Week 4

Sue was busy with graduation activities this week. So, we met with ADW founder Jill. She is an amazing and inspiring person. I am in awe of her training skills.

Blitz and I are working on getting Blitz comfortable picking up hard objects like wooden and metal spoons. I have added a ball to my keys to make it easier for me to hold them and for Blitz to pick them up for me when I drop them.

We are also working on a wonderful skill called visit where Blitz puts his head in my lap and visits and comforts me. I think visit and look (where he looks into my eyes) are my favorite skills to train and use.

I can't believe how far we have come. We are enrolling many friends in helping me practice skills in public. Our local Trader Joe's has been remarkable. Whenever we go, they help me gather the purchases I can't lift and they help me with my training activities to teach Blitz to get things off the shelf. I have gold stickers that I use as a training target for Blitz. We are focused on two things at the moment a rice medley and the organic baby lettuce. The lettuce is on the bottom shelf and easier for me to train and it challenges Blitz with a cold and distracting environment. The rice medley is up on a higher shelf and so Blitz has to stand on his hind legs to reach it.

Another amazing business is the Santa Fe Ski Area. I enrolled in the Adaptive Ski Program this winter and learned to slide again. It is an amazing program and enabled me to get back on top of the mountain. Sunday, we were walking Blitz back to the car to have him wait for me to finish up and Candy in Skier Services said "leave him with us. We'll take care of him and take him for a walk." I can't tell you how much it means to me to know that Blitz and I are so supported by our community.

I am still practicing not doing to too much and asking for help at the right time and in the right way and I have mentors all around me.

There are many blessings in every situation.

At 3am this morning, I couldn't sleep and I ran across a great quote. "Relax, the wave will let you up." I am trying to remember this as I practice training Blitz in easy, frequent and short training sessions many times a day and I see amazing progress and I practice mentally letting go and asking for help for 90 seconds whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, frustrated and scared.

I will write more and better next week.

Thank you all.