I just wanted to give ya’ll a quick update, let you know I have been working with Katie on backing into a tight space for the plane ride. You know… In case she forgot. Haha
Next Friday Katie and I will be flying to Philidelphia for the second annual friedreich’s ataxia symposium. For those who don’t know, FA is the disease I have, it is basically a rare form of muscular dystrophy. I am assuming Katie will be the hit of the conference and everyone will want a great dane service dog. All the FAers who know about her do! I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures.
Anyway, we will be flying up friday, and back down on sunday morning. It was difficult to find flights the only direct ones and almost all with layover included one of those small regional jets. The problem with that is that you have to walk out on to the runway and go up all those stairs to get on. I understand they have to bring a lift out if I request one but I am assuming that would freak out Kate. The other MAJOR problem with that is that there are only two seats in a row, therefore Katie would basically be laying across the aisle which they can boot you off a plane for. But alas I found tickets, they just were not at ideal times. The good thing is that my layovers are in NC, an airport with a cinnabon! <3
Then the next weekend we fly home for thanksgiving and the following weekend we fly back. Katie has been on a plane twice and did pretty well but by the of this month she will be a pro! Which is good since two weeks after I fly back at the end of thanksgiving break I fly home again for winter break. Haha
And lastly, I ordered Katie a new harness/vest. I love the vest she has now but I am having some issues with the harness under it. I need a about an inch or two of height on it which I can get if I loose it but when I loosen it I feel as though it isn’t stable enough. The new one should be coming early next week so I will post pictures and let you know how it works out.
The vet told me the antibiotic would would clear up her urine in two days. If it wasn’t clear in 2 days to bring her back. Sunday was day three, still not clear. They were closed. Monday, still not anywhere near yellow. No appointments. Tuesday I play phone tag with the vet’s office all day just to get them to call her in a stronger antibiotic. They finally call and tell me they have it at their office for me to pick up. So I bring Katie out to pee before we head down there… It’s yellow. I was mad. Don’t tell me two days when it is going to take 5 days. That is three days of ridiculous worrying. THREE DAYS!
But she is doing better now. So all is well. 
Katie had to go to the vet yesterday as she had a lot of blood in her urine. I didn’t look like urine at all, more like reddish brown muck. I was paaranoid, thought her kidneys were failing and she was going to die. No. Her platelet count was low so it could be that but it is probably just a UTI. If the blood does not go away after 2 days of the antibiotic then she does not have a UTI and needs treatment for her low platelets. But she will live. Thank God!
So I have not posted in a while because I was super sick. Now I am much better and can tell you why today is going to be terrible.
At about 10 last night I made a sandwich. I forgot to put away the salami. Katie ate it. And she did not eat it at like 11 when it still would have been viable, I woke up to her licking the baggie clean at about 10:15 this morning.
This is going to be a bad day. I am very glad I only have one class!
I know it seems like everyone is doing fundraisers right now but here goes another.
Service dog project chicken shit bingo.
Buy a $10 bingo square.
A chicken is placed on the bingo table.
If the chicken… well, you know! on your square, you won yourself $1000.
That easy.
Click Here
I gave Katie new treats today. Bad idea. She got diarrhea in the middle of walmart. Associate 1 just put out a “wet floor” sign and started asking the same old katie questions. Associate 2 said “don’t worry about it, people crap on the floor in here all the time, a dog is a little more normal.” That made me laugh.
I just fell down right after I told Katie to come, so she came and laid right in front of me eye-to-eye. I called her a copycat. As soon as I got up she got up. Falling down has become a game.
Myrtle Beach has a wonderful dog park called Bark Park. It is 11 acres fenced into two sections: a huuuuuuge wet section with a pond in the middle for the dogs to swim in, and a smaller dry section. I took Kate yesterday to the smaller section and there were about 25 dogs in there, maybe more. She was the biggest surprise surprise. She did not understand that all the dogs were there to play. When I let her in the gate about 5 dogs came over to take a whiff and they scared the crap out of her. Literally.
She stood by my side the whole time occasionally running from a dog just trying to smell her and once in a while being terrorized by a yorkie. By the time we left she had warmed up a little bit and wasn’t as fearful. I kinda struggled in there because I didn’t bring my cane. I almost fell a fews times but it’s nice to go somewhere new and not have them treat you different because you are walking with a cane or a dog. Well by the time we left I have 2 or 3 near falls but it was fun while it lasted. Haha But anyway, I didn’t tell them she is a service dog. A guy asked me if she knows how to shake hands, I told him no and he said, “oh, stupid huh?” I laughed hysterically. He obviously didn’t know why I thought it was so funny but it was.
This afternoon I brought her back and she knew right away it was play time. We went into the wet side this time as that’s where everyone else was. I brought my cane this time but still didn’t tell people Katie is a service dog. Then a girl from the other side of the pond walked over. She goes to my school and wanted to pet Kate because apparently she has asked me on campus before and I told her no. Haha But Katie had a very good time having dog time. I think this will be good for her. I don’t know if I have mentioned it but Katie the guard dog does not let boys in my apartment. She growls at them and they leave… Shocker. She is just standoffish in general. She was stand offish at the dog park last night but she was a lot friendlier today. So I think this will make her an over all friendlier dog. And I hope she may some day follow the other dogs into the pond…
Some things about having this blog make me laugh. It shows me the search terms that people used to find my blog. Often times it is people just looking for pictures of a great dane or wondering what happens if someone around them is allergic to a service dog (to which I once replied “oh… that’s to bad” to a girl who obviously wasn’t allergic but rather wanted me out of the store). But today I got a funny one. It was obviously someone who had already read a posting but was just looking for it again. It said “great dane service dog stalked in grocery store”. I don’t know why I thought it was so hilarious but it was hysterical.
