Had a great day today. We began again in the training center at 4 paws. By the way, I don’t think I mentioned it earlier but 4-paws is expanding. We started off using a facility off site because of construction at the 4-paws training center but now we’re back there finishing up our training. The blueprints of the new facility look great. I wish we were able to be in class at the new place but it’s awesome either way. You can see the blueprints on their website here: http://4pawsforability.org/
During training class this morning we talked more about seizure alert. The trainer showed us how to practice training Flo to alert us to Jordan’s seizures. We provided video for the trainers about a year ago of Jordan having a seizure so the trainers could mock it and get Jordan familiar with Jordan’s actions when she seizes. He wants us to mimic Jordan with her actions and sounds and give Flo her favorite treat which is BilJack. This stuff is like Doggy Crack!! She loves it!…Anyway, I can’t make the high pitch squeal Jordan makes but Courtney can mimic it perfectly. She has heard Jordan do this several times a day since she was born.
We have Courtney do the motions and sounds and when Flo gets excited we have her bark and then give her the crack….I mean treat…. 🙂
This is something else we do over and over. Over time Flo will hear Jordan do this and she will smell the seizure smell and bark to get her treat. She’s doing this as a fun game but on our end we’re getting alerted to Jordan’s seizures. We usually are around when she seizes but there are times when we’re not in the same room, especially at night.
We also did more tracking training today. Ann took Jordan through a field, around a bend and just into the woods about 100 yards altogether. It was my turn to lead the dog in tracking, and Flo once again performed like a champ finding her girl. We must do this over and over again just in case we would actually have to use this. Of course we pray we never have to but you just never know with a special needs child.
After tracking and lunch we headed back to the training center to go over some basic things such as health of the dog, grooming, proper toys etc… It was a knowledge filled day but it was really fun. Ann had to stay at the hotel with Jordan today because her allergies really flare up at the 4-paws facility due to all the animals that are there.
You can watch some videos I’ve uploaded to Jordan’s facebook page that has Courtney mimicking Jordan’s seizures, tracking and tethering here: https://www.facebook.com/jordansdog
Tomorrow we will be going back to the mall to do some tracking training while in the mall. This will be helpful if Jordan ever gets lost in a store. This should be interesting.
We didn’t get to go to church this morning but was able to watch my church service online this evening. I had a Gideon speaker, Bobby Mills, speak this morning about his Gideon ministry and had a young preacher in our church preach for me tonight. I got to watch him and he did a great job speaking about how God can break the chains in your life.
Our church is a small country church in southeast Kentucky and I love it! We’re like a tight family. If you would like to watch any of our services just go to www.oldtimebaptistchurch.com and click on “Watch Online”. You can watch our live services on Sundays at 11am and 6pm. Or you can watch past broadcasts we’ve recorded to our site. I can’t promise that our recordings are as good as the ones on television but I can promise that you’ll hear the Word of God that doesn’t compromise the Gospel.
Also, if you could, please pray for a class member. She found out today that her cousin was hit by a bus and is in ICU. God knows the details and who she is.
Until next time,
Blessings
Pastor Shane 