Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Kingsley and his new BFF
Kingsley has been thrilled to have a playmate! He is really enjoying the temporary company of PAD Stowe, a newbie on board in our puppy program. He's a big boy, lab crossed with american bulldog or something! They have very similar play styles and could romp for hours - literally! I haven't gotten a picture of the two of them because they don't STOP moving!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Big Training Milestone!
Today Kingsley trained at Target, working on my wheelchair leash - 100%! This is huge and MUCH earlier than I expected to try! We had him potty on a hand held leash with my mom, and cross the parking lot with her also. Once inside I switched him to my wheelchair and he worked 100% up to par. He did not pull on the leash, only got confused and crossed in front of my chair ONE time and had perfect accuracy for sit and down cues!
We were only there for about 20 minutes, which is why I chose this errand to begin public wheelchair work on. He navigated through a few smaller isles, and did great at the pharmacy. My pharmacist even exclaimed "No dogs today?" because Kingsley immediately responded to his down cue when we got to the counter, they never saw him or heard my command! She couldn't stop complimenting his wonderful behavior. Afterward we walked through more isles before heading out. He did great walking through the automatic doors, and the parking lot!
I am really excited to be able to handle him more in public by myself now. Words can't really convey how proud of him I am. <3
 |
| Waiting in line at the pharmacy |
 |
| Waiting for the "car" cue in the parking lot |
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Happy 5 Month Birthday, Kingsley!
We spent the day playing, training, napping and generally just lazing around for Kingsley's 5 month Birthday.
5 Things I Love About Kingsley
5. His afro
4. How gentle he is
3. His big brown eyes
2. How tall he's getting
1. His intuition
5 Things I Love About Kingsley
5. His afro
4. How gentle he is
3. His big brown eyes
2. How tall he's getting
1. His intuition
Saturday, August 11, 2012
August - SMA Awareness Month
August is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Awareness month, and if it weren't for SMA I wouldn't have needed, and therefor met Sir Kingsley.
Kingsley and I lit a candle tonight, at 8pm in honor of all of the lives lost from this tragic disease, as well as for all of us that are still fighting it every day. I thank God for the light that Kingsley brings to my life. I would never attempt to hold a lit candle (let alone as heavy as this one was) with any other nearly 5-month-old puppy. But with Kingsley, I didn't even think twice. He seems to read my mind, and be so in tune to what i'm doing that things like this aren't challenging.
Kingsley and I lit a candle tonight, at 8pm in honor of all of the lives lost from this tragic disease, as well as for all of us that are still fighting it every day. I thank God for the light that Kingsley brings to my life. I would never attempt to hold a lit candle (let alone as heavy as this one was) with any other nearly 5-month-old puppy. But with Kingsley, I didn't even think twice. He seems to read my mind, and be so in tune to what i'm doing that things like this aren't challenging.
Kingsley and I are praying for a cure, and hoping to educate a few others on the way. <3
Friday, August 10, 2012
Too Smart For His Own GOOD!
On July 12th Kingsley spent some time with a sitter, where he reported escaped his soft sided crate multiple times. My comment en route home to him, to my mom was,
"Bet he'll figure out his other crates, now!"
And almost to the month, he has now learned how to get out of 2 of my wire crates. While i'd love to start leaving him out of the crate for good, he isn't quite potty trained enough to be out while home alone.
Alas, we are going to buy a safer crate for him as soon as possible. We were going to eventually need a bigger crate anyway, as he is much taller at nearly 5 months (tomorrow!!) than any of my other dogs have been, this is just a few months earlier than expected.
"Bet he'll figure out his other crates, now!"
And almost to the month, he has now learned how to get out of 2 of my wire crates. While i'd love to start leaving him out of the crate for good, he isn't quite potty trained enough to be out while home alone.
Alas, we are going to buy a safer crate for him as soon as possible. We were going to eventually need a bigger crate anyway, as he is much taller at nearly 5 months (tomorrow!!) than any of my other dogs have been, this is just a few months earlier than expected.
Please consider helping us raise the cost of the safe crate for Kingsley. <3
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
National Night Out
National Night Out (an event against crime) was a huge success for our local community! Better yet, it was a wonderful training experience for Kingsley! He got to meet firefighters, policemen and EMS - and work around all of their emergency response vehicles! All of this was, of course on top of the normal training of loose leash walking, greetings, and basic obedience!
I had a very special helper, too - Izzy's family is training PAD Biscotti, and she has been learning and practicing her very own dog training skills! She helped all night with Kingsley, and I am so thankful for her!
He continues to improve in his willingness to switch handlers, and shows less and less stress leaving me - though is always eager to return to my side.
I had a very special helper, too - Izzy's family is training PAD Biscotti, and she has been learning and practicing her very own dog training skills! She helped all night with Kingsley, and I am so thankful for her!
