strangers to come & pet her, people stepping over her, not be rattled by carts, strollers, yells of kids, or distracted by various odors. That was just a few of the things Pumpkin had to deal with during the test. At one point while we were "heeling", I had to drop her leash to make sure she would stay with me and not run off. Another time I had to put her in a down, walk away, and call her to come to me. We had to go in and out doors, walk through the parking lot, and load up in the van. Then we had to sit in the food court for at least 20 minutes while she remained in a down position. Pumpkin took it in stride, feel asleep, and entertained everyone around us with her snoring. She is awesome!

After the test, we returned to 4 Paws for Ability to sign the "adoption" papers. We are family!
Legally, we are a 3 unit team: service dog, William, & adult handler. Ashley enjoys walking with us, too!

The extra set of eyes, the super sensitive nose, and her 4 paws are just what we needed to help keep William safe. We are officially official!

I Want That One!

"Watching a man painting a sign to sell four puppies, a little boy asked, 'Mister, I'd like to buy one of your puppies.'

'Well, these are fine pups and cost a lot of money.'

The child dropped his head, then reached into his pocket and pulled out 'some coins. 'I have thirty five cents. Is that enough to take a look, sir?'

'Sure, sonny. You can take a look.' Then he called, 'Here Dolly!'

Down the doghouse ramp came Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face to the chain link fence, his eyes dancing with delight. Then he noticed movement again at the doghouse. Slowly, another little fur ball appeared, a noticeably smaller one. Down the ramp it slid. Awkwardly the little pup hobbled toward the others, trying his best to catch up with the others.

'I want that one,' the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

'Son, you don't want that pup. He'll never be able to run and play with you like the other ones would.'

With that the little boy reached down and rolled up one pant leg to reveal a steel brace attached to a specially-made shoe.

Looking up at the man, he said, 'You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.'

With tears in his eyes, the man lifted the pup, and holding him carefully, handed the lovable little ball of fur to the boy.

'How much?' asked the little fellow. The man smiled and answered, 'There's no charge for love.'"

Author Unknown

We all need to be wanted by someone who will give us unconditional love and understanding.

Adopting a Service dog

Our homeschooling morning started off with reading about different types of dogs that live in various parts of the word. Our 7 year old daughter asks: "So what will we call our new dog?"

"The dog will already come with a name just like you came to our family with a name."

"Does that mean we'll adopt the dog like you adopted us?"

"Yes, we'll adopt the dog into our family."

"Oh good. That means he'll be part of our forever family"

And William says: "Yes, me" while signing dog!

Sometimes kids get it quicker than we do.