Julian has had an amazing year with going to Ohio and bringing back his service dog. Never in a million years would we have guessed he would have two once in a life time events in the same year.
Shortly after we got back from service dog school in May we found out that Julian was selected for the Magcial Mix Kids Disney trip sponsored in part by the radio station Mix 93.6!
The trip was the first week of October and both Julian and Clover loved Disney Land!
Can’t forget Julian taking Clover for a spin in the golf cart!
Exhausted!
A photo sample of Julian & Clover’s summer. This little pool is Clover’s. The big pool is Julian’s
If you missed Julian and Clover on channel 7 this morning you can see it again by copy and pasting it into your browser:
http://www.kwwl.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5897530&at1=News&h1=Service Dog&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Guess what? Another exhausting day! We are in the group tracking so this morning we went with the dogs and trainers to a park. You can tell the dogs LOVE, LOVE, LOVE tracking, they were totally hyped up before Jeremy talked them up futher.
It happens so fast if it weren’t for the flash of a dog running by you might miss it! Ok, maybe not that fast but it only took minutes for the dogs to take off and locate. It was interesting to watch Clover problem solve when she located Julian and Kayla but needed to figure out how to get into the brush where they were waiting. Aside from the amazing work the dogs did, I was also blown away by the fact that Julian was actually QUIET while hiding. 
The afternoon was fun working on behavior interruption commands, (lap, kisses, over) plus under and heel from different positions.
Part of my Julian’s disability includes a vision loss, and one of the skills we thought would be helpful for him would be if the dog could pick up things that he drops…. OMG! If you want to see a happy dog ask Clover to retrieve some thing. She was like a kid at Christmas!!
Karen Shirk made Julian’s day when she found him some busy work to do. He loves to work and a task of unfolding papers kept him happy as a clam all afternoon.
Good morning!
I was too tired to write a thoughtful note of how our second day went last night. This morning the sun is shining for what feels like the first time since we got here. The never ending rains will probably make tracking extra fun this morning.
So day two… Was better than the first day in terms of feeling less overwhelmed and the dogs responding better to us. Julian is more… Comfortable with Clover and his interactions with her are more spontanegous.
So far we have learned sit, down, heel, place, high five, give me five, shake (hand shake). Doesn’t look like a long list but there is so much learning going into why we do what they are asking us to do.
I very much appreciate the depth of instruction we are getting, as my husband put it last night some things are just common sense that you should know but you don’t.
The kids and other families are wonderful. Its true what you read on the family list that during your 4 paws time that your child is the norm… There is comotion going on all the time and the staff, dogs and families are completely unphased. Its the strangest – in a wonderful way – feeling.
More on Homewood, last night the person serving the evening meal was greeting each family and encouraging each of us. I heard her say more than once that in her 5 years at Homewood she has seen A LOT of dogs and families go through training and that it gets even better. She didn’t say it the way we do in the group, but she was talking about the magic of 4 paws.
It’s real!!
Well, I better get into the shower day three is calling my name.
Each family met their dog after some general orientation with the staff. It was great to put faces with the names of all the people we have been talking to for months both with the families and the staff.
I am a tad bit brain fried, which I hear is normal for the first day… Actually I have heard that about the whole training! I can totally see that.
Homewood is every thing everyone says it is. Nice people, nice property. It was nice not to have to deal with breakfast or the evening meal. That’s a bonus any day of the week.
We did not take the dogs back to the hotel with us tonight like I thought we would. But you know we are so exhausted from getting here that we didn’t really mind.
Tomorrow is another new and exciting day.
Studies show that less than 1% of the population of people with disabilities have service animals in their lives.
Thanks to the genorosity and hard work of family, friends, complete strangers and the community – Julian is joining that one percent!
THANK YOU doesn’t even begin to express how we feel about each of you and how you have helped make such a huge difference in Julian’s life.
Tomorrow, Julian and Clover will join the 1%
