The 12,000 Dollar Dog

More Diego and his "other" handler

2010-11-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more pictures of Diego with Brooks. Brooks, once again, has been there to help me out with Diego. We had a huge dodge ball tournament at school to raise money for our volunteer chaplain. I knew it would be rowdy, so I was going to leave Diego behind at home so I could focus on "riff-raff" duty. It occurred to me that in all of that chaos, Brooks typically loses some of his self-control and tends to get in trouble. So, why not bring Diego to allow Brooks to focus on keeping him safe and calm while multiple dodge balls are flying through a room filled with screaming children. Basically, they take care of each other. It worked out beautifully! Here are a couple pictures of them. One is Brooks bringing Diego inside from a fetching adventure. The others are the two of them sitting on the top of the bleachers (out of the line of fire).

Other cool school news

2010-11-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

In the last week, I have received several eye-opening comments that are worth sharing. Here are a few:
Student: "Having Diego around just makes school really cool!"
Human Resourses Director giving a new teacher orientation: "...and on page 12 of the handbook...Whoa! I thought I just saw a giant Golden Retriever run passed the window. Oh, that must be our service dog." (Meening our school's dog)
Principal: "I just love him. How can anyone not love him? He is love with fur."
And of course: "Can I PLEASE pet him?" from about 20 students per day.
I thought these were moments worth sharing.

Uplifting Stories

2010-11-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

There have been some really uplifting stories to share lately. Today, my young apprentice, Brooks, who has been learning many tricks of the service dog trade, helped me out tremendously. Twice now, he has taken Diego out for play/fetch time during my lunch duty and has very successfully expelled large amounts of energy from him. He is very responsible with Diego and continues to help me in various ways everyday. He can't seems to get enough of our sweet pup. Diego will only respond positively to students "visits" toward him and one other girl who happens to babysit for me. Most of the other children frighten him when they try to pet him. Usually, they are coming in swarms and mobs, so that is very intimidating for Diego. One or two kids at a time seems to be fine, but more than 3 and he is a giant coward. Brooks seems to be a very bright spot in his day. Brooks takes him out for potty breaks and tosses the ball around each time, so Diego is very happy to see/smell him enter the room. Even when he hears his voice, Diego perks up. So sweet. Here is a picture of the two of them.

Lunch Time

2010-11-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Part of our routine each day is to go to the lunch room where I have lunch duty. Diego gets to come over too. Part of my duty involves watching the table where the kids sit at "Lunch Detention." Naughty, naughty. At the beginning of the year, there were only one or two kids at the table each day, sometimes none at all. So Diego would sit under the table like he does at restaurants. Now, in November, there are way too many full chairs of misbehavers. So, now Diego sits in a corner near the table so he can still see me and everyone else. I also thought that having a cool dog in the penalty box would not be much of a punishment. I can't have kids TRYING to get in trouble. :-)

Thanks!

2010-11-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have help support our service dog cause by donating money toward his cost. We are still over $8000 in debt and we are continuing to feel the love pour in for him and the help of our autistic son. Matthew and Diego habe continued to grow closer together and Diego seems to remember his behavior training even better when Matthew is involved. Ethan, however, is one of the best recipients of having a dog. Diego and Ethan can play in the backyard for hours and never get tired of each other. They play fetch, blow bubbles and jump to eat them, (yes, both of them) and continue to love water play. We are already anticipating lots of snow fun. I am sure there will be great pictures to follow. Thanks again for following our journey and especially the financial donations that have helped lighten the burden of our "$12,000 Dog."

Puppy versus adult

2010-10-29T17:38:00.000-06:00

Not to exhaust this topic, but I just wanted to add another note about our continued experience regarding Diego being only 7 months old when we got him as a service dog. He is now 1 year and 4 months old. I realize Golden Retrievers take a while to mature. He has done fairly well, but he is still so incredibly goofy and excited. This is still very difficult when I take him to work with me. He looks forward to seeing the students and other staff and finds it near impossible to ignore them. Since he so desperately wants to socialize (which is his nature...which is why he is great for autism...) he ends up getting growled at by me because he is not supposed to be socializing while he is working. I often feel like it is a tough thing to do to a Golden Retriever puppy. Now that I understand much more about the breed, I have learned that these dogs are social by nature. They are prefect for kids with special needs because of their gentleness and non-agressive nature. While that is fabulous for a perfect pet, it seems almost cruel for a service dog job. Diego almost appears depressed as he lays under my desk at school. I may be giving him human emotions, I don't know. When he is not asleep, he is staring at the kids from under the desk. They are sad they cannot pet him and he really wants to sniff them for hours. Is this still puppy-like behavior? Will it begin to diminish as he matures? I just do not know. I do, however, feel like he would be a better service animal when he is all grown up. Right now, he is just being scolded for being a puppy. Sad...

Are you a dog person?

2010-10-29T17:20:00.001-06:00

Just a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I was still fighting my continuing frustrated feelings toward Diego even though I had decided to relax a bit on my training. Why am I so easily annoyed by this basically perfect creature? I think I finally figured it out. I am simply not a dog person. All of my life, I always had cats. In fact, I had one cat for 17 years. She was my constant...through moves, puberty, boyfriends, high school, graduation, more moves, etc. She was always there, but at the same time, she was little to no maintenance. She needed food, water and a clean litter box. In fact, I certainly needed her more than she needed me. Dogs are so different. They require a lot of attention and I think I find it exhausting when added to my 3 boys that I already have in my life. Fortunately, my 3 boys are very much enjoying our sweet dog and don't mind that he needs extra attention. They love that he follows everyone around like a shadow and that he wants to be with us all the time. So, now that I have come to this amazing epiphany, I feel like I can add one more reason to be more patient with my new life. On the positive note, I have really been finding Diego to be a lot more fun to have around when I can just enjoy the dog-side of him and not the working part of him. David and I have a nice agreement. When we are all out together, he is responsible for Diego and any form of training/service activities. When I go out alone or with the boys, I leave Diego behind. The only exceptions are when I take Diego to school with me those two days a week. I think it is working out okay.

Is Diego a distraction in school?

2010-10-28T17:26:00.000-06:00

You bet he is!!! I remember reading an article when we first started looking into service dogs. The article was about a Labrador Retriever who when to school with a child who had autism. The picture was nicely positioned with the dog on a mat in the classroom next to his child's desk. All of the children were studiously looking at the teacher in the front of the room, paying close attention to the lesson. The article raved about what a huge help the dog was and how he really bridge the social gaps for the child to make friends. So, I was really inspired. Wow! Matthew will really make some great friends because of Diego. So cool. Since experiencing Diego in a school environment for about 8 months now, I feel I can right my own article... If I wrote it from the perspective of a child, I think it would be nothing but glowing and positive remarks. I'd have lines like: "Diego has really helped me not feel so alone at school," and "Diego is always there when I need him," and "Diego is my best friend!" He really would be all of those things. From a teacher's perspective, my article would read some thing like, "Boy, Diego is sure sweet, but the kids have a really hard time settling in to my class and not being tardy because they all want to visit with him," and "Diego is a bit of a distraction because sometimes he wants to sniff kids' shoes and lick the crumbs off the floor after snack time," or "there is never a dull moment walking in the halls when Diego is there...he sure loves to lick people's hands and sniff pant legs." While these teacher comments are not that bad, there are definitely struggles trying to help children understand that he is a working dog. The kids have been educated, but they constantly, and I really mean constantly, squeal his name in the halls and want to come up to his bed and talk to him and ask to visit him when he is working. These are very distracting behaviors from the kids. I know they mean well and truly love Diego and desperately want to pet him, but I have to play the bad-guy and deny them each time. Sometimes the kids even beg to have his vest taken off so they can just love on him. I am finding the hardest part of his job is trying to make him less social. How is that even possible with a Golden? Not sure it is...and would I even want to?

Therapy Diego

2010-10-28T17:11:00.001-06:00

Diego has really proven to help others at school. Keep in mind, he is still coming to the middle school with me since he does not go to school with Matthew. Being a middle school, there are a variety of stresses that come with the territory. It just so happens, that my boss (the principal) adores Diego. She deals with so many emotional issues each day with the children (good and not so good) that seeing Diego can often allow her to relax and come down from stresses. I love that. It really makes my frustrations and inconveniences worth it. She really lights up when Diego is around. We also have a kiddo who has some special circumstances at school and when he around Diego he completely relaxes and an enormous sense of joy comes over him. He can even be told that his behavior will determine if he will get to see Diego today. He is very smart and is able to maintain a level of self-control that most middle school-aged boys struggle with daily. Diego has really proven to be a huge help for his behavior and ability to try to control his behaviors. So, every Thursday, we have a standing date during the last hour of the day where he can come to my classroom and take Diego outside for a potty and fetching break. He really thrives and loves the responsibility. His mother ran into me at a Starbucks a few weeks ago. We have never met, but I happened to have Diego with me. She approached me and introduced herself as this young man's mother. She just praised me up and down for the amazing gift I have been in his life. Now, that felt really great! When I get frustrated about having Diego at school with me, I just think about those two people whose lives are truly touched by Diego's presence. I hope that my heart can stay fully devoted to that mission. :-)

Diego continues at school with me

2010-10-28T17:02:00.000-06:00

We have now been several months without any additional training for Diego. He seems to know everything he needs to know regarding service dog-type behaviors. He is still distinguishing between his behaviors when he has his vest on and when he does not. That has been very challenging at school where EVERYONE wants to visit with him and he is more than happy to oblige. He has the hardest time ignoring those around him. He has become so popular with the staff that he feels he should visit with them every time he hears their voices in the same room. I find it very hard to scold him in front of them because he is very sweet and I realize that my co-workers really do just want to visit. He has become a bit of a therapy dog at work. I have actually reduced the amount of time he comes to school with me to about 2 days per week instead of 5. Consider having a very sweet and very social child follow you everywhere you go, all day long. Fortunately, he attracts several smiles, but he also turns a 2 minute run to the copy machine into a 10 minute educational conversation about who he is and what he does. So, in order to still maintain sanity and productiveness at my job, he needs to stay behind more often than not. I am not really worried about his training falling apart since he seems to have most of it down. Funny enough, he is the biggest rascal at school. I think I have come up with a decent system though. He gets his traditional potty breaks when I have an extended gap in my schedule, but after lunch, we head outside and toss the tennis ball for about 15 passes. He really looks forward to that. So, overall I am much less frustrated and stressed with only bringing Diego those two days. I think I will continue that for a while.

Been a while

2010-10-28T16:46:00.000-06:00

Has it really been since August that I posted my last entry? Yikes. Sorry about that. I honestly don't know if more than 3 people even read this, but here goes. An entire quarter of school has recently passed and I certainly am feeling tired. I had no motivation to do much more that adjust back into school, eat, sleep and...well sleep some more. Since this is more of a blog about a service dog, I'll jump back in to the matter at hand: Our beloved Diego. He has not broken or burned a single inch on his feet since the summer. Yes! He has even stayed pretty clear of the vet. They really miss him, I'm sure. You know something strange is happening when your dog actually gets excited about going to the vet. They must be doing something right. Apparently, he rarely had to stay in the kennels. He was more of the "house" pet. I have several mini posts that I will do in order to help you not feel overwhelmed by a giant update. I know I love to read smaller chapters versus 20-30 pages at a time. So, off we go...

Diego, my husband's "Lamborghini"

2010-08-15T15:54:00.000-06:00

Lamborghini's are expensive, beautiful, high performing, therapeutic, and make my husband very happy. I have began calling Diego "Our Lamborghini". My little analogy goes like this: When David drives past our local "Dream Car" dealership, he looks longingly at the Lamborghini and dreams of the day he will have one. The thought makes him happy, giddy, comforted and excited. He also feels this way about Diego. (Very sweet). As David's wife, I am his biggest supporter and love finding new things to make him happy. Even though I am not convinced that I, personally, need a service dog, I know that David LOVES having a service dog. So, I have happily moved into the support role. I am finding it very comfortable! I will love Diego, support his needs, feed him, wash him, go along on outings, etc. But, like the Lamborghini, I am not really interested in owning one, driving one or having people stare at me because I am near one. BUT, I know how happy it/he makes my husband, so I will happily and eagerly support everything about it. Ah, and that's all I have to say about that.

OUCH!

2010-08-15T11:25:00.000-06:00

Oh Diego, this doggie certainly keeps us working. This photo was taken on Wednesday, Aug 11. Diego's pads were badly burned from running on the asphalt. Yikes! We thought we were doing Diego's very long claws a service by having him fetch his tennis ball in our cul-de-sac and slowly filing his nails down. Clipping them takes a long period of time since the blood vessels come to about 1/4th of an inch from the end of the nail. (Very bloody if you just go to town with the clippers). So, we ran him outside for about 10 passes. It was a warm day, but not an over-the-top inferno by any means. He started taking breaks sooner than normal and then we noticed he was walking funny. Our first horrific thought was "Oh No! Not another broken bone!" Then we looked at the bottom of his feet and noticed the black pads were pealing off to reveal the pink pad underneath. YIKES! Double Yikes! Then we checked all of his feet and Quadruple YIKES! All four feet had at least one area that was peeling. We actually took a pair of scissors and had to cut the loose flesh off. He was not showing signs of feeling better by morning, so off to the vet he went. After a pain killer, burn cream and lovely blue bandages, he was back to crazy Diego. Luckily, he healed almost 100% in about 4 days. Fortunately for us, he is a very fast healer. He also was starting to pull his bandages off, one by one. Well, I can't blame him, I don't like wearing socks either.

