Sarah & Wonder's Training Days

2008-11-13T15:14:00.006-06:00

OK, it has only been 2 weeks since Halloween! I'm finally getting around to blogging. Pretty good for me. I don't usually get Christmas cards out until Valentines Day.

Katherine, Sarah & Wonder had a very fun Halloween. Because of her "magic diet", Sarah can't have candy. So, we passed out small toys ahead of time to the houses in our neighborhood. Sarah really enjoyed knocking on doors and saying "Trick or Treat"!

Sarah & Wonder also got to go bowling. The staff was so impressed with how much fun Sarah was having that they gave her a free game. Even after bowling 4 games, she was not ready to go home.

They sure do make bowling balls heavy these days! Wonder got quite a work out holding down the bowling alley floor.

Overdue update and photos.

2008-10-29T11:10:00.005-06:00

Sarah and Wonder continue to do well together. Wonder recently helped Sarah during a hospital admission. She was admitted to the hospital for 5 days to receive a therapy called IVIG. Although this therapy acts on the immune system, studies have shown that it can help with refractory seizures too. Wonder stayed by her side the whole time, helping to comfort her when the nurses put in her IV and sleeping by her side.

Wonder is truly a multi-purpose service dog. He even acts as a book stand when needed!
He loves to throw his ball in the bathtub and then jumps in and plays with it. Crazy mut! Check in again soon for Halloween pictures!

2008-08-15T12:44:00.006-06:00

So, I've heard rumors that some people are upset about the distinct lack of updates to this blog. All I can say is sorry. As usual, life has been chaotic in our home and there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Earlier this month, Sarah travelled to Chicago with Wonder and her family to see her epileptologist and attend the IDEA League "Improving the Outcome" conference. It was a wonderful experience. Dr. Dravet, pictured above with Sarah and her mom, travelled from France to speak and meet with families in consultation. She is an amazing woman who really cares about the children affected by the syndrome that she described in 1978.

Katherine was thrilled to be able to meet Dr. Dravet. Upon first seeing her, Katherine's eyes got big and she asked me, "She's famous, isn't she?" It was wonderful to see old friends and to meet lots of new families going through the same experiences. There is a lot of exciting research underway and I believe that huge advances are on the horizon for the diagnosis and treatment of Dravet syndrome and other related "channelopathies".

Wonder travelled with us and was absolutely perfect. He was a bit confused about the complete lack of grass in the big city. He absolutely refused to do his business on the concrete and it took about 2 days for us to locate a suitable spot within walking distance from the hotel! The poor dog was walking a bit funny by the time he was able to go!

Wonder is at his new home.

2008-05-19T10:32:00.005-06:00

Well, we survived the trip home without incident. I was too exhausted to managed to blog, but now I have had a nice quiet weekend recuperating and am ready to face the world again. Wonder was super on the plane. He seems to be adjusting to his new home without a problem. He is mesmerized by the gerbil and will stand staring into it's cage for hours.
Today Wonder helped us take Katherine to school and then went to meet Sarah's therapists and teachers. Everyone was very impressed with what a calm boy he was. He stayed in his down in the classroom while the kids came to pet him one at a time. He still hasn't alerted to a seizure. Sarah had two this morning. I saved the shirt she was wearing so that we can work more. It's time for Wonder to start earning his keep!

Graduation Day

2008-05-15T16:22:00.005-06:00

Well, it was a long day, but we did it. Wonder and I passed our public access test at the mall this morning. Then we all went back to 4 Paws to sign papers and celebrate.

First photo is of the proud graduates. Next is of Sarah, Wonder & I with Karen, the founder and director of 4 Paws. Karen is an amazing woman who has the biggest heart in the world! We are so grateful for all the work she does to help others.
Well, it's time to pack the last few things and head out to the airport.

Last day of training :-(

2008-05-14T18:42:00.007-06:00

Well, it's hard to believe, but we are officially done with training. We take our test tomorrow and then, assuming I don't totally blow it, we graduate! Here is a photo of the great master, Jeremy, imparting his wisdom to his disciples.

I somehow managed to get both Sarah and Wonder to look at the camera with Jeremy. He really knows his dogs and I learned a lot. Thanks, Jeremy.

Here's a great one of friends Angela and Alexa doing the wheelchair conga. They were a riot zooming around like a locomotive on hyperdrive.

Last, here are brothers, Treasure & Wonder chilling out together at our Mayniac pre-graduation party. I took plenty of video of the event, but somehow only managed to take photos of the dogs! (When I get home I'll download the video to the computer. I brought the wrong cable, so I can't do it here.) We had a really nice time. Tammy decorated the room with streamers and a poster with photos from training. There was cake and plenty of great snacks. Melissa broke out the champagne and made mimosas for everyone. I have to say what a great group of people the Mayniacs are. All the families got along and contributed to training in so many ways. I know that these are folks I would have liked to get to know and become friends with no matter what circumstances brought us together. Overall, this has been an exceptional experience that I will never forget.

