Fri. May 7, 2010 - Day 11 Graduation!

Fri. May 7, 2010

Day 11 - Graduation

Today we took our public access test with Didy. This test is required by law to certify Didy as a service dog and Steve and I as adult handlers for the benefit of our sons. We were required to demonstrate that she can stay in a "under" command under a table in the food court of the mall for at least 20 minutes. Other parts of the test include being able to comply to commands in a public place. "Come", "sit", and "down". In addition, we were required to drop the leash several times while shopping to demonstrate that she will not bolt off out of control. Didy did great with the test as we thought that she would. The test lasted about 45 minutes.

In the afternoon before the graduation ceremony we visited with the families from the AM & PM classes at 4 Paws for Ability. It was a large combined group. Very noisy with people and dogs! When it came to be our turn....it was our regular three ring circus. Colin got a quick shot into Jakob's back with his knee and made him whale for the graduation picture. Didy who was standing in place thru the commotion finally had to go get the tennis ball that the trainers were using to help the dogs look at the camera. LOL........... With this post I give you the original picture and the re-take ;-)! Jake sort of looks like he was scared by Santa in the mall.....in the original one :-).

At graduation we met two of the foster handlers who cared for Didy for a semester. We learned that Didy attended college classes with Jenn and Bethany as a young puppy. They had a large part in her socialization and trick training. We had known prior to graduation that Didy spent several months living with trainer Jeremy and his family with three young boys. We were able to spend a few minutes with another family who has Didy's sister, Mimi, placed as their service dog. It was fascinating to me to watch the two dogs play. They really do try and play with the children a little bit the same way. Nuzzling, gentle mouthing and a general energy of excitement! Didy is a 13 month old female German Shepard. She weighs 58.6 lbs. She weighs almost as much as Jakob and Colin.

We are very happy to finally be able to take Didy home....let her have some freedom in the yard off-leash and have more family bonding time. We thank everyone who has been a part of bringing Didy to our family! Thank you to teacher Tara Driscoll who came up with the idea in Feb. of 2009 of how to possibly fund the assistance dog training for Jakob and Colin by entering a picture of breeding dog "Norman" into the Bissell Homecare MVP photo contest. When Tara called and asked our permission to attach our family story to Norman's photo we never imagined that this dream for our boys would actually come true! Of course we were willing to take the risk....but we saw it as a long shot! So after many on-line votes happened and Norman's photo made it into the last 60 dogs nationally....we thought WOW....he has a good chance to win one of the prize money levels! Thank you to all who took the time to vote on-line! Thank you to Bissell Homecare, Inc. for having hearts full of gold for the MVP first prize award donation to 4 Paws For Ability of $10,000 and an additional $4,000 donation to finish off the contract cost! What a heartwarming surprise at the press conference last May! The fulfillment of a $14,000 contract came pretty easily. So many other things have not come easily for Jakob or Colin with their life threatening seizure disorder and funding for medications from outside of the country. We see the possibility of adding another assistance dog to our family in the future. After a year has passed we hope to re-evaluate our experience and decide what is best for the boys current needs. We are already on our way with $720 donation from Mull Photography. Thank you Eric for hosting and donating an evenings book sale profits for the benefit of Jakob and Colin. We will continue to add updates to this blog about how things are going. We know this is just the beginning of our experience. The training has only begun! We look forward to it!

A part of the story that we haven't been able to share until now is directly related to the Bissell MVP contest in 2009. Because of the e-mail circulations for votes we made an important connection. It was with a very newly elected member of congress Representative Mary Jo Kilroy (D). Representative Kilroy contacted a teacher friend that we know to ask "how can I help..." with the medication needs of the boys. This simple phone call started a large snowball rolling! With her help and several others....the week before assistance dog training began our boys received a one year approval for medications needed for their diagnosis, Dravet Syndrome. This is a $24,000 expense annually for our family that has not previously been covered by insurance or any of the multiple other programs and services our sons are enrolled. I have learned so much about community from our assistance dog experience thus far. I now more fully understand the saying "it takes a village". Our own family has done everything humanly possible to help our sick little boys in the last ten years and to help our family cope with the reality of the expenses in the last couple of years.