Puppies as Service Dogs.....Yay or Nay?

2010-08-05T14:28:00.001-06:00

After a solid 7 months with Diego, I have concluded that I am not sure that starting Diego out as a puppy has been good for my sanity.
Positive observations first: Diego is a very smart dog, too smart sometimes. He learns quickly and once he began to care about us, was eager to please. He passed his public access test in lightning fast time. He is a wonderful companion. He is great with the kids and loves to snuggle at night. He is beautiful and easy to show off to others and be proud of. He is a fabulous pet at barely one year old!
Now the negative: keep in mind, this reflects purely on the "service dog" part, not Diego himself. The largest hurdles have been the transition from Diego living and breathing with a competent trainer to living with a family full of chaos and basic dog training skills. Because he was so young, he was still such a rascal at heart and was more than happy to take advantage of our ignorance when it came to his past training. We were not provided with a "FAQs" sheet or even a "handout" of what Diego had already been through and what he already knew. So, we had a million on-the-spot questions and a lot of lost training in the first two months. I will speak for myself when I say that I had major buyer's remorse. I was regularly furious with Diego and the situation we were in, but I am not a quitter and refused to give up (we are also under contract and were falling in love with our dog).
What I would change/recommend to someone getting a service dog for a child with autism:
Most people are not dog trainers...a Saturday session through PetsMart does not even come close for this adventure. I would recommend a detailed list of commands and their definitions as well and a written guide to basic instructions for the first month. I would also recommend heavy (although very unrealistic) dog training sessions...every day for at least the first week or two and then 3-4 days a week for the rest of the 1st month, slowly tapering off based on the feelings of the new owners/handlers. Hugely, I would have tangible goals. We never had a list of basic goals until several months in. If your dog is a puppy, create a list of goals using the Public Access Test guidelines (usually found on the Service Dog company's website). After he passes, create a list of desired objectives based on the reasons for getting a service dog in the first place. Set reasonable deadlines and work on each one until everyone is comfortable. As parents, we become the handlers of the dog. Our child cannot do it himself. We are responsible for keeping the service dog's training up and I promise you, that is not instinctual. Goals will help!
Most service dog companies will require a 2 year waiting list to receive your dog. Our company placed us with Diego right away at a young 7 months old. While his training was up to par, he was still a child. This is great for bonding, don't get me wrong. Speaking from a parents' perspective, I personally found it utterly exhausting and there are days when I was brought to tears by the pressure I have placed on myself during this process. I can see the benefits of receiving the dog after 2 years simply due to the maturity of the animal. We are also told that "He is NOT a pet, he is a working dog." Well, that may be true, but when you get him as a puppy he does all of these cute lovable things and treating him like a pet is hard to avoid. Maybe if he came to us very serious and not very playful, we would also get ourselves in that mindset. Playing fetch in the backyard is just too inviting. (I believe that is allowed, by the way)
So, without babbling on, I love our dog and do not regret getting him. I do, however, suggest waiting a little while longer before getting a service dog. I think 2 years old for a Golden Retriever is very reasonable. I am not normally good at waiting, but in hindsight, I think it would be best. We are very attached to Diego and would not give him up, but we have created a difficult situation by adding a young dog to our already chaotic life. As he is getting older and maturing, he is really becoming more of what "we signed up for".

A new Attachment

2010-08-05T14:02:00.000-06:00

During our last training session we had what I would consider a major disaster using the harness with Matthew. We were at a very outdoor festival and Matthew desperately wanted to go one way while David had Diego guiding him another way. Long story short (also I do not want to relive the moment) Matthew's strong will and bee-line to a jumpy house caused the bungee cord to wrap around an unsuspecting patron holding tight to her $10 beer in a plastic cup and down she went, beer and all (she did manage to save the beer minus a few drops that landed on Matthew). It all happened so fast that the reaction time was irrelevant. After helping this lady up and making sure she was okay, we hurried off to our car, head's held low and completely mortified. I am pretty certain that lady must have been on her 5th or 6th beer, she was WAY too forgiving.

Since that horrific event, we decided to try something else. We went to Pets Mart and purchased a leash that had a very short 1 foot long leash as part of the contraption. We cut off the long end and singed the plastic on the cut to prevent fraying. We created a Matthew-sized leash and have that connected to Diego's vest. Since Matthew is already "trained" to walk with Diego (or at least near him) we tell him to "grab the doggie" and that means he grabs his leash. Our mini-battle is getting him to hang on the whole time. We may continue modifications as we go, but this give Matthew less wiggle room and less opportunities to take innocent bystanders out at the knees.

Follow up on Service Dogs in School

2010-07-27T08:38:00.000-06:00

We are finding that over the last few months, our needs for Matthew are changing. I suppose that is true for all children as they get older and more responsible. At the beginning of this journey, one driving factor for a service dog was to have Diego accompany Matthew to school. This would allow Matthew to stay safe during recess (no escaping), better focus in the classroom, easier to physically handle for the teachers if he has a tantrum and weighs 50 pounds+, bridge the barriers for making friends, etc.
Matthew has changed so much in the last few months and we are taking a closer look at whether Diego needs to go to school with him. If he does, here are a few of the protocols created directly by our school district that would need to be followed by us and by the school to get the process under way:

Our responsibilities

Provide medical documentation to the Principal of Matthew's disability
Provide documentation about Diego's service test and abilities to be safe at the school
Provide yearly updated health records, license and registration for Diego
Meet with District building staff to arrange Diego's care

Our Principal's Responsibilities

She must obtain all of the proper documentation listed above
She must send out 4 types of letters to the school community informing them that Diego will be on campus, on the bus, and in the classroom. This letter will allow for response from parent addressing concerns about safety and/or allergies.
A conference is held with us, Matthew and the staff. This will address Diego's care, toileting, breaks, etc., training of the staff member, training of the school community (ie. kids and teachers)
Finally, arranging transportation (bus service)
After all of the documentation is received from us, we can begin the next process.
School community letters are sent out to EVERYONE involved with the school
Receive input from the school community
Consult with a District coordinator to see if Matthew's IEP needs to be adjusted. (Diego can be written into Matthew's IEP)
Talk with the Director of Transportation
After all of this, a GIANT meeting involving the district's Superintendent will be held to discuss everything from the handling of Diego and his "needs", areas to properly toilet him, WHO will do the handling (not required to be provided by the school), seating arrangements in class and the lunch room, allergy issues from any community feedback, how Diego would ride on the bus, arranging for Diego to get acquainted with the school, discuss rules of conduct, develop a time-table for this process to begin, revise emergency procedures for the school to include Diego, post signs on the entry doors alerting everyone to the presence of a service dog on campus.

Transportation Responsibilities

Driver needs documentation about Diego
Provide basic training to the other passengers (most are special needs at this time)
Make sure Diego remains seated during the drive
Provide additional staff from Diego during transportation (school is not responsible to provide staff)
Alert other service dog handlers of Diego's presence
Insure proper signage around the bus

Now breathe. (Inhale through nose, exhale through mouth).

So, if you made it through all of that, you have realized that this is possible, but very time consuming and a huge ordeal for the Principal and transportation department. Not just us. You may also have noticed a few bold words throughout the list...Summary...more money on our part to hire someone to accompany Diego and Matthew to school and be responsible for Diego's care (Matthew can't do these things yet).
A lot to take in and think about.
To be continued regarding our ultimate choice to have Diego go to school with Matthew.

A trainer needs praise too...

2010-07-25T16:38:00.000-06:00

Even though Diego is still a young dog, I find myself being very hard on him. I feel like I am constantly correcting him and getting frustrated with him in between all of the "good boys" and "Yes! That's what I wanted...". Part of the frustration seems to stem from desperately wanting to do a good job. I want to take the instructions we receive with our training sessions to heart and not let up for a minute. This is how I am with my own kids. There is a ton of praise and a ton of correction. At the end of the day, I find myself exhausted. I understand that is part of parenting, so I have been rewired to treat Diego like a third child. Since I already love him like one, I naturally have high expectations of him to be the best service dog he can be. I often wonder if I am cut out for this, but then my husband comes along and rescues me. He sees I am struggling emotionally and reminds me of how far we've come and even goes as far as to give me 90% of the credit. Diego is miles ahead of his original markers and continues to behave better all the time. He is constantly getting compliments about his behavior (just like our kids, actually). So, even though we have a lot of love and praise in our household, I can't help but feel defeated sometimes. Like I should be doing a better job, with Diego, Matthew and even Ethan. Might as well add being a better spouse to that list. I have also been reminded of how sensitive to criticism I am. I have always been that kid who cries when some one is mean spirited or overly blunt while thriving and excelling when I receive praise. I am so thankful to be surrounded by an amazingly supportive husband, fabulous kids and irreplacable friends and family. I won't give up, and I'll continue to do my best at being a good parent, wife and dog owner. So, feel free to send over a loving comment here and there. I'll take it.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2010-07-25T16:35:00.000-06:00

Diego has officially been on two airplanes, one train and our two automobiles this summer. This trip to Tiny Town completed the trio. Tiny Town is a cute little place in Morrison, Co were a man built more than 50 dollhouses for his granddaughter back in the 1920s. Word spread about the cool houses and later the attraction became a tourist stop for the locals and out-of-state visitors. They also have a cute little train that takes you on a tour of the park. The houses have scenes inside as well (see the Charlie Chaplin movie place in the 1/6 size theater). We are suggested to keep Diego on his toes by taking him to crowded places. His biggest weaknesses are still other dogs and very tiny children. Not to mention low-flying birds, squirrels and rabbits. This outing was helpful to remind him how to act around all the distractions. On a slightly embarrassing, yet amusing note, the conductor that day decided to come running over (literally) to great us and proceeded to dive into petting Diego and telling us about her service dog back in Kona, Hi. As I am trying to correct Diego from melting into her pets, she finally decided to ask if she could pet him. I told her that he was working and that he should be pet at this time. She obliviously continued to chatter on about the doggie-hatred in Kona and how she finally just went on-line and bought him a service vest so she wouldn't get harassed while she had her dog with her in public. I was able to playfully call her out on the petting of Diego. Since her dog was not a true service dog, she didn't realize the rules that come with the responsibility. She blushed, but admitted that she just really missed her dog. As we boarded the train, she proceeded to loudly announce that this was the first service dog that had been on the train. (Where is my invisible power?) Fortunately, we made it out alive.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

2010-07-25T15:54:00.000-06:00

We continued our summer fun with a brief trip to Mount Rushmore. It is about a 6 hour drive from Denver, so we were up for the adventure. Diego has proven to be a great traveler, even if most of the time he is very confused regarding basic laws of physics. At the monument, he was one of two service dogs that we saw. The other was for a blind person. He happily walked with Matthew attached and practiced his healing and staying. I found the "No Dogs Allowed" picture posted on the Welcome signs to be a nice back drop. We certainly see people regularly trying to sneak little Fee-Fee into public places. I suppose those signs are for the many folks who cannot part with their dog. Only one incident that even Diego could not help with: See that railing Matthew is peering over? You would think he is enjoying the four Presidents' faces mysteriously sitting on the mountain side, or even wowing over the beautiful amphitheater below... you would be incorrect. He was plotting the effects of gravity on his Crocs as he later threw them over the edge. Don't worry, no one was hurt in this stunt, and the shoes were retrieved and placed back on his feet. Whew.

Our Flight Home

2010-07-08T18:20:00.000-06:00

Diego seemed to remember the airplane a bit once we got to the airport for our trip home. He did well, once again. Fortunately, this time around we got Row 1. This is considered the bulkhead row. No seats in front of you, so that means more leg room, or in our case, dog room. I have included a few pictures of the seating arrangements. At one point, the flight attendant thought she could get a great shot from her seat of Diego trying to escape to my seat across the isle. Keep in mind, were are on take-off, so the plane is at a pretty hefty angle. Diego actually started sliding down the isle a bit. We had to grab hold of his collar to keep him from heading back to row 10. Another picture is of Diego peering around the front wall at the flight attendants. I think he was trying to plead with them to let him out. Several times during the flight, I was pretty sure Diego promised that he would NEVER poop in the basement again if I would just make this all go away...

Diego cruising in Coronado, Ca

2010-07-08T18:05:00.000-06:00

These are a few great shots of Diego working while we were on Coronado Island. Mostly great background shots, but always fun to see Diego and Matthew working in tandem. We did have the more interesting experiences while on Coronado. The first was in the grassy area across from the entrance to dog beach. We were having the kids play on the playground and a local animal control officer walked up to us a said, "I know this seems strange to be at dog-beach and have me come over and ask you to remove your dog, but we can't have him hanging out on the grass." We politely mentioned that he was a service dog and she took a peak at his vest and said that we are completely welcome to stay put. Then she mentioned that her daughter was autistic and on a wait-list for a service dog. How small is this world????
The next funny experience was in the Taco Bell. We headed in with a group of 11 and planted ourselves. Within one minute, a lovely young lady employed by Mr. Bell walked over and politely let us know that we can't bring our dog inside. I told her that he was a service dog. She looked at me a little unbelieving, but still sweet and said "Okay." I ended up ordering from her and decided to ask her if everything was okay with the dog. She said, "Yea, my boss wanted to see papers, but Whatever..." Interesting. I noticed that there was an odd amount of people questioning Diego's status and a little later, I realized why. It appears that more than half the dogs we saw in Coronado has vest on. None of them had patches, but I think people call their dogs "Service Dogs" ALL THE TIME!!!! Uncool. We did have papers, but never did have to present them. Funny. That has not happened in Colorado...yet.

