Service Dog Fundraiser Amount Clarification

To clarify something with the service dog fundraiser I have been doing, because a friend pointed out some confusion.  We were having a discussion about me needing to come up with $120ish for a training class and I was saying I'd have to raise the money.  Trying to be helpful she made the comment "At least you have the $700 from the service dog fund if you need to use that".

I actually do NOT have that much.  That is just the total that was raised from the time that I first got Journey until the time I had to rehome him (almost 2yrs worth). This was before I made the choice to apply to CPL and everything.  That money at the time was specifically raised to go toward his training and care, or toward service dog related expenses, and it did.  Some of it went to help cover some expenses during the two trips I took to visit CPL.

In reality I only have around $380 remaining currently.  $250 of that is tied up in a revolving line of credit (LOC) with the bank. This was done to hold the money for the service dog fund purposes but to also help improve my credit, since I had medical debt and have been unemployed. It works sort of like a credit card. I can spend up to that amount, but I have to "pay it back" at the end of the month.  Until I close the LOC anuyway. When I do, I get that $250 back. But I don't plan on doing that anytime soon because it really has helped improve my credit so far.

The remaining $130ish is the actual "spending money" I have right now specifically for service dog or CPL related things.  The rest of it is gone.  It was spent back when I had Journey for his care and supplies, and some of it was just spent recently for the new things I needed for Chakotay.

This is why I keep sharing the link to the fundraiser.  I am in limbo waiting to hear back from SSA on Disability, so unless I sell art or creative things, a commission, or something from my Etsy store, I don't have any other source of money coming in unless someone is kind enough to donate.

Did the "amount raised" display on the fundraiser confuse anyone else ( make you think that was how much I still had)?

Should I start a brand new fundraiser at $0 amount so people realize I really don't have $700 already toward the cause?

I hate that I even have to ask for help, I'd much rather people buy my art, crafts, jewelry, or commission me so they get something in return.

But aside from dog training and animal psychology related training and sharing my knowledge, that's the only other thing I can do, and all of it is limited by my health problems at any given time.

Puppy Milestones - 9 Weeks Old

Good Sits, Downs, Leave Its, Waits

Working on Stay, Focus and Duration

Multiple Outings To Pet Friendly Stores ( in short time I have had him )

Met 100 New People Before 10 Weeks Old ( yaaay puppy socialization! )

Got Nails Trimmed Without Batting An Eye

Visited Local Starbucks And Did AMAZING down-stay!!! (First "no pets allowed" store exposure.)

AKC STAR Puppy Material!  ( Need class and testing eval, but he already does behaviors)



Chakotay will be 10 weeks old this coming Sunday, April 17th.

Disability Update

Stage one of Disability determinations completed. I called SSA today and apparently I have a new worker, which explains part of the run around. She confirmed everything with me and told me she'd be submitting my case to their doctors for review tomorrow.

Now waiting to hear back on the medical determination stage. This is the big one, where the longest wait normally is. Cross your fingers, and send tons of positive thoughts and prayers for a positive outcome.  Hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

Chakotay - Puppy Update, 9 Weeks Old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally have a chance to sit and write a puppy update for those who have been waiting.

Chakotay is the pup's name.

After a week of narrowing it down and seeing which sounds he responded best to, it was between that and Tesla.  He chose. He responded far better to "Chakotay" and "Kotay".

Been busy with puppy stuff. Socializing and training. We have gone to local Petco and Petsmart for exposure to new things and meeting awesome people and even a few different animals.

He had an appointment with the vet today, and both the vet and one of the vet techs recognized his name. They kept wanting to call him "Commander" ( the character's eventual rank in the show ).  I think they decided they needed to go rewatch the series on Netflix after our visit.

Chakotay weighs 13.6lbs and is 9 weeks old currently.  He has big feet and big ears and is a fluffball of an adorable Alsatian. Healthy as a horse and it is obvious he's going to be a big dog as he gets older. Which is just what I need.

Chakotay is a lot more sensitive than Journey was, but he also seems to be learning much quicker and has a better body structure.

Some things ( mostly sounds ) startle him at first, but when we come across such a thing he recovers quickly. I normally recreate the situation if I can, so he can see what causes it. Once he does, he's totally okay with it after I make it into a big happy thing and give praise and treats.

I have pictures and video to upload and share and some funny things I have been taking note of to share.

I have to raise money for upcoming vet expenses and PennHIP Xrays, and puppy and obedience classes. Anyone interested in helping, who can spare a few dollars, please consider purchasing artwork or creative things from me, supporting me on Patreon, or donating to the service dog fund raiser to help us stay on track.  Feel free to share, repost, reblog, re-whatever!  Thank you for taking the time to read and for your support.

Shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeopardWolf

Support:  http://www.patreon.com/leopardwolf

Donate:  http://www.youcaring.com/brittney-steptoe-428674

Disability Determination / SSA Stalling

Quick update. Ankle is still tender but as long as I am not on it too long I can tolerate the pain enough to walk on it for short amounts of time and for short distances. Puppy is doing good, will write more about that in a puppy update I am working on.

Getting increasingly aggravated with the SSA and this disability determination process.  They sent me ANOTHER letter requesting info I already gave them.  This is the third time they have done so.

