Puppy Progress - 4 Months Old

Time flies. Journey is growing like a weed. He is almost as big as Ember now, in height and weight. His training is progressing very nicely. He's getting tons of exposure to new things, and new creatures. He's seen birds, reptiles, fish in display tanks, guinea pigs, mice and rats, and ferrets. He politely watches the cats at the adoption areas. He has also had a chance to meet a few pet rabbits at a distance, and a pet piglet!

Journey's ID tag mysteriously vanished into thin air the other day, so we had to stop by the store to get another. I took him and Ember both so he could practice politely walking beside her when needed. He's getting a lot better about it, but still has puppy tendency to want to play, which is normal.  It was funny because Ember was doing her "side work" position even though she wasn't in her gear or being asked to work, and Journey tried to get her to play and she told him off with a corrective bark because she was trying to work. Serious dog is serious, hehe. Clever girl.

Ember came home mainly to go with me to the hospital recently, and she did her job well as always. I took her back to the farm for more R&R while I do more focus training with Journey. He's been doing very well with his outings. Got his last round of puppy shots. Had another round of braving Walmart and Home Depot, all of which went very well and was met with polite curiosity.

I have met more people who acknowledge and understand that Journey is a working dog ( even one in training ) in the handful of times I have taken him to non-pet store locations, than in all the trips Ember and I have gone on together since we moved back down South. Which makes me so curious why people don't recognize the same thing of Ember when she has a professional work vest proclaiming she is a service dog. Is it some kind of mental thing because she is a black dog? You'd think the red service vest shows better on her. Maybe it's a breed thing? Maybe most people just recognize an Alsatian as a working breed, and just assume since Journey's in a place dogs normally aren't allowed, he's training/working. It just baffles me why so many people don't make the same connection when Ember is working.

While in Walmart I paused to let Journey choose between two bags of treats, to which he sprawled and grumbled at, and I asked "which one?" and he sniffed between the two, but indicated both by nudging. So I asked him again, and he did it again, and I laughed and told him he had to choose, and moved them further apart and he grumbled and sighed at me. I asked again, and I heard a laugh. I glanced up and realized a woman had stopped at the endcap of the isle and been watching the whole time and was grinning from ear to ear. Sure Journey wanted both!  I asked again and added "only one" ( not that he's actually learned that clearly yet ), and he looked up at me and he did that brow furrowing thing and tilted his head as if thinking it over. I asked again and offered both bags, and he finally picked one. The woman laughed and said it was the cutest thing she'd seen.

We finally managed to get into a training class with multiple dogs around Journey's age and size, who have had varying amounts of basic training as he has. Had our first class this past Thursday. Until now we have mostly just been lurking in pet stores multiple times a week, greeting friendly dogs, avoiding only the severely non-socialized ones. He's also met tons of new people, and seen all sorts of different clothing and contraptions. He's fascinated by upright dust pans and brooms for some reason. He finally got to see someone using an electric chair/cart at the grocery store. I need to practice with him around one sometime, and manual wheelchair and crutches too.

Journey's met different people in different work attire, various hats, aprons and shoes. We stopped to get food at Chic-Fil-A and everyone loved him. He ignored cleaning being done and when one of the workers offered to get me a refill. He politely greeted a plethora of random people both when we first arrived, and before we left. He kept his focus on me while I chatted with curious people about his training, and he was good about not greeting anyone till I told him it was okay. He even ignored a little boy who came and stood right by him. The little boy politely asked me if he could pet Journey before even trying to ( after watching other people pet him ) so of course I said yes since both of them did the right thing!  I thanked the boy so he knew he did good, and he was all huge smiles and thanked me and Journey.

We went to Starbucks and a barista who had helped me previously when I stopped by with Ember happily said hello, and then "you have a different dog tonight!" when she saw Journey. It was his first time there so I introduced him and everyone thought he was adorable. One guy who works there ( I think he's a manager type ) laughed when he saw Journey's ears were so big, and asked if he was part rabbit. I joked maybe eventually he'd grow into them, and he leaned over the counter for a better look and exclaimed "oh man, those paws are huuuge!".  We get a lot of surprise at how big he'll probably be, and it is never any less amusing. Journey saw his first tablet PC while there as some ladies played a game, and he watched them curiously. They found it amusing. We have been several times and so far he's doing amazingly well, no reactions to the blenders or loud things they use.

He's had random people come up wanting to pet him before asking, but normally just looks toward them and wags. He may move slightly toward them, but otherwise he will normally ignore people and lay quietly next to me unless I tell him he can say hello. He's even ignored the temptation of people thinking it was "cute" to call to him and make noises to get his attention, or encourage their kids to do the same. The times he has gotten distracted, I have been able to regain his attention before puppy tendency kicks in.

He has his moments. He's just a puppy and still learning, and most folks realize that. Many people have been impressed he is doing so well and so focused for such a young pup. He's developing quite a personality, getting to the age where he becomes more curious and independent.  Upcoming training should be interesting, working with distractions, duration, and distance. We'll also be building on foundation heel skills and working toward more advanced heel work. Looking forward to it!