Sitting by the pool

2010-07-08T17:46:00.000-06:00

Diego is such a water dog. He can't keep his head out of the sprinklers or away from the kids' water table. I was curious how he would react to the backyard swimming pool or the local water park. For the most part, he did amazing. He would circle the pool from time to time, but especially loved when the kids were splashing. I think he wanted to drink the water, but he listened pretty well when we told him to back off. A few times, we thought he would jump in to rescue the kids when they were screaming. Super cute!

Meet and Greet

2010-07-08T17:36:00.000-06:00

Diego was a guest in another dog's home, so the proper dog etiquette is to meet away from the home, do all the sniffs and gross doggie behavior, then walk back to the house and enter together. This is supposed to take away the territorial behavior. Here are a couple pictures of Diego meeting his "cousins" in San Diego.

Heading to our gate

2010-07-08T17:32:00.000-06:00

Diego, once again, performed amazingly. Matthew really enjoyed walking through the airport with his dog. David enjoyed not worrying about where Matthew was every 5 seconds, Even while we were waiting to board, all the boys did great. Here are a few shots of that experience. We definitely had a few looks and little voices yelling "Mommy! There's a doggy! Can I pet it!?!?!?!" Fortunately every parent responded with, "No honey, he is a service dog." Thank you, educated parents.

Moving Walkways

2010-07-08T17:27:00.000-06:00

I got such a great laugh at Diego's expense. At the airport, we jumped on a moving walkway and Diego has NO idea what had possessed the ground. It was pretty funny. I think his look says it all.

Flying on an Airplane

2010-07-08T17:23:00.000-06:00

Diego is NOT a fan of flying. He is a great sport, but not a fan. I must say that, the Denver Airport was the smoothest experience I have had so far with a service dog. It helped that David was in charge of Diego and Matthew. If you have ever accompanied someone in a wheel chair through Disneyland (or an airport) you know that you get to go straight to the front of the line. That was us! Diego was basically a fury equivalent to a wheelchair when it comes to privileges. We went to the front of the security line, did our typical removal of all clothing and began our march through the metal detector. Diego got to walk through all by himself. (SO big!) His collar made the machine buzz, so we just had him "wanded" down and off we went to get dressed and head to the gate.

We had Row 10 for our first flight. At first we were nervous about trying to fit 70 lbs into row 10, but then it occurred to us that Ethan's and Matthew's feet do not touch the ground yet. Ended up being no big deal. I have a couple photos of his experience. Also interesting: Diego had no idea what he was in for when it came to flying. He was all settled in and relaxed until we hit lift-off. Having his stomach shoved to his feet was rather unnerving. More to come on the return flight...

"Working Dog, Do Not Pet"

2010-06-20T08:09:00.001-06:00

I know this may sound callous, but one of the more frustrating experiences I have while out with Diego, is the seemingly large amount of "Service Dog Ignorance". I say that with respect, not condescension. When I was growing up and saw a service dog, I recall that the vest always had a patch that stated "Working Dog, Do Not Pet". It only took once for me to associate the vest with a working dog, so from then on, I never even dreamed of trying to pet or even draw attention to a working dog. Yet...there are so many people out there, that seem to not have had a similar experience in their childhood. I cannot believe how many people (not including children) just want to come up and pet Diego. I would think the vest would be a give-away. Maybe I should stop with the assumptions. Fortunately, Diego devouring 2 vests now have brought us to a great website where we purchased his new vests. We also found the page of optional patches to have sewn on the vest. The original vests have "Service Dog" and the name of the company. We were SO excited to see the patch we were hoping for. So, Diego has a new vest with the greatest and most educational patch of them all. Please enlarge the picture to see. Diego is sporting the "Summer Mesh" vest in a lovely teal with the "Do Not Pet" patch. His brother, JB, is sporting last season's "pulling vesting" in Wine color with the original patches. Don't get me wrong, I feel that having Diego truly does invite strangers to come and talk to us and ask questions, which should be a great thing, but having this patch allows the most obvious question to be answers in 5 simple words.

Visit with "Family"

2010-06-20T07:53:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple super sweet photos of the Colorado Service Dog BBQ where Diego got to reunite with is brother JB. JB is a bit redder in the fur and equally as sweet. They were very sweet and loved seeing each other. It was also reassuring to see several dogs that were one year or younger and how their training is progressing. Enjoy.

Temporary Mixed Feelings

2010-06-20T07:47:00.001-06:00

With this blog, I am able to vent about frustrating events, gloat about victorious accomplishments and simply update our lives as we are adjusting to our service dog. Sometimes, I find myself holding back true feelings because I do not want to be ungrateful for everything God provides for me. Well, last weekend I got a chance to take my boys to Topeka for a "meet-half-way", much overdue visit with my sister. We left the hubbies and service dog behind and just enjoyed the kids and each other and lots of swimming pool chlorine. When I returned, it was life as usual and I began to feel overwhelmed with having a service dog all over again. The past two months have almost been like a "pseudo-break" since Diego was in a cast and the fate of his toe had us all distracted. Now that he is back in the game and still has all 16 toes (one quite crooked), I have now realized my responsibilities have returned. I can't hide behind the cast and sedatives any more. We, meaning I, have to continue to train and bring him out and about everyday. Imagine never getting time to yourself...ever. Okay, maybe the bathroom counts, but truly having someone with you at all times. For some, constant companionship is reassuring. I guess I am not that person. I truly need my down time and not just when everyone goes to bed. So, when Tuesday arrived and I was getting Matthew ready for summer school, it occurred to me that I needed to run several errands. That also meant that I needed to bring Ethan (a given) and Diego. We needed to go to about 4 different places and it was going to take about 3 or 4 hours. Honestly, Diego is not that difficult. Neither is Ethan. Diego just trots along and Ethan does a lot of chit chat, but that is not that difficult. Why am I complaining???? We even had a nice and uneventful time. Diego didn't bother anyone or misbehave. He was perfect. You wouldn't even know he had been out of practice for 2 months. The next day was a bit more of the same. Errands and chores. This time, I decided that I wanted to leave Diego behind. He stayed in his crate and slept while Ethan and I headed out for a couple hours. That was a bit of a relief, but then I had guilt for leaving him behind. I kept thinking that I signed up for this long term commitment and I wasn't doing what I agreed to. So, that didn't help either. On Thursday, Diego was recovering from a dog food change (dog owners know what I am talking about)... He has a sore tummy and was frequenting the facilities way more often than usual. My good friend came over and was going to head to the basement to play with Ethan for a few minutes when she happened on a very disgusting and stinky surprise. NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! Diego had reverted to his old favorite bathroom spot: our lovely basement. I couldn't believe it. It was foul too! I grabbed the Bissel and paper towels and headed down to do the clean up. For the first time, probably ever, I wasn't overly bitter and frustrated at Diego. I have no idea why. Maybe I was feeling guilty about not wanting the "service" part of the service dog anymore. I showed him his mess, "BAD-DOG"ged him and promptly put him in his kennel with his poop to sit while I cleaned up. I came back up to find that he really didn't care. He was just laying there with his face almost directly over the garbage as if it wasn't even there. I couldn't believe it. I am not good at just letting things go in 60 seconds, but this time I decided that it wasn't worth my energy to get more irritated, so I released Diego and threw away the poop and went on with the day.
I wish that was all... The next day, Friday, I was having a rough one again. I think it was a female thing (sorry guys) but I just couldn't handle ANYTHING. So, off to the treadmill I went. I had my book and my running shoes and was ready to go. Down the stairs I went and, wait, what is that smell?!?!?!? Seriously?!?!?! Nope, I don't believe we are here again. I see, mixed in with the scattered Dominoes, several Diego turds. I am feeling the rage build up by the millisecond. I hollered up to David that he needed to "take care of the boy" this time. Sadly, he thought I meant Matthew, so his reaction was more delayed than I hoped. When he finally made it down, I told him that I was so mad I wanted to throw something. We needed to figure out what to do immediately because I didn't know how much more I could take. Side note: if you are thinking that we should "just put in a dog door" I would say "Hi, I have a son who loves to escape..." (I have gotten that suggestion before).
Anyway, I guess all of the pooping has nothing to do with a "service" dog, just a dog. The service part has many perks. I suppose that I, personally, am not always up for those perks. My husband, on the other hand, is at ease constantly with the idea of a service dog. I wonder if I am having moments of regret because getting a dog was originally supposed to be for my husband. Having a dog was ALWAYS intended to be the responsibility of my husband. Circumstances have literally forced me to step in and take over about 80% of the responsibilities. (About 75% more than I signed up for). Am I bitter? Am I frustrated? I guess I am at times and I really struggle with that. I feel like a complete jerk about it. So, I am writing about it now to get it off my chest. Maybe when I see it written, I can reread it and remind myself that I need to knock it off. This is NOT about me. Never was. This is about the safety and comfort of my family and if this is my role, then I need to embrace it and have a better attitude about it. On a lighter note, maybe in a few days, when the "female" stuff has passed, I will be very embarrassed about all this ranting. But hey, this is the purpose of the blog, right? To be realistic about my experience. So, all you ladies out there, I guess this blog was for you. It is normal (what does that mean?) to feel annoyed and frustrated at least once a month. Just being real. All you gentlemen that are gagging and embarrassed, sorry, but please understand that us ladies may become irrational and completely hard to live with from time to time. We aren't proud of it, but we also need you to support us as we are living through it.

Diego is BACK!

2010-06-06T18:11:00.000-06:00

He is technically still "resting", but that doesn't mean he can't get wet on the Lightning McQueen slip n slide, right? He is truly a water dog. Very entertaining, at that. I can't wait to take him to the beach in San Diego! He should be back to working again this week. Thank goodness. We need to remind him of some important job related tasks before the trip. In the mean time, backyard sprinklers will keep us very entertained.

Ask for a miracle, you get a miracle

2010-06-04T14:37:00.000-06:00

Wow! Thank you God! We have ourselves a miracle. However inconsistent our information continues to be from the vet office, I will certainly count my blessings for this new turn of events. As of yesterday, we were saying good-bye to Diego's toe. Now, we are celebrating only 10 more days of recovery. The surgeon got Diego prepped for surgery and decided to do another check up and x-ray. He felt that even though his toe is not healing perfectly straight, with a few more days of rest Diego will be just fine without any additional probing and prodding. He gets to come home without a cast/splint and just take some light walks to restrengthen his muscles. He still cannot jump up on the bed or into the car or climb stairs for about 10 more days, but this means he will be free and clear when we are done.
When I dropped him off at the vet this morning, I stressed to the vet tech that we needed Diego to get back to work as soon as possible and that he has been down for 2 months. I mentioned that we couldn't "afford" to have another 4-6 week recovery. I don't know if that made a difference, but we certainly got the best of all scenarios. The price is good, he gets to keep his toe and he will be free to run crazy in just about 2 weeks. Hallelujah!

Off with the toe!

2010-06-03T15:00:00.001-06:00

Our sweet fury friend has gone through way too much. First, he passes his service test with flying colors only to be rewarded with a broken toe. Then, we get the options of resetting the toe, adding a screw to the bone (requiring surgery), or amputating the toes all together. Even though amputation seemed the simplest, the vet wanted to try resetting the toe and splinting it to allow Diego a chance to be normal and not get teased on the playground...you know how dogs can be... As you all may have followed, he has been in and out of the vet for the last 2 months getting new splints, new toe resets and too many sedatives. After the last check up last week, he got the thumbs up from the vet technicians that the x-Ray showed a promising heal across his toe. Thank goodness! He got a fresh wrap and we were told the surgeon would take a look when he came in a few days and let us know his opinion. In the mean time, Diego got a new wrap. Florescent green this time. So cool! That was on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. His split seemed a bit crooked and a little on the long side, but what do we know? Cut to Monday, the split has slipped about 2" down his ankle and is twisted about 90 degrees. He is walking with a lot of effort. Picture your sock, soaking wet and awkward after it has come about half way off and it is just about tripping you as you walk. That is the splint now. Well, that didn't last long. It fell all the way off and out came the raunchiest odor ever! I guess those who have experienced casts will know the yeast-like stench that acquires from weeks of having a cast on. Diego was not pleased and immediately wanted to clean it. We called the vet and they were closed for the holiday. We wrapped his foot with an ace bandage we had in the first aid kit and that helped...all of us. He got a new wrap, again, on Tuesday with instructions to come back on Thursday when the doc was in to have a super dooper check up. We are in la-la land thinking at his toe is in such amazing condition that we won't even need to rewrap his foot. Ha! Wrong again. We are getting very used to disappointment. On the contrary, his toe is an absolute mess. So, we are back to the beginning. This time, the surgery is certain. The doc wants to try a screw for sure, but he is pretty sure the bone is too small to allow it to take. Most likely, come tomorrow afternoon, we will have a 9-toed dog. The recovery is predicted to be 4-6 weeks. Oh man. We are supposed to be taking our first plane trip in four weeks. We really want to be able to work him in the airport with Matthew. This will be interesting. Lord, we need a miracle, STAT!