Day 8 of Training.

2008-05-13T18:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a photo of yesterday evening's visit with the other "Mayniac" families at the Residence Inn. Today was a nice slow day. Sarah made it through the night with no seizures. We spent the morning at 4 Paws continuing our obedience work. Wonder practiced "nuzzle", where he nuzzles Sarah when she is having a tantrum to redirect her into more acceptable behavior (petting Wonder). At the lunch break Wonder had a bath and then we joined the other families for more work at the mall. I had planned on going back to the RI for more social time, but decided on a nice quiet evening at the hotel instead. Sarah & Wonder have been sleeping very well together, but I'm still adjusting to having the dog with us. Now I wake up when Sarah moves and when Wonder moves! Things will be better at home after we all get used to each other but for now, I'm pretty tired. Wonder didn't complain about the afternoon nap either! It's hard to believe, but tomorrow is our last full day of training. Time is flying by.

Day 7 of Training

2008-05-12T19:06:00.002-06:00

We had a busy day today. Sarah and Cristin went to doggie-school in the morning. Sarah had fun playing with the other kids while Wonder and I worked. Wonder is doing very well. I even had him heeling off leash! After training Sarah, Wonder & I braved Petsmart. I meant to bring the stroller, but forgot to put it in the car. Let's just say I won't be making that mistake again. With all the smells and distractions, it was quite a challenge to keep Wonder in a heel and to keep Sarah holding his harness. They were both trying to go in different direction to check out the cool things they saw. I finally found my way to the Residence Inn. Sarah and I went swimming in the indoor pool and then we ate pizza and socialized with the other families. We've all been so tired after the full days of training that this was the first time a bunch of us got together to just chat and get to know each other. It was really nice to see the kids playing together and enjoy some grown-up conversation. Now it's off to bed to get some rest for another fun-filled day tomorrow.

Bedtime Pals

2008-05-12T06:20:00.003-06:00

Sarah and Wonder are all snuggled up and ready for bed. Sarah woke up saying she didn't feel good and had me hold her ear. She didn't say it hurt, but I'm wondering about an ear infection. At around 5:00 she did have a seizure. Wonder was much more interested in her than during previous seizures. I think he's starting to put the pieces together. Now, this morning, he's sniffing Sarah a lot. I'm going to set these PJs aside for practice later today.

Day 6 of Training

2008-05-11T16:10:00.003-06:00

Wonder did very well at training today. Here he is finding Sarah's seizure t-shirt. He checks each box and when he gets to the one with her seizure scented t-shirt he paws me to let me know he's smelled it. He only gets praise for alerting me to the correct box. Wonder did very well once he figured out he wasn't going to get treats for just pawing every box. He's quite the treat-monger!

Next we practiced more obedience work. Here's the entire class practicing down. They were supposed to stay down no matter what happened until we called them to come to us. Here Bill, Alex & Treasure's dad, is walking around and even over the dogs to entice them to break their down. Wonder is the doodle on the far left.

Now we're back at the room for a quiet evening and some more practice on seizure alerting. Then we'll turn in for an early bedtime.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T04:56:00.002-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and to Brenda, my mom-in-law. We're getting off to a bit of a rough start here. Sarah woke up at 4:30 saying "It's time to get up!" It took me a good half hour to convince her that it was definitely NOT time to get up. She did go back to sleep, but had a seizure at about 6:00. I called Wonder over and had him "check" and "touch" (put his paw on me) several times while praising the heck out of him. He's on the bed with Sarah now while she sleeps off her seizure. Her croupy cough is better and she hasn't had anymore fever, but her runny nose is starting to look like sinusitis again. So, I guess I'll be calling antibiotics in for her again. Yesterday evening we practiced having Sarah hold onto Wonder's harness while we took a short walk. Wonder seemed to heel better at the slow pace with Sarah holding on. Then we played fetch. Wonder LOVES his squeaky tennis balls and he had a blast chasing after them. Sarah is the only one allowed to play fetch with him as part of the bonding process. He has to see her as the source of all things fun in the universe. I could see a real difference in how attentive he was to Sarah after that. He's following me around the hotel room less and staying by Sarah more. He laid on the floor while she lined all her toys up around him. So cute.

Day at the mall.

