July Update

Well, the summer is flying by. Many positive things have been taking place since I last posted. The first being that Jonathan is finally potty-trained! It was a major undertaking, but so worth the effort...now that we're on the other side.

Buddy has become a member of our family. We love him so much. He is calming down and growing out of his puppy stage little by little. I have to say, that even during the puppy phase, he has always known that it was time to work when his harness is put on. Buddy and Jonathan and I go on walks several times a week to make sure that tethering skills are maintained. It's so amazing to be able to take Jonathan for a walk! He's so happy, and loves the wind in his face. I have to watch out because he often closes his eyes when we're walking, and once he walked into the side mirror of a parked car because I was looking the other direction and his eyes were closed! Live and learn!!!

Tracking practices are going well. I'm still not completely confident, and it's a challenge to carve out the time to practice, but we try to do them as often as possible. Buddy definitely knows his boy. Often, I will look up to find he is across the room sitting by Jonathan. He just seems to know. Jonathan is bonding very slowly, but I do see progress. Every once in a while he'll reach out and touch Buddy. One day Jonathan walked into a room where the rest of us were watching TV, grabbed Buddy by the collar and walked out of the room with him. That was a huge moment because he actually wanted Buddy with him!

In a few weeks Buddy will start school with Jonathan. The main goal for our first year is to get Jonathan bonded. We want Jonathan to understand that wherever he goes, Buddy goes. So, that's what will happen at school. They will be tethered in the hallways, and Buddy will have a "place" in the classroom next to Jonathan's work area. Our hope is that eventually Jonathan will see Buddy as a constant stable source of support for him. The other day, I took them to Walmart for the first time by myself. It was kind of a big milestone for me. When we got to the check-out lanes, I couldn't find one with fewer than 3 people in line. I thought, 'this is where the melt-down is going to happen for sure', because Jonathan hates to have to stop moving. Well, I put Buddy in a "down" in front of me while we waited and said, "Jonathan, sit down next to your Buddy." ...AND HE DID!!! No melt-down! I couldn't believe it.

As I re-read this post, it seems like the changes are so trivial. But our lives are so much better since we've gotten our Buddy. He lives to please and is so happy to get love and attention. We are going to the park tomorrow, and a parade the following day. These are things I wouldn't have considered 3 months ago. Life is getting better. We're so thankful to 4Paws for our wonderful service dog.

June Update

Summer is here!

I've given myself a major pep-talk about taking things a day at a time and continuing to breathe...summers in the past have been a very difficult time for all of us. Routine is a big part of Jonathan's life, and it's very hard to keep to a routine in the summer. I have goals for all the boys, but for Jonathan I especially want to concentrate on bonding with Buddy and potty-training. We're off to a good start. It's exhausting, and discouraging, but I'm also seeing lots of progress...so we continue forward...taking one day at a time and continuing to breathe!

Buddy is doing great! His bond with me is very strong, and I see him growing each day. He seems to understand that he has an important job. When he's working, he is such a great dog! When he's not working, he's such a great puppy! I will be happy when the puppy stage is over, as many things have become chew-toys!!! On the other hand, Buddy has never had an accident in my house...so I will take the chewing! :)

I will try to update more often. Thanks for caring and for praying.

Heather

Already seeing improvement!

Hi Everyone!

Just taking a minute to check in and update you on recent events. Buddy is a wonderful addition to our family. He is going pretty much everywhere with Jonathan except school right now (we're waiting until the beginning of next school year to start him). Jonathan is continuing to bond, and Buddy is even sleeping on his bed now! (That means Jonathan is not in my bed...Yay!)

I brought Buddy with me to work a couple of days ago. My students LOVED that! Buddy stayed the entire day. We went to 13 classes and a sr. citizens luncheon. He showed his obedience, behavior disruption commands and even some of his tricks for each one. His behavior was perfect. It showed me that he understands when it's time to work and when it's okay to be a puppy. I am so pleased with how he's doing!

Jonathan's teacher reports that she sees great progress with Jonathan since we've been back home. He is identifying classmates and family in pictures, recognizes about 5 sight words and is copying written sentences. The only change is Buddy...and we've only had him for four weeks! I can't wait to see what else continues to happen!