Destruction 101

2010-05-16T09:44:00.001-06:00

This post is all about the destruction of our home. Most days, I try to just endure the "creativity" of Matthew and am even numb to it sometimes. Friday was a day that just made that impossible. Diego adds to the destruction on occasion , as you have seen (See super cute shoes that are No More...) I will post a few pictures of what I am talking about: The first two photos are of my very brave and definitely tired husband. He is pulling our basement toilet for about the 10th time. Usually, it is because Matthew has made a game of flushing various objects including toilet paper (good), his own "stuff" (good), wooden puzzle pieces (bad), Q-tips (only one is good, an entire box is bad). plastic teacup sets (especially bad). You see, most autistic kids have sensory issues and are pretty freaked out by a flushing toilet. Not, my son. He jumps up and down clapping and flapping with each flush. Wonderful for potty training, not so great for unsupervised moments of the day when Matthew wants to have water play. So, this time...David noticed a rather rank smell coming from the basement on Friday when he got home from work to meet Matthew's bus. He headed downstairs to find that Diego had sneaked down and pooped in his favorite spot. He hasn't done this is quite a while, by the way. It was still frustrating. So, David cleaned up the mess and headed to the basement toilet to flush it. Little did he know, Matthew had already been there "playing". We actually keep that door locked 98% of the time for this exact reason, but every once in a while, some one uses the bathroom or cleans the bathroom and we forget to lock the door. Matthew, apparently, checks for those mistakes and capitalizes on them. So, back to the gross part. David flushes Diego's "stuff" only to find that the toilet is clogged again. Well, when my dad was here last, he helped us out with this very problem. He also went out and bought a plumber's snake to keep in the bathroom. We thought about hanging over the toilet and a joke, but Matthew would REALLY love that! Short story shorter, David is currently pulling the toilet again to unclog the pipes. Neighbors innocently ask us why we need a snake, or why we don't caulk the bottom of the toilet, or why we use a rubber ring instead of the wax ring. They don't fully believe us when we say that we have to pull the toilet about once a month. Well, the toilet itself was not in appropriate photographing condition, so these are the pictures that you can see without hurling. The toilet was unclogged successfully and is now locked away...

Onto the next fun story (also happened on Friday). Matthew is REALLY into building forts. He dismantles anything he can to create these monstrosities. I want to support his creativity, but over time I get very claustrophobic and anxious when he is removing couch cushions and blankets and moving furniture around for his architecture. Here are a few pictures of his "creativity", my anxiety and the results of when items aren't strong enough to handle Matthew's structure.

In the photos, we have Matthew's couch cushion fort, a broken dining room chair, a broken and eaten lamp cord (Diego chewed the cord a while back while it was plugged in, Matthew broke it further on Friday morning during a fort expedition), and the basement in its current state. Also, here is a section of wall that was attacked be a red permanent marker.

Here are my two innocent sweet suspects.
On the bright side, Matthew loves to get energy out on this exercise ball and Diego has gone an entire week without breaking his split. Maybe his toe will heal after all.

More Broken Toe updates

2010-05-07T18:43:00.000-06:00

Oh Diego... Since our sweet puppy has broken his toe, he has become a very frequent visitor to our vet. Fortunately, they have treated him very well and he has no negative feelings about going there. Our most recent update is yet another interesting one. Miracle Alert! If you do not believe in miracles, do not read any further.

Diego went into the vet on Thursday for a check up around 1:30. After we all got home at 4:00, Diego was still at the vet and we had not heard anything. We were all quite concerned that the office had not called to have him picked up again. David called several times and had been told that he would receive a call as soon as Diego was ready to come home. Well, around 7:30, we finally got the call. David picked up Diego and returned a half hour later. I noticed Diego was his normal happy and goofy self, but had a stunning new foot wrap. I asked about the lengthy time at the vet and David said that Diego had broken his splint (no major surprise) and also had surgery on his toe after all. I was shocked! We hadn't had a call at all and it was a $700 procedure. I was just about to be outraged when David said that the surgeon did not charge us for his time. That's right folks! Not a dime, a penny, a quarter...anything! I was even more shocked, but this time in a grateful way. At work, we just talked about how easy it is to ask God for help and send our prayer requests up, but how often we forget to thank Him when our requests are answered. Well, this was no random thing. We have been praying for Diego and assistance for finances for a while and this was a direct answer. Thank you God!

The X-ray of the broken toe

2010-04-29T19:36:00.000-06:00

The picture we have been waiting for. The actual broken toe, itself. If dog bones are labeled the same as human bones, it would be the "medial phalanx of D3". Also known as the middle bone in the second toe from the outside. The bone is broken and at about a 45 degree angle to the side. Diego went back into the vet on Wednesday to have surgery to open the toe to put a screw through the bone. The predicted tab was in the neighborhood of $1700. Yikes! Before I took him in that morning, I did a typical walk through the school and ran into several coworkers and students who all like to say hello to Diego. In particular, a good friend and fellow teacher decided to pray over Diego's foot. It was very cute and cool at the same time. Well, I am SO glad she did, because a couple hours later, David received a call from the surgeon telling him that he felt the toe could actually heal just fine the way it was. The only catch was that he would have a small bump. So, after deciding that his foot-modeling career was out, we opted to go the route of resetting the splint and allowing the toe to heal as is...for much less $$$$.

Now, we have a 4-8 week recovery time. He is not allowed to run, climb stairs, get excited, wrestle, hop...basically be a puppy. This will be interesting. The vet gave us sedatives to help Diego be calm enough to heal. I gave him his first pill today before leaving school. When we got home, he was still acting goofy and puppy-like, so David gave him the recommended half-pill more. (Now 1 1/2 pills) That was pretty interesting. He went from a little slow, to sleepy, wobbly and staggering around. Poor guy. Well, the sad thing is, if we didn't give him the sedatives, he could possibly hurt his toe even more. So, he is a wrapped up, drugged up doggie...for about 4 weeks.

Will Diego be a first grader?

2010-04-25T17:08:00.000-06:00

We finally met with Matthew's elementary school principal. She is really great, by-the-way. I am really pleased with her interest in investigating this whole "bring the dog to school" thing. Over all, the visit was very good and we got great information. Jefferson County School District actually has a spelled out protocal for bringing a service dog to school. I will paraphase the details in another post. After the last few days at school with Diego, I have come to the realization that regardless of the protocals, I want Diego to be a bit older before I trust him at school. He has done random bad bahavior like barking/growling at kids (mind you, he is under a desk and probably feels a bit trapped), also reacting poorly to kids petting him when he is not paying attention. Mostly spinning around or jerking his body out of the way. He should be completely ignoring them and certianly not jerking away. These are mostly puppy quirks and will work themselves out over time. Never-the-less, they are quirks that I am not comfortable with yet. I think that Diego will have to be home schooled through Matthew's 1st grade year and we'll try for 2nd grade. That should work out fine for everyone though. Besides showing a few documents to the principal, we will need to have several meetings with the powers that be. So, this process could take several months anyway. That has turned out to be a relief. I needed to slow down my own thought process first. I was in this huge hurry for some reason, but I have settled down now.
On a slightly amusing note, when we showed up to meet with the principal, we were very calm and so was Diego. He was a perfect gentleman and even greeted the office staff with perfect behavior. Just about 2 minutes before the principal arrived, we saw our trainer walking up to the front office from outside. My husband decided to get up to meet her and walk her in. Then we saw something unexpected: she brought another service dog. No big deal usually, but a HUGE deal when Diego already spazzes everytime he reunites with her. Now he has to see her AND a dog that he apparently lived with for a little while. In doggie world, I guess this is like seeing your relative get off a plane returning from a war zone. You want to run to them, jump on them and kiss them until your lips fall off. Well, that is wonderful when you are meeting at a park or someone's house, not so much when you are making a first impression with the principal. Diego comletely came unglued. He would NOT settle for more than 5 minutes. He had to be taken outside and repeated settled while he was going bonkers smelling and seeing his long lost roommates from a distance. In hind sight, I wish we knew another dog would be there so we could have met outside and gotten the greetings out of the way. We were pretty embarrassed, but fortunately, Diego calmed down and finally settled in the conference room. Yet another screaming example of why he will be home schooled next year. Deep Breathe Christy. Once again, I am so glad my husband was there.
In the end, we will begin having meetings in a month or two and get the process started. In the mean time, Diego still has lots of toe-healing to do and a bit of growing up. Patience, Lord, lay it on me.

Broken toe update

2010-04-25T16:47:00.000-06:00

Diego's toe is still in a splint and wrapped up. He cannot get it wet, just like a cast. If he does, we have to take him back to the vet and have the technician rewrap his foot. Sadly, we have had several days of rain or snow while his foot needs to be dry. The vet sent us home with an old, cleaned-out IV bag that previously had saline solution in it. The top has been cut off and two strips of gauze have been added to the sides as shoe laces. We are supposed to fit this on Diego's foot when ever he goes outside to do his business. Well, keeping in mind he is a behemouth and also a baby, he struggles with this plastic addition to his foot. Not only will it barely fit to the end of his heel, tying it on in near impossible. So, we have downgraded to good ol' grocery bags. I can get his whole foot inside and tie it around his ankle and have him walk around this way. Much more practical. Unless...there is a teeny tiny hole in the bag. I forget that most grocery bags automatically come with those teeny tiny holes in the bottom. Well, when that happens, guess whose bandage gets wet. Then guess who has to head back to the vet for a $15 bandage swap. Grrr. Well it has happened twice. The second time, the vet every so kindly scolded David about the wrap staying dry and lectured him on the importance of covering his foot because the wrap isn't the only thing that has to be changed, so does the splint. Whew! Thank goodness David got that lecture. We were overflowing with money and couldn't figure out how to spend it, so we decided that it would be SO MUCH FUN TO DUMP WATER ON DIEGO'S FOOT! Seriously!?!?!? We aren't idiots. It rained a lot and the dog had to use the bathroom...a lot, and we covered his foot like we were supposed to. Sheesh! Maybe I should just get one of those poop-catchers that tie around the back of horses that work pulling carriages. Goodness knows it will probably fit Diego. Then we won't have to worry about letting him go outside to get his foot wet. Hey, then we will have to find something else creative to spend all of our bazillions of dollars on.

Will Diego get to go to school with Matthew after all?

2010-04-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

We are scheduled to meet with Matthew's elementary school principal on Friday to discuss Diego's "enrollment" in first grade. From the beginning, this was a major bright spot in getting a service dog. An interesting detail has recently been brought to my attention regarding the law for service dogs. It seems that Yes, in fact the law states that a service dog cannot be refused in a public place, including a public school. BUT!!!!!! (This is a huge detail that needs to be known up front) The student with the service dog must be able to maintain control of the dog at all times, including commands. Well, for a child that does not speak, that is not quite possible. So, the fine print says that if the service dog and special needs child have a Para (an aid who helps with special needs) to assist and be in charge of Matthew and Diego during the school day, we are good to go. The school is not required to provide this Para UNLESS we have it written into Matthew's IEP (individualized education plan). Sheesh! That would have been fabulous to know at the beginning, but even more so before we have been shouting to the world that Diego will go to school with Matthew. Don't get me wrong, this should all still be possible, but it is much more involved that I ever imagined. Thank goodness we have God watching out for our sanity. So, our adventures in getting Diego to school with Matthew will be a topic to follow for the next few months. Lot's of What ifs? I'll let you know.

On a lighter and cuter note, Diego and I have enjoyed our Springtime sunbathing after our teaching duties are over. Here he is sitting (and staying) outside the church building soaking some rays.

Doggie Sick Day

2010-04-20T21:01:00.000-06:00

Diego has such a sensitive stomach. We are learning that more and more each day. He got some fancy "red light" food treats this weekend and has paid for it for about 4 days. Without being too graphic, he needed to stay home from school/work for the last 2 days due to emergency bathroom needs. He has also been up and needing to go outside every hour through the night. Talk about having another baby! Well, he was only left alone for 3 hours each morning (and barricaded in a nice linoleum floor space while we he was alone) but does that stop Diego from getting into mischief? Nah... among some kid toys and a small trinket box, Diego also managed to destroy a nice pair of shoes I just got. Here are the pictures. They say that when a dog misses his master, they find something that smells like her (me) and chew on it. Couldn't he have picked a pair that I was not interested in anymore? Sadness. I think he will be coming back to school tomorrow. It is too expensive for him to take a sick-day. Besides, what is THIS "treat" going to do to his stomach?

When it rains...you know the rest.

2010-04-14T19:18:00.000-06:00

Why does Diego look so bothered? Well, after finishing his very successful service test, he proceeded to play outside for a majority of the day. (That is not the sad part) He ran sprints, jumped after bubbles blown by Ethan, ran in the hose water, rolled in the grass and even had a fabulous and I am sure a very brag-worthy conversation with a neighbor dog that was being walked (irresponsibly close) along our backyard fence. The evening was setting and we called Diego to come inside. As he came in, we noticed he was limping. Poor baby. We checked his paws for pebbles, burrs, blood, anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. He continued to limp, so we did the old squeeze test along his paws up to his upper thigh to see if he flinched at all. Nope, not even a whimper or a moan. He continued to limp up the stair and off to bed. We slept all night and in the morning, he still seemed to be favoring his back leg. David decided to get him over to the vet and have it checked out. Ready for this? A broken toe. Yep, on a dog. Haven't heard of that? Me neither! After replaying the afternoon, I just kept seeing him pacing the neighborhood dog along the fence through our decorative rocks and boulders. He probably got so caught up bragging that he was ONLY 10 months old and he ALREADY passed his service test that he didn't even notice his foot caught and proceeded to yank it free to continue his conversation. So, he got set up with an appointment for surgery the next morning. The predicted cost was going to be $1700. Commence gasping and grabbing your heart now. My goodness. We had JUST purchased a dryer because our old one broke for too-many-hundred dollars and now Diego needs a surgery.
So, the bone at the end of the second toe on his back leg had been severed. (Remember, he didn't flinch or cry when we checked all of that out the night before). The X-ray showed the bone was separated and out of alignment. The bone is pretty small and the options were to realign his toe and pin it, or if that was not going to work, we would amputate it. That word is so dramatic, isn't it? The way I saw it, he would be losing his toenail...not very obvious or hard to recover from when your entire foot is so full of fur. So, once we got the call from the vet surgeon, we discovered that he was going to try option number three first. That involved keeping Diego sedated while realigning the bone without making an incision. I immediately went back to the 80s and saw Mel Gibson slamming his shoulder back into socket in Lethal Weapon 2. Well, not that dramatic for Diego, but pretty noninvasive non-the-less. So, our very brave and beastly dog survived the bone realignment and came home with a nicely wrapped up foot. He will have another X-ray in 2 weeks to see if the now 1mm gap between the two bones has fused the way we hope. I think it will. He also has the benefit of being young on his side. He should heal a bit faster. So, the tab is around $600 for the time being. Yikes. Just a tiny side note, Matthew has destroyed our basement toilet by filling it with an entire roll of toilet paper, Q-Tips and his clothes. He continued to flush the toilet until it overflowed and began playing in the pool of water. So, as they say, When it Rains, it pours. I just wish it would poor $100 bills.

