Trying to Keep Hope Alive
It's been a very rough week for me. I've gotten a lot of very sad news that has made my stress levels rise, and thus my blood sugar levels rise. "Normal" blood sugar levels are between 80 and 120. Mine were in the 400s and even got into the 500s. Not good. I need a Diabetic Alert Dog to help me stay on the tight rope of my life with diabetes.
I made the mistake of watching this VIDEO. That was a huge mistake. I was so unsettled about how the young girl met her Diabetic Alert Dog (from a different company than I'm using) and how she had to witness the dog's trainer saying a very long, drawn out and sad good bye to the little girl's dog. I was very upset and told my husband if THAT was how the meeting with Musketeer is going to be, I would rather not get a service dog. That type of pain to another human is not worth it to me. Of course, my hubby said, "Call your people and find out how they do the transfer!". What a GREAT idea, honey!!!!
So I called D.A.D.A. (Diabetic Alert Dogs of America) and had a little chat. They will be flying into the nearest commercial airport, renting a car, and since it will be late, will be going directly to a hotel. They'll meet me at 10am the next morning (my local time, so that they won't have to deal with jet lag, cuz even an hour off can mess you up). I was told that even if we met at a park, Musketeer would be able to locate me because he'll have known my scent for six months while he was being trained. He'd be able to pick me out of a crowd of people. I was told that the first 30 minutes or so is the dog loving on their human and the human loving on their dog! Lots of doggy kisses and lots of petting and hugging. THEN after we have gotten over the grand hello, we dive in to get me to learn everything I need to learn and the trainer will stay in town as many days as it takes to get me to learn what I need to learn.
This is Simba being trained for another diabetic.
I was told the only thing I'll need to have when they arrive is a bowl of water. The trainer will be going with me to the pet store to help me pick out what is a good idea for Musket and what (AND WHY) other things are not a good idea. They'll help me form a list of things to pick up in the future, so not everything will be needed the first day. Musket will be bringing his favorite toys with him!
I asked about the commands that he'll know when he arrives. There are the usual: sit, stay, down (meaning to get down from something like the couch or a bed), leave it, drop it, lay down. Then there were those that I was fascinated with, such as "Bed" which means he can go lay in his bed while I'm making dinner (unless he needs to alert me). The other REALLY fascinating command was "Go Potty"! YES!!! Musketeer will go potty on command! Sort of like when you tell children to try to go potty before getting in the car - that's what he'll be trained to do as well. The reason is because a LOT of youth with diabetes take their Diabetic Alert Dogs to school with them and the dogs will need to go at recess. Schools aren't fond of dogs raising their paws to be excused to use the restroom! :)
BIG THANK YOUS to all who have made an ~XM~ Designs purchase or donation at an ~XM~ Designs location! GREAT BIG HUGE THANKS to everyone who is getting the word out, letting others know. THANK YOU to Webspelunker for spreading the word with your BLOG! Kiva and I will gladly DJ your events to help raise funds for the puppy. RL donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank by letting them know you wish to donate to the MUSKETEER THE DIABETIC ALERT DOG fund. RL donations can also be made via PayPal to Wisconsin_marie@yahoo.com
Thank you
for helping to bring
Musketeer the Diabetic Alert Dog
home to Marie!
