Thursday, March 18, 2010

Our first trip

Well, I just typed up a whole post and it disappeared on me. Teach me to save my posts while I am typing them .

 Dakota and I had a very exciting day today. We went into stores for the first time and I must say, he was very well behaved. Someone even commented that he is a well behaved dog :) We made a quick trip into the pharmacy and the Dollar Store. He followed commands well and didn't get distracted by much except people. I am finding that I have to be firm and tell people not to pet him because he is working (despite the badges he has on his vest). Then we went to the bank and he started alerting me because I was tired, and kept it up when we visited the pet store in between the treats he was getting from the owner. He was happy to have me back home and in my chair.

He is now alerting to three things - my hypoglycemia, possibly dangerous fatigue levels, and really dangerous ones when I have taken my sleep medication. For the hypoglycemia, he sits on my chest between me and my knitting and whines. He doesn't stop until about 10 minutes after I have eaten something. For fatigue, if I am up, he whines until I am seated and then lays on my end table with his head resting on me so he can monitor me. He will whine and herd me until I sit. When I take my sleep medication, he whines and barks short barks until I get into bed. It is really interesting how he can differentiate these three things so early. He is only 3 1/2 months old and I know he has a lot more in him. I am excited to see exactly what he is capable of.

I have been exhausted for the past bit and my fibromyalgia is flaring up with the weather changes. I am quickly becoming dependent on Dakota to tell me how I am. I live in such a muddled brain fog, it is often very difficult for me to gauge what I am capable of doing and for how long. Dakota is making me feel not only safer, but somehow vindicated in the way I feel. When I can't think straight, it is hard for me to explain to others how tired I am and sometimes I wondered if it truly was all in my head. Dakota is bringing the way I feel out, so other people get an idea of when I really am not well. He truly has been a blessing to me and I look forward to working with him for many years to come.

Dakota showing off his new vest

No comments:

Post a Comment