Diego to the test

2010-04-14T18:45:00.000-06:00

Here are a few shots, some sad, some happy, some down right mean of me to take, that I took while bowling with the middle schoolers after our SAT week. The fun part of these shots is that all along, Diego was right there to help me and comfort Matthew. Matthew was very frustrated by being forced to stay with me and Diego while he wanted to explore the bowling alley. He would lay on the floor screaming and trying to get the belt off of his little waist. Finally, once the lights turned down and the music started playing, he was super happy. He also was just fine hanging with Diego. Best of all, I could completely enjoy myself knowing that Diego had Matthew stationary.

Great News!

2010-04-13T17:18:00.000-06:00

Diego passed his service test. Not just any ol' test, but THE test that certifies him as a full fledged service dog. We even have video to prove it. Now, you may be asking why this is so exciting. Wasn't he already a service dog? Well, I thought so, but it turns out, he was still in training and needed to get passed a major field test and have it video documented for proof. The other majorly humongous deal is that he is only 10 months old now and was projected to take the test when he was closer to a year and half. So...after doing the math (which is what I do), he passed this test in 3 months instead of 1 year. That is 1/4 of the time!!! Go DIEGO GO!!!!
Most of our dog training "people" believe that he passed so quickly due to coming to work with me every day and being worked pretty thoroughly. We had such a rough start, but after the bonding time was complete and we made the commitment to have him accompany me to work, he just soared. The test included temptations with food, another dog, startling distractions, being left with a stranger on a "stay", basic heeling, sitting, downing and staying...He just did amazingly well. I will try to link some of the video footage of the test in a future post. So, now we are jumping into more specific autism training from here on out.

Our Big Train Ride

2010-04-04T08:53:00.004-06:00

We went down to Canon City, Co on Saturday to experience the Royal Gorge Train ride. They were fabulous with Diego and even gave us early boarding. It is nice to have a service dog for these trips. You always get on first. :-) The drive is about 3 hours from Arvada (unless I am driving, then it is only 2 1/2 hours including one potty stop). Since Diego has a nervous stomach, we were trying to watch for him getting car sick. He travels in the car all the time, but not usually this long of a duration. He actually did fairly well. I think he got lonely in the back of my Pilot at the beginning and joined the boys in their row, but for the most part, he curled up in the back and occasionally came up for air when we would crack the windows for him. The train ride itself was really fun. The boys really enjoyed the outdoor car. Since it was about 50-60 degrees, the outdoor car was nice. The wind made it a bit chilly, especially during the deep canyon areas without the sun, but overall it was really great. Diego settled in quickly to the floor between the seats and fell asleep for the first hour of the 2 hour ride. I think David joined him. I, on the other hand, took turns bringing the boys outside to the open-air car. Matthew came first and LOVED it!!!! Ethan was very nervous and didn't want to come out, but changed his mind when he saw the pictures that I had already taken with Matthew outside. (A little jealousy is healthy, right?) So, I took Ethan out and we took lots of pictures also. The train made a stop and reversed directions, so we were going to get to see a bunch of the same sites again. I was glad since there is a cool suspension bridge, bungy swing and suspended cable car that are high above us at the top of the cliffs. An the trip back, I brought both boys outside. It was REALLY crowded at this point. We took more photos and then saw that David and Diego had woken up and joined us. YEAH!!! A super nice couple took a family photo for us. I was super excited about that. We don't get many of these. Diego was once again immersed in a crown of people that wanted to touch him. He got to visit several times and a few times was caught trying to get a pet (naughty). In the end, we made it out alive again, Diego did fantastic and so did the rest of us. Whew! Another adventure under our belts.

I am SO proud of Diego

2010-04-04T08:30:00.009-06:00

I have to tell you, each time we bring Diego out on a new adventure, he just amazes me. Thankfully, my husband is there to push that along as well. We took the boys to a playdate and "My Gym" in Arvada. It is a small indoor facility that caters to young children and gymnastics. They have many fun activities and were super great with kids with autism. We met a group of friends there for an hour and really enjoyed ourselves. Diego got to come and at first he was very excited by all of the activity. David had to "settle" him a bit here and there, but soon, he put Diego at the main entrance to the gym floor and told him to stay. He then walked away and helped Matthew and Ethan on various contraptions. I was a bit nervous and thought Diego was going to quickly sneak over to David or get up and chase (and pop) one of the many small beach balls that were flying around. He wanted to...no doubt, but I am proud to say that he stayed put. I praised him like crazy and he just kept looking at me and begging for his "release" command. For us, that is simply "Okay!" He just did SO good. After a little while, one of our young friends found the light switch and began a game of turning off the switch. It was near the back of the room, so David thought that he could put Diego there as a deterrent. Well, that didn't work the way we hoped, but it did slow our sweet friend down for about 2.3 seconds worth of distraction so an adult could attempt to catch up with him. (That is hard work, by the way) I think the sweetest part of Diego's adventure was at the end of the play time when the floor was clearing out. All of the kids and parents were shuffling back to the front door to get their shoes back on while Diego was still patiently waiting at the back door. He didn't move accept for a few inching army crawls wondering if we forgot him. David noticed him and after the floor was all cleared, he called for him to come. It was SO cute! He just ran over like a little puppy who was just reunited with his master. He got several "Ahhhs!" and then tried to sneak a few quick sniffs and pet-requests to the crowd. (We are still working on his ability to ignore the general public.) That's okay. Hurray for Diego! Great work buddy!

Adventures in Thrift Store Shopping

2010-04-01T14:37:00.005-06:00

Most of you know that I do a lot of thrift store shopping to support my eBay jeans business. I usually take off on Saturday morning, alone, and shop about 6 stores throughout Denver while having my weekly conversation with my dear ol' dad in my blue tooth. I used to bring Matthew with me so David and Ethan could stay home and have some time together. About the last few months, Matthew can only last through the first store until he becomes difficult to handle due to his toy-section obsession. So, I have been leaving him behind as well. This week has been our Spring Break. So Ethan, Matthew and Diego have all accompanied me to a few thrift stores. I decided that along with the grocery store, this would be another great opportunity to test out my ability to go out with the boys alone. The grocery store was a bit hectic, but we made it. The thrift stores have been fairly great so far. I assumed that since most thrift stores serve specific communities (ie: ARC is for adults and children with developmental disabilities, Savers is for the Epilepsy Foundation, Salvation Army is for helping people newly released from prison is a Christian capacity, etc....) that a service dog would be completely accepted and already understood. So far, we are 3 for 4. The first 3 places we went were very happy, welcoming, accepting, not overly shocked to see a canine enter the building...exactly the way I secretly hoped life would be with a service dog. The last place we went to had 1 older woman ( who happens to ALWAYS look angry) look at us strangely when we walked through the door. I quickly dismissed it as her usual grumpy face and walked toward the carts. She then said, "You can't bring him in here." My sarcastic, yet surprised attitude came out in the form of, "My son?" (I couldn't help myself). Then she said, "No, the dog." My reply was simply, "Yes, he can come in, this is a public place." In the two and a half short months we have been bringing Diego around, I have already grown tired of the ignorance that surrounds service dogs. Don't get me wrong, I do not expect that everyone should understand how they operate or even that dogs help so many different disabilities now, but I do expect that the general public over the age of 15 is at least aware that the vest is an indication of a working dog and that they are aloud in public establishments. Am I way off? Well, after my response, grumpy-face just stared at me, so I continued on with my shopping. I didn't see or hear from her again, but the other employees were all wonderful and full of approving smiles. (Maybe grumpy-face is autistic too and doesn't know how to control her emotions...)
I just wanted to acknowledge a very positive experience. Another patron of the store happened by us while we were making our way to the check out. He asked another common question which is "Are you training?" I usually say that he is for Matthew. Kind of avoiding a Yes/No answer, but still being honest. He then commented on how young Diego was in a proud sort of way. I agreed and confirmed that Diego was doing fabulous for being 9 months old. The man was beaming and then told me that his father had a service dog who then went on to work for the police department. I found myself relieved and began politely venting to this total stranger about how grumpy-face told me that Diego wasn't allowed in here. Just as I hoped, he got a look of disgust and frustration on his face and proceeded to site the Federal Law that allows service dogs to enter ANY public facility. AMEN! He also applauded me for my calm demeanor and bravery and said that "any intelligent person would understand and be completely impressed by what I was doing." Ah, that felt REALLY good! I SO needed that encouragement. I get it constantly from my parents (in-laws included) and hubbie and close friends/co-workers, but it felt really cool to get it from a complete stranger. Thank you, sir!
The picture that I included this time around is from my phone inside a Savers. I tried to get Ethan to take another that had Matthew, Diego and me in it, but my phone is awkward to hold with such little hands. I'll try again when I have another adult with me. Enjoy.

Financial Update

2010-03-29T18:16:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up on the financial burden that I complained about in the early stages of the blog. Even though $12,000 seams obscene, I am completely of a different mind set from when we started this process 2 months ago. Most of us would do ANYTHING for our children. I fall under that category...within reason. Paying $12,000 for a dog actually makes a ton of sense to me now. First off, we are able to break the cost up into payments of about $250 per month. Still a lot of money, but certainly attainable keeping in mind all of the training that goes into the process. Next, we have an amazing network of support that is willing to pitch in a few dollars to support the cause including Colorado Service Dogs themselves...fundraisers, rummage sales, donation webpages. Also, in just 2 short months, we have completely fallen in love with Diego and Matthew has really taken to him. It melts my heart to see Matthew walk up to the dog with his service vest and try to put it on his neck so we can go out. Matthew loves to run his fingers through the dog's fur and try to get him to play with him. Matthew just laughs when Diego brushes past him and looks forward to Diego coming to bed at night. So, where we are still in need for donations and financial support, I have to say that the 30 day bonding period was worth it. All of the poop stories and vomit and frustrations with getting a multi-thousand dollar dog only to have him disobey us was simply a phase and also due to him ONLY being 7-9 months old. It was memorable and produced many moments for some laughter in this blog, but making the decision to get Diego has already proven to be a good one. (Don't worry, I won't give up the humor...) So, if there are some of you wondering about getting a service dog, I feel that I can already say YES! Just get ready for something that you cannot plan for...and have a light heart about it...and pray...a lot.

Practicing the "Stay" command

2010-03-29T18:09:00.004-06:00

One of the biggest hurdles we will cross is when Diego will stay put when I tell him to, and then walk away and leave Diego to stay with Matthew. Today, we had a play date at the boys' former pre-school. They have an enclosed playground away from the street, so having kids with autism attend their school is more safe. We met our dear friends who also have children with autism for a fun time together. This is a great picture of Matthew and his friend Enrique swinging with Diego on a "stay". I walked away to take the photo to see if he would obey my command. He succeeded very well! This is a big step to trusting Diego with Matthew if I ever need to leave the room and have Matthew stay out of harm's way. Also, heading to school with Matthew, Diego will need to be trusted to stay at Matthew's station or out with him on the playground. Great job Diego! Thanks for playing with us friends!

Silly doggie

2010-03-29T17:01:00.005-06:00

I couldn't help but notice the funny ways that Diego will sleep. He won't sleep like this in my classroom since he is in a cave-like setting. This is in my office. Enjoy a quick funny look at our silly service dog.

My first Grocery Store Trip...Flying Solo

2010-03-29T16:32:00.002-06:00

Okay, so technically I have been to the grocery store before, but never like this. Sorry, I didn't have enough arms to take photos for this, but I'll try to paint a picture. The boys and I are currently on Spring Break. YES! Since I do not have any major commitments this week, I felt that this would be the time to head out on my own. When I say "on my own" I am referring to going out with both boys and Diego...without my husband. I knew that I would be a bit nervous, but I also knew that I needed to get the "first" time over with. So here goes...
We excitedly get in the car with our harness, service dog jacket, bungee cord and leash. I remembered my purse and my car keys. Already on the right track. We head to King Soopers for our first experimental trip. I only need about 5 items, so I am hoping to get out of the grocery store in under an hour. (Insert smirk) The entry was good, we only got a few head turns and stares. By the way, I typically keep staring straight ahead as if I do this all the time and am not a complete rookie. Very Oscar-worthy if you ask me. As we go through the isles the first thing I notice is that we are the youngest people in the store...by about 72 years. So, even though I thought we were going incredibly slow, I think we appeared like Lightning McQueen to the other shoppers. We made it through most of the store with about 5 "excuse us" and 500 full-blown stand still stares. Really, hasn't anyone ever seen a short blond lady walking through a grocery store with one 6-year-old driving the grocery cart and another 6-year-old tethered to a giant Golden Retriever? Come on!?!?! So, we get to the check out and Diego is continuing to be a good dog. He is still struggling with sitting or standing when he is told to stay where he is, but most of all he is doing fabulous. He is really turning out to be a great dog. We finished paying...that took a few extra minutes due to forgetting how the entire process flowed. It is really funny how I can go through the grocery store checkout blind folded on a normal day: unload cart, scan club card for great savings, politely decline stamps and ice, swipe my credit card, sign the mini payment pad and be on my way. Very robotic. Today, I unloaded the cart after putting Diego (and Matthew) on a sit/stay and reaching over Ethan while he was "helping me". Then I quickly swiped my credit card and continued to "good boy" all three of my boys and field basic "Are you Training the dog?" questions. The checker was so distracted by our circus act that he didn't even ask if I wanted stamps or ice, which I did not, thank you. However, he was thoughtful enough to remind about my club-card savings. Phew! This experimental outing could have cost me an extra $5.42. We almost made it out of the store when I heard the same checker in complete awe talking to a co-worker about "never seeing this scenario before". He was very genuine and kind, but I have a feeling this is only the beginning of those comments. Oh, and the trip only took us 20 minutes! Thank you, thank you.