2008-05-10T16:55:00.002-06:00

Wonder and I spent the morning at 4 Paws learning about basic dog care; things like trimming toe-nails and cleaning ears. At lunch we all went to the local mall to work the dogs in public. It being the Saturday before Mother's Day, the mall was quite busy. Everyone wanted to know what kind of dog Wonder was and what he was being trained for. He did quite well, although he's still pulling a lot during heeling. It's just something we're going to have to keep working on until Wonder gets used to the slow pace we have to set if Sarah is going to be holding on to his harness for balance. I worked him on the stairs a lot to get him used to going very slow and stopping every few steps. By 4:00 we were both tired and headed back to the hotel to relieve Cristin of her babysitting duties. I attempted to take Wonder & Sarah to the Residence Inn to socialize with the other training families, but we got very lost and I finally gave up. I'll get better directions and try again tomorrow. I don't have any new pictures to post today. I'll try to remember to give my camera to someone tomorrow to get some snaps.

Day 4 of Training.

2008-05-09T18:30:00.006-06:00

Today Wonder decided to see if I was prone to heart-attacks! When we arrived at 4 Paws I took him to the play area for a romp. He needs to burn off a little energy in the morning so he can focus better during school. Another doggie-classmate, Leise, was also out playing. They had a great time playing chase. Wonder wasn't watching where he was going and tripped over the pole supporting the swing set (old fashioned metal kind). He went into a full body slide for about 5 feet and then lay there whimpering and wouldn't get up. I thought he'd broken his leg for sure! I sent our classmate for help and stayed by Wonder petting him. I just knew that this was the end of training for us and that we'd have to come back to finish up after Wonder's leg healed. However, as soon as Jeremy and Karen appeared on the scene, Wonder jumped up and was running around like nothing happened! I guess Katherine is no longer going to be the only drama-queen in our family! LOL We continued to work in basic obedience with ever increasing distractions for the dogs. We also played some seizure alerting games with Sarah's t-shirts. He could definitely tell which box had the seizure shirt in it. Now we just have to see if he can associate that smell with Sarah having a seizure and not just a t-shirt in a box.
Sadly, Mark had to leave today. We dropped him off at the airport (photo 1). We're all sorry to see him leave. I know he really wanted to stay. Cristin and I took Sarah and Wonder to Olive Garden for dinner. Photo 2 is of Sarah and Wonder doing a down in the restaurant while we were waiting for a table. Wonder stayed in his down under the table during our entire dinner. He's such a good dog, even if he is a klutz! I'm thinking of changing his name to Grace!

Wonder puts on his uniform for work.

2008-05-09T05:25:00.003-06:00

Here's Wonder looking very official in his service dog harness. We had another good night, so it's off to training we go.
PS: Happy Birthday to Karen T. at work. I hope you have a great day.

Day 3 of Training

2008-05-08T18:12:00.004-06:00

Day three was another day of hard work for us and Wonder. Sarah had a much better night with no seizures. She's still stuffy, but was able to go to doggy-school. She and Alex have a lot in common. They both love to play with the play kitchen, they're both getting service dogs (doodle brothers Treasure & Wonder) and they both have Dravet syndrome. It was great to see them together and spend time chatting with Alex's parents about our shared experienced. The grown-ups worked more on obedience skills. They gave us a harness for Wonder to wear. Now he looks like a real service dog! I have been having a hard time coordinating the training collar during heeling. So, we switched Wonder to a "Gentle Leader" which is helping a lot. We had our first outing to Wal-Mart to practice working with the dog in a public place. It was fun to watch all the amazed stares. I overheard one man telling his kid that we were training Wonder to be a seeing-eye dog for blind people. We also practiced "under", so that Wonder can sit under the table at restaurants, etc. I can really see a difference in how Wonder is responding to our commands. He seems much more attentive to our commands. Another great day is drawing to a close. We're all tuckered out and ready for bed (including Wonder!)

Day 2 of training.

2008-05-07T17:56:00.003-06:00

Today was the first full day of training with Wonder. First, it has been brought to my attention that the photos I'm attaching can't be viewed by everyone. I have also put copies of them in our photo album on Sarah's Website Sarah rewarded Wonder's hard work by covering him with stickers! He sat very patiently while she put them on his head. We continued our basic obedience work with sit, down & place. The center photo is of Wonder doing a "down" on his "place". The third photo of the day is Wonder with his two brothers, Promise & Treasure. Treasure will be going to live with Alex, another child with Dravet syndrome like Sarah. Wonder is the "skinny" one. He's not the runt of the litter, it's just the hair cut. His sibs are just as skinny under all their hair. Sarah is still very stuffy and coughing some. Let's hope we have a better night so she can go to training tomorrow.

First night with Wonder.

