Day 8

Wow!  All I can say is I never imagined a week ago that I would be able to drop Omri’s leash & he’d STILL be in a heel!  Truthfully, I couldn’t imagine Omri not pulling or running away while on the leash let alone when he’s off leash.  For those who’ve wondered, the tan thingy on Omri’s nose when he’s on leash is called a Gentle Leader.  It’s not a muzzle or to keep him from barking.  As strong as he is, I was really struggling with getting him to heel at all.  The Gentle Leader basically gets their attention cause wherever their head is, that’s where their attention is gonna be, also.  Once we put it on, I really started feeling more confident & I think Omri picked up on that.  When we are in our hotel room, he doesn’t have it one, but when we’re in public, I put it on just to remind him that yes, he still has to listen to me.

 

These are pictures of the dogs/parents/kids in our class.  Starting at the top left, we have Wisdom, Flint, Jeremy, Omri, Xander, Xander, True, Alyssa,Flint, True,  True, True, Sabrina & River, Wisp, the puppy in the kennel is a future Service Dog, Twix, next we have Wisdom, Wisdom, Wisdom, Wisdom, Kyto, Mixie and Mixie.  These dogs, kids, parents, trainers have become one of my “packs”.  I will miss all of them tremendously when we leave.

 

 

 

 

 

I am not going to lie…this has been one of the hardest things I’ve EVER done!  Getting the respect from an intelligent dog is HARD work…add to that Matthew & I are here just the 2 of us.  It is very difficult and stressful to handle the dog and Matthew by myself.  I have a whole new respect for my friends who are single moms.  Matt has been fairly well-behaved, but I can tell he’s getting very tired of being stuck in a small hotel room at night.  There’s not a whole lot of entertainment except for Omri which helps with the bonding, but I get stressed & anxious very easy so it’s been hard.  Most people think I’m pretty easy-going, patient and level-headed.  NOT!  By nature, I am extremely impatient, high-strung, and emotion-driven.  I have learned a lot about myself this week.  I want to learn everything quickly and am extremely hard on myself when it takes longer than I think it should.  These dogs are wonderful, but they are not robots and they do get confused.  They are young—some are barely out of puppyhood…some are still really puppies—Omri is just 15 months old.  The Golden Retrievers aren’t quite a year, I think.  They still have a lot of puppy in them, but this way, they get to grow up with their kids, and we get to have them a long time.  (10-12 years, we hope!) 

 

I wondered several times during the fundraising process if God wanted us to even have a Service Dog for Matthew because it was taking SOOOOOOOO  long to raise our money.  I prayed, prayed, cried, fussed at God, cried some more, prayed some more, almost gave up, prayed some more, vented to my family, and FINALLY, I got a call from Xenia, Ohio.  Karen Shirk, the Executive Director of 4 Paws for Ability, called to say that an anonymous donor gave the rest of the money needed for Matthew’s Service Dog.  What?!  Someone I didn’t even know wanted to help my child? I was in SHOCK!  Then I remembered something another parent from 4 Paws said. “When the dog is ready, the money will come together.”  She is So right.  Omri wasn’t even born when I was getting frustrated!  God knew we needed to wait a while so Omri could be born and trained.  HE knew we needed THIS dog…not a different dog…THIS one!  I fully believe God works all things together in HIS time for HIS purpose.  Omri is working for us, but we need to give GOD the glory that Omri’s able to help Matthew as much as he has done.  I have faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, and along with that I have to believe that God will take care of my smallest need.  He is the rock I need to lean on when I’m stressed or anxious.  Is this whole journey in Matthew’s best interest or is it in mine?  Is Omri really going to help Matthew or is it wishful thinking on my part???  These are the questions I struggle with.  I also struggle with questions like:

* Why did I get a child with special needs instead of my brother, the teacher?

* Is Scott going to feel obligated to be Matthew’s guardian if something happens to us?

* WHY is Matthew this way? 

* Is Matthew going to be able to get married? have a real job?   live by himself?  manage his money?

* What’s going to happen to him if something happens to us?

* How do I help him and care for him without Scott feeling left out?

These are just a few of the questions I struggle with.  I know I need to give it to God & I try, but it’s SO hard.

 

I try to be peppy & upbeat, but I also write this blog trying to be as open & honest as I can.  For the most part, our lives are an open book.  I really believe that we are called to be “open books” for anyone to look at our lives and see REAL people and God’s grace should shine through.  Raising a special child is one of the hardest things you can do—doesn’t matter if your child is high functioning or completely dependent on you for everything—it is hard and it is real life!

 

I’m sorry if it seems like I’m preaching in this post, but I felt deep in my heart that needed to address some of these things & let everyone know that I am NOT perfect & I struggle, too. 

By the way, I have been unable to see comments you leave, so please email me any comments if you would please.    deashatterly@yahoo.com

 

Love,

Dea

 

Day 7

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Did anyone miss me?  Today's post may seem like I'm rambling...I am...


