April's News

Once again, it's been awhile since I sat and wrote a post.  Lots has happened...St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Anya's birthday, outings, etc.  We've had our ups and downs, and have our things we need to work on...but Ro is always there with her cute little eyes and that keeps me going most days! :)  When we are out doings things by ourselves she is fabulous, but at work lately she hasn't been listening as well as I'd like.  Unfortunately it's due to the fact that many adults don't heed my requests to not touch her, and I am feeling like a broken record lately.  I have found that if I am much more forceful and literally begin running my chair between them and Ro-they finally get the hint that I'm serious about "Please, don't pet her." I have had to brings treats a few times on days I deem 'practice days' and she is doing well on those, but I don't want her to only work when I'm rewarding her so I have to really watch what I'm doing and that makes a difference.
Anyhow, here is a cute collection of photos from our random outings the past month or so!

 A picture of all my girls! :)

 The girls dressed for St. Patrick's Day (at school).

 Ro with her green gear (probably thinking "MOM TAKE THIS OFF!!")

 Ro watching our guest speaker during a sound presentation!  She loves this position...and it is my favorite of hers, makes me smile!!

Ro looking very proper with her paws crossed in her favorite spot in my classroom.  The kids all know that if Ro starts walking towards the ottoman, they better get out of the way because she will sit on their things to claim her spot (especially if Mom has said 'Ro, jump on')!

March is a busy month!

So I always promised myself that I would keep this as up to date as possible...but life gets in the way and I find that my online baby book for the kids is also looking neglected.  My goal is to get them updated this month!  In March is not only my husbands and my birthday's, but our anniversary (10 years!).  Unfortunately, the entire family ended up sick...so babysitter was canceled and we spent the day at home watching movies and negotiating who would get up and feed the kids.  Our son was sick as well, but the girls were not and had a lot of energy!  Poor Ro wanted to get up and do things, but she ended up sitting at my feet just looking all cute.
Anyhow, I wanted to get on to put some pictures up that I kept meaning to add of Ro doing various things.  Enjoy! :)

 This is Ro practicing 'leave' with her favorite treat-carrots!

 This is Ro making sure that no one has a seat on the couch....!!

 This is Ro making sure that the students are working!  It's nice that they don't even notice her even though she can take up a lot of room!  She can also take up a very small amount of space...but she usually chooses to stretch out. 

This is Ro during one of our meetings...you can see she was bored (I may have been as well...maybe...)

We passed! :)

Ro and I had our 6 month PAT (Public Access Test) today at the Aurora Mall.  Ro did fabulous!!  So proud of her!  She didn't even try to sniff for food which was my biggest worry.  I had been worried about it for weeks now, so it was a relief to pass and have her do so well!  All our work has paid off!!  The kids at work will be very pleased with her as well, they have been asking for awhile now when Ro has to take her test.  We joke a lot because when they have their math tests I always tell them that Ro has to take her tests too and she has to practice just like them to be ready for them! :)
We just got home...and Ro is now taking a well deserved break sleeping on the couch.  Have a good day!

Basketball season is over

Ro did an excellent job in helping coach this season!  Our girls went into the playoffs and made it through second rounds.  Unfortunately we lost and now are out.  They had a great season and we hope that our next one goes even better!  We are starting 6th grade season here soon, but it is a non-competitive league where we work on building skills and sportsmanship in order to get ready for next year when they are 7th and 8th graders.
Here is a pic that a friend took of us during a time-out.  During games I tend to put Ro at the end of the bench and not up by me if the game is close because I'm usually yelling towards the court to tell the girls the next step (or maybe at the refs...ahahha) and Ro sometimes thinks I'm trying to get her to do something.  When I put her at the end she realizes that I'm not trying to have her do something and she relaxes more.  This photo was taken during a time-out.  Ro always wants to be involved as you can see!!  She has very important tips for the girls! (Along with a good-luck shake before we start each game!)

Long overdue for an update!

I can't believe I haven't posted since before the holidays!  A lot has been happening around here and this next week things are going to be even crazier!
First, over the break Ro and I got a lot of practice sessions in at malls and various stores while shopping.  She did fabulous and has continued to improve on not eating.  Despite me not letting people pet her, she always wants people to know she's there!  She is just a social butterfly!!  I was able to get the button for her to turn the lights on at work in a position the fire marshal didn't complain about (only took 3 tires...grumble...)  And her and Riley are becoming best buds.
So I guess I'll just go over the highlights since it seems silly now to try and recount everything as it's been a few months.

Ro went to visit Santa with the kids, she was very well behaved.

(My four beautiful babies...)

On Christmas Ro had her own personalized stocking hung by the fire! Santa filled it with yummy bones! 

(The pic is kinda blurry but it's her enjoying her treat)

She also got some fun toys!

Here is a pic of her and Riley laying on the couch together!