2008-05-07T05:59:00.003-06:00

Here we all are tucked in tight for our first night with Wonder. Unfortunately, he had ample opportunity to experience Sarah's seizures. Sarah has developed a case of croup and had 3 seizures over the course of the night. Wonder was invited over and told to "check" to smell for the seizure and "touch", meaning put his paw on me to alert me to the seizure. He then received several treats and lots of praise. Sarah is awake now watching Little Einsteins. I guess it's appropriate that she has a "barky" cough during our dog-training time! She will be staying at the hotel today with Cristin to get some rest and to avoid exposing the other kids at training. Hopefully a short course of steroids will have her feeling better quickly so she can go back to doggy school.

Sarah meets Wonder!

2008-05-06T18:59:00.008-06:00

What a great day! Our travels yesterday went smoothly and we arrived at our hotel without incident or seizure (whew!). After breakfast we arrived at the 4 Paws training center to meet Wonder. Sarah has already fallen in love with him and wants to be by him constantly. Wonder is very gentle and lets Sarah pet him and even touch his paws and tail. He has a very sweet disposition. After getting to know one another, we spent some time on basic commands and heeling. Wonder is with us at the hotel tonight for his first slumber party with Sarah. The poor dog doesn't know what he's in for. He's not going to get a moment of rest from here on out! We're so happy to have him with us. I can already tell he is truly going to be a Wonder-Dog!

Our last day at home without Wonder!

2008-05-04T16:15:00.002-06:00

Well, we're just about all packed up and ready to go. A few last minute things to toss into the suitcase and we're off to Ohio! Sarah's fever of yesterday has not returned and we've been keeping her ketones high with extra butter to help prevent any seizures. If Wonder lives up to his name, this will be the last night Sarah sleeps in our bed. From now on, she'll be in her own bed with her doggie. She can snuggle with him all she wants and we might actually get some sleep! Tomorrow, I blog from Ohio!

2008-05-03T15:32:00.002-06:00

Pack, pack, pack. There sure is a lot of stuff to bring! We're down to less than 48 hours to lift off! Anyone with kids will understand what I mean when I say don't EVER let your kids know you're going on a big trip until it's time to leave. They're guaranteed to get sick. Sure enough, Sarah has a fever today. Just a low grade temp without any other real symptoms, but enough to make me worry about how many seizures she's going to have between now and when we meet Wonder. I'll be dosing her up with ibuprofen before we fly out. A seizure on the plane is the last thing we need. Wish us luck and a speedy recovery for Sarah.

Spring is Bluebonnet Season in Texas.

2008-05-02T13:40:00.005-06:00

Every April in Texas you can see people out on the roadsides and in the country posing for pictures in the bluebonnets. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas and it is illegal to pick them on public lands! Here is our bluebonnet photo for 2008.

Only 3 days to go until we travel to Ohio to get our dog! Time to start packing! I've bought some yummy treats for Wonder as well as several great doggy toys. We have a big bag of Bil Jak dogfood waiting for him, a food and water bowl, hair brush, doggy shampoo, toenail trimmers.... The list is growing! It's like expecting a baby; there's so much to buy to get ready for the day we bring him home. I can't believe that in just 72 hours we will be on our way. Woohoo!

Congratulations to Katherine!

2008-05-01T07:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we found out that Katherine will be representing her school at the State Interscholastic Academic Competition! She took 3rd place in the regional creative writing contest last month and was an alternate to go to the state competition. The 2nd place winner is unable to go, so Katherine will compete in her place. We are very proud of Katherine and know she will do a great job! Watch out JK Rowling!

Only 4 days to go until we travel to Ohio! Tonight I will be making up a big batch of Sarah's special chicken nuggets to take with us. She has been on the ketogenic diet for seizures for the last 2 1/2 years but recently changed to the less restrictive modified Atkins diet for seizures. These high fat/low carbohydrate diets have made a dramatic difference in the number and severity of Sarah's seizures. Read more about how these diets work on Sarah's website.

Welcome to our 4 Paws Training Blog!

2008-04-30T18:50:00.003-06:00

In just 5 short days we will be boarding a plane bound for Xenia, Ohio. Awaiting us there is Wonder, an amazing goldendoodle who has been trained to give an alert when Sarah has a seizure. Most of Sarah's seizures occur at night and our biggest fear is that we will not awaken to help her during a seizure. For the last 3 months we have been sending t-shirts worn by Sarah to 4 Paws for Ability. Most were worn during a seizure, but some were worn during the day when Sarah did not have a seizure. Wonder has been trained to smell the difference between the shirts so that he will know when Sarah is having a seizure and be able to alert us! The amazing people at 4 Paws have been training Wonder since he was just a puppy. Now it's our turn to go and learn from the experts. We will stay in Ohio for two weeks learning how to care for and work with Wonder. At the end of that time, if we are very good students and are able to keep up with our smart dog, we will have a graduation ceremony and then bring Wonder home. Keep checking as we count down to the day when we go to meet Sarah's new best friend!