Wow- Fort Wayne

ok, so we moved to Fort Wayne, IN. and mom and I have gotten to use the bus more often. I am real good at my job now and can guide mom around obstacles, retrieve dropped objects (even dimes!), open doors, and bring her meds if she has trouble breathing. We are living in a shelter because mom got tired of dad being mean to her and hurting her. We had a hard time finding a place to go because I'm not "certified", but mom has papers from the doctor that says she needs me and the ones from the vet that say I'm ok. We are going to get new doctors for mom and a new vet for me. I'll write again soon, but I have no idea on how we can be certified.

My foster sister went to a new home!

Well Baby went to New York this morning. I'm so glad she got a new home (and that I can have squeaky toys again- she ate anything that had stuffing in it, including my favorite pig!) But it was a real busy time to get her there and my mom was wiped out!
Wednesday night we had to go get the money to buy stuff for her, and Thursday was soo busy. We went to Petsmart to get her an airline crate and stuff for it. Then off to the vet to her her a shot and a health certificate. Then we had to wait for the money to ship her and go back to Petsmart- they didn't have the stuff we needed inside the crate. Then we drove to the Airport in Indianapolis. Mom couldn't find the place and we drove around and around forever. Baby missed her flight because we couldn't find the place. Then mom had to spend the night in the front seat of the minivan because we didn't have enough gas or money to go home and back. I'd have let her have the back seat, but she said I needed my rest because I work a lot now. We parked by what we thought was the shipping place, but early in the morning (it was still dark) another car came by because they were shipping a puppy too and were lost. We finally got to the right place and put Baby on the plane. It took us some time to get home and mom has no gas in her van until she gets some money again, but at least she is in a good furever home. We slept all day today, BOL. Mom was real tired.

Back to the hospital(s)...

Tonight Aunt Deborah needed to go to the Urgent care clinic and mom and I went with. We went into the waiting room and I crawled under a chair and waited for them to call Aunt Deborah. When they called her, mom got up to leave and I did too, but we were told to wait so we sat down. Mom started to talk to the lady next to her and the lady said what a good puppy I was being- it was like you didn't know I was there. Mom told her that is how it is with service dogs, you should not know they are there unless it is needed to be known. We waited for quite a while, long enough for me to ask to go potty and come back. We waited some more and mom took her epi-pen (in it's case) out of my pack and mom dropped it and was asking me to get it. We played that game for a while and then went for another walk outside. Soon after that, Aunt Deborah was done there. We got in the car and I found out we had to go to Muncie which was an hour away! Good, I get to nap in the car!
Aunt Deborah wanted to get something to eat, so we stopped at a restaurant when we got to Muncie. I took mom potty, but they didn't have any accessible stalls so I had to try to fit into one of the smaller ones. I don't like it when that happens. We sat down to eat and I knew I would be in for a long down, so I got comfortable and took a nap. The waiters kept walking past and looking at me, but I never moved. I looked real hard when they started a vacuum cleaner, but mom told me to leave it and I did. Aunt Deborah was watching me the whole time they were eating and she told my mom what a great dog I was being, and then said I was the only dog in our town she liked because I was so well behaved.
We then went to Ball Memorial Hospital's ER for Aunt Deborah. Mom had to go potty again, so took her in. The accessible stall had no lock, so we had to use the small stall AGAIN. I am not good at squeezing in there with mom, and do not like it. I am a big pup, I weigh 55 lbs and stand 21.5 inches tall at the shoulder. After the potty, we went into Aunt Deborah's room in the ER. Mom put me on a down under the chair in the room and we waited for the Dr. and testing. After about an hour in there I had to go potty and asked my mom to take me. We went outside and moved the car closer to the entrance, and I did my thing. When we got back, Aunt Deborah was done. We went to Wal-mart and did some shopping, but I was tired after being out for 7 hours working. I got a little whiny and mom said it was time to go home. I slept in the car all the way home. We have to go back in the morning for more tests. I'll write what happens then.

I think I can do this...

My mom has been having a fit about me retrieving lately. It seems the game Dad taught me was a bad game. I'm not supposed to run away with what mom drops or throws. So mom went to the store (without me!!!) and came back with the most wonderful smelling treats! She calls them cheese sticks! Wow, they are great. She starts to put the smell of them on stuff and drops them by her feet. I just had to pick them up because they smelled so good. She told me to "give" and I let her have them and I got to have some of that cheese! I brought her a pop can, pop bottle, glove, marker, and a key chain. Now it seems she is getting clumsy. She is dropping stuff all the time and asking me to get it. I don't always do it, but every time I do I get some treats.. I think I can keep this up. Hmmm... Treats for bringing stuff to her- it might work.

