This past week and next week I am attending a dog training class for our grandson, Martin, and his family's new dog. The dog is a chocolate lab named Mystic. Some of you readers may know about the fund-raising efforts last year to get this very expensive companion for Martin. Mystic comes from an organization called Four Paws where assistance dogs are trained for people with special needs. The first picture here is of Jeremy, the dog trainer, sitting in a wheelchair (it's only there for training the dogs- Jeremy doesn't need it- he's just tired of standing all day every day) with Angela and Mystic in the background. The next picture is to show the variety of dogs used in this program. Many of the dogs are rescued from shelters, then go through an evaluation period followed by "basic training" usually done at a nearby prison by inmates, then they are matched up to applicants and trained more specifically. Some examples: everybody's favorite in this class is "Tank", a Great Pyrenees breed who is basically a huge white fluffy teddy bear being trained as a tethering companion for a boy with autism to restrain him from running off. Tank is very mellow and patient and calm. Then there is "Theo" a tiny I-don't know-what long-haired dog as a companion for a little 3-year old boy who sufferes seizures. Another huge dog is a German shepherd named "Yaeger" who is a mobility assistance dog for a middle-aged woman with a bad leg and dizziness. (I don't know her specific medical problems but the dog will fetch things for her and help with her balance.) The next picture is the area for the children in the background. Since the children who come here all have problems of some sort, they don't usually participate much in the class but the need to be there to help train the dogs. The "masters" of the dogs are the other family members, one of the parents being the primary one. Angela is the one learning how to command Mystic. Since children grow and change, the requirements for the companion dog will change. Anyway, at the class, the children spend most of the time playing computer games, watching movies, and playing with all kinds of toys and large motor things like bikes and mini-trampolines. The last picture is Angela who was working on the command "lap" with Mystic when Martin came over for help in opening a toy. "Lap" is when the dog lays its head on the child's lap to either comfort or bring back to reality when they space out. After spending the majority of my life deathly afraid of dogs, I am learning to like them much more. I first got more exposed to dogs in general (after having Bruno back in NY) when we visited Lisa and would go to dog parks with her dogs. I was amazed at how much the dogs loved to just run and play. Those dogs were simply pets and most not terribly well-disciplined. The dogs in this training class are the same animals at heart but they do a very commendable job harnessing their animal instincts and doing an important job. They are hard-working, loyal, and obedient. I have been really impressed.
Warning! If you come here you are very likely to be put to work. We don't care if you are 2 or 4 years old like our grandsons here, or 81 like my dad working on the garage roof. The work continues and isn't likely to be done for several years. We are learning skills we didn't even know existed! The garage that was a falling-down shack with a leaky roof is gradually becoming a weather-tight building for about a tenth of what it would have cost to tear it down and build a new one. The painting and window repair will be really far in the future, though. We have a sincere, specific prayer for a blessing on this house that all who work here will be protected from harm. So far the Lord has blessed friends, missionaries, family, and us. We have had numerous slivers, aching muscles, and other minor injuries but compared to what might have been, it is truly a miracle.
