Post by: Mom
The day has come and we are at 4 Paws in Xenia waiting to meet Takoda. There are 9 families very excited families in the June 08 class.
James and Bob sitting on the couch in the training room. James at times talks aways about his dog, but as more families arrive and staff walk in and out of the room he starts to shut down and wants to hide.
James checks out all the create at 4 Paws to see if his dog was in one of them. Of course Takoda as well as all the other dogs were not in the creates or anywhere that the families could see them ahead of time. They were well hid!
Picture 3- 5 are of James as he 1st meets Takoda. He was so excited! He loves his new buddy!!!! Matter of fact, Bob has always been James bestest Bud, well after today he has been dropped to the #2 buddy list spot and Takoda is James bestest Buddy and Dad is just his best Buddy.
Bob and I are so proud of how patient James was as he watched each dog come out and meet their new partner. I was sure that we would hear a lot of "darn!", "Rats" and finish up with "that's no fair!" followed by crying and maybe a meltdown. But he didn't.
James watched as each dog came out and met the families. The more dogs that came in the more excited he was. He was craning his neck to get a peek as each new dog walked in to see the color. If it anything other than black he would relax and watch. BUT if he seen a black dog he was all about sitting up and smiles, sure that this was his buddy.
James met Takoda and was so happy. I had told Karen, she is the founder of 4 Paws, that we had really hoped James would keep the name Takoda but we do not see him letting go of the name Runner. As James loved on and hugged his newest bestest buddy, Karen asked James if he could call his dog Takoda Runner? He would have 2 names just like you do. James thought this was a cool idea so he calls his Takoda Runner. Sometimes Koda for short.
As for Bob and I, we knew that James would love the dog no matter what one he got. James loves animals and has always loved dogs. When we recieved the email from Takoad and seen he would turn 1 on the 21st we kinda had an idea on what his size would be. BOY WHERE WE WRONG! Takoda is a big boy for just turning 1. Size wise he looks to be 18-20 months old.
Now it is a matter of teaching James that even though this is his dog, Mom & Dad are Takoda's handlers. We have told James that the person with the treat bag is the only one that can give Takoda commands. I am sure this will take a lot of work over the nest 11 days.
When we 1st arrived CNN was there video taping each child as they walked into 4 Paws for the big meet your dog day. They video taped each family meeting their dog and talked to families about what they felt, thought and most important why we are receiving a Service Dog. CNN will let Karen know when their piece will air on 4 Paws, she will let us know and we in turn will post it here.
Becky
Oh forgot, I do have video of James meeting Takoda, as soon as I figure how to get it on here form my camera I will post it.
No comments:
Post a Comment