It's Raing, It's Pouring...and our dog is Tracking!!!

Hi Everyone!


Well...we got SOAKED while we practiced tracking today, but Buddy found us right away- so it was completely worth it! What a great dog!!! We are so happy with him.

We're already seeing little positive changes in Jonathan. It's amazing to watch him! Today he was very verbal. He tried to repeat everything he heard. He is getting more and more comfortable with Buddy. The only issue we're having with the two of them is that Buddy loves to play and Jonathan can get easily overwhelmed. They both want the ball! :) We bought a 12 pack of tennis balls today just so we MIGHT have enough to go around! LOL!


At the end of a track, when the dog finds the child, we praise the dog like crazy. He gets the best reward saved for this 'game' because we want it to be a highly motivated activity that he wants to do. Most dogs get a handfull of hot dogs as their reward...Buddy gets to play with his tennis ball! It's more fun for him than treats. This is great since Jonathan's favorite thing to do is throw balls.


Here are some pictures of today. We were able to go to Applebees with Jonathan, and he sat through the whole meal. Huge progress! He wanted to sit on my lap at the training center for a lot of the afternoon session. It was sweet until it was my turn to work with Buddy in front of the whole class...and Jonathan needed to be riding piggy back on me! Oh well...I went with it, and Buddy worked like a pro. He loves attention and is becoming the class clown.


Stay tuned for more soon!



Heather

End of Day 2

Hi Everyone!

Today we worked a lot on heeling and extended time in a down with distractions. Buddy was awesome. I can walk to the other side of a large room and he stays right where he's supposed to. I walked around him snapping my fingers, clapping my hands, stepping over the top of him, dropping treats within a foot of his nose...still he was obedient! What a good boy! He also knows the command "go potty" and goes right away like clockwork!

The only problem we had today was when Buddy thought Jonathan running around in a pull-up looked like too much fun and dragged the pull-up right off his butt! Jonathan did not find this as funny as Dave and I did! :)

Jonathan did well at the training center all day today. We bought a new electronic toy called a Leapster and he was facinated with it. Thank you Walmart! It's been raining all week, so he's had to be confined inside.

Tomorrow we track for the first time. With Buddy's energy and the amount of sniffing the ground just when we're going potty...I'm anticipating great things. It's supposed to rain the rest of the week-so we'll probably be soaked! Fun times!

Andrew and Aaron- We miss you very much! Take good care of Holly and tell her all about Buddy for us. We will see you in 10 more days.

Heather

Day 2 - Off to a good start!

Buddy woke Jonathan with kisses this morning. He woke up happy and giggling. What a great way to start our day! We've practiced tethering to the dining room and back. Jonathan is doing well as long as we keep moving. Sitting still is not an option yet...but we'll work on that.

Today the goal is for Buddy to learn that I'm am the boss. :) He's testing his boundaries...but he'll learn soon. He's a sweatheart. Eager to please. Great personality and lots of fun.

Well, we're off to training.

Have a great day!

Heather

A Successful First Day!

Our first day with Buddy was amazing. He is very sweet natured and beautiful! Lots of energy, but obedient. We're still bonding. For the first several hours, Jonathan would run away shrieking every time Buddy came near him. Now, he is comfortable with Buddy touching him-in fact we even tethered them together for a few minutes!!! It turns out that both Jonathan and Buddy LOVE to play ball! In this picture Jonathan is stepping on a squeaky ball and he has Buddy's full attention!

Goodnight All!

Heather

We made it to Ohio!

We're here. We're exhausted, but glad to have the 7 hour drive behind us. Jonathan had trouble with carsickness...which we were semi-prepared for...but now we're doing laundry as well as trying to settle in. Fun times!

Tomorrow is the big day. We meet Buddy at 10:00. We've already met several of the other families and they seem really nice.

Sorry for the short post. I'll try to write more tomorrow when I can focus.

Heather

It's settled....he will be called "Buddy"

We had several people suggest "Buddy" for our new dog's name. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it...and then....I realized, we already have Holly. Buddy Holly is PERFECT! :)

Okay....time to start packing! Oh wait. I still have 9 1/2 more days.

going nuts...going nuts...going nuts...going nuts

Taking a breath...

We found out who our new sevice dog will be!!!

4Paws sends out a letter from the service dog to the child. Here is Jonathan's letter from his new dog, Dooley (we're not sure if Jonathan can say 'Dooley'-so we might be changing the name).

Dear Jonathan

Hey buddy!

Boy am I excited to finally be meeting you. Everyone here has told us all about you and what a cool boy you are! Then I heard Cinnamon (a.k.a.Holly) lives with you and she is a good friend of mine so that is so cool. All my brothers and sisters have graduated and I have been sort of sad because I am left here but I know it is because I was waiting for you and that is the best of all. My name is Dooley and I am a member of the Irish litter born to Mom, Allie and Dad, Norman. Hey, Norman just won the Bissel cleaner contest and $10,000 for 4 Paws. How cool is that to be related to someone famous! You will be able to read about it on the 4 Paws web site. My birthday is 1-18-2008 and I am a year old Golden retriever just like Cinnamon but we are not the same color. I am much lighter than she is. Please hurry up and come to Ohio. Bring toys to play, especially a ball because I love to play! I can't wait to be your bestest buddy!

xoxoxo

Dooley

The wait is killing me!

We should find out who our dog is any day now, and the wait is killing me!

On April 27, we will drive back to Ohio to train with our new service dog. The last time we went, we brought the whole family, as well as Jonathan's personal aid-Karen, and both sets of grandparents. This time, we are simplifying everything and only bringing Jonathan. We'll be able to focus having the dog and Jonathan bond better this way. The training will take two weeks to complete. Why another two weeks-you ask? Well, the new dog needs to learn Jonathan's scent for tracking, and we need to learn the body language of our new dog while he/she is tracking.

We're ready to go. All the details are finalized. Now we wait...patiently.

-Heather