Day 3

As of 9:45 this morning (approximately 2 minutes after we arrived for the morning) it was apparent to everyone that Mikaela and Fern were the perfect match. We walked into the large training room and by the time I put the stuff on the table, Mika was by the kennels, petting Fern through the front of her kennel. It was so heartwarming to watch them try to get close to each other through the mesh door. When we all had to take our chairs for the start of lectures, Fern just laid in her kennel and stared at Mika.

It was great watching them work together in two practice sessions. It's very important that the dog bond solely with the recipient if at all possible. If the recipient requires a care giver, then the care giver should do only the absolutely necessary work and let the recipient give the commands/treats/etc. I understand the rule and agree with it, but it is so darn HARD to keep your hands off the dogs! They're all adorable and so happy to be around people and it's natural to want to talk to them, make eye contact, and pet them. All of these are no-nos for now. By the end of two weeks it's likely it wouldn't matter if I petted her for 24 hours straight, the minute Mika walked into a room Fern would drop me like a hot potato. It's really wonderful seeing Mika intently listening to all of the dog training lectures and absorbing it so thoroughly.

During the afternoon, they practiced having the dogs walk exactly at their side, with the leaches loose. They have a rule against using a leach to pull your dog because the dog should be doing it without prompting. It a very short amount of time, Fern was walking exactly beside Mika, even when the treats were stopped. The trainer said that they were doing it exactly right.

When we had some down time, Mika and Fern were sitting in a corner and casually practicing cues like sit, down, lap, up, and off. Every time Fern did something right, she got a treat. (Which is really a piece of her regular dog food. She really likes it.) When Mika took a minute to rest Fern looked around and saw a drawer cabinet next to the chairs. She walked over, grabbed the drawer handle and pulled it open. The she trotted over, smiled at Mika and indicated she wanted her treat! I nearly fell over in shock and I pushed the drawer back in to see if she would do it again. When Fern had finished her treat, she went back to the drawer and pulled it open again, then came back for her treat. Yes, Fern trained Mika to give her a treat every time she opened a drawer!!! We showed the trainer what Fern did and he laughed and told us what the cue word so at least we know how to ask her to do it. It's a good thing she's such a sweet dog because she's smart enough to get herself in a whole lot of trouble. Just like Mika. Hmm...maybe this isn't the best match for my mental health....

We got to go out to eat with the other family from the Houston area. (I absolutely love them.) It was our unofficial celebration of our last night free. The dogs come home with us tomorrow and then we're not allowed on any other unofficial outings with them. We can't event take them for walks on the sidewalks up and down the street, we have to stay in the designated area in the back. That is going to be insanely hard for someone with any energy level of a caffeinated two year old. I'm having a hard time with that because it means we can't go to Walmart, CVS or anywhere with the dogs. So anyone who can't leave the recipient in the hotel alone or with a second care giver can't go out unless they can get one of the other families to babysit the dog. I'm REALLY struggling with that.

The only downside is there has been a real issue finding food for Mikaela. Yesterday they didn't have anything for her for lunch or supper and today for lunch all she could really eat was some grapes (<10 grapes is usually safe), 2 rolls and a vegan cookie. We went out to supper tonight which is good because she couldn't eat the supper. I'm not sure what to do about it, but if we're on lockdown as of tomorrow, this is going to become a real issue.

Okay, I'm going to try and put up a couple of short videos. I hope it works.