I've been trying to write this entry for a week now. Seems something always happens right after I sit down to type and I get pulled away. Hopefully today I can finish it...even if I don't, I will post as much as I manage to type up at least. :)
I can hardly believe it's already been over three weekssince we brought Sushi home. We've been busy busy busy!
Only three days after returning home, we had to pack up and head to the hospital for a scheduled 72 hour EEG. Sushi Drake and I spent three days in the hospital, with Drake's head connected to a computer by dozens of tiny electrodes. Sushi did great in the hospital - considering there was little room for her to play/let off some steam! Drake managed far better than I could have dreamed as well. Though about 40 hours into the testing, he developed a nasty stomach bug that resulted in vomitting and therefore not getting his seizure meds and that resulted in several seizures; good for capturing on EEG, but not good for a mommy's nerves! I can't say I noticed Sushi alerting to these, but in retrospect, it seems like she may have been pacing the room a bit beforehand and was very anxious and kept trying to run down the hall as nurses/doctors entered the room during them. Then again, that could have just been due to all the commotion of so many people coming in and out of the room. Anyway, we all survived our three days there. :)
Then we had a few days for last minute preperation for Christmas. Spent Christmas Eve at my parents home - dinner and opening presents. I'm so thankful that they live in the same town!! I had really hoped Drake would start to understand the concept of presents and Santa this year, but he showed no real interest again. He did open a couple presents at my parents house and of course, once he came across something he liked, he just wanted to play with it. Kevin however is a pro at presents now. He whipped through his before I realized what was happening! lol After getting home and the boys tucked into bed, Santa made his appearance. The boys woke Christmas morning the find a small trampoline under the tree. It had pillow pets and their stockings on it and Drake couldn't wait to throw that stuff aside so he could jump. :) We waited a bit for my parents to arrive, then got into the gifts. Poor Drake had no interest. Grandpa was able to get him to open a few and then they sat and played with his puzzle and big nesting blocks while the rest of us did our thing. And about the time that was all over, my sister and her three teenagers arrived. To say there was chaos is an understatement. I'm really surprised Drake handled it so well; you could tell he was totally overstimulated, but not a single seizure or meltdown resulted. A Christmas miracle! Sushi on the other hand was very confused and had a terrible time with obedience through all of this. As difficult as it was for us, we tried to be consistent and not let her get away with breaking commands - that meant a LOT of constant corrections and reinforcement, which made it feel like we were missing out on the joy of the holiday some of the time. But, we knew letting her just wander and get into things she shouldn't could have devestating consequences the next day (once they get away with a behavior once, dogs tend to repeat it and it becomes much harder to correct - kind of like kids!). All in all it was a wonderful Christmas; and having Sushi there was a wonderful reminder of the amazing gift you all gave to us! It's hard to believe that it was only about 6 months ago that we first applied for a service dog...I never dreamed then that she would be here by the end of the year.
In the week since Christmas we've just been trying to recover a bit from all the time away and the busy holidays. I'm finally starting to get the house back in some semblance of order and we're working hard to get the boys back into some sort of normal routine. Drake who never wanted anyone near him when he went to sleep has now decided he can't go to sleep without someone lying next to him. As wonderful as it is to cuddle with him a bit after two years of him never really wanting to cuddle, it's daunting to have to spend at least an hour just trying to get him to nap and up to two hours trying to get him down for the night. I had hoped he'd enjoy Sushi's company at sleep time, but she's still too puppy-ish and wants to dig in the bed or find things to chew up; plus Drake's still not real happy most of the time she gets too close, so for now, she sleeps in her kennel in his room. I hope this will change in the next year and we can transfer his need of having someone lie with him to having Sushi there with him.
