here and there

Charlie and I have been pretty busy since we've passed our Public Access Test.  We had a big celebration the following Monday evening at the UDS Service Dog Training- 4 dogs had a birthday (one of which was Charlie) and 2 dogs passed the Public Access Test (one of which was also Charlie).  He was given tons of treats and some great toys (one of which was a worm that he loves to squeak and snuggle with).  He also received a ball which I didn't even let him see since we have to wait until we move into our new house and have the fence put up!  Last week we also had a few meetings at work, once of which included the Commissioners... they didn't even notice him til he yawned noisily!  We went to a meeting at church that was for young-adults (there were at least 200 people there) and he did awesomely with the noise and crowd.  We thought it would be difficult to escape because usually people don't see me down in my wheelchair, but with Charlie it was a piece of cake- he made the way for me and parted the seas.
We've been to Central Market many times (where he usually gets some nice goodies) and we finally got to the Bulls Head Pub... a good friend of mine was in town from Albuquerque and we had a sister date there.  He did great, fit right in!  I guess you could call me a Lititz townie, and now Charlie can join me!  We went to Tomato Pie Cafe and he took a nice nap right under the table.  He does really well in restaurants- you wouldn't even know he was there.  Saturday was my niece's 3rd birthday so we took her to the beauty salon for a haircut and her first manicure (which she wanted off by that evening) and Charlie came along and watched...I don't think he was a big fan of the salon- typical male. We also went to the Hershey Bears game (the UDS Service Dog Program has a table set up at each home game) with his brothers (not by blood)-  Pax (3 months old) and Brogan (2 years old), as well as Holly!  We had a blast, as usual!
Friday is supposed to be closing on our new house... can't believe it is almost here!  We are just waiting on the underwriter to finish the mortgage application/approval up- the wait makes me want to poke my eyes out.  We have the floors being refinished this weekend and our fence people came out earlier this week to measure and such!  Some other things that have to get done are the bathroom (not accessible for me as is so we have to fix the tub and vanity), fix the sump pump, replace the attic fan, dig window wells, install a radon mitigation system, and build a ramp off the back deck.  My awesome Uncle is coming in from California to build the ramp with my dad.  I am getting a mini shed to store/charge my power chair.  My mom is accepting volunteers to paint (we are doing the whole house) for next week.  SO, if you know anyone or have recommendations for workers for any of the above, please send them my way!

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Today is Charlie's 3rd birthday (or as one kid kept telling me over and over- he's 21)!  Unfortunately, we lost an hour, but we definitely made up for it.  We went to church to take pictures of the WC Kids, sat outside and soaked up some sun, went on a nice long walk to our soon-to-be house, and to top it all off Charlie chowed down on an awesome sweet potato bone thing (which was gone in less than 3 minutes).  He's currently taking a well-deserved nap!

However, the best gift was last night... we went over to Park City and took our Public Access Certification Test (and PASSED).  This is a test that simply demonstrates that the dog and the handler are safe in public together.  We had to accomplish a list of tasks such as walking through the mall with Charlie not soliciting attention from others, I had to drop the leash and he had to stay by my side and then recover the leash for me, and he had to not get distracted by a loud noise (Lorrie, our trainer, dropped her clipboard on the ground).  We had to navigate tight quarters (we simply went into a store), eat a restaurant and be unobtrusive, and I had to hand him off to Kristy (our other trainer) and disappear from his sight.  We also had to be approached by others- we had an adult step over him while laying down and then pet him and then had a child pet him.  He also had to do a controlled entrance and exit to the mall (and vehicle).  While eating, Lorrie dropped some french fries right in front of him and he had to leave them alone (he just looked at me because he knew not to touch them!).  So, tomorrow night at training we will get our ID card that shows we are certified and Charlie gets a brand new vest that no longer has the In-Training patches on!

It's been a while

Whoops, I lost track of time and have been hibernating.  But Spring is soon here, yay!