This morning, we worked on distractions with the dogs in sit, down, etc.  There were kids running all over the place yelling, toys being thrown, balls being bounced, puppies being puppies, etc.  Mostly the dogs all did very well.  You can tell we've been working with them at the hotels.  :-)  The most funny thing was when Jeremy brought out a plate of lasagna & put it down on the floor in front of each dog.

If only we could all relax this well, huh?

A week ago, I would have never believed that all the dogs would do this 
for us without us holding their leashed & making them stay in a "down".




















Peg had to leave to go back to Alaska, but we did get a few more minutes with her.

This afternoon, we worked on silent commands for sit, heel, down, etc. by pointing or other hand gestures.  Some of the dogs worked on lights on/off; picking things up, balance work, etc.  It's pretty impressive to watch the other dogs perform their work!  We're starting to loosen up a little with our classmates & tease or pick on each other a whole lot more.  We've kinda adopted each others' kids & watch out for them like we do our own.  :-)  

After class ended, Matthew, Omri & I went back to the hotel and got our dirty clothes.  We went to the laundromat close by the hotel & Omri got TONS of attention there.  All the little kids wanted to pet him & love on him.  From there, we went straight to the movies in Beavercreek.  We saw Journey 2 Mysterious Island in 3D.  It was a STUPENDOUS movie.  I give it 2 thumbs wayyyyyyyy  up!  Omri did really well.  When the movie was just getting started, after he laid down, he growled really deep in his throat & barked!  A real bark!  It really astounded me because he doesn't bark at ALL!  After I told him no, he basically went to sleep.  When we got back to the hotel, this is where I found him about 15 minutes later:

Apparently he is as tired as I am!  If only we could get Matthew to be tired, too!  These are pics from last night after I posted.  I just thought they were cute so here ya go!

Oh, the poor, long-suffering Service Dog!

Love,

Dea

Day 6

Every time Omri looks at me like this, I can't help but think he's looking at my thinking, HUH?  What on EARTH are you thinking you crazy woman???

Y'know, I'd read other moms' posts about training being exhausting & think...yeah, right!  Well, it IS!  I work 4 ten hour shifts at the hospital & it is very busy there, but NOTHING is as mentally and physically exhausting as training to be a handler for a Service Dog!  These dogs are very intelligent, and that means you have to be at the top of your game every minute.  Omri just keeps giving me these looks like...really?  UH.....you're the human, right?

Apparently, I'm not the only one getting worn out by training, huh?

For those who are interested, we are staying at the Ramada in Xenia.  They've been very nice, but the rooms are tiny!  I do not recommend it for anyone who has more than 2-3 people.  It's almost too small for Matthew, Omri and myself.  Jeremy gives you homework every night to practice with your Service Dog (SD), and it's really difficult to do some of them in the rooms with the beds.  There's another family here in our class & I think they feel the same way.  There is a pool outside, and they serve free breakfast every morning.  There are no laundry facilities in the hotel so you have to go to the laundromat.  It's not far...about 2 blocks, but for some people, that might not work very well.  It's ok for us, cause Matthew just brings his Nintendo DS & plays while I do laundry.  On the plus side, it's only a few blocks from 4 Paws (easily within walking distance!  0.5 miles!)

Omri is such a goofball when he is "free"!  When he's working, he's ALL business, but when he isn't, he's just a typical, goofy lab!  He is hilarious! When he lays down to rest or sleep, he lets out these little grunts (like a pig).  At first, Matthew & I looked at each other to make sure he was ok, but now we've just decided that's just something weird he does.

Moving on to what we worked on today, we worked on "special" tasks some of the dogs do like lap, touch, nuzzle, over, kisses.  These dogs are so sweet and sensitive, I find Omri doing these things with Matthew before I know Matt needs it!  After we worked on these things for a few hours, we headed to the mall to practice in public some more.  We made a "pit stop" at PetSmart to get more Potty bags, and oh, my goodness! I think I need a 5 hour energy drink before I attempt that again!  It was SOOOO hard to keep Omri's attention and Matthew's at the same time!  All the other dogs, toys, people, etc. were extremely distracting to all of us.  I know it CAN be done, I just have to figure out how to handle it better.  Once we got to the mall, Omri acted like the champ he is.  We practiced walking around with Matthew tethered to him.  When Matt would dig in his heels, Omri would just set his weight & pull until Matt gave in.  One time, Omri was pulling as hard as he could & he couldn't get Matthew loose so I reached back & gave a little tug on Matt's tether to "help" Omri.  Omri looked up at me as if to say, "Thanks, Mom!"  It was precious.

Omri and I are practicing "over".  This is used for deep pressure on kids who need it to calm down after meltdowns, seizures, etc.  Thanks, Peg for being the Photographer for this one!  :-)  He is such a happy dog!

Omri is also the designated parking spot for Matthew's trucks and cars as you can see by this picture.  He just lays there & lets Matthew do whatever he wants.  He might look to see what Matt's doing, but then he usually just puts his head on his paws & looks at me.  Tomorrow, we have more training at 4 Paws...I am seriously contemplating an "early to bed" night for all of us, whaddya think????

Love,
Dea