I was getting really nervous that by New Years Eve we still had not found time to practice tracking at all. DCs work schedule has been pretty crazy as he tries to make up for being gone for so long, plus he hates the cold more than any of us, so he's not been too kean on spending time outside. lol So my mom helped me out with some tracks on NYE. The first time we tried outside, they weren't hiding where I expected them to be and I didn't really listen to Sushi when she kept trying to go beyond the point I expected them to be - shame on me, because she was right! The second time she got distracted and I couldn't get her back on the track for anything. :( So we took a break and then tried one more time. That time, we both did perfect! Yeah. I was so afraid we'd both completely forget how to do it; so glad it only took three tries to get it right. Later that day we headed to Kohl's to try a couple indoor tracks. Sushi had really struggled with some of the indoor tracking during training, but she breezed right through them for me this time! Hooray! During training we ended up having to stuff tennis balls in Drake's pockets to get her to find him successfully. We didn't do that this time (though I think she may have seen me passing my mom the hot dog treats before we started. lol); I'm hoping this is a sign that bonding is beginning to happen between the two of them. Bonding is critical to tracking.
Bonding between Sushi and Drake is going slow, but I am starting to see very possitive signs. Drake use to scream and cry anytime Sushi got too close and rubbed her nose on him or licked him. But I've been playing up how fun it is to get kisses from Sushi; and a couple of days ago he started giggling and saying "kisses" when she walked by and licked him. Now he'll come from another room to tell me Sushi kissed him, instead of running to tell me Sushi was bad or bit him (he'd point to his arm where she sniffed/lick him and say "ashi ight" to say Sushi had bit him - I knew better). Yesterday we saw a HUGE step forward in the bonding. Drake was sitting at the table eating a snack. Sush was across the room lying on her side. Drake all of a sudden slid down from the table and went to Sushi. He first tried sitting ON her, lol. But when I slid him to the floor, he laid back to rest his head on her! He laid there for a minute or two until she started getting wiggly and then they kinda squirmed around "wrestling" with each other - Drake giggling the whole time. Yeah! I think he's starting to really like her!! :)
Well, today is back to school day for Kevin. I need to start getting his school stuff organized and try to get in a shower before the boys wake up. I'll upload pictures from the last three weeks into the photo section later today - there's too many to post here. :)
I can hardly believe it's already been over three weekssince we brought Sushi home. We've been busy busy busy!
Only three days after returning home, we had to pack up and head to the hospital for a scheduled 72 hour EEG. Sushi Drake and I spent three days in the hospital, with Drake's head connected to a computer by dozens of tiny electrodes. Sushi did great in the hospital - considering there was little room for her to play/let off some steam! Drake managed far better than I could have dreamed as well. Though about 40 hours into the testing, he developed a nasty stomach bug that resulted in vomitting and therefore not getting his seizure meds and that resulted in several seizures; good for capturing on EEG, but not good for a mommy's nerves! I can't say I noticed Sushi alerting to these, but in retrospect, it seems like she may have been pacing the room a bit beforehand and was very anxious and kept trying to run down the hall as nurses/doctors entered the room during them. Then again, that could have just been due to all the commotion of so many people coming in and out of the room. Anyway, we all survived our three days there. :)
Then we had a few days for last minute preperation for Christmas. Spent Christmas Eve at my parents home - dinner and opening presents. I'm so thankful that they live in the same town!! I had really hoped Drake would start to understand the concept of presents and Santa this year, but he showed no real interest again. He did open a couple presents at my parents house and of course, once he came across something he liked, he just wanted to play with it. Kevin however is a pro at presents now. He whipped through his before I realized what was happening! lol After getting home and the boys tucked into bed, Santa made his appearance. The boys woke Christmas morning the find a small trampoline under the tree. It had pillow pets and their stockings on it and Drake couldn't wait to throw that stuff aside so he could jump. :) We waited a bit for my parents to arrive, then got into the gifts. Poor Drake had no interest. Grandpa was able to get him to open a few and then they sat and played with his puzzle and big nesting blocks while the rest of us did our thing. And about the time that was all over, my sister and her three teenagers arrived. To say there was chaos is an understatement. I'm really surprised Drake handled it so well; you could tell he was totally overstimulated, but not a single seizure or meltdown resulted. A Christmas miracle! Sushi on the other hand was very confused and had a terrible time with obedience through all of this. As difficult as it was for us, we tried to be consistent and not let her get away with breaking commands - that meant a LOT of constant corrections and reinforcement, which made it feel like we were missing out on the joy of the holiday some of the time. But, we knew letting her just wander and get into things she shouldn't could have devestating consequences the next day (once they get away with a behavior once, dogs tend to repeat it and it becomes much harder to correct - kind of like kids!). All in all it was a wonderful Christmas; and having Sushi there was a wonderful reminder of the amazing gift you all gave to us! It's hard to believe that it was only about 6 months ago that we first applied for a service dog...I never dreamed then that she would be here by the end of the year.