I have some exciting fundraising updates for you... according to the gogetfunding.com site, I have $2,470 raised!  But better news is that I’ve received donations from people who prefer not to give online and that brings the total to $4,175!!  And the best news is that over $400 came in from the fundraiser that was held at Folklore Coffee Company a few Sundays ago!  That is 60% of my goal (and 83.5% of the required $5K to give back to UDS)- sorry, that was the Budget Analyst in me. 

 

We have been going all over the place lately- CVS, Ciro’s (the Sicilian old lady mama chef even came out to see him), Central Market, Mommalicious, Garden Spot Furniture, Café Chocolate, Tomato Pie Café, the bank (where he already knows that they give me a treat for him!) and church...I am probably missing a few, but there are too many places we go! 

While at work Charlie sleeps under my desk on a big bath mat/carpet thing (and occasionally snores and barks in his sleep).  We go on bathroom breaks and then I run him on the sidewalk around Binn’s Park in the city (I work in the building that sits around the park).  During lunch we go around quite a few blocks at full wheelchair speed- almost 5 mph!  People bounce right out of our way if we go fast and it’s less opportunity for them to reach out and touch him!

Charlie is turning 3 in 11 days!  And in 23 days I am closing on my first house... surreal!  I can’t wait to get in there and put a fence up for Charlie and his friends to play in.  There a a few things to be done before I move in- one of them is building a ramp and walkway so I can get in the house in my power chair (or building a shed to store it in at night)... so if you know anyone, shoot me an email with their info so I can start getting some bids!

1/29-2/5 Update

We made it through the week!  We had some tough moments, too.  Monday’s snow early in the morning was not a fun time- we ended up waiting for the bus for an hour in that snow.  I tried holding my umbrella over Charlie and me but it was nearly impossible and he ended up soaking wet.   Once we got on the bus he dried off a bit, but the floor was all wet from everyone else bringing in the snow.  Thankfully, we arrived to work in one piece (despite the hour long ride) and Charlie curled right up on his mat under my desk where he fell asleep soundly.  He likes it under there because I catch him snoring and dreaming (legs twitching, quiet noises- as if he were chasing a squirrel or something)! 

The rest of Monday was nice and warm until we had to go back outside.  We left work early because I had a meeting at TABOR- about 4 long blocks from where I work in the old Armstrong building on Queen St.  Unfortunately, halfway through block one it started to rain- freezing rain (which then made the sidewalks extremely slippery).  Charlie was slipping and my wheelchair was sliding!  Not fun at all.  Then, when we got to the building we had to wait for someone to let us in the handicap accessible entrance, but I went to the wrong one so we ended up waiting 15 minutes outside this building in the freezing rain.

The rest of the week was uneventful (thankfully) minus Tuesday's crazy rain storm... I was able to get home a bit early and avoid the downpour.  We stayed low for the rest of the week as we are still adjusting and therefore exhausted by the time we get home each night.  We did work on a few commands and Charlie was able to "tug" off my boots as well as "hold" and "carry" a plastic bag with various things in it to weigh it down (I am working on getting him to be able to carry my lunch bag for me).  

Saturday we took a trip into Philly to pick up a beautiful leather chair at West Elm.  Charlie did so well in the van, slept the whole way there and back!  It was difficult once we parked and had to walk to the store because there were so many smells and sounds.  We are working on no pulling while walking and that morning was surely a challenge.  Later that evening we joined a few from the UDS gang and went to the Hershey Bears Game to man the table where we sell dog treats and calendars and people come to visit the dogs.  It's always a fun time to see Charlie's fan club!  

Sunday we went to church and there was absolutely no whining during the service!  That was awesome.  After that we headed to Cafe Chocolate in Lititz because I had to take some photos for a class and Charlie did a great job just laying there and watching me as I did my thing.  

Monday night we went to UDS training and got to see everyone.  Charlie had a rough time going into the room because he was so anxious.  But, once we were in he settled nicely and worked hard the rest of the time.  It was one of the dog's birthday, so to celebrate each dog received a nice treat- frozen yogurt... Charlie was literally drooling over that thing!

Charlie is popular at work already- all the Deputies love seeing him as we go in and out.  Today we had our first meeting together with all the staff in my department.  He slept the majority of it!  Lucky.

