One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today I sat patiently (okay, maybe not so patiently. I was nervous, excited, and anxious) to meet my new best friend. I didn't know anything about the dog that the trainer would be bringing into my room.

What felt like an hour, was really only a few minutes. Then the knock on the door came. I opened the door and there he was. She said "This is Troy. I'll come back in a few minutes to let you know when to come back to the classroom". Troy looked a little nervous too and I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. I took the leash from the trainer's hand and went over to the bed. I sat down and just stared at him.

Is this really my dog? It was all so crazy and hard to believe. 30 seconds ago I was alone in my room and now I have this adorable creature attached to my wheelchair. I knew this day would come, but I guess it was more of an idea until it became my reality.

The first thing I did when the trainer left was text my boyfriend and my mom. I said "It's a boy and his name is Troy!". They were just as excited as I was and couldn't wait to find out everything about Troy.

I then decided that I needed to take a picture of our first moments together. So, I sat on the floor with Troy and took this picture. The quality isn't great but to this day, it's still one of my favourite photos of him. He looks happy but nervous, excited but scared... Troy and I had very similar emotions that day. Here is the picture I first took of him:

A few weeks later, we graduated from the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides. Since then, my life has completely changed. If you're interested in hearing what we did each day at training, please feel free to look back on my blog to the posts from December 2014.

Very shortly after getting home from training, my brother committed suicide on Christmas Eve. This was a very difficult time for my mom and I but having Troy with us made the world of difference.

In the spring, I decided that the program I was studying (Bachelor of Child and Youth Care) wasn't for me. I dropped out at the end of my second year. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do afterward but having Troy by my side made me confident that it would all work out.

In May, my boyfriend's sister (Elise) had to have emergency brain surgery. This was very unexpected and stressful for our family. Troy made a world of difference during this time as well. Elise and Troy are very close and staying at their house without her there was very confusing for Troy. He was worried about everyone. Then one day we took him to visit her in the hospital. We also brought our friends Shelby and Frances along. Here is a picture of Frances with Elise a few days before her surgery:

When Elise came home, 5 days after her brain surgery, Troy didn't leave her side. He cuddled with her on the elevated pillow while she napped. He helped us all take care of her :)

A few months later, we decided to go to the cottage in Muskoka with Zak's family. We were there for 3 nights and Troy had so much fun while we were there. He was off-leash most of the time and there were a few dogs to play with as well. We discovered that he is terrified of the lake and was slightly concerned when I was swimming/kayaking because he wanted to be by my side but refused to get wet. He eventually realized that sun tanning on the grass wasn't so bad and realized that I was fine. After that, he just hung around the shore with his daddy while I swam with Elise. He can't wait to go back next year for an entire week! 

Here are a few cute pictures of Troy at the cottage:

In September, Zak and I both started new programs at Sheridan College. I am currently in the finance program but am planning on switching to the 3 year Marketing with co-op. Troy is loving going to school with mommy and daddy every day! He says it's much more fun than just being with his mom in class.

My mom and I also recently moved into a brand new condo. Troy loves our new place and he has met a few doggy friends that he can play with as well! He plays with his toys in the hallway as it is carpeted and fairly secluded. It is also closer to Zak's house so we have been going over there more often. Troy loves his daddy's house because there is a big backyard and another dog to play with!

Here are a few pictures of our new condo:

We have been very busy this year and Troy has done an amazing job keeping up with the craziness! I have seen a huge change with our bond over the last few months. We bonded really quickly even while at the school, but it has strengthened even more since then. I am so grateful to everything his foster family did with him in the early years. I am also very grateful for everything that the Lions Foundation has done for us both. We participated in the Oakville Walk for Dog Guides last spring and Team Troy will be doing it again next year for sure!

Troy has made such a difference in my life. Obviously he helps me pick up things that I drop, open doors, and bark for help if I need it, but it goes far beyond those skills. I have met some incredible friends through Dog Guides that I would not know otherwise. My confidence has increased so much since coming home with Troy. Although I have brittle bones (Osteogenesis Imperfecta) and I have Troy to help me with my physical disability, I have also developed an anxiety disorder in the past 6 months. Some days it is nearly impossible for me to get out of bed but having Troy makes it a little less difficult for me because I know that no matter what happens, I have my sidekick with me and he can keep me safe. I truly don't know what I would do without him in my life.

Here are a few more pictures of some of the things we've been up to over the last year:

Happy Canada Day!

Troy is on the left, Frances is on the right. They love each other <3

Wearing his cowboy hat for Team Troy in the Oakville walk for Dog Guides!

Taken at the Square One meetup in March

We met the Property Brothers at Square One!

