Summer days with Mia...

Mia is growing up and learning new things very fast. She still has a bit of mischief in her as you can see by these photos. They will make you smile. Really they are the exception, and most of the time she is just great. We are practicing more while sitting in a wheelchair, and both George and Bonnie are getting better at wheeling around the cul de sac. More than one neighbor has asked what happened to one of us when they see us in the wheelchair.

Mia is learning to hold and pull on a strap that attaches to the doorknob or handle. She has learned that very quickly. She is retrieving objects by name, when given two to choose from. We add one object per week and so far she has learned: remote, phone, glasses, keys an

d cellphone. This week she went to Target for the first time and did a great job both with and without a cart. She waited at the checkout and when I was looking at items. Afterward we walked to Wendy's and just practiced "under" the table, and "leave it" when she wanted to lick the floor.

Last week we had an woman with a physical disability tell us what it is like for her to have a service dog. We were able to ask a lot of questions, and since it is our first time doing this it was really helpful to get a picture of the goal for Mia. All this great summer weather is perfect for dog walks, so we enjoy every day and hope you do, too!

Graduation and wedding season for Mia's family...

Mia had a great time at Michael's graduation party.  She stayed upstairs in her crate, but had several small groups of visitors who were given a small demo.  Last weekend Mia stayed with her sister Rosie and Rosie's family while we were at an out of town wedding.  The sisters went to a jazz festival with Rosie's family and had a good time.  She apparently was well behaved and came home tired from playing in the fenced in yard.  We sent her crate with her.

Here you can see a practice board that Mia uses to work on pushing the button that opens doors.  Today we went to Hopkins and tried the doors at the art center and the library.  Michael is learning how to work with Mia and will be working more with her now that school is out.

We now have a wheelchair at home and are beginning to work on her position by the chair and moving beside or behind the chair.  It is giving us an idea how hard it can be to get around in a wheel chair.  

Memorial day trip to Wisconsin...

Mia went with George and Bonnie to a graduation party in Shell Lake Wisconsin.  There were nice dogs everywhere we went.  Mia was a little afraid because we were somewhere new, but willing to sleep in her crate.  She also met a lot of nice people.  Mia practiced ignoring people eating and worked on going to a new rug when we knocked on the door of the yurt we stayed in.  It was a cozy place and Mia only barked a little when we went to take a sauna and left her in her crate.


It was a great weekend, but Mia was glad to come home.  How could she know she was ever coming home at all?  If you are interested in staying in the yurt, it is a great place for a retreat for two, or a small family.  We can give you more details if you wish.  There was one giant round room near the Namekagon River, with quiet spaces, a labyrinth, a homemade 9 hole golf course, sauna and massages are available.  Too bad we were there only one night.

It is graduation time...

Mia's family is busy getting ready for Michael's graduation from high school.  There was another important graduation last week, with two more amazing teams heading out into their future.  Mia liked the ceremony and seeing old friends and relatives.  George and Bonnie love seeing the end result of the training process and the good that Helping Paws does.

Mia has been busy going to different places.  With the good weather she gets more walks and trips to the park.  There continue to be lots of distracting smells and her favorite, eating sticks, is something we try to limit with varying success.  We are looking forward to the Wag, Run and Walk event on May 30th.  If you want to sponsor George and Mia email us at hill.bonnie@mac.com.  

We are trying to work commands into daily life, like when I empty the drier, or drop something.  Mia knows if we don't have treats handy, and that makes it a bit more challenging.  She is responding to praise more all the time!

Saturday with Laura on the Walk for Animals 2009...

Here is Mia with Laura after going on the Animal Humane Society Walk for Animals.  It was a fundraiser and raised lots of money.  There were many well behaved animals.  Mia did not wear her pack so as not to attract attention that might be too stressful for her.  Laura reports she was very well behaved and there were no problems at all.  Mia loves every dog she meets!

Here is Mia practicing a new command, step.  This is the beginning of learning to go up and down steps very slowly and carefully.  She has learned a lot since our last entry in March.  She is working on snuggle, light, brace, back, behind, hold, take it, and of course, shimmy.

She went on a long field trip to Knollwood shopping center and worked on some of these commands, but worked really hard on under.  She often does things at home, but it takes extra work to make these behaviors occur in public.  She is sitting really still when we meet and talk to people and they are always friendly and impressed.  

And finally Mia is just as happy as we are for spring!

In which Mia tells about her Birthday...

Today is my first Birthday and it was a wonderful day indeed!  I went for a long walk and then to Home Depot.  Lots of friendly people there thought I was well behaved.  There were some loud noises when the forklifts were backing up, but I got used to that right away.  I was patient while Bonnie looked at things.  We didn't buy anything, but I got plenty of kibble.

After that we went to the clinic during lunch break.  I did my training for the nurses and doctors who were working today.  They were a very good audience, and once I started working I did a pretty good job.  The picture above is of me rolling over, which I do with just the verbal command!  

I am learning new things every week, including look, behind, light, and under using a small space.  They gave me the evening off today since I worked so much during the day.  Can't wait for green grass and warm breezes!

More work on get your pack and get dressed...

Mia has so many commands now we really have to start making sure we are getting her to master all of them, and not just do the ones that are the most fun.  She loves training more all the time.  

Here she is getting her pack out of the stool.

We still haven't got her to shimmy on command and now when we ignore her bark she shimmies to get attention!  It is just like when our kids used to misbehave and we had to try not to laugh.

We are learning to get Mia dressed on our lap.  This will be something she needs to do if her owner is in a wheelchair or has limited ability to reach or bend over.  When she is on George's lap she also can also give him a kiss or a snuggle.  My friends ask whether these commands work on humans. 

This week Mia graduates from Awesome Adolescent class. Next she starts big dog class.  Mia is small for a lab, only about 45 pounds, but will still grow a bit more.  Good things come in small packages sometimes.