We also need to thank several non-profit organizations "Intractable Childhood Epilepsy Alliance" (ICE) for continued educational supports and the "IDEA League" Medication Assistance Fund. We must also acknowledge the work of a young non-profit from Fremont, Ohio "Parker's Purpose". With their assistance in the last two years we were able to obtain a one month supply of medication and over 300 tax payer signatures in support of obtaining assistance for our boys meds. Thank you to all who have helped and continue to help in this journey! I like to share our story because it has so many twists and turns. I hope by sharing ....it gives hope to others who may be having their own struggle with medical needs.

Thank you to the providers from Distinguished Home Services who helped our family during the assistance dog training trip.: Lori, Sarah, and Karen. We couldn't have made it without you!

Thurs. May 6, 2010 - Day 10

Thurs. May 6, 2010

Day 10

By this point in the trip we feel that Didy is bonding well with each of us...but at various levels. She is certainly bonded strongly with Mommy & Daddy who are giving her constant commands. We have seen may moments this week that she is bonding with the boys. Each in their own way. With Colin it seems to be largely focused on behavior disruption and distraction. With Jakob it is largely in play. When Jakob tosses the tennis ball for her she will bring it back and drop it in his lap without him saying anything. Jakob and Didy will play for a half an hour at a time....when time allows. We are feeling confident in our own command of Didy. Steve and I both feel it is time to try and encourage more interactions with the boys. They have given Didy many many treats from the very beginning. That will continue as we transition her to home from the hotel.

Today in class we learned about traveling via public transportation with Didy. Many families will be flying home. I'm certain that we will fly with Didy in the future but we are very blessed to only have about a 90 min. car ride home. In addition to flying and other forms of public transport we learned about gaining access with Didy if challenged. We reviewed the ADA law of 1990 that approves "task trained dogs" for service animals. We also talked in more detail about how to transition Didy to school. We want Didy to go to school with Colin (for now) for seizure assistance and behavior disruption. We will try this in short periods of time in the next few weeks after Didy has a chance to get to know the school building, aides, and teachers. We hope to have a long trial run during summer camp that is held in the same building.

In the afternoon we went to the park and completed two tracks with Didy. The first one was searching for Jakob and Colin together. The second track was searching for just Jakob. Didy, as always, performed her search quickly and eagerly!

After class we met some other families at Young's Dairy Farm. After some ice cream the boys and I visited the milking barn....without Didy. Daddy took her for a walk while we went inside. Both boys enjoyed seeing a baby cow, and later feeding the goats and pretending to drive the tractors.

Wed. May 5, 2010 - Day 9 - Colin's Birthday!!!!!!

Wed. May 5, 2010
Day 9

Happy Birthday Colin #8!!! Today Didy also turns 13 months old. Colin started the day opening a few small gifts before class. One was a t-shirt with Buzz & Woody from Toy Story. The shirt has a place to push a button to hear Buzz and Woody talk. He loved it! There was cake and more presents later - of course. Colin's request this year was for cheesecake. A surprise because that is what our boys had to have for the birthday's while they were on the Ketogenic diet 2004 thru 2009. The Ketogenic diet is a high fat low carb regimented diet used for the control of seizures. Since their defined diagnosis of Dravet Syndrome in Dec. of 2007 they have been able to wean back to normal diets. They still don't have the taste for sweet foods or carbs full of flour. Not such a bad thing!

With assistance dog training part of our challenge has been to keep the interactions with the boys positive when Didy gets interested in their snacks. At ages 8 & 10 they are right at her eye level. We want her to bond with the boys. So for now sometimes we have to separate at snack time.....just to keep it positive. Steve and I will work to improve this behavior with Didy by eating while sitting on the floor.

