Jonathan & Sherbert Made the 4 Paws Newsletter

Check out team Jonathan & Sherbert... They made the 4 Paws for Print newsletter and they also made a donation back to the organization...

MY WILD CHILDREN!!

If your thinking about getting a service dog for your special needs child I strongly suggest 4 Paws for Ability as a matter of fact our family endorses them.

A Testimony of what it can mean:

This morning at I don't know what time my son made the attempt to elope from the house through the front door needless to say his service dog "Sherbert" went into alert mode barking loudly and strongly making sure an adult got up to see what was going on. I was able to move quick enough that my son never went outside he had just gotten the locks turned to open the door. When I saw a life saver she's that and much more.

Be Blessed,

Jonathan, Sherbert, & Missy

Update on the Brown Clan

For the many who are wondering how everything is going with the new service dog at home with the Brown’s I figured I’d better get you all updated while I was taking a quick breather.  Everything is going well she has yet to step foot in the school only because before we went to get her it was kind of a mutual decision to wait until next year to try to possible implement her.  As far as around the community she has been openly accepted. Our doctor offices are always looking forward to seeing her so it’s nothing to get a reminder call from a live person saying we look forward to seeing Jonathan & Sherbert I still snicker when I hear it. Kids who are afraid of dogs are more willingly to curiously look at her as she actively assists her boy in the many things she helps with especially during PT when he does his lap around the building, we go behind him, and his therapist goes the other way the kids find it amusing LOL.  So as you can see their bond is strong and growing. 

Today was her first day going to Cub Scout with Jonathan honestly it is our first day back as well. She had been to church with us during a noonday session and was accepted without an issue (not that we were expecting any with this being our church home as well as the church that help do most of our fundraising). The boys had been used to being around the Cub Masters’ for the past two years during camping trips gearing up for the whole service dog so most of them were very interested in her and happy to see her can’t wait to see what the first camping trip is like with both of them in tow.

As for me, I have gotten use to referring to her as my baby girl and saying the babies.  People tend to look at me as if I am crazy when I say it and then I go the dog. I am still in the trying to get the house back in order from the March trip. Yes! I know it’s been like two weeks but when I return I was back in the run of the mill with work and doctor appointments but overall everything has been well I’ve been getting some really unique laughs out of these two as they try to get away with some very interesting things.  Jonathan trying to sneak bacon (the kind we eat) to Sherbert because they look like her Beg Strips or when he is eating pizza offering her some to.  I have quickly had to separate them during dinnertime do not want to explain to the vet that issue.

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald (Missy), Jonathan (JB), & Sherbert (SD) Brown

Day 8: Not the clearest day but a good day

While today was not as good as yesterday, it was good to be able to get things done because people were willing to help to allow it to be done.  While it was still a little white here in Ohio another family sat with J and his sitter to ensure he was okay since the other half of the class was in session with the help of an iPad all was well.  Sherbert and I were able to go to a local park and track one of the trainers. We did good other than a little confusion because she couldn’t’ figure out who she was looking for we were on it once she figured out she was looking for the trainer she was so good I almost couldn’t keep up with her and ended up on my knees in the snow. No, there are no pictures of that moment: D!

 

Today we worked on some of the commands we already knew as well as getting our pups to kiss, which for the most part Sherbert has down pack, she has no problem giving J a kiss when he is upset.  The pups are all taught how to play dead and it’s quite interesting to see them in action Sherbert kind of does her in a funny mode she rolls half way then kind of looks at you like are you sure this is what you want lol.  Other than that today was an overview and reinforcement. J was a little more all over the place especially since he was use to his sitter he thought he could test the waters but was surprise to see we had reinforcements in place for him.

After the weird night we had I was feeling a little worn down but I was super impress with the Hampton Inn at Fairborn not only is the front desk team amazing but also they are courteous.  For some reason this morning, I simply could not get myself out of the bed I was up but totally out of place at around ten to nine I got a call from the front desk. They were concern because usually by eight I’ve already walked Sherbert not only were they concern but they had taken care of uncovering my car with snow and as I ran out the door to try and get to Xenia on time the front desk manager handed me a bag breakfast.  All I could do is smile and think I am truly blessed to be among people who truly care.