In the week since Christmas we've just been trying to recover a bit from all the time away and the busy holidays. I'm finally starting to get the house back in some semblance of order and we're working hard to get the boys back into some sort of normal routine. Drake who never wanted anyone near him when he went to sleep has now decided he can't go to sleep without someone lying next to him. As wonderful as it is to cuddle with him a bit after two years of him never really wanting to cuddle, it's daunting to have to spend at least an hour just trying to get him to nap and up to two hours trying to get him down for the night. I had hoped he'd enjoy Sushi's company at sleep time, but she's still too puppy-ish and wants to dig in the bed or find things to chew up; plus Drake's still not real happy most of the time she gets too close, so for now, she sleeps in her kennel in his room. I hope this will change in the next year and we can transfer his need of having someone lie with him to having Sushi there with him.
I was getting really nervous that by New Years Eve we still had not found time to practice tracking at all. DCs work schedule has been pretty crazy as he tries to make up for being gone for so long, plus he hates the cold more than any of us, so he's not been too kean on spending time outside. lol So my mom helped me out with some tracks on NYE. The first time we tried outside, they weren't hiding where I expected them to be and I didn't really listen to Sushi when she kept trying to go beyond the point I expected them to be - shame on me, because she was right! The second time she got distracted and I couldn't get her back on the track for anything. :( So we took a break and then tried one more time. That time, we both did perfect! Yeah. I was so afraid we'd both completely forget how to do it; so glad it only took three tries to get it right. Later that day we headed to Kohl's to try a couple indoor tracks. Sushi had really struggled with some of the indoor tracking during training, but she breezed right through them for me this time! Hooray! During training we ended up having to stuff tennis balls in Drake's pockets to get her to find him successfully. We didn't do that this time (though I think she may have seen me passing my mom the hot dog treats before we started. lol); I'm hoping this is a sign that bonding is beginning to happen between the two of them. Bonding is critical to tracking.
Bonding between Sushi and Drake is going slow, but I am starting to see very possitive signs. Drake use to scream and cry anytime Sushi got too close and rubbed her nose on him or licked him. But I've been playing up how fun it is to get kisses from Sushi; and a couple of days ago he started giggling and saying "kisses" when she walked by and licked him. Now he'll come from another room to tell me Sushi kissed him, instead of running to tell me Sushi was bad or bit him (he'd point to his arm where she sniffed/lick him and say "ashi ight" to say Sushi had bit him - I knew better). Yesterday we saw a HUGE step forward in the bonding. Drake was sitting at the table eating a snack. Sush was across the room lying on her side. Drake all of a sudden slid down from the table and went to Sushi. He first tried sitting ON her, lol. But when I slid him to the floor, he laid back to rest his head on her! He laid there for a minute or two until she started getting wiggly and then they kinda squirmed around "wrestling" with each other - Drake giggling the whole time. Yeah! I think he's starting to really like her!! :)
Well, today is back to school day for Kevin. I need to start getting his school stuff organized and try to get in a shower before the boys wake up. I'll upload pictures from the last three weeks into the photo section later today - there's too many to post here. :)