Heart-Warming Video

2010-03-28T20:15:00.001-06:00

Here is a video my dad sent a link to. It is just one more way that dogs have entered into the world of "service". It's about 5 minutes and well worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BGODurRfVv4

The new diet is a hit!

2010-03-28T13:32:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update. Diego has not thrown up in over a week and seems very happy on his new diet. He seems to have a "British" stomach, like my husband. Now that he has better food more often, he can handle his nerves. Phew! I was worried he may have eaten a rock and was going to need surgery. Nope. All better now.

Still so many questions, but maybe a few answers...

2010-03-28T13:22:00.004-06:00

After today's session, I feel like I have a few more answers regarding Diego going to school with Matthew. He normally has summer school for about 6 weeks to keep him current on his routines. My bright idea is to accompany Matthew and Diego to school on the bus for the last half of the summer session to get everyone ready for the transition. There are SO many variables and I worry about them all: Meeting with the principal, meeting with the teacher and Para who will ultimately be in charge of Diego, riding the bus, working out potty details, trusting Diego to stay where he is told to...
Since I have the summers off, I am hoping this will be the perfect opportunity to transition Diego to school. Pray for me!
Here are a few out-and-about photos taken today during our training session.

Fetching with a Bright Pink Rope

2010-03-28T12:59:00.007-06:00

During one of our recent training sessions, we asked for assistance getting Diego to go back to the beginning with fetching. He is SO distracted when he goes outside that he "forgets" how to return the ball to us. Keep in mind, he was fetching perfectly during the first week here with us. Now, he seems to want to rewrite the rules and have us chase him instead of play fetch. We were told he is actually changing the rules himself and wanting us to follow his lead. Well, he doesn't know who he's dealing with! So, we called in the big guns again. In the pictures, there is a bright pink 20 foot rope that is attached to his choker. When we gently throw the ball (not hard, or he would strangle himself) he runs for it, grabs it and them quickly lays down...Hmmm. Not quite fetch. Now, here comes the pink rope. we "happily" call for him to come to us by saying "Com-mere!", "Come" or "Bring It!" Keep in mind, we have to sound happy and excited even when we want to yell and get angry and say things like: "Give me the ball!", "Get over here!" and other angry things through tightly gritted teeth. So, the rope serves as a gentle nudge to get him going in the right direction. Can I just say, this is So frustrating and giving up after the first failure is really tempting. Our trainer said that we need to end each session and trial with him on a positive note. Believe me, if there was a positive note after the first 5 minutes, it would have been SO over!!! When I tried the fetching challenge, I spent around 20 minutes with Diego. Encouraging, begging, pleading, bribing with treats, yanking on the rope...until we finally had several successes and I ended the session on the positive note. Phew! David, pictured above and below, had a similar experience, but was blessed with much more patience and stamina that I was. He did really well. One of the funny moments was when he tangled his rope around the play set. Enjoy!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

2010-03-26T11:02:00.002-06:00

At FCA, we do parent/teacher conferences twice a year and have them organized around a 7 hour window the day before Spring Break. The morning is filled with meetings and some work time to get prepared and the afternoon is filled with parents coming through to try to talk to each teacher before the 7 hour window is over. I like to think of it as a form of "speed dating" but just not the dating part. :-) The teachers are supposed to keep their conversations to 5 minutes, but I struggle with that on a normal day since I just love talking to all the parents. This time around was even worse due the excitement about Diego. So, about 5 minutes was spent talking about the student and about 10-15 minutes talking about Diego and our life change as well as how he has been doing at school. I absolutely LOVE the interest and support we are getting from all of the parents. All of their children are assisting in the training process with Diego and really making this experience fun and bearable. So, thank you God for bringing all of these amazing people into our lives.

Snow Day

2010-03-26T10:24:00.002-06:00

Ahhh, the joy of seeing your school's name scroll across the bottom of your favorite TV show followed by the words: "Snow Day: School Closed". On Wednesday, the day before spring break started for Faith Christian Academy, we had a decent sized snow store come through and close all of the schools for the day. Even though we LOVE school and teaching, it is super awesome to see that we have an unexpected day off. This is a photo of Ethan and Diego relaxing on the bed watching The Blind Side with me. Good stuff. I think Matthew was deconstructing the couches and building forts at the time.

New Dog Food

2010-03-18T19:11:00.002-06:00

Diego did some more vomiting today. This time it was food again, not bile. We did a vet run hoping that he hadn't swallowed a rock and had it hanging out in his stomach. Remember, he eats a lot of inappropriate things when he gets a chance. Turns out, he needs to eat better quality food and more often. We were originally instructed to give him 2 cups of Puppy Chow for dinner and that's it. A few treats throughout the day is okay, but his main meal would come in the evening when he was done with work. The vet said that the first couple of vomits were due to nerves and lack of food in his system. His empty morning stomach may have actually given him a tummy ache. We really needed to be feeding him twice a day, 2 cups each time, and with a higher quality dog food. We were even recommended to cook really bland carbs and proteins for him. Those of you that know me well are laughing right now. For those of you that don't, I really don't cook much. Maybe some Hamburger Helper or some pasta here and there, but we are a take-out or go-out kind of family. It is mostly due to lack of time in the day and lack of planning meals for ourselves. So, we are not going with the cooking plan...definitely the Eukanuba or Science Diet. This change in diet should not only help him have a more settled tummy, but poop less! YES! Efficiency! Maybe I'll try some too!

Taking a break

2010-03-18T18:58:00.003-06:00

Diego has been doing really great coming to work/school with me everyday. I could never have imagined what a perfect environment this would be for both of us. This picture is of Diego and me taking a break outside in the sun. He hangs out in my room for about 8 hours with one short potty/stretch break in the morning and then a longer goof-off & visit break in the afternoon. This was when we were both finished with the bulk of our day. We went outside to stretch and enjoy the fresh air.

Poop and Vomit

2010-03-11T19:27:00.002-07:00

Nice title, eh? Well, Diego seems to bring both poop and vomit where ever he goes. We were told early on that if Diego poops in the house, he is to sit in his kennel with the poop right next to the door. That way, he is forced to be near his own feces, which he absolutely hates. This is supposed to show him that he is not aloud to poop in the house. This will only work if he is caught in the act. We have caught him after the fact several times, but not until recently did David catch him finishing his BM in the basement and promptly escorted him to his kennel followed by a steaming pile of you-know-what in paper towels. I didn't realize that Diego could potentially squeeze himself through the 1 square inch holes in the crate, but I think he was trying. When I checked on him, he was pressed heavily against the wall of the kennel, oozing through the gaps and bending part of the frame trying to be as far from the disgusting pile as possible. Is it sad that I actually got a secret chuckle and a smirk crossed my face? Served him right!...Poopin' in my house...Gross! Ha! He won't be doing that again! Well, so far, so good. We still don't trust him alone, but no more accidents (on purposes) in the basement.
As for the second part of the title...the vomiting. I can't entirely figure him out, but I do believe that he is out to embarrass me for life. Disclaimer...do not read this if you have a weak stomach. This morning, after have some tasty chicken nugget left overs last night, he proceeded to vomit while he was under my desk. That wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that he did right in the middle of my instruction and a poor young lady had to tell me what happened in front of the whole class. (Warning...the gross part, yea, I haven't told it yet.) And, that he was currently eating it! (That's the gross part). WHY Diego, WHY?
Well, fortunately, I have many boys in the class who found that amazingly cool. I, on the other hand, found it a bit disruptive and foul. When I notice that it is not your run-of-the-mill furball, but last night's nuggets, I knew I had to clean it up immediately. On the bright side, the kids were continuously supportive and sweet about the whole thing. They all love him. Even when he is doing disgusting things. I have to admit, I am really starting to love him, too, dispite his cow-like eating behaviors.

Diego has to behave...

2010-03-11T19:10:00.002-07:00

I love it! Diego has to officially behave indoors all the times. You may think, "Why wouldn't he?" Well, that has new meaning to us now since our last training session. Before, we would go off to work/school and he would be this perfect, yet shy, dog that was well behaved and obedient all the time. Then, we would come home and he would turn into this psycho spaz dog and maul everyone in site. Well, we learned that since he is SO huge and oblivious all in the same body, he cannot be aloud to be so crazy...He could hurt someone. Especially one of the boys. So, this week, he is waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the kids to get to the top. He is also not pushing his way through the doorways before us. He is only aloud to wrestle with David, not the boys...ever. When he goes outside, he is aloud to go crazy and run wild and chase imaginary birds and bunnies. He loves it. The only problem with that is all of the many things he wants to eat that he shouldn't like: sticks, rocks, dirt clods, chalk, bubble blowing sticks...need I go on. He is also very into digging in my bare gardens as well. That makes for muddy feet and damaged gardens. (Sigh...) So, with all of that said, we are still putting him on an extension lead to go potty so we are sure he will come back with the least amount of collateral damage. He is better at coming to our calls, especially when we have treats. Heaven forbid he has a tennis ball outside. He can only think of playing and turns back into naughty, disobedient dog. Not the one we are super excited about, but the one that we are frustrated with. When he is especially naughty and doesn't come when he is called, we have to physically go get him and walk him straight to his kennel where he gets a time out for a while. We are continuing to work on that constantly.

Colorado Service Dogs

2010-03-07T15:02:00.002-07:00

Just a quick shout out to all of you with big hearts a few extra dollars (or bags of dog food) lying around. Colorado Service Dogs is in need of donations. They are all tax deductible and go to a huge cause (ours, in fact). Their website is: http://www.coservicedogs.com/ The donations can be made directly through the site. If you are interested or know anyone who needs their services, please give them a buzz. We all appreciate it and will feel your love through your generosity.
They have lots of puppies at the moment and are interested in selling one to raise some money as well (a Labradoodle, I believe). Sharon is our direct contact, so if you'd like to contact her, she can direct you further. (Not sure how long the puppy will be available for sale.)

Chapel Day

2010-03-07T07:19:00.002-07:00

Ethan and I have chapel on Wednesdays. Originally, I did not want to bring Diego to Chapel because I worried about all the fur being tracked all over "Tarnation" and all of the distractions. My class is one thing, but the sanctuary seemed off limits. I wasn't sure what else to do with him and I don't like missing chapel, so I decided we would head over early and have a seat before the large group of middle schoolers came in. This turned out to be another great lesson for him. Lots of kids, loud worship music, hundreds of smells and chaos everywhere. As you see in the photo, he wasn't really phased. He did amazing.
One side note about this experience for me...I am not naturally quick to bond with dogs. Especially those who poop in places they shouldn't and eat things they shouldn't and behave in ways that are frustrating (basically puppy/autistic behavior) I started most of the first month coping with the extreme conditions we put ourselves in thinking that this would all be temporary. Diego would grow out of his puppy stage and eventually be trained. This would all be okay. I would eventually love the dog and stop referring to him as "the dog". I am also not a "long-term" project type of gal. I teach math because I love instant gratification. When God gave us twins, I thought, "Wow! You really believe in me!" Then He gave us autism. "Boy, You must think I am SuperWoman!" And now, He has asked me to take on an over-sized furry autistic puppy. I think He is just cracking up up in Heaven. But...like everything that God has put before me, I am finding the purpose. I am getting the opportunity to know Diego as he will be after he is trained. I am getting opportunities to protect his over-sized heart when he is feeling scared. I am getting the chance to bond with him all by myself on my prep periods. I am really seeing what we have to look forward to because when he is on the job, he is a very calm, sane and perfect dog. Lord? You really do know what You're doing, don't you? I'll be fine.

School Day Number 2

2010-03-07T07:14:00.003-07:00

Short and quick...Diego did much better the second day. He was not afraid of Todd and his wheels, he took a couple naps and did lots of visiting. He would not drink or eat any snacks. He actually dry heaved a bit and threw up a bit of nothing. Nerves, I think. He didn't potty at all, but we went on a brief walk and visited the office. The kids are also learning about service dogs and what to do around them. The students are turning out to be the best training sessions ever. He is really being forced to ignore them and wait for my command to "visit". The kids are also learning to wait to pet him until I say it is okay.

