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!