Not much to share today as I felt I was sort of in a daze. I was truly sleepy today. Nevertheless, I look forward to telling you all about tomorrow since it is a Mall day, which means tracking!

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald “Missy”, Jonathan “JB” & Sherbert “SD” Brown

Day 7: One of our best days yet one of our busy days

Well it’s Monday the start of a new week and I must say it has been a very interesting start to my week.  Woke up to about two inches of snow and needless to say I groan.  I have not lived in a snow area since about 2002 when I was in the Army but overall it was not too bad the Ohio Department of Transportation was on their game and had cleared the highways and I was prepared to leave an hour ahead of class time. 

Realizing that we were still doing a track I was able to get out of it since my home never sees snow.  I was so happy to stay in because Sherbert was in play mode whenever we had to go outside and I was simply trying to get inside a warm area. While we were going over the basic obedience things that we have learned and making sure our pups were, falling through it was amazing to see Sherbert in action she was all over J licking and sniffing. At first I didn’t really pay it any attention because it’s nothing for her to come up to him and give him a kiss but when she really got intense and direct with it I turned to the trainer who had already tuned into them and had pointed it out to the class what we were seeing. That put me on alert because it was only the second time I had seen her do it the first time but I was not sure but this time I knew what I was looking for.   The funny thing was within a few minutes a family that had went tracking came back and their pup whose name is Fantasy suddenly jumps up and sniffs one of her kids and then proceeds to use her two front paws to crawl over me to get to Jonathan. Whom she proceeds to sniffs out which was simply her noticing the scent that Sherbert had already scented to.  Therefore, Jonathan’s sitter and I were on constant look out for anything funky from him.

Jonathan had one of the best days ever.  It is not often that we go one issue per an hour whether it is a meltdown or an argument (yes I sometimes argue with a seven year old) but it was amazing to realize we had went six whole hours without any issues. Jonathan sat and colored, played with Sherbert, and play with phones and iPads.  Can we say I was totally in awe with him because it is not often that it happens with me present.  Cannot wait for tomorrow to see if we have the same performance.

As we are driving back to the hotel I began, to realize I needed to go to Wal-Mart but I was hesitant because of so many factors and one was simply we do not often get a day without meltdowns and I was still waiting on the seizure that the dogs alerted to.  When I arrived to the hotel I was glad to see I had not stopped I looked in the backseat low and behold both of them were knocked out and lying on top of one another.  After a little negotiations with the front desk I was able to leave my car parked near the front door of the hotel (I was so happy did not want to have to fight with the whole uncovering the car from under snow tomorrow). Within minutes the two were in play mode and somehow or another Sherbert had gotten up on the desk to dig through my bags for her tennis balls. 

Do mind you the trainer just had told us stories about dogs going through the stuff and jumping on things to get tennis balls so I wasn’t really surprise but I was just glad she hadn’t break anything. I was nice and allowed them to play with their tennis ball for a few minutes before taking it the thing squeaked and Sherbert was getting bouncy. Sherbert seemed to be intent on being near Jonathan and I started noticing her go into sniff mode so I grabbed J quickly and sat him on the bed and within minutes he was in tremor mode. The funny thing was when I looked at the time I realized that Sherbert and Fantasy had alerted us eight hours ahead of time and Sherbert had picked up the spike within seconds of the seizure finally breaking through.   

My night is finish I got a snoring puppy and a knocked out boy. I am enjoying Revival with my home church and I can already see it is going to be an early night because these two have had a big day.

~Truly blessed,

Misherald “Missy”, Jonathan “JB” & Sherbert “SD” Brown

Day 4 of Training and Oh what a weird day it was

Today was a big day for us.  While my mood was running hot and cold, I would have to say my energy was off the rocker. Today was a tracking day and the coolest thing was it was not as cold and I was extremely happy for that.  Tracking today for us was a little different we allowed J to track in his wheelchair which meant he had to be on pavement because of how Sherbert looks for her boy’s body scent she tended to go towards the grassy area to try and regain the scent and know she’s on her proper trail. I was great learning that as Jonathan loves to disappear in his wheelchair.