Diego goes to work

2010-03-07T06:43:00.002-07:00

Last week, when we met with our trainer, she noticed that we were falling behind on basic skills with the dog. We admitted that we only take him out to "work" him a couple time on the week days and a bit on the weekends. We do not normally go out everyday, and the weather has been pretty cold and snowy. She asked if we would be able to take Diego to work with us. David thought that idea was fabulous. I thought that idea was crazy! Ethan thought it would be funny. She mentioned that the rate we were training, Diego would be ready in about 3 years. That was NOT okay with me. If we took him to work, he would be on the job and getting 40+ hours of work per week and would be ready much more quickly. Well, those of you who know my personality, know that she couldn't have made a better pitch.
So, David and I talked about it, and decided he would take Diego to work on Mon, Tues, and Wed, while Ethan and I would take him to school with us on Thurs and Fri. I was a bit nervous. I could not visualize how I would teach 5 classes and also make sure Diego was behaving himself. What if he had to use the bathroom?...right in the middle of class? What if I had to use the bathroom? What do I do with the dog?
Well, David asked his boss to allow the training days and he promptly denied him. I asked my boss and she said, "Sure! Let's try it!" (My boss is way cooler than David's boss!)
Well, now I am officially freaked out. My first thought was: Back in January, we were getting a pet for David and the boys and today, I am bringing a dog to work to train for Matthew." What happened to "a pet for dad?" After I finished freaking out, we saddled up Diego and a backpack of bones, treats, water and blankets. Off to school we all went. I had prepared the kids at school ahead of time that we were coming, so they were super excited to meet "the service dog" they had heard so much about.
Diego was very excited at first to be leaving the house in the morning. He eagerly got in the car and wagged his tail and hummed all the way to school. We got him in the building and the sight of the first 8th grader made him stop in his tracks. I nudged him on and Ethan soothed his nerves with pets. We got into my classroom and I showed him the "cave" under my teacher-desk. He naturally went under and curled up. He was very pleased to have a safe place to hide.
The first child that came through the door was greeted with a loud bark. I had to tell Diego not to bark and encourage him that he was okay. The first class came through and were all excited to see Diego. He, on the other hand, was terrified. He did not want to come out and he was shaking with nerves. I told the class that we would give him time to adjust and try to "visit" with him later. He was shy.
Fortunately, I had a prep period for my second hour and we decided to venture out into the halls. He was happy to come out and we went outside to see if he would go potty. Not so much! He loved the new smells and wanted to taste the goose poop that was everywhere. Gross! We quickly retreated back into the building. We came back into my room and settled back into the cave.
The next fright came from my dear friend Todd who happens to have a cool set of wheels that he rolls around on. Diego took on look at the wheel chair and flipped. He barked, growled, hid, and was altogether a pathetic creature. Todd and I tried to show him that Todd was a friend. He didn't buy it right away. Todd was very patient and did not take it personally. We decided we would try again later.
A few more classes came and went and Diego sat nervously under my desk. He wasn't interested in visiting, but took some comfort in his peanut butter filled shank bone and some water. We finally got to go outside again to empty his bladder. He was pleased with that along with the opportunity to taste more goose poop. (Why is he so gross?)
The day ended well. We got home and I figured he would be exhausted. He didn't take a single snooze at school, so I thought he would pass out at home. Not a chance. As soon as we walked through the door, he turned back into the SPAZ-DOG that I knew and had to greet Brenda and Matthew with Diego-style hugs and kisses. That night, however, he went into his kennel, did three turns, laid down his head on the rim of his cushion and passes out before the boys had their pjs on.

The Cool Play House!

2010-03-06T19:10:00.004-07:00

I just couldn't resist snapping these photos of Matthew. He loves the dog kennel that is in the bedroom. Diego sleeps in this kennel at night. Eventually, he will not need the kennel, but for now, he is not the best listener (at 8 months old) and often times chooses to do what he pleases the second he thinks no one is watching anymore. Matthew LOVES to go inside and close the gate. He makes tons of happy cooing sounds and thinks it is great. I think Diego finds it a bit strange...

Training at the mall

2010-03-06T18:51:00.006-07:00

One of our training sessions included picking up our trainer and her most current trainee, an abandoned German Shepard (David's favorite dog in the world). When we got to her house, and loaded up the passengers, Diego just about exploded. All he could see and smell was a fresh doggie. He was in the far back of the car and tried to jump over two rows of seats to greet them. We finally got to the mall and Diego just couldn't settle down without doing the proper doggie greetings...Yep, you know the greetings I am referring to...
The two dogs finished there "Hellos" and we could finally start the training. The basic walk through the mall was very uneventful. We made our way through the large isles without any upsets or distractions. We decided to go to Target. Once in Target, the trainer needed to test Diego's ability to contain Matthew. Where better to test that than the toy section! Matthew LOVES the toy section. (So does Ethan!) The boys are very used to getting a toy when we go to thrift stores, but Matthew doesn't really distinguish between Target and Goodwill. He feels that he should go through each toy and be able to take one with him. So...he got to look at a few toys and then the trainer instructed David to take Matthew and Diego to the other side of the isle far enough away from the toys so Matthew could not reach them. Diego was told to sit and then go down and stay. Meanwhile, Matthew was not pleased at all about being distanced from the cool Buzz Lightyear noisy toy. He was desperately trying to get to it. He was even trying to army crawl with all of his strength to the toy. Since he is tethered to 70 pound Diego with a 3 foot bungie cord and a REI climbing belt, he was going nowhere. We let that go on for about 20 seconds to document that he could, in fact, withstand resistance from little 43 pound Matthew. Success! Now, let's head to the dollar section to reward Matthew (and Ethan) for there great training.

Ethan is here too!

2010-03-06T18:45:00.002-07:00

Ethan wanted to make sure that he was part of this story too. How could he NOT be. He is also directly affected by this new addition to the household. Ethan says that he ALWAYS loves the dog. He thinks Diego acts like Matthew: He eats things he's not supposed to, he messes up your play time by crashing roads and towers with his body, he loves to play with kids, they both like to lick stuff, and they are both adorable! Ethan is super adorable too!

A name! Finally

2010-03-04T18:24:00.002-07:00

Okay, so something I continue to notice is that I keep referring to the dog as “the dog”. I can finally stop doing that for two reasons: we officially gave the dog a name and I finally feel more bonded to this new animal. Introducing: San Diego, lovingly pronounced “Sandy-eggo”. We will call him Diego or continue to call him Sandy, which was the name he came with. Also, since our kids were born in San Diego, it is a name close to our hearts. So, I will refer to him as Diego from now on.

Doggie scare...

2010-03-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

On a downer note, we had our first negative experience with how the dog may react to little children in public. I needed to take some boots back to Kohl’s and we have decided to try to take the dog out for training every chance we get. So, off I went, by myself. No big deal, right? I have done this before. We get passed the majority of the store completely unnoticed. Well, unnoticed except for a giant, blond, shaggy-haired dog walking around a department store. We get back to the customer service returns area and are the next people in line. The people in front of me consist of a mom and her small child. The child appears to be about 4 or 5 and very close to the size of my boys. When we stopped, I had the dog sit and simply wait. The young child was gazing and flirting at the dog from a distance. The mom saw us as well and also noticed the enamored look on her child’s face. She gave permission to go “look” at the dog. I had a million thoughts going through my mind on how to handle the child and mom combo. Nothing came quick enough because all of a sudden, the dog let out three very loud and very abrupt barks. I had no idea what just happened. One moment I was watching his sweet, innocent child creeping toward the dog with a look of pure joy and the next moment, the child was hiding in Mommy’s leg balling. Oh, man! Did I just take part in damaging this child against all dogs forever? As I replayed the last 5 seconds and took a closer inspection of the dog, I realized the tail on the dog was going 100 miles per hour and he was down on his front legs ready to “take down”. I think he saw this sweet child as an invitation to play. I try to explain things to this mother who was about the kill me. She didn’t say anything, but her look had me thinking the worst. I tried to apologize and explain the similarity of her child with mine and that the dog was young and really wanted to play with the child. I’ll never know if she forgave me or the dog or Kohl’s for allowing this child torture to take place. I definitely learned my lesson though. Now I can see why we are discouraged from allowing anyone to touch the dog while he is on duty.

Take-Down

2010-03-04T18:20:00.001-07:00

Another laughable memory occurred during the creation of an original command that we now lovingly have named the “Take-down”. Matthew was running and being silly as usual. Since the dog is still very excitable, he takes every opportunity to join in on the excitement. I witnessed this one myself. Matthew began to run through a narrow hall way toward the main living room where his beloved “jumpy couch” is. His plans were to quickly dismantle the over-sized sofa and build a fort. Well, before he could get within 10 yards of his goal, the dog caught up with him, grabbed the back of his sweat shirt with his teeth, wrapped both paws around his waist and brought him to the ground. Matthew balled up in the fetal position and began laugh/crying. The dog proceeded to gnaw on the back of his head (not to hurt him, of course) and when I saw that Matthew was a bit uncertain about this creature that outweighs him by 25 pounds using him as a chew toy, I decided to reach my hands down and pull him out. Matthew quickly turned into a giant koala and wouldn’t let go of me. At first, I thought I should not encourage that behavior. When I asked our trainer about it, she reminded us that we may need that trick some day and we should give that behavior a name…thus “The Take Down.” I am thinking about using some of my much larger 8th grade boys to rehearse this trick with. I already have a few volunteers.

Hangng on for dear life.

2010-03-04T18:17:00.001-07:00

February 22, 2010
Much has happened in the last two weeks since I last put down my thoughts: mostly pretty funny stuff. A few moments that stand out are just basic adjustments that have taken place. One in particular involves our silly, out-of control puppy who forgets how big he is. So often, as he is running through small spaces, he forgets that his back end is attached to his front end. He doesn’t really calculate his turns very well. He reminds me of the Slink-dog on Toy Story. His back end usually is still going straight ahead when his front end has already turned the corner. This driving technique often results in loud thumps and crash sounds and sometimes an object is knocked over. The sad part is when that object is a child. The great thing about repetition is one usually learns from mistakes…even 5 year old boys. My husband recalls a morning when the boys were making their way down our two-tiered u-shaped staircase. The dog decided that he needed to get down the steps in about 2 seconds flat. Both boys heard (and felt) the thunderous roar that indicates the dog’s soon arrival. They immediately threw their bodies against the spindle rails on the banister and hung on for dear life as the dog blurred past them. I have to laugh out loud every time I visualize this happening.

A couple photos

2010-03-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple phots from our outings. Two of David, Matthew & the dog in Costco, one of all my boys at Red Robin.

Week 2 Finale Some progress!

2010-03-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

The evening continued with an additional outing to a birthday party at Monkey Business. This party was extra special because it was for a set of twin who also has autism. All of Matthew’s circle of friends will be there as well as their parents. I have been talking about the dog with them and they have been excited. This is my opportunity to introduce them to “Sandy” and let them see what he would be like. I t was pretty cool to walk up with Matthew tethered to “Sandy” and have everyone see us in action. Brenda came along since David had school work to do. I was also excited to show her what Matthew’s peers were like. She loved it!
The parents at Autistic birthday parties all have this unspoken understanding about tolerance and “bouncer” skills. We each casually stand guard at all the exits and grab children as they run out the door without supervision. We just understand the situation. The best parties ever!!! If your child has a meltdown, everyone understands. There are no stern looks or eye rolls, just looks of concern or simply oblivion. All of the siblings get it as well. You would think these parties would be stressful, but they are quite the opposite. “Sandy” did really well also. He got a bit distracted by a dog scent that was on another party-goer, but he basically lied down and fell asleep. In the future, he will probably be put at a post in front of a door, but we are not quite there yet.
To end the evening, David took the dog to the grocery store. He said that he did really well except for the checkout. The employee wanted to say hello to the dog, so David gave the command to “visit”. The only problem was he didn’t know how to “unvisit”. Another one to work on.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
My entries will be further apart now and more grouped into weeks. Fortunately, we appear to be entering the bonding stage. The dog is SO much more receptive and happy to serve. After 2 ½ weeks, I feel like we are at the point that I had imagined the first day to be like: Lots of obedience, successful outings and overall love of the family. The dog is really feeling like part of the family now. I feel he is really settled in and used to our expectations. He is about 90% at coming when he is called (the first time). He likes his bed, his kennel and especially his peanut butter and cheese filled bones. Praise works great, but treats are even better. Today, we had a snow storm come in, so we canceled our training session. We decided we still had errands to run, so we decided we would do a training session of our own.
We started at Costco. Here is a perfect example of why we wanted a service dog. Normally, Matthew HATES Costco. He complains the second we turn on the road that leads to Costco. Today seemed different right at the start. He was not complaining at all. In fact, as soon as I put the climbing harness on him, he seemed excited. We hooked him to “Sandy” in the snowy parking lot and away we went. I was nervous at first as I watched Matthew being pulled on the wet parking lot, but he thought it was great. The dog healed with David and Matthew kept up. The freedom that Matthew had was so amazing. He could walk and not be stuffed into a cart that he was too big for. He could just walk freely. He was so happy and it made me really feel justified for wanting this dog. This time, he was a little bummed to leave the store. Who would have thought? Then we went to lunch at Red Robin. We were the 2nd customers of the morning since it was only 10 minutes after they opened. We were thrilled. Since bringing the dog to various restaurants is still new, we like when they are near empty. The lunch went really well again. Matthew started to get squirmy at the end, so I asked him if he wanted to pet the doggy and he started to refocus. (Nice!) Next we went over to Target. Matthew, once again was in heaven while he got to walk, not ride, through the store. He was able to grab toys…yes, but he loved following along and playing with a toy through the store. Even at the checkout, when I had to take the toy away, he fought me, but recovered quickly since he had the dog to distract him. I also think that the need for him to concentrate while walking is helpful.
Today was just a really nice day! Desperately needed!!! Thank you, God!
Here are a couple of pictures to add from today:

Week 2 Circus Act

2010-03-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Day 6 (Monday)
So, Monday came and I escaped to work where I can relax. I teach Middle School Math and just love it. Some think I am crazy, but it is my gift…”It” refers to the endless love I have for pre-pubescent teenagers. I can’t help it! During my 3rd hour class, I received the most beautiful text from my husband: “MW has taken himself to the toilet and gone #2”. Translation: Matthew went poop in the toilet all by himself. Then, another amazing messege when I got home from work from our nanny, Brenda: “You’lll never believe it! I saw the most amazing thing! Matthew stopped spinning at the table, ran to the bathroom and when pee and poop in the toilet and even tried to clean himself off!”
WHAT! Twice in one day?! I can barely contain my excitement. I run to Matthew and hug and kiss him and say over and over, “You went Poo-poo in the potty?!?!?!” He just laughed and enjoyed the kisses.
The dog was well behaved and had no accidents either. This day is just amazing! (Thank you Jesus!)