CGC test Day

What a day! Here I am sleeping on my mom's bed when I hear something going on downstairs. I get up to check it out and some stranger is prowling around outside our house. I bark and bark to tell him to go away, then I jump on mom's bed and try to wake her. Well, she had taken her medication and couldn't get up. Then all of the sudden everything goes dark and quiet in the house. Then I see the strange man leave. I finally get mom awake (it's time to take more pills) and she is in a panic because she says we have no power. She can't call for help because the phone is cordless, and she is really upset. She lets me out to go potty and when she comes to get me she is dressed to go out. Then of all things she tells me to stay at home because she is going to the neighbor's house! That's the place with the untrained giant! Noooo! She leaves me and I stand in the window whining and barking for her to come back.
When she comes back she said I had to get dressed, because she needed to go out. We went to the resale shop and talked to some nice people, then to some office and talked to a lady for 2 hours- mom was really upset and I was trying to tell her to calm down. She said dad never paid the bills before he left town and we were shut off. We then went to the animal shelter lady's office and talked to her for a while. We then went to mom's friend's apartment where I have to stay in the car. Then to another friend's house and then we drove to some town a ways away. We went into some office and mom gave the lady there some money. We then went back towards home but stopped at some other office where I had to lay down under a desk while mom filled out some paperwork. The nice lady there gave me my OWN jar of Crunchy Peanut Butter. I like that place! I want to go there again!
We finally head for home and my mom goes in the house and lets my foster sister outside and starts loading up her crate. Now my mom should know she's not supposed to pick up heavy stuff and I tried to block her, but she got mad and put me on a down and stay! She was telling me if the electric didn't come on in time we would all have to find a place to sleep for the night. I have a place to sleep! Right in mom's bed! She's got to be kidding! She loaded up the puppy in the back and me in the middle of the car and we sat there and waited for I don't know what. Some truck came to the house and mom got out of the car. It was the electric people! Yea! We had light and noise again! Mom went into the house and came back in a few minutes. She said I needed to be good because my test was soon and we had to go to Muncie.
We go to Muncie and mom said she needs to stop at the Dollar Tree to get me some Beef Jerky (yum!) and some expresso candy for Cousin Deborah. Mom was so upset and nervous she drove the wrong way to get to the test place and had to turn around. We finally get there and my buddy Pooh the Great Dane is there! But mom won't let me play until my SDit gear is off. We went into the play place with my foster sister and I played until Pooh hit me so hard I got sick and lost my dinner! Mom said that was enough, but I still wanted to play. Luckily, my foster sister had to go potty and mom had to clean it, so I got to play for a while longer. But mom didn't look so good after that, and I kept telling her to sit down.
The testing lady said we were 1 1/2 hours EARLY for the test and would have to wait. Mom put the puppy in a crate and had me practice my obedience stuff. I was doing real good she said, and was giving me lots of praise and treats. I even sat and looked at her when other dogs came walking past. Mom dropped my leash and started to bend down to pick it up and I knew something was wrong. I jumped up on her and wanted her to sit. She told me to get off her and sit, but she grabbed my leash. She walked with me (I was pulling a bit) to a chair and sat down. She told the lady next to her she was seeing spots and felt dizzy. Well she needed to stay sitting IMO !
We got called into the ring to start our test and I did a great heel, sit, and all that other stuff I'm supposed to do. But in between that I was telling her to sit and jumping up on her. Mom was getting upset with me and telling me to be good. I was good, I know what my job is and that is to keep her safe. She told me to sit and wait, then she dropped my leash. I waited for her without saying anything, but I was shaking because she wasn't listening! She came back to me and bent over to pick up my leash and fell down. She wouldn't get up either. I laid next to her and licked her arm and face until somebody pulled me away. Some strangers came over to my mom with a bed that had wheels so she could sleep. I tried to get in it, but they pulled me off. They started to take my mom away, and I was crying. Pooh's mom said I had to go with because I was my mom's service dog. I got to ride in this loud car the howled a lot. The strange people let me lay between my mom's legs all the way to some place they call an ER. They took my mom into a room and I laid next to her bed while all these strange people were touching and poking my mom. When she woke up she started yelling and crying. I went over to her and gave her kisses and told her it was going to be ok.
We were in there for a long time and Cousin Jay came into our room. I was sure glad to see him! I was wagging my whole butt and thumping my tail the whole time he was there. When we finally got to leave, Cousin Jay and Aunt Sara had to drive my mom to our car and get my foster sister. He followed us home (Aunt Sara drove) and got us all into our house. What a day! Mom was still upset and crying. She said she made me fail my CGC and she had failed me. But I think she needs to listen to me if she can't listen to what her body tells her. I didn't fail, I did my job and she knows it. I got to spend the day in bed all day today and cuddle with my mom. Now that IS a great day! I hope mom is better so we can take our test again sometime soon. She seems to think it is so important, so I want her to do good.

Indy Pit Crew Day

This weekend my mom took me and my bratty adopted sister to a thing she called a "clinic" with the Indy Pit Crew. Man it was so hard to focus on working! All those other dogs that were like me! And that dumb puppy kept walking EVERYWHERE- she couldn't stay one one side or the other. She kept tangling me up or trying to trip my mom and her cane. But HAHA! She was the one that got shots! They took lots of pictures of me and some of her. They even held the brat so I could take my mom potty. They were impressed at how well I was working when I did that. I know my right, left, forward, and back. Mom said that we'll go back and meet these people someday soon. I'd love to do that!
Later that night we went to Muncie to the Dollar Tree, then some kind of meeting where I had to lay under the table for what seemed like forever- I even took a nap there. Then we ate there and went to a place called Best Buy. The store people looked at me funny, and mom got a little tense, but nobody said anything and we were ok.
We then went over to the neighbor's house to meet the dog they just got. He's a year old and I know more than he does! He can't even sit on command! And the guy was bragging how he was going to "make" this dog into a service dog. My mom is just cringing at the thought. The man was punching the dog to make him behave. When he did that mom got me and left. She promised me that I would NEVER be around those people alone- ever. But that poor lady. She is in a wheelchair 50% of the time and can't control the dog- he's a big bullmastiff mix. Mom had suggested they get a professional trainer for service dogs, but the guy said he couldn't afford it, he'd make do with the free dog he got. And mom even said that dog had growled and hurt somebody a few days ago. Scary! Mom is worried about the rep they will give other SD teams in the area. I'm just worried about all the tests mom said I have to pass before I can be a Service Dog.