In class today we practiced several areas that were in need of perfection. Heel speed, distractions, "stand", "side", "back", and "stay" when handler leaves into another room.

This afternoon we practiced tethering in the mall. Colin was on a hunt for a certain toy he wanted so it was easy to motivate practice in and out of stores with Didy while we were all connected together. In a busy public place the tethering makes it so nice to not have to have a death grip on their hand so they won't break away. We also did a few tracks in the mall to find both Jakob and Colin. Didy was a champ and found them both easily.

Tues. May 4, 2010 - Day 8

Tues. May 4, 2010

Day 8

You'll notice that in the picture of Colin his shirt says "March MVP's". March was originally when our family was scheduled for the family training classes instead of the April/May training session at "4 Paws for Ability" in Xenia, Ohio. Our oldest son Jakob, age 10, had emergency surgery a few days before the class was to begin.

Today's class time was spent with Veterinarian Dr. Suzanne Ellis. She is the vet caring for all of the 4 Paws service animals in training. The mini course on dog safety and healthcare reminded me of taking a baby care class before Jakob was born. Doggy CPR, first aide, vaccine's, vitamins, supplements by breed etc.etc. A lot of detail that we never expected to receive all in one sitting. Thank you 4 Paws!

This afternoon we went to the park to practice a couple of tracks with Didy. Mommy took the lead in handling the flexi-leash for a track for Colin. Then for the first time Daddy took the lead with the flex-leash on a track with Jakob. It is great to have two adult handlers at training! We can help each other out as we have new experiences in watching the signs that Didy gives as to which way the scent is taking her to search for the boys as they hide.

Mon. May 3, 2010- Day 7

Below: Mommy & Jakob practice in class with the tether and harness. A great way to avoid the Jakob sneaky run-off!










Above: Daddy gets "kisses" from Didy as they practice resting....laying your head down on Didy. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting..??? ;-).





Monday May 3, 2010
Day 7

Today class was largely about practicing tricks. Daddy took the lead on learning the trick commands. These can be fun for the boys. For example: "rollover", "shake", "give five", "high five", "wave", "go to sleep" (play dead).

This afternoon we returned to the mall. We had lunch in the food court. Jakob had his usual hot dog lunch packed from home and everyone else took their pick of the available restaurants. During lunch we practiced the "under" command with Didy. In an "under" command the service dog is supposed to become invisible with superior behavior during a meal. Didy has no problem with the command! The unexpected part of the lunch was when Didy brought Mommy to tears unexpectedly. They were happy tears. I suddenly realized that we were going to be able to finish a meal in public! Colin always finishes his meal before the rest of us and is ready to move on. Today after he ate, he sat with Didy under the table and played and fed her treats while Mommy, Daddy, Jakob and Provider Sarah were able to finish our meals in peace. Finishing a meal without a behavior issue happens next to never for our family and being in a public place drawing attention to ourselves usually doesn't help. I was surprised at the emotional button that this simple experience pushed inside of me. I was kind of embarrassed at first because I thought it was ridiculous that a thirty something woman, was crying in the food court! But then I realized what had happened with the connection with Didy. She is helping our family feel "normal" for a little while....whatever "normal" really is. It felt good....IT FELT GREAT! It made Mommy & Daddy very very happy. At this point in the trip we are all pretty tired and a little irrational at times.....I'm sure that didn't help either ;-)

At the mall we also practiced tethering and heeling at a slow pace. Jakob walks at a very different pace than Colin. Didy is graceful at how she changes gears to each boys need. In Sears we practiced heeling while pushing a shopping cart. We learned in class earlier in the week that Didy needs to pay attention more when we are in motion with the shopping cart. At one point Didy missed seeing us make a turn to the left and ran head first into the cart in slow motion. She didn't need any more corrections or reminders after that mini accident :-). By the end of the afternoon I think we started to look like we knew what we were doing!