What else?  She loves to hang out with the kids at school...they have been really good about not petting her, but I'll find them in close vicinity sometimes! :)  Last week our school had 'Spirit Week' where each day you would show your school spirit by dressing in various ways.  Tuesday was 'Impersonate a teacher' day...we had a few kids show up in wheelchairs dragging along their service dogs (stuffed animals)!  I couldn't help but smile and snap a photo.  I can only put up the ones of the doggies due to kids photos...but here they are!

Basketball season is wrapping up right now.  It has been a fun season, but hard on the girls.  Many nights we don't get home till late and it's a long day for Anya.  She has been falling asleep lately...so I taught Ro the 'babysit' cue...or 'sit on baby' (ahha, jk!)  But this was cute.

 

Another few cute pics of Ro...

 (She ran up to me with her toy...ear back...and I made her wait so I could take a pic)

 Ro on the ottoman at work with her new dragon toy since cookie monster ripped.

 (She's not supposed to be on our bed....came into the room to find that she snuck up there during a nap)

So you might remember that Ro is not a fan of giant stuffed animals (the ones with people in them!) Well we went to Chick-fil-a during their opening in Aurora and there was a cow one.  This is her behaving very beautifully while the cow walked by us! I was very proud of her.  (And glad to have the participation of the cow to practice this!!)

 

Well, more to come!  I need to upload more pics.  Ro has been such a great assistant coach that we are headed to playoffs this week! (#3 seed spot, highest for our school so far!)  With parent/teacher conferences and the like this week...it's going to be very long.  Wish us luck!

Winter Break!

YAY!!! We are on Winter Break!  But...I do have a long list of errands and chores that I need to get done before the holidays, so Ro and I will be heading out a lot.  This is a good thing though, we really do need to practice out in public more.  It seems that we only go to work and home with the occasional field trip if I'm not exhausted.  Things have been a bit more difficult as of late.  Ro is struggling with ignoring food...any type.  I worry about our public access test that is coming up in February so I plan on taking advantage of this break and getting some good training sessions in.  Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with Barb to get more tips and make sure I'm working on things correctly.
We'll let you all know how things are going! :)  Until then, Happy Holidays!

Our first basketball game

So Ro and I started coaching basketball mid-November.  Today we had our first game!  We had planned on riding the bus...but transportation neglected to send a disabled one.  Ro and I ended up driving over in our car and then waiting outside for 10 minutes before the girls were able to find someone to open the handicapped entrance on the other side of the school.  I've been coaching for 3 years now, and it can be very frustrating when you have warned the district, transportation and schools that they will need to make accommodations and they neglect to do so.  (ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S FREEZING OUTSIDE!!!!-good thing Ro had her booties on)
Anyways, we did end up having a lot of fun.  We didn't win, but the girls did really well.  I think I speak for both of us when we say we were very proud of them!! :)  I was proud of Ro as well.  There was even another service dog there who she did a great job of ignoring when we went past and chatted with for a minute. 
I tend to be very loud at games (shouting plays to the girls and yelling at refs for bad calls-with in reason!!).  Ro looked at me the first time like "You want what?!"  and then I think she realized that I was just going to be loud for awhile and settled down and watched. 
I realized I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I should write down a few of my thoughts about how our partnership is going.  I love having Ro around all the time, it gives me someone to talk to.  She always listens, no matter how many times I tell her about how something is bothering me.  She is really well behaved, but loves food!  The one thing I'm finding is that I really have to keep an eye out for food to make sure she doesn't eat it off the floor.  She does listen to the 'leave' cue, but will take advantage if I'm not paying attention (and don't say 'leave')...she didn't do that before, so I know it's something that I must of taught her not realizing it.  Although I know that is a big problem, and each day we are improving, I think that things will work out just fine for us. I am so grateful at how well she gets along with the kids and know that most dogs couldn't handle the transition.  She does love attention from other people, but most don't pet her (and I've been better about saying 'no') so her wandering has lessened a lot.  She's even been helping Zander learn to walk! It's very cute, she'll walk next to him while he's toddling along.  He just smiles, unless she gets a bit ahead and then her tail whacks him and he usually loses his balance and cries...but then she turns around and gives him kisses.  (Hopefully one day I can get a picture of this!)   For now, here are some pictures I've taken in the last month.

 

Last week, I had to take a sick day on Friday because I caught 'pink-eye' from the kids at work.  On top of that I had been suffering from a sinus infection and a few other things.  So Ro went with me to my doctors appointment.  IT TOOK FOREVER! While we waited for test results for over 40 minutes we practiced cues.  She even practiced her nursing skills, as evidenced below...haha, jk!  But I was bored, photos seemed appropriate.

 This is Ro on Thanksgiving...poor doggy!  Smelling all that yummy food, but with her sensitive tummy she got her yummy 'Taste of the Wild' dog food with some veggies.