Day 9 - Carnival

Mom and Dad are really starting to wear out so I drove to training today!

This is just me checking my GPS to make sure I can find our way back!



We did two good tracks today and then I crashed! I guess I'm wearing out too. At least I wasn't still driving!!

I have the very best, soft pillow ... he's even furry!

I watched a movie with my friend Bella this afternoon while the parents listened the 4 Paws veterinarian talk about dog health. When they starting talking about giving a dog mouth-to-mouth respiration, I decided Dora would be more fun.


After doggy school we went to a carnival along with Bella's family. We really had a fun time! We went on lots of rides. Bella had a seizure on the elephant ride and had to go rest in her truck with her Mom for awhile but her sister Willow stayed with us and went on some more rides.




Driving the fire engine was my very favorite ride. I went on it three times!


We're all getting really tired and are ready to come home again to see you all.

Love,
Dawsyn & Milkyway

Day 8 - Take Me to the Mall!

Today we all went to the mall, even Dad! We practiced having me tethered to Milkyway so I don't wander off like I like to. I really don't mind being tethered though because I have a special leash that only I get to use. After we did that for a long time we played a couple games of Hide and Seek in store. The first time Dad and I went to hide. Mom and Milkyway found us really fast. When Mom and I went to hide, we went a little further and found a great corner where I could rearrange the clothes on the rack until Dad and Milkyway go there. I like sorting clothes so wasn't very happy that they found us so soon!


This is some of our group waiting their turn in the mall

The afternoon was spent in the training room again. The training room is starting to get very boring for me! However, Mom and Dad need all the practice they can get handling Milkyway because they have to pass a handling test before we can take Millkyway home.


All the dogs are in a "down" and the parents are walking around and over them. This is to remind them that once they've been given a command, they must not break it even if there are distractions.

This evening we went out for supper with another family. They have two little girls that I played with. Milkyway went with us and I was tethered to him while we walked down the street. At the restaurant, we gave him the "under" command and he went under the table and laid down. He was so well behaved, we almost forgot he was there!


These are my friends Willow and Bella. Bella has seizures too but hers are because she has tumors growing in her brain. Her dog is called Pepsi.


There were so many fun hats in this store! My Mom bought herself and me one ... but not this one.

Love,
Dawsyn & Milkyway

Day 7 Photos

Before we leave for the day. This girl knows the way to her dog's heart!

Morning in the Rain

Milkyway waiting for our turn to track. When it's raining, his hair gets all curly!! I love it!

Mom and Milkyway in the rain talking to Saphira and her handler.

Hawkeye and John on their way back with from tracking Logan.

Lorelai waiting her turn. She's a beautiful Burmese Mountain Dog and is a bundle of energy and is very playful. Lorelai will be moving to Alabama with her boy Hudson who has autism.

This is MiMi tracking her boy, Jamie.

Afternoon in the Training Centre

Dawsyn and Milkyway "bonding" over treats

Maestro, the trainer's helper! A very nice Golden Retriever

Sean and Pepsi practicing "over". The dog lays over the legs or body of their child when they need to feel pressure or weight. Pepsi's girl Bella lives in New Jersey and has a rare form of epilepsy but not Dravet's.

Hawkeye practicing "lap" and just chilling. His boy Logan lives in Denver, Colorado but his Mom was born in Calgary.

This is Radar, Hawkeye's brother. They have another brother named Trapper in our group. They are called the M*A*S*H* litter.

Tonight just before bed

Before we came I think I mentioned that if we could teach this dog to play Go Fish, we'd have it made! Dawsyn is doing her darnedest to fulfill that goal.

Just my goofy goofy girl!

Day 7 - No Sunday School

Sunday is one of my very favorite days. I love to go to Sunday School and to Children's Church but today they worked us just as hard as every other day this week!! We played Hide and Seek in the rain today. My turn didn't come for a long time so I had a little rest in the back of our car for awhile while the others hung around in the rain.

Dad and I went deep into some thick bush and hid. Milkyway came barreling behind us really fast! My Mom kept having to slap branches out of her way so that she didn't get an eye poked out! We all came back with muddy feet and wet clothes.

This afternoon we learned to do tricks with our dogs. The dogs all know how to shake, give me five, high five, play dead and a bunch of others. It was quite obvious that the parents were not as good at getting the dogs to do their tricks as the trainers do. Mom will keep working at it and will hopefully be able to show you some when we get home! They were a little better and getting the dogs to do some of their "work" jobs.

This is an example of "touch". Mom pointed to my leg and said "touch" and Milkyway put his paw where Mom pointed. This is a good way to distract a child from doing something that his Mom or Dad doesn't want him to do.


This one was is called "lap". The dog puts his head on the child's lap to comfort them if they are upset. I wasn't very upset right then. I just wanted to give him a good rub!

This one has a really long name. Every time I would do this, Mom and Dad would say "Don't DO that!" I really don't know why they were telling Milkyway not to do that. I would have liked a ride.

I had kind of a bad seizure day today. I had five head drops (they only last about 5 seconds each) while we were at our training sessions and then had a three minute one when we were back at our hotel. Milkyway is getting lots of chances to learn that "seizure smell"! I think tomorrow will be a much better day!!

Love,
Dawsyn & Milkyway

Mother Mistake!

