Josiah's Adventure

My son, Josiah has CP. He can't walk and depends on a wheelchair to get around----or if he wants to go faster---he crawls! We are in California this week to be trained to bring home a Service Dog for him. Canine Companions for Independence is an amazing program that matches disabled people with dogs. We have been in the process of getting a dog for about 2 years. What with all the paperwork and interviews---this process has taken longer than some of my kid's adoptions!!!

We will stay here at this facility for 2 weeks learning the dogs training and getting training of our own. I will try to keep up this blog to let you know how things are progressing and how we all feel about what is going on!

My son Jordan is also with us to give me a hand with the wheelchair and lifting and to be our overall bodyguard!


Day 1-----We were introduced to the staff and to each of the other families that are here for a dog. Our class is small with only 5 families being trained. We had introductory lectures and films to start the day. Then they had us work on the commands that the dogs have been taught to listen to. We practiced on a dummy dog first---which was a little silly---and then they brought in 10 REAL dogs.

They have a few dogs in mind that may work out for us, and we worked with each of them to start with. Then each of the dogs were brought around to the wheelchairs all lined up in a row. It was amazing to see the faces of the kids as each dog came closer! Big smiles, giggles and laughter were all throughout the room.

The staff here are very nice and are willing to take all the time needed to make sure we all feel comfortable with the dogs and how we are handling them. But they also take this very seriously and even give quizzes and tests throughout the day----I even have to hand in a take home test this morning handed out last night!!!!

Last night after class we drove to the beach and watched the waves roll in and surfers doing their thing.
Since we have mountains as a backdrop at our home----the ocean was an amazing change of scenery. As the evening set in we found a theater and let Hugh Jackman entertain us on the 25 foot high screen!!!

This morning the sun is shining and the California birds are in full song---it looks to be a beautiful day! Day one was pretty great......we will see what day 2 brings!!!