Josiah

We got the call yesterday that we have been waiting for for well over a year.....the call that will change some things around here for good. Our son Josiah, has been approved to fly to San Diego for 2 weeks of training to receive a service dog from Canine Companions.

Josiah has CP and is in a wheelchair. Canine Companions train dogs to be helpers and friends to the handicapped. A dog will be matched to Josiah's personality and disability while he is in California, and then they both will be taught how to get along with each other. Subtle commands and signals will be learned and practiced till they are both comfortable with each other. Then we all fly home with a new member of the family.

My only hesitation is this......the dog has to become a "member of the family"! Now don't get me wrong---I like dogs, have had a dog my whole life, grew up with dogs. But the dog----was a dog....not a member of the family. The paperwork I had to fill out to get this dog was almost as thick as some of the paperwork we had to submit in order to adopted some of our children! I have to promise that the dog will have regular check-ups (I can do that), regular exercise(I can do that too) and that it will have grooming and personal hygiene done each week (personal hygiene???) In other words, I have to brush this dog's teeth! (I think we have a problem)!

OK----that just seems gross to me. BRUSH HIS TEETH! I don't know. Isn't there some product out there that the dog can chew on and get that accomplished without me having to step in? This may be interesting.....

But Josiah is very excited and can't wait to get his new "friend". The dog's purpose is to bridge the gap between the wheelchair and other people and Josiah. This dog will be a magnet for people to come and talk and get to know Josiah and not be put off by his handicap. It should be interesting to see how it all turns out.

Just hope no one gets too close to check out the dogs' teeth---they may be dirty!