Just being silly and cute

Family photo on Zak and I's 3rd anniversary :)

He loves snuggles!

Afternoon Tea at The Old Mill :)

Nap Time with Auntie Elise :)

Summer 2015: What have we been up to?

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've posted on the blog - sorry about that.

A few months ago my boyfriend's sister (Elise) had to have emergency brain surgery. Then once all of that settled down, I started getting dizzy again. It's just been one thing after another. Thank god for Troy though! I don't know what any of us would do without him. He provided Elise and her family with a lot of comfort during her recovery.

For the last few weeks I haven't been able to really get out of the house. I have been struggling with un-diagnosed vertigo for the past 3 years on and off. This month has been one of the worst yet. I can't go more than 1-2 hours without feeling lightheaded or dizzy. I am waiting for some test results and an MRI date, then hopefully I will get some answers.

Despite all of these setbacks, Troy and I have been having a great summer. We had our first trip to the vet just over a month ago and the doctor said he's perfectly healthy. Yay!

We also went to Wood Lake (Muskoka) with my boyfriend and his family a few weeks ago. I have never seen Troy have so much fun. He got to run around off leash the entire three days and there were other big dogs for him to play with. While I was swimming in the lake, he would watch me but he wouldn't dare come close to the water. I thought he might like the lake, despite his fear of baths, but I was wrong.

We don't have too many plans for August as  I need to figure out what is causing my dizziness before I go back to school in September. My birthday is on August 24th though so I'm sure we will do something fun that day.

For much more frequent updates, follow us on facebook at: www.facebook.com/ssdandthecity 

As always, here are some pictures from our adventures these past few months :)

He's much happier to just run around and lay on the grass with daddy while I'm in the lake :)

This was when we first got to the cottage - he's still unsure about the water.

Troy's on the left (in the leafs jersey) - cuddling with his favourite girl, Frances

Walking around our neighbourhood... decided to stop at Square One to pose in front of the fountain

Montreal Day 2: Shriners hospital, waiting around, back to Toronto

I have been home for a few days now but have not posted an update about our second day in Montreal.

We woke up at 5:30 AM on Wednesday and were at the hospital around 7:00. I was the only person receiving treatment that day so everything went fairly quickly, which is great. We had a bit of trouble getting my IV in but that always happens because I have bad veins. After the 4th try, it worked and I started my infusion. My zoledronate treatment went well but we have decided not to schedule another one at this time. We are going to wait and see if the pain comes back and if it does, we will schedule it then. The longer I can manage between treatments the better because my bone density is within the normal range (my bones are still very fragile but the thickness [density] is in the normal range. It's still all OI bone though) and the treatment is now just for bone pain. Long term side effects are unknown so the less I receive in my life, the better off I'll be.

The doctor could not see a femur fracture on the xrays but as always, that doesn't mean there isn't one. It just means that it's not visible. So the pain I've been having since December is still a mystery. If the zoledronate helps then it was probably just my body telling me that I needed more zole. We'll see. Until then, Advil and Tylenol around the clock continues.

The surgery for my knee is being scheduled and it does not sound like it will be as big of a procedure as I thought. He gave me the option of being awake throughout the entire surgery! It is day surgery but if I decide to go to Shriner's for it, I'll have to stay a few nights as travelling afterwards will be difficult. I am considering getting it done in Toronto though as it sounds simple, in which case my doctor at home could probably handle it and not cause too many problems. That's something I'll need to think about in the coming weeks. At least they agreed that the screw can come out now which will hopefully cause less pain in the future.

We were finished at the hospital around 1:00 but our train didn't leave Montreal until 5:00. We tried to get on an earlier train but it would have only got us home an hour earlier and cost 250 dollars for my mom and I. So, we waited for 4 hours at the station.

Troy really had to pee when we got to union because our train was delayed almost 30 minutes - and it was an express that didn't stop at all between dorval (Quebec) and Oshawa. 

We finally got home at midnight and have been taking it easy since. We tried to come to the flag raising ceremony on Friday at city hall in Toronto but the go trains were all cancelled/delayed so we wouldn't have been  able to make it there on time. I hope everyone had a great day and we will see you at the Toronto West (High Park) Walk for Dog Guides on the 29th!

Montreal Day 1: Via Rail and Poutine!

Today was full of new adventures for Troy...

This morning we caught the 7 AM go train to Union and then boarded the Via train at 9 AM. Troy has been on the go train many times before but we have never been on the Via train together. There was a slight issue with boarding (I took my walker instead of my wheelchair just because I have my mom with me and accessible taxis in Montreal are very difficult to book compared to regular cabs. I also knew there wouldn