Day 7 (Tuesday)
Another great day of clean floors and happy mommies. The neat break through today was outside in the backyard. So far, the dog has really struggled with distractions playing fetch. We have really tried, but he just doesn’t want to bring the ball back. We have basically moved fetch to inside only for fewer distractions. Well, I think that has really paid off. The first two throws were disappointing, but I decided I would try squatting down when I asked for the ball back. It worked! He actually had 20+ successful fetches. I was so proud of him. We came in a rested. Nice day!

Day 8 (Wednesday, 1/27/10)
Today marks exactly one full week since we have had the dog. (Don’t worry, I will call him by a name soon.) I look back over my thoughts and can’t believe it has ONLY been a week. I feel like I have aged several years. No problem…Yoga will save me. On a very cool note, we when out for a car ride to CU Denver to have David sign a proof of residency form. Originally, we were just going to have me and the boys (dog is one of the boys) hang out in the grass area by the car. But…I got the great idea of all of us walking to the building and going in together. After all, we have a service dog, right? He should be able to come in. I was SO curious what he would do. Well guess what… he was PERFECT! I was so proud of all of my boys. We worked as a team and acted like pros. Matthew is not tethered to the dog yet because they are not really bonded yet. I think Matthew would still resist. Also, we aren’t sure what we can trust with the dog yet either. But, MAN! What a nice event to share. We finally got a true glimpse at what our life will be like.
Day 9 (Thursday)
I have had 3 days off from bad toilet behavior! What a relief. The dog still continues to enjoy fetching in the back yard and is bringing the ball to me about 50% of the time. Inside, he is much better. He still does not want to come when called. That is getting old.

Day 10 (Friday)
I begged God for 2 days off of Poop duty and he gave me 4. Hallelujah! Today was the first day that Matthew pooped in his pants. He has been pretty good about getting to the toilet on his own the past few days. Hopefully today doesn’t mark another sign of regression. We’ll see. Due to the poor behavior of the dog, David has expressed his concerns with our trainer. Instead of heading back to the mall, she is coming to our house to set some things straight and show us how to properly get the dog back on track. Her words: “The dog should be a blessing!” He is certainly not a blessing in this stage of the game. Something I realized today that is very worth noting: We chose to hurry the service dog process along from the beginning by taking the dog home on the first day we met him. What we didn’t realize was that because he is just a baby still, he would experience regression in his training due to being in a new environment as well as away from his trainer. We realized we would deal with chewing and remedied that with bones and rawhides, but he consistently steals Matthew’s stuffed animals, puzzle pieces, socks, etc. Some things have been destroyed, while most things are caught early and they are just wet. I have replayed our first meeting with the Service Dog company and realized that the “slow” way to get the dog would have been to allow the dog to train a while longer with the trainer before having him move in with us. This would have allowed the training to become more solid and also have the dog mature a bit more. I have mixed feelings about the decision we made. I know I like to have things done quickly and this is the price I am paying, however, on the positive side, we are bonding with the dog earlier and experiencing the joys of playing and loving on the dog. I guess the choice has varying outcomes and either way would have its perks and frustrations. One thing is for sure: a service dog does not come with an on/off switch the way that I thought it would. Especially a 7 month old!

Day 11 (Saturday)
I am REALLY looking forward to the trainer coming over. We have purchased an extension lead to have the dog attached to when he goes to the bathroom. That way, we can control him coming back in. He just wants to play ALL the time. We will learn how to get him to come back in EVERY time we call him.
Day 12 (Sunday)
Training day has arrived again. The trainer will be here soon and it couldn’t be soon enough. Starting first thing in the morning, the dog is let out of his kennel to potty outside. I find the lead and attach it to his choker collar. He is not pleased and as soon as he steps outside, he is trying to fight the lead. He wants to chew it and gets tangled. I am telling the god to “Go Potty”, a command he is supposed to know. He just stares at me with a blank look. After about 2 minutes of fighting with him, I step outside (in my pjs) and walk him to the grass. He goes potty, I praise him and we come back in. He gets lots of praise and I relax a bit. In just a matter of 1 hour after that, he proceeded to head to the basement, poop, steal toys and jump on Ethan causing him to cry. We tried to scold him for the poop and he doesn’t care at all. Turns out, scolding him after the fact is meaningless. You have to catch him in the act. But, he WAS caught in the act of jumping on Ethan so, he gets scolded for that bad behavior and sent outside. (Maybe that was a reward… not sure). Is the trainer here yet?

Okay, the training session is over. What did we learn? Well, we have been doing a few things wrong this week. One thing we learned was that if the dog disobeys a command twice and then obeys the third time and receives praise, he will soon learn that he has until the third time before he needs to behave. Similarly, if the dog is not “coming” to you and you scold him from afar, once he does obey, he needs to be brought to his bed/kennel and left there while you walk away. He cannot receive a verbal praise because he will associate it with doing bad things before doing the good ones. (You getting all this?) In the end, we need the trainer to train us daily, not weekly.
So, the trainer sat and patiently waited and watched the dog misbehave for the first 10 minutes. She told us that the basic problem is not so much the dog, but us. We are not bonded yet. It is not a bad thing, just the facts. The dog needs about 30 days to become fully bonded with an owner. Until then, the dog does not feel the desire to please us. Also, we should have been using daily training with treats this whole time. We did not know that until today (Day 11). So, we are definitely feeling more confident. We are going back to square one. The dog is ONLY let into the back yard with a leach, but also the training collar (a more humane name for the choker) so we can correct bad behavior. No more fetch inside or out until he is bonded with us. He will just work and get love from us.
We had a very successful outing with Matthew tethered to him in PetsMart and then in Kings Soopers. We were so excited, we immediately went to Chili’s for lunch. A bit scary, but we were completely successful!

Facing the aftermath...

2010-03-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

Just to add onto the end of Day 5, when I got into the car to get the Rug Doctor from the Super Market, I was seeing so much red that I couldn’t even think straight. Usually, when I am that upset or angry I pray. When I am alone, I do it out loud as if God is sitting next to me in the car. I went to open my mouth and I could get anything out. I was just SO mad and the situation. I guess I was mad at God for the huge pile of “stuff” that He was giving me to handle. So, I decided I needed to force myself. I can’t stay mad at people and especially NOT God. So, out it came. Nope, not words…just sobs and tears. I almost pulled over because I couldn’t see the road. I began to pray and beg God to just give me two days of peace and no poop. (I read this back and realize how silly it all sounds now, but this was truly my prayer.) I cried and prayed and begged all the way to the store and finally took a deep breath when I arrived. I pulled myself together and put my happy face on. I rented the life/child/marriage/dog saving device and headed back home.
Once I arrived and had a chance to see the mess on the floor one more time, I started to shut down again. I couldn’t say much. My other son, Ethan, is usually quick to cheer me up with “I love yous” and such. He, even at 5 years old, can detect when I am about to lose it. His sweetness certainly made me feel better, but still very quiet and still. I filled up the machine and headed into the war-zone created by a little boy who is already happy again and loving on his favorite froggie in his bed. He has virtually no residual effects from the scolding he got and, like a sweet puppy, is ready to move on. I envy that in his innocence.
As I begin cleaning the stain, the carpet is quickly coming back to normal and one more miracle happens. My husband… He is irreplaceable in times of trivial crisis. He immediately snaps me out of my funk with a very child-like “It’s a MIRACLE!” I couldn’t help but smile and let it all just slide off my shoulders. I love my husband!

Week 1 Did we make it?

2010-03-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Jan 25, 2010
Hello there friends and family,
I wanted to update you on our adventure with the service dog so far:

Sit back and enjoy.

Day 1 (Wednesday)
The first day, aside from being a shock that we had a service dog in our possession already, was just a day of exploration and bonding. The dog felt that he was just visiting and didn't really need to be listening to these strange, yet loving, people.
Matthew was able to give the dog 3 small biscuits and with each one, the process seemed more and more cool for Matthew. He even got to give the dog a high five. Very cute!

day 2 (Thursday)
The second day was a little more colorful. We headed off to work and left the dog to explore and "be good" while we were gone. Matthew's bus comes home at 10:45am and he comes in and plays and eats lunch while waiting for his nanny, Brenda, to come over. Long story short, the dog and Matthew had a pooping contesting in the basement and just about sent Brenda to the nut house. I keep telling myself that we have TWO oversized two-year-olds in our house right now. We have been in constant communication with the trainer and follow her orders and suggestions. We bought a kennel that can house the whole family, if necessary, and are now putting the dog in there overnight and while we are away in the morning. That night went very well! The kennel is in the boys' room, so the new doggie will get acquainted with the sounds and smells of Matthew and Ethan.

Day 3 (Friday)
A bit of a blur at this point. No more pooping contests. All went well...mostly dealing with a very young dog that still doesn't fully believe he is in his new home and is refusing to come when called and stop trying to eat the kids leftovers off the table. Lots of practice with fetching in the back yard and other commands he should already know but seems to ignore.

Day 4 (Saturday)
David spent most of the morning practicing commands with the dog and just loving on him. We continued more bonding and had another poop accident (dog). We are super confused as to why he is doing this since he is supposed to have passed basic training already. So far, we are a bit discouraged, but we are meeting with the trainer on Sunday and we will be able to ask more questions and get more guidance.

Day 5 (Sunday)
This was the most eventful day of them all. We started out great! Better listening, better behavior. Going good. My lovely babysitting crew came over to watch Matthew and Ethan while David and I got a lesson with the trainer. First, the dog was SO excited to see his trainer that he ran out into the parking lot to get to her and just about killed himself! So, we survived the greeting and made it into the mall. The trainer needed to "transfer power" to us, so she began to ignore the dog. It actually worked pretty quickly. The dog even laid down at David's feet instead of hers. She thought this was a great sign that the dog was realizing he belongs to us now. We got a bunch of tips, asked a bunch of questions and then decided to use the last 20 minutes to practice. David took the first 10 minutes and I took the second. We practiced walking, sitting, staying, turning, and overall listening to commands. Great session! Should be all, right? Well, David and I decided to walk down the mall to Target and purchase a couple doggie items. We were going to practice our new skills! Half way down the VERY BUSY mall, the dog decided he was going to poop. Yep! Right in the mall! In front of 5 MILLION people!!!!. WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we quickly grab paper towels from the bathroom which happened to be 10 feet away, scooped the poop and got out of there. The rest of the trip was great and the dog did well...wouldn't you after letting a load off? So, off to home we go. Matthew was and continued to be completely out of sorts for the next 3-4 hours. Nothing is making him happy and he can't stop crying. We are all on edge at this point and finally ease up closer to dinner time. Ah, bellies are full, football is on and we are finally having some happy quiet time...until!!!! My darling husbands excitedly says, "Christy! I need your help right now!" I have a horrible feeling in my gut because Matthew has been awfully quiet. I come around the corner to see that he has pooped...on the carpet...and is dragging a heart-shaped cookie-cutter through the poop. I have never seen so much poop. On his hands, the floor (looks like mud, only SO not mud), his clothes. I am disgusted! Furious! In complete amazement that this is actually happening to me. Cut to the happy ending, King Soopers rented me a Rug Doctor, our floors are clean and poop free, bedtime came and we all survived.

To be continued...

We got a dog...a $12,000 dog.

2010-03-04T17:39:00.001-07:00

Wed, Jan 20 2010
Hey there everyone,
So we have begun our most recent journey into the world of service dogs. This is "Sandy", a 7 month old Golden Retriever. We think we will call him Sammy instead. More masculine...He is said to be lazy and looks HUGE already. That is because he is predicted to be around 80 lbs when he is done growing. Ha! Matthew, try to budge this guy!

Yes, you read that right. With the added hours for training, the dog himself and any doggie costs we accrue along the way, a service dog costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $12,000 when all is said and done. Thank goodness for donations from wonderful students and a long payment plan. Will it be worth it? Tune in weekly to find out.

So far...
We met with the dog service woman and she actually brought "Sammy" to meet us for the first meeting. Little did we know that she intended for him to come home with us tonight! Whoa baby!!! So here we are. The contract and legal info is signed and we are ready to start the extensive training process. He knows basic commands already, but seems super distracted today. We are starting slow with the bonding process. It is very time consuming so far and a bit distracting. (Matthew has already escaped twice in 2 hours due to the doors being left unlocked on accident. )

With time and weekly training, we will get the doggie fully service trained for our needs and eventually venture out into the world and practice walking Matthew with the dog tethered to him. Pictures will follow through this adventure.

Here he is now. :-)