Everyone has been very supportive when they've seen us out and about with Buddy. It's been quite an adjustment for me. I appreciate being able to go more places, and I'm thrilled that Jonathan doesn't mind being tethered!!! I'm still adjusting to the fact that I feel like a 3-ring circus and draw a lot of attention wherever we go...but I'm hoping I'll get used to that eventually.

Summer is almost here. We plan to practice, practice, practice with Buddy so that he'll be more than ready for school in the fall.

Heather

We're home!

We passed the public access test and ended up driving home right after graduation. We were so anxious to see Andrew and Aaron again...it was a long two weeks without our boys! We've jumped right back into life. We're exhausted, but can see that life is going to be much better with Buddy in our lives. Jonathan continues to accept him in his routine. We have him sleeping in Jonathan's room now, and it's going well (baby steps!).

Holly, our other Golden Retriever, has been slow to give up her position as head dog. There were a few days of craziness as the dogs tried to figure out the dominance game. Now they are like siblings...whatever one has, the other wants. It's pretty funny.

Buddy still has stitches, but is doing well. Thanks for all the support while we were away. We are so fortunate to have such a great group of friends and family!

Heather

Finals tomorrow!

Hi Everyone!

Well, Buddy is a real trooper! He is back to being able to do everything! He doesn't even seem to notice that he has an injury! Goof-ball! We've modified his harness a bit so that it doesn't rub his wound, but other than that, he's been full-speed ahead.

Tomorrow is our public access test. This means the trainer will follow me around the mall for about 20 minutes while I put Buddy through all of his obedience paces in public. He'll have to heel, follow basic commands (sit, down, come), stay while I drop the leash, manage stairs and elevators calmly, and basically show that I can handle him in a public setting. After that he has to stay in down under the table in a restaurant setting. Finally, I have to take him outside and show that I can load him into the car the right way. I'm a little nervous because there's a whole lot of puppy in Buddy still (he's only 15 months old), but we plan to run him before hand so that his excess energy is worn off. I've passed it before with Hans, so I think we'll be okay.

We'll have a graduation at 4Paws in the afternoon and be on the road for home on Saturday.

I can't wait to introduce Buddy to all of you! He's a little embarrassed about the shaved spot on his back, but I've convinced him that people still want to meet him. :)

See you all very soon!

Heather

Drama and Trauma

Buddy injured himself today. Somehow he got a deep cut on his back...we've retraced all our steps, but still aren't sure how it happened. The only thing we can think of is possibly under a picnic table, but Dave's gone back to look at it and didn't see anything sharp on it.

Thankfully, 4Paws has a full-time vet on staff, who immediately sedated him and put in 6 stitches. He's on complete rest for the remainder of today, and has to wear a cone collar unless we can watch him carefully. We have pain meds as well as anti-inflamatories and antibiotics for him to take. The doctor said he should be back to normal activity by tomorrow. We'll have to see how he does through the night. I was as much of a wreck about this as I would be if one of my kids had gotten hurt.

Monday, Monday...so good to me...

Hi Everyone!

I feel like I'm walking around in a fog. The exhaustion is overwhelming, but I am thrilled with the training we're doing with Buddy. Dave is spending lots of one on one time with Jonathan while I'm in class. This has been great for both of them. Jonathan has been very verbal this week...repeating a lot of words and showing increased receptive language as well. Although it's been extremely hard to be away from Andrew and Aaron, it was a good choice to spend this time with Jonathan alone. He is bonding more and more with Buddy each day. We have more hope than we've had in a very long time.

We took Jonathan to a restaurant for both breakfast and dinner today. Each time was a little better. He remained tethered to Buddy the entire time, and we were able to get him to sit in a chair during dinner. He uses Buddy as a foot rest, which Buddy soaks up as positive attention. Silly dog! :) Here are some pictures from tonight at dinner.

Dave enjoyed some time with Jonathan.

Our track outside was challenging today due to very high wind. The scent was blown way off the path and hard for Buddy to find initially. (Many of the dogs had trouble with this today). Once he found the scent, he was dead on and pulled HARD!

We also did two indoor tracks at the mall, which he nailed.

It's been a full day. Time for bed!

Heather