What A Day!!!

Once again I have been entrusted with a "stunner"! He's handsome, has a wonderful heart, and shows you just what unconditional love is....... How blessed am I to have received two amazing, awesome gifts...... I felt my life change the first time, change for the better. Not that there was anything wrong before, just beginning to feel my freedom slip away a bit, not comfortable being out and about on my own. Alli changed all that, and I've missed that sense of strength she gave me. Now, with Tippy, I realize just how much that means to me. I'm not saying I took Alli for granted, quite the contrary. I probably told her hourly how special she was, and how lucky I was to have her in my life. I don't even think I understood the depth of that strength until I began to feel uplifted once again. I again feel like I can speak up for myself, and if necessary, for others.

Enough of the melancholy, we had a busy day today. We reviewed some of the skills from the past few days. "Fetch", "Fetch phone", "Find phone", and the one that has driven me crazy, "Fridge". Since kind of "bombing" yesterday I ran it over and over in my head. I know I needed to set Tippy up for success. I mean really, if I'm not giving him the opportunity to perform the behavior correctly then whose fault is it. MINE!! And, when you have a dog that really wants to perform well, and do everything "right", then you have to help him achieve it so when you're out and about he has the confidence to "go for it". So, when it came to our turn....I chimed right in on this one and wanted to go first.....to get it over with.....and because I also needed to perform correctly for MY confidence. Wouldn't you know, the first time the door wasn't open far enough so Tippy backed out before getting hit.....so would I! But, here's the difference between Tippy and Richie. Tippy thinks to himself, "something's coming at me I better get out of the way". Richie thinks, "go ahead, make my day", (sorry Clint, I couldn't resist!), in other words Richie wouldn't worry about the door, just the job at hand. Tippy was so concerned about getting it right that as soon as the door opened, he released the rope and went for the dumbbell on the fridge shelf. Here comes the door! And, wouldn't you also know, the next couple times the rope came off the door because Tippy grabs it so high that it comes unhooked. I'm sure you've heard of "Third time's a charm", well, Tippy thought it was "Fourth time's a charm"!! Needless to say we did it just about perfect, so he was rewarded with a "special" treat and we ended on a positive note.

Fetching the phone went off pretty much without a hitch, and finding the phone was even better. When "finding" the phone Brian put the black phone on the black seat of a Big Wheel. We stood with our back to the big wheel and the dogs in front of us and told them to "Find the phone". Tippy is constantly lifting his nose to the air and catching some sort of scent, as well as being able to find every piece of dropped kibble on the floor of the training room. In other words, he's got a great "shnozz"(?)! I really wasn't surprised that Tippy had no trouble finding the phone. He also did well with "nudge door". When the door was wide open, he took the chance to stick his nose behind it to begin nudging it closed. Brian said that is said a lot for how Tippy trusts me that he was willing to take a chance.

Brian told us that we have gone so quickly through the material, and the dogs have done so well that he'll be letting us go after lunch on Thursday! I think it's a testament to how quickly Andy has caught on to the routine, and working with a dog as your partner. It's really been fun working with him.....we've had ample time to sit and talk here at the house. I'll say it again, he's a very nice young man, and truly a gentleman. We had nearly 1.5 hours for lunch before heading out to Stop and Shop again.

When we got to S&S, Brian said that he just had to watch for a few things on our part, having to do with how we worked with the dog, and we could pretty much go anywhere in the store, but it would be better to observe if we went together. The dogs did "under" at one of the bakery tables, something they both do quite well. Then Andy said he needed to get some juice so we meandered over to that isle. While all this is going on, we should be talking to the dogs, praising and encouraging them along the way. I joke that my problem is that I probably talk too much to the dog, but I'm not sure there is a "too" much. Anyone who knows me knows that I've never had a problem when it comes to talking! My dad used to joke that that's why my children spoke clear words and short sentences at such a young age. After the juice, I wanted to head down the card isle. Tomorrow is Alli's 4th birthday and, yes, I wanted to get a card I could send to her(aka Elizabeth). Jack and Barbara were back again today to take more "action" shots, as well as our class photo. Right, our BIG class of two! They followed us through S&S taking pics here and there.

We returned back to NEADS and we were done for the day. Andy and I decided to let the dogs play together again and we were not disappointed! How laughter makes the world a brighter place! While we were there, I got a call from the President of my local Rotary,(Essex, CT). I was stunned to hear that it was voted on and approved that they would donate $8,500.00 for Tippy! Now, I was told that although the funds would be needed for Tippy, I was not responsible for doing any fundraising personall. Any monies that came in in our name would go toward Tippy, and other donations as well could also help to defray the cost. NEADS usually asks the client to help raise $9,500 toward their dog. I know that a donation came in from someone who also donated for Alli, but now this is just AMAZING!!!! He asked that I help with some publicity for the club and it's donation, in the form of a story in our newspaper, and also that they might like to have Tippy and me come speak to them as a group. I absolutely said certainly!! How kind and generous of them to help me with Tippy! Something I will always be greatful for.

THEN.....I got a call from a gal with a media group who has spoken with me before, and arranged for Alli and me to meet with a reporter for a CT tv station concerning a bill to ban "STEP THERAPY" in CT. This time she asked if I would be willing to speak with another reporter who is doing a story on "tiers" with regards to insurance companies and how they classify drugs.

I will speak more on this tomorrow.....I'm in an awful lot of pain tonight and we have our ADI (Assistance Dogs International) test tomorrow. Wish us luck, although I think Andy is a "shoe-in" to succeed! I'm pretty confident that Tippy and I will perform well, too.......but I need to be able to get my words out, and not get mixed up. I think that this pain will still be around tomorrow, so we'll see if I can shut it out until we're done..... I hope......

Peace,
Wendy