Our First Weekend

The weekend went well... we spent our Saturday morning sleeping in until 9am and then off we went to shop for some furniture.  We checked out the Ephrata Re-Uzit Store (a whole lot of nada- minus some nice light which made for a great picture of Charlie).  After that we went to Garden Spot Furniture (which is always successful).  I had Charlie do a "down, wait" and I rolled across to the other side of the building (he wanted to smell every piece of furniture so I thought he'd be better off laying there).  But, I wanted him with me so I called him and he came running at me as fast as he could...it was so awesome.  So he laid right at my feet the rest of the time.

After that we loaded back into the van where he decided to make a heart with his paws.  He has been doing excellent getting in and out of the van.  Somehow he can manage to get his big body in the crack between the two seats and lay there comfortably on his blanket.  He is not whining as much when we stop to get out of the car and will sit there patiently until I release him to get out.  It's funny how whenever we go through the drive thru (oh how I love coffee) he will sit up and stick his head between the seats as if to say, I'd like something too, please!

After lunch Charlie and I took a walk around the block a few times to get him used to my power chair more and to work on his pulling.  Once I whipped out his little squeaky cupcake he kept his eyes on me the whole time!  Then, we headed out to Worship Center where I teach 1st-4th graders once a month for the three services.  I was excited for the kids to meet him and see how they'd react.  I came out on stage with him and it was completely silent.  With 80 kids in one place that is highly unusual.  I explained to them that he's my service dog and what he does for me and showed them a few things.  The lesson was on determination and I used him to demonstrate an example... I first showed them how he got his leash for me.  Then, I put the metal clip on it that attaches the leash to my wheelchair (this is much harder for him to pick up) to show them how it was harder for him to get but he kept trying until he did it.  Great work, Charlie!  I also let anyone with a birthday in January come up to pet him... I think they really liked that better than a balloon!

We did two more services on Sunday and boy, did it wear him out!  When we got home late Sunday afternoon he passed out!  The rest of the day we just vegged (played scrabble and ate pancakes) and went to bed early so I could get up at 5:30am!

Work and workin' it

On the bus.

It was an early one for us- I was up at 5:30am to get ready for our first day of back to work with Charlie.  All went smoothly getting ready...Charlie hung out in his crate quietly until I was finished.  After that he went out to go to the bathroom and then ate his breakfast in less than 2 minutes.  We were at the bus stop along 501 by 7am and waited for 15 minutes in the freezing cold.  Charlie didn't like it any more than me... I had to just keep him moving and doing things (sit, stand, down, etc.).  Lorrie met us at the stop to help me one last time getting on the bus and situated.  It went smoothly and he laid right at my feet (and occasionally sitting up) looking up frequently to check on me. 

Once we arrived to the station we hopped off the bus and headed right in to work.  He opened both of the doors to enter the building and went through the metal detector with no reaction to the noise of it.  We took the elevator up to the third floor and went down the long corridor the back door of my office.  He opened that door for me as well and did a nice "go through" the door, "turn" and "back" to get into the room.  He gladly accepted my command to "go to bed" on his comfy mat and laid "down" without any hesitation.  I gave him a bone but he had no interest in it.  The rest of the morning he snoozed and I worked.  We took a few breaks to go to the bathroom and walk around outside a bit.

During lunch we went to Central Market.  There was a new tea stand I wanted to check out and I also wanted to go to a stand that has pet stuff because I forgot to bring him a toy to play with and I figured I could check there is they had anything.  They didn't but the guy that worked there gave Charlie some sweet potato treats and a pig ear (which he won't be eating)...everybody loves Charlie (and that was not the first time he received free treats while we were out).  I even had the famous Statue of Liberty dude that stands out on the corner of Queen & King St take out picture.

Due to the snow, my boss kindly let me catch an earlier bus home.  We did the whole bus thing by ourselves without any problems!  He slept at my feet the whole time and was much more relaxed than the morning ride.  We got off to about 2 inches of snow and we sped home to avoid getting too wet from the snow.  I quickly unvested him and we laid low the rest of the night...playing with puzzles over and over and over because Gia, my niece, insisted.