Sun. May 2, 2010 Day 6

Sun. May 2, 2010
Day 6
Today we learned about the training Didy has had in behavior disruption and distraction. Like Jakob and Colin, many children in the training class have a diagnosis that is on the Autism spectrum. This specialized training is meant to assist the children in calming before a major melt down occurs. Hopefully to help avoid the full melt down from happening at all. This is usually more of a need for our Colin.

Didy will lay her head in your "lap" on command, "touch" on command, "nuzzle" on command, and will step "over" or lay over the child on command. Because of our specific family needs we are reserving the "bark" command for seizure work exclusively. Eventually we expect that Didy will "bark" when she observes the smells and sounds of a seizure. She knows the scent! It will take time for her to generalize the scent to each child when actual seizures occur in her presence. Since last fall we have been sending the boys undershirts to "4 Paws for Ability" that were worn during a seizure. The shirts are filled with seizure scent after a seizure. During a seizure the body excretes a pheromone that dogs can smell. Didy knows the scent....there is no question about it!


This afternoon we went to a local high school for an outdoor search and rescue "track". It was a rainy day. Didy had to deal with the wind and the rain to find her boy hiding with Daddy on a different side of the building than we started out on. Colin giggles when Didy finds him. We give lots of love and treats when the job is done! For the second time....Mommy took the flexi-leash and ran with Didy on the track....whew....what a workout. Don't need the treadmill!!!!! It takes some concentration to keep her at a speed that is safe for both of us! The team is slowly forming. Mommy & Daddy as confident handlers, Jakob and Colin as Didy's favorite friends!
The bond is apparent and grows stronger with each experience and day that goes by!

Sat. May 1, 2010
Day 5

Today in class we continued to review obedience training and learned about a lot of general dog care items. Appropriate chew toys, grooming, teeth and nail care, eye care, food etc.etc. This afternoon we took our first trip to the local mall with both boys and Didy. Didy behaved extremely well while in the mall. We had a little tango with a goose in the parking lot! Nobody was hurt but I'm thankful that Steve had a hold of the leash at the time. Never thought I would need to really pay attention to the random goose looking for food out there in the lot. When we pulled the van into the parking lot being a busy Saturday there were not any handicap accessible parking spots available. If you have ever needed this kind of parking....there aren't as many accessible parking spots on the planet as I thought there were several years ago (pre-seizures). So not finding a close spot on a Saturday is not an unusual occurrence. We parked a little further out. After unloading we started walking and that is when this random goose appeared. Didy at first just looked her over and made some minor growling noises. She was told to "leave it". Then the gooses started hissing....Didy started pulling toward the goose and barking....back and forth for several minutes until Steve could get her to move on and focus on getting to the door. If I would have been by myself with the boys....I'm not certain how we would have done.

Once we made it in from the parking lot...the day was much calmer. We spent time learning how to travel up and down the stairs with Didy in public. With the use of a gentle leader around her nose she travels at a slow pace that make the stairs a pretty safe place for us. She will turn around half way up or half way down without much effort. I've never really thought about how much effort it takes for a dog to coordinate turning on the stairs. Four feet to maneuver instead of two.

Being out in public in a large venue certainly does bring some new challenges. I am fairly surprised just how interested people are in to why the dog is "in training". I have to keep in mind that for the most part Jake and Colin look completely normal. No wheelchair, obvious braces or other medical devices. Their daytime seizure frequency is so low now that you may have a 5% chance of seeing that during the day. After being a cat owner for a dozen years it is still very interesting to me how much of a social influence Didy has for Jake & Colin and the entire family. It is also interesting to me that with a German Shepard how many men will stop and pet her and ask questions. Of course we talked with many women as well but the volume of men asking about Didy in the mall is interesting to observe.

We did our first "track" in the mall. Tracking is a search and rescue technique similar to what police departments use when searching for people. The primary difference is that we have Didy on the spot in the mall already with us. So, if one of the boys would walk-off or get lost the scent trail is still in the air or on the ground. Jakob went and hid in Dick's Sporting goods with Jakob twice. Both times Didy found them in about 90 seconds. You can't help but wonder how their noses can do that!