ER Visit, Service Dog Public Access Issues, Medical Roadblock

Spent the whole day and evening at the ER, a total waste of time because I got nothing accomplished.

After weeks of trying to get in to the LSU Interim Public Hospital by calling the number I was given for "primary care", and being told "sorry, we don't have appointments available for primary care" and "call back next week to check", I finally got fed up with it and decided to try going to the walk-in urgent care clinic I was referred to by the small clinic that "carded me" for Ember.

Had to park at a garage blocks away from the building which was a pain to begin with. It's warm out and I am in pain and overheating. Thank the gods I had Ember and my ankle brace on. Ended up wandering from place to place because nothing was clearly marked and there was road work preventing ease of access. Only to be told "not the right place, go here instead" three times... and finally the last one was where it should have been... and they tell me to go across the street to the ER.....yeah, right then I knew it was going to be a nightmare.

So trudge up the ramp, exhausted and sweating like mad by this point from overheating. Grabbed the support handle on Ember's harness and gave her a pull command so she could help me up the incline. Noticed a security guard watching as we approached ( most places in New Orleans have them these days ), smiled and nodded, waited for a gentleman with a cane to go ahead of us, giving Ember clearly audible commands to wait and follow and the security guard extends his hand and says "Can I see papers for your dog?" and I am thinking - ( you see her wearing a red vest that proclaims "service dog" and you just watched her pull me up the slope/hill to the ER entrance )

I responded as we were walking by saying "She's a service dog, she's allowed to go anywhere I can go" and he asked again for "papers for the dog". I told him by federal law I wasn't required to have any and he wasn't permitted to ask, repeating she was a service dog. He got an attitude with me saying "Oh, so anyone can just walk in here with a dog and claim its a service dog if they want huh?"  I'm sure the frown and expression on my face probably said enough because someone who overheard rolled their eyes at the security guy. I responded "No, because lying about a pet dog being a service dog is against the law."

By this time I was a little aggravated and already dizzy and nauseated and the confrontation had drawn the attention of the entire ER waiting room with people staring. I again repeated myself that she was a service dog and by federal law I was not required to have any documentation for her, and he shrugged and said "This is a hospital, do you have papers or not?" taking a step closer in a way that made me think he was about to force me to leave, so once again I was forced to present the card I have with the ADA statute, stating I was doing it voluntarily and denying me or anyone else with a service dog could get them in trouble, "papers" or not.  He glanced at the card briefly and handed it back, muttering something about "not denying anyone treatment" and allowed us to proceed.  He wasn't even interested in hearing the actual law, like that other clinic I went to was (the one that "carded" Ember). He was just being a jerk. Which is why I am sorely tempted to get in contact with the right people and report the incident so no one else experiences worse harassment than what we experienced in the event they don't carry anything ( or forget to bring it ) to identify as a service dog team.

Then it was hurry up and wait. And wait. And wait. Hours later we moved to another waiting room. Then hours later, finally got a patient room, and finally saw the doctor and got xrays of my wrist. All the hospital staff I interacted with were amazingly polite and helpful, no complaints about any of them. They all had nice things to say about Ember and how well we worked as a team, which was refreshing after the jerk security guy and nightmare wait. The nurses and doctor were very nice and the xray technicians were all full of laughs and everyone kept peeking in to "see the dog" and go "aaaawwwwww" which was amusing.

So besides the wrist xrays, total waste of time. They confirmed I don't have any broken bones at least, but since this problem has not healed in the time expected, they put in a referral to the hand surgery center for a followup with a specialist to see if they can do anything else before resorting to surgery.  I asked the doctor about also getting a referral to primary care since I had been waiting so long to see someone.

She told me they don't have the ability to refer me to primary care, because for whatever stupid reason, that privilege was removed from the ER and many other departments. She told me I'd have to call in, to which I sighed and mentioned I had already tried. There are only two numbers to call, both directing to the same place. The same place I have been calling. That keeps telling me they have no openings for primary care, keep calling back. They don't have anything available till June or July. I told her I had been trying to do this since November.

She was sincerely apologetic and said she was glad to know that, because she planned to bring it to the attention of whoever decided to change the way they admit patients for primary care. Because the "new way" was supposed to make things faster, and it clearly is not.  I'd hate to know how long it took *before* now.

Maybe I got spoiled by Mayo Clinic, but after overhearing horror stories of how long others had waited ( including one poor woman who had been shot multiple times some time ago and had bullets lodged and surfacing and was clearly in pain having been there since 8am-ish ), I get the impression their whole system is screwed up.

The same is confirmed by a friend of mine knowing someone who just recently went to one of the clinics, and was waiting months for the appointment despite having diabetic complications of some sort.

So right back to square one with no primary care doctor or specialist under this temporary care thing, and since I was denied medicaid and now have to appeal for a hearing and probably go to court for that ( more on all that later ), I am at a loss.

With the increasing possibility I have had a seronegative autoimmune condition this entire time that was masked by the fibromyalgia, I really need to get in to see a rheumatologist and hope the possible years of it being missed haven't led to damage that could have been avoided if all these doctors hadn't just settled for lab results when the clinical symptoms were obvious and repeatedly questioned by me but brushed off by them because the bloodwork didn't "match".