Getting back to 4 Paws, we went into obedience mode and I loved the fact that Sherbert knows when that wheelchair is coming at her that she has to move out of the way not to be hit and a command does not have to be given to know that her boy is not paying attention.  We worked on the commands we already knew sit, stand, down, and then we added under which is a helpful command because she will go under anything she is able to and simply lay down until she is freed.

The big finale was the mall and the funny thing was how many people knew our pups and how accepting everyone was of her accepts one guy who had to make a remark and I probably should not have but I responded. His remark was more or less just run the dog through the mall and when I looked at him my comment was yep she is going to run on through cause she is a working dog and has that right and kept on walking. I was simply in mommy mode and he was being a smart allack.  Other than her zip lining me through Lens Crafter while the technician fixed my glasses I was truly impressed I hardly had to correct her and she was so happy because people where just simply in awe with her and her pet siblings wanting to pet and say hi.

The cool thing is now that we have gotten past the public access I am able to take her anywhere I go so we can continue to work on her endurance of staying in her command for lengthy time.  The worst part of my day was my reverse going on my car.  I do not know how it happens but I do know I was thankful I found an honest mechanic and was given honest information without a diagnostic fee.

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald "Missy", Jonathan "JB" & Sherbert "SD" Brown

Day 3 of Training: Updates from Day 1 & 2 and a little rambling

As we began to build into the foundation of being a dog owner, we are now coming into play the part of being a service dog owner.  Many may say there is not a big difference between the two however there truly is and as we add on to what is expected of a service dog owner my mind begins to open to real world experiences as well as accepting the fact a lot quicker that my family just got a whole lot unique. 

I am going to bring everyone up to a little more speed after having the first day be interrupted by viral infection and then the second day I was just pooped.  There are twelve families in all.  Our little lady actually has a sister pup in our mix name Pretzel who will be living in West Virginia.  All of our pups are amazing well trained, behaved, and just particular adorable however they are used to their trainers voice and so the process of getting them user to our voice is simply the challenge as well as getting them to respect our commands.  The very first day we worked on sit and down I was extremely proud of myself because I got the hands commands and word commands down pack quickly and Sherbert responds to both being given together or simply one of the other.

Our second day wasn’t bad well for me it was a rough one after a night in the local ER for a viral infection everything got to me from sound to smell and I was determine to fight it out.  Our goal for that second day was to get our counterparts to remain in the sit and down commands for longer periods.  How many people you know wants to constantly have to tell their service dog no and sit and stay among other things so it’s a learned and practice behavior to get them to stay one place in one position while their handler takes care of whatever it is that they are doing even  when distractions are around.

The great thing about these service dog is they have a understand that when a command is given that I’m already letting him/her know to stay  in that command until I give the release command which happens to be free. When Sherbert is given the command to sit she knows it’s an implied condition that she stays in that position until she’s released  which is simply by me telling her free.  I was amazed at how calm this little lady acted when they started throwing out some cool treats that she seems to love in front of her and the tennis ball. 

O let me tell you about the tennis ball I thought at one point my arm was going to be ripped from my arm she may look small but Sherbert is extremely strong so we keep tennis balls away from her unless she’s being rewarded or we are in play mode. 

Sherbert can also walk into a heel mode which for her it means walk to my left and have her ears within the my leg distance and to follow my every turn and step without over powering me or trying to pull me ahead.  To say she had my respect and attention is far by means but now I realized she knew what she was doing so I know needed to show her I was learning but I was still Mom and she needed to follow rules so here comes day three.

