It seems going through the posts that I was at Ultimate Fighting Championship Camp or something...not Service Dog Training! I promise, this is not the norm. No one else had issues, I must be super special!Brian took the Public Access test since I was on the injured roster. He and Slugger passed! The only worry was the food distraction test and Slugger almost gave in to temptation. However, he must have known that he was doing something important and resisted. Hooray!
Later that afternoon we all went back to 4 Paws and filled out the paperwork to take Slugger home with us. We promised to take good care of him. Then we had graduation! It was so crowded and noisy that I was sure Cole was going to have a melt down. Some of the other kids in the class just couldn't handle it.
This was our attempt at trying to get a picture of all of the dogs.
Our dear friend Paula drove 4 hours just to be with us on this special day! We have not seen her since the Dravet conference last year and it was so nice to be able to hug each other. She also brought her lovely daughter. She kept Cole entertained during the madness with a new iPad app called "Paint My Wings". We were so grateful to her for coming. That is something that I love about my Dravet family, we truly share each other's victories and sorrows. We may not be able to physically be there in times of need, but I know that they are rooting for us...always! It was so, SO nice of Paula to come and spend time with us.
We waited patiently and we were last to graduate! They finally presented Slugger and Cole as a certified working team. We got a fancy certificate and everything!
Plus, we got to sign Cole and Slugger's names on the Wall of Fame!
There are a lot of lives changed here.
We were so sad to say good-bye to the staff at 4 Paws For Ability. There were many tears.Here is Slugger with his first "Mom". She will always be a part of our family.
Along with some special other people who will also be family. If you haven't guessed, we are always willing to adopt.
Speaking of family, here are Slugger's litter mates that were in the class. We are so excited that his sister Samba and his brother Shaggy live close to us!
If you have ever doubted that this is something you could undertake, I will just say to you-If I can do it, you can do it too! Contact 4 Paws today, or if you have the chance, help someone with their fundraiser. Our lives will be forever changed because of these people and their mission...and by Slugger, of course.
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