I filled out the application online and it specifically asked for this info and I filled in the blanks.  Then I also submitted it with the info I gave them to copy in person. All of that info was carefully organized and selected because they had already asked for it, or I knew they would ask for it, so I included it thinking it would help them and make the process more efficient.

So how can you not have it and still be requesting it unless clearly you haven't bothered to actually look through my entire file?

Or you are just wasting time, resources and paper.

The fact that one of my conditions is actually listed on the SSA "auto determination list" should make this entire process totally irrelevant.  But noooope.

Because, government.

Fall Down, Go Ow

Apologies in advance for excessive use of vulgar language here, but pain warrants it.

I fell and hurt myself. I was on the floor almost 20mins waiting for it not to hurt as much. My ankle/shin front hurts like a fucker now. My elbow is split open, it caught most of the fall and slide.

Think I sprained it, high ankle sprain. Doing laundry, fucking washcloth I didn't see, slipped against tile floor, I tried to recover and locked legs to balance, I think it twisted, then I felt a sharp intense pain and leg buckled, went down hard and hit elbow going down, caught self on edge of bed. Landed right between bed and puppy kennel.

Ember was right on me seeing if I was okay and then puppy started bawling and pawing at me through the kennel. I was literally seeing red it hurt so much and knew if I got up too fast I'd pass out, I could feel it. So just lay there with the dogs and cats worrying at me till I felt safe to sit up and crawl to desk to reach my cell.



Keep ice/elevating it and put on ankle stabilizer and ACE bandage. It hurts real fucking bad just sitting here no matter how I rest. Hurts more if I bend it a certain way.  Constant throbbing burning, and hurts to bear weight but I can walk on it. If I put any pressure against shin area it hurts like a fucker. Even uncomfortable with ankle brace and ACE bandage against it.

Going to try and force to walk on it though because if it is tibia/fibula that is bad place to get weakness, and feels like it is.

I just don't want my other parts to get angry and fucked up because of it. Knee and hip will be next and hip on that side was already snarky. But pain in shin/ankle has brain totally ignoring rest. Then the other side of my body is going to get angry for compensating and working too much to make up for the injury on the other side.

Ugh. So much for being as productive as I wanted to be.

That's what I get for trying to clean the house more than I normally do.

Don't want to call or text mom or aunt because not much they can do. They are both 2hrs+ away right now. Aunt went to visit friends for the weekend so I am home alone with the animals.

I don't want to go to the damned ER. They are such shit here and don't think I can comfortably drive myself let alone get to ER I went to last time because there is no parking and there is no way I am walking that far on this.

Would have to probably go to one in Metairie 30mins from here. All they are going to tell me is do what I already am for it probably, besides taking xray maybe.

Was hurting enough that I said fuck it and took two Aleve ( I am on Meloxicam so really only supposed to take that once a day and nothing else ) and Gaba. Not sure how long it should take to kick in.

Going to sit here with a Grumpy Cat look on my face and shake my cane.

Art Streaming This Week

In case you missed it on Patreon.  I'll probably attempt to stream some art related things over the next few days, provided that my wrist is behaving enough and puppy is calm enough. Haven't decided on subject or medium yet.  Might get some time in Tuesday afternoon. Otherwise will aim for Wednesday and maybe Thursday afternoon and maybe into the evening, again depending on how I feel. Will post again with a link when the stream is active and update as needed.

Puppy Names Take 2

Originally it seemed like Tesher would be the pup's name.  I liked it, he seems to respond to it, and there is symbolic meaning behind it. So I thought.  But I like to research meanings behind things.  I found that it is actually the Hebrew word meaning "tip". As in giving your waiter a "tip" or "gratuity" at a restaurant.  And Tesher-t in Egyptian is blood, red land/desert, or a vessel for drawing water (wisdom/truth - thus teacher?).

So for those reasons alone, we'll probably nix it. The other problem is people I interact with on a daily basis ( thus he would interact with also ) are having difficulties remembering it (and pronouncing it correctly).

Amusingly, the longer fictional name Chakotay seems easier to remember, maybe because of how the spoken syllables flow together.  Anyone who watched Star Trek Voyager will know and remember it. In the Star Trek universe, in the language of Chakotay's ancestors, the name means something akin to "Man Who Walks the Earth But Who Only Sees the Sky/Stars".

Some people had a hard time with remembering Journey's name at first too, and that is far more common in usage than the other possible names I came up with for this new pup.

I like unique and "off the beaten path" sorts of things with meaning behind them. Plus it offers far less chance of a "common" name causing a problem in public or confusion in social situations with people who might have the same name or a similar sounding name.

Tesla is easier to remember it seems, simply because of the greatness behind such a name. Genius and inventor. Energy, electricity, spark, brilliance, lightening (tesla coils), all those things come to mind in symbolic association.

Solar might be the easiest of all to remember. There was solar storm activity and solar wind activity increase the day he was born. Solar is Sol, the sun, brilliance, life giver, guiding light. Lots of similar symbolic meanings.

So now I will flail some, edit some training videos documenting progress, and maybe roll a D6 to see which name comes out on top.