Today was tracking and do mind you I woke up to snow flurries (Did I mention to anyone I’m from South Carolina below the Dixie Line and that we don’t do snow) so imagine my crazy little self-watching the news and seeing all of the craziness going on so my first thought was let’s leave early (that didn’t happen) but we did get there on time.  Now today was totally fun well after I warmed up it was but we went tracking and I have to say if I didn’t say it before My Girl Is A ROCKSTAR she was on her boys trail snapping and S-trailing all on his body cell scent.  For those who are wondering what snapping is basically it’s her head movement that lets me know whether we still have a hot trail and also her way to be able to pick up where her boy has gone.  The S-trail is basically if she’s in a wind pattern the wind will blow the skin cells in certain areas so she’s on the trail but she has to work with the wind pattern. With a few new tricks up my sleeve such as place when Sherbert gets on this special mat that she has and she always keeps atleast two paws on it and she can do whatever she wants.  We had a lot of fun with disturbance training it’s interesting to find how she has now adjusted as me being her owner and when I leave she always thinks like Jonathan has and that thought process “Oh Mom’s gone yeah baby no rules.”

Overall she’s a good girl I’ve been taught some things to recognized about her I know she’s a stubborn little thing because my child is stubborn and I know she will do well as long as I respect her and she respect me. So all in all we are good however I hear my little angel in her kennel snoring and I’m now going to lie it down since tomorrow is a early day and it’s a super fun day as we are going to be doing more tracking as well as our first public access run a busy mall.

Our Visit To 4 Paws: Day One

Jonathan is super excited about meeting Sherbet

As promise, I am blogging about the experience of becoming a service dog owner.  For me this is a major experience because I’ve never been a dog owner and it’s almost like having another child when you really look at the expenses and the extra stuff that is required to take care of the dog while I’ll continue to say to me it’s all worth it in the end.

          Many people continue to ask me to this day, why I choose 4 Paws for Ability Inc. all the way in Xenia, OH and I still stand by my statement of after doing all the research they were the best and had the best quality scores when it came to training the service dogs as well as the handlers.  The director Karen Shrink truly proved to me her commitment to her clients when my apartment complex attempted to charge me a $300.00 pet fee and I made her aware of it within 48 hours the situation was cleared up and resolved.

          While my day started early, my day ended on a mode of nothing has changed mode, which was the battle of keeping control while making sure Jonathan understood even though we were in a new environment and with his godfather that it did not mean he was in control.  While we are all full of adrenaline, it is wind down time and I am starting to feel the drive, which was long and wet.  Nevertheless, stay tune we cannot wait to show you pictures and tell you more about Jonathan & Sherbet first day…

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald "Missy", Jonthan "JB" & Sherbet "SD" Brown 

Meet the newest member of the Brown family

Jonathan's service dog
"Sherbet"

So our wait is finally over we are proud to announce that our family will be expanding with a beautiful black lab retriever name Sherbet.  She is a service dog that is highly trained and specialized in Jonathan her new found partner.  While anyone, who has known us for a while can tell you the story behind getting her is simply amazing with the backing of my church as well as a few members of my social community it took us right about a year to fund raise to gain enough money to declare our spot for a service dog. We are due to head to Ohio on March 17^th, 2013 meet her and be trained to work with her as well as for her and Jonathan to start their bonding.

The organization that trained and breeds Sherbet is 4 Pawsfor Ability Inc.  The organization specializes in training a variety of dogs to be highly qualified to assist your little ones who have special needs in various ways and they are a great organization to get information. We look forward to sharing our journey from Charleston SC to Xenia OH to meet our newest family member I already know this will be the ride of my life.

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald “Missy”, Jonathan “JB” & Sherbet Brown

Countdown til Service Dog Pick Up From Ohio

So we are super excited.  In 2011, my son Jonathan was diagnose with Autism and at that moment life became so interesting on realizing things were rather not all about routine but about how to make his life better and one of the things that was recommended was a service dog. For me the whole thought was wow a whole dog that's like another child to care for but after doing the research I learned how vital a service dog could be for my child.

Team up with 4 Paws For Ability Inc made it so possible and so easy it took us right about a year to raise the funds for the service dog and honestly I'm not sure who's more excited me or the little one to see March 17 get here when we prepare for our trip up to Xenia, Ohio to pick up our new family member.

If you have a child who's got special needs and your considering a service dog I'd highly recommend checking out 4 Paws for Ability Inc

~Truly Blessed,

Misherald "MB" & Jonathan "JB" Brown