I keep saying that I'm not playing out. I'm not too tired. I still have energy at the end of the day. Well, apparently I am NOT so on the ball at the beginning of the day!!

During the Friday night Dawsyn had three seizures. On Saturday morning I gave her her meds as usual. However, I made a mistake. I gave her Saturday evening meds rather than her regular morning meds. We didn't discover my mistake until it was time for her evening meds and they were missing but her morning ones were still there. What a screw up!!

We went ahead and gave her her morning meds at night. Apparently, that was a mistake! She had a good night with only one seizure but the poor girl's had a miserable day! She's had five head drops and one nasty three minute tonic clonic.

Mom's feeling like idiot and Dawsy's paying the price!

Day 6 - Downtime for Dawsyn (Letter to Class)

Last night was a big test for Milkyway because it was the first time since we got here that I had a seizure. I had three seizures between four and seven in the morning. When I had the first one, Mom yelled at Dad to wake him up and he had to go hunting for Milkyway because he'd snuck out of our bed to the sofa in the living room! He probably thought he'd have more room out there than in the same bed as me and Mom!

Dad brought him in and got him up on the bed beside me. He was a little sleepy so didn't really know what he was supposed to do at first. Mom looked after me and Dad told Milkyway he was a good boy. When my seizure was all done, they fed him some hotdogs and told him "Atta boy! Good boy!" over and over. He licked my arms and face for awhile making sure I was okay. Licking also helps him remember what my seizures "smell" like so that when he smells it next time, he can bark to tell Mom and Dad. He snuggled up really close to me and we all went back to sleep for awhile. When I had the next seizure, he woke up more quickly and licked me and nuzzled me until it was done. Again Mom and Dad gave him hotdogs and told him he was the best dog on the whole world! In between seizures two and three, Milkyway was on one side of me and Mom was on the other ... like a Dawsyn sandwich. We are all sleeping so tightly but heard a "thump" and woke up. Poor Milky had slipped right off the bed and was wedged between the bed and the wall on his back with his feet sticking straight up in the air! Mom was laughing and told Dad to take a picture but Dad just wanted to help our poor dog out of his predicament!

Even after that traumatic experience, Milkyway still wanted to snuggle up next to me for the rest of the night! He did his good job when I had my last seizure. Pretty soon he will know my seizure "smell" so well that he will be able to smell it even before I have a seizure and will bark to let my parents know. He really is an amazing dog!

After four busy days of training, I was pretty tired this morning so Mom and Dad decided that I should take the morning off. Dad stayed at the hotel with me while Mom and Milkyway went to practice obedience at the Mall. It was agreed that it would be more important for Mom to be able to handle me while shopping than Dad. Mom LOVES to shop ... Dad, not so much!

I had quite a lazy morning of movies and naps, naps and movies! By the time Mom came back to pick us up for the afternoon training session, I was raring to go. Milkyway was worn out!! I think maybe Mom took full advantage of being in the mall without me and Dad because she came home with a lot of bags and one tired pooch!

During the afternoon training session Mom and Dad learned about dog health and grooming stuff. Did you know that even your dog needs to get his teeth brushed and toe nails clipped?

This evening we did some more Mall "work". Mom said Dad needed to practice. She came home with a bunch more bags!

We went to my brothers favorite restaurant for supper ... only he wasn't with us! If you ever travel to the United States, look for one of these if you are REALLY hungry. It's a big big buffet with everything from salad to steaks to pizza to chicken cooked half a dozen different ways to lots and lots of different desserts, even never ending ice cream cones! Matthew's going to be sad he missed it!



My big furry boy is sticking pretty close to my side tonight and I'm glad to have him there!



Love
Dawsyn & Milkyway

BONUS PICTURE:

Snowball bushes - these are one of my favorite shrubs. I brought one out of my yard in Lethbridge and have it planted in my front yard. It is being very slow about growing and producing flowers ... think it may have something to do with late April SNOW STORMS??

Day 6 - Why We're Here

Dawsyn reminded us last night of just exactly why we've come here. At 4 a.m. she had her first of three seizures. Each time, I would attend to Dawsyn and Ben would drag Milkyway out of his sleep, put his nose right up close to her face and praise him up. When it was all over, we'd give him hotdogs and lots of praises. Next time we will encourage him to give one good bark. Eventually, that bark will be our signal that she's having a seizure.

After the seizures were over, he would lay close to Dawsyn and lick her hands and face. I know that grosses some of you out but that "smell" that he is licking will be his signal to alert. The better he knows it, the better he will be able to do his job.

At one point, Milkyway was stretched out on one side of the bed and I was on the other with Dawsyn sandwiched between us. I woke up to the sound of a "thump" to find that he had slipped off the bed and was wedged between the bed and the wall on his back! Poor boy!! It was actually kind of funny.

Today we are doing some obedience training in the mall. The last thing Dawsyn (and her Dad) wants to do is spend a whole morning in the mall. We also figured that she could use a quiet morning as she's been going hard every day. So she and Dad are going to chill out and I'm going to the mall. Honestly, who do you think really needs to be able to handle him in a mall anyway? I'm going to become the MASTER at shopping with a service dog ... look out Cross Iron Mills! Do you think I'll need to take Dawsyn when I shop at home?

I'll fill you in on how we do ... and what we buy!