He continues to improve in his willingness to switch handlers, and shows less and less stress leaving me - though is always eager to return to my side.
I couldn't be more in love, happier or more delighted <3
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
A Very Important Training
On Tuesday Kingsley accompanied me to my pulmonology appointment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I am seen every 6 months - 1 year for maintenance of the respiratory complications from my condition, Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
Kingsley did great on the longer than usual car ride (he has the routine down pat - load in van by the ramp, sit to be tethered, then lay by the bench quietly until after we park, open ramp and untether him!) and only took about 15 seconds to acclimate to the load city sounds he found himself surrounded by once there. This was easily his first trip into a real city. I was really proud of him for getting over the newness quick enough to potty on cue and continue walking to the hospital. He had NO problem entering the new elevator, and within one or two floors, we found ourselves PACKED with a few doctors, a stroller and a teenager with an iPod on. He kept himself tucked against my chair and calmly waited for the 5th floor stop. We didn't have an overly long wait for the first part of the appointment, but he did awesome with my mom leaving us to find a bathroom (stayed with me and didn't try to follow her) and did a few greetings perfectly.
Our next part of the day was my Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT's), which are a routine part of my hospital visits and something very important for Kingsley to be comfortable during. He - slept through them. They're done with a few big machines that suck and blow air loudly, and obviously I interact with them in order to test my lung function. The first time I had my lab there, she needed re-cued a few times to settle and lie down but Kingsley watched me in a down for a few minutes before confidently falling asleep for the remaining tests.
After that we waited about 30 minutes to see the doctors, so we snapped a picture with the Pulmonary elephants.
Our appointment was supposed to be routine, just a check up and confirmation of stability - which I why Kingsley joined me to this particular appointment. To my surprise though, my PFT's weren't so hot, so we spent a lot of time going over things closely, changing medications around a little, and setting up a sleep study to ensure that my Bi-Pap settings are still correct. Kingsley slept right through the entire 2 hour appointment, while nurses and social workers came and went, while I had my physical, and everything else. At the end I gave everyone permission to pet him and he cracked me up - he had no desire to meet any of them and looked at me as if to say "I'm working -hello?!"
On our way out we stopped by a statue of a Panda out front of the Wood Center. Kingsley was a bit worried about him, so we did some training around him and a few walk by's before heading home. Although we have 2 dog statues here at my house and his groomer has a dog statue at her salon, we'll be sure to visit lots of statues in the next few weeks to help him learn they're not so scary. I just love the Panda pictures though! He's silly and didn't have a huge fear response, just a wary and worried response. Until next time!
Kingsley did great on the longer than usual car ride (he has the routine down pat - load in van by the ramp, sit to be tethered, then lay by the bench quietly until after we park, open ramp and untether him!) and only took about 15 seconds to acclimate to the load city sounds he found himself surrounded by once there. This was easily his first trip into a real city. I was really proud of him for getting over the newness quick enough to potty on cue and continue walking to the hospital. He had NO problem entering the new elevator, and within one or two floors, we found ourselves PACKED with a few doctors, a stroller and a teenager with an iPod on. He kept himself tucked against my chair and calmly waited for the 5th floor stop. We didn't have an overly long wait for the first part of the appointment, but he did awesome with my mom leaving us to find a bathroom (stayed with me and didn't try to follow her) and did a few greetings perfectly.
Our next part of the day was my Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT's), which are a routine part of my hospital visits and something very important for Kingsley to be comfortable during. He - slept through them. They're done with a few big machines that suck and blow air loudly, and obviously I interact with them in order to test my lung function. The first time I had my lab there, she needed re-cued a few times to settle and lie down but Kingsley watched me in a down for a few minutes before confidently falling asleep for the remaining tests.
After that we waited about 30 minutes to see the doctors, so we snapped a picture with the Pulmonary elephants.
Our appointment was supposed to be routine, just a check up and confirmation of stability - which I why Kingsley joined me to this particular appointment. To my surprise though, my PFT's weren't so hot, so we spent a lot of time going over things closely, changing medications around a little, and setting up a sleep study to ensure that my Bi-Pap settings are still correct. Kingsley slept right through the entire 2 hour appointment, while nurses and social workers came and went, while I had my physical, and everything else. At the end I gave everyone permission to pet him and he cracked me up - he had no desire to meet any of them and looked at me as if to say "I'm working -hello?!"
On our way out we stopped by a statue of a Panda out front of the Wood Center. Kingsley was a bit worried about him, so we did some training around him and a few walk by's before heading home. Although we have 2 dog statues here at my house and his groomer has a dog statue at her salon, we'll be sure to visit lots of statues in the next few weeks to help him learn they're not so scary. I just love the Panda pictures though! He's silly and didn't have a huge fear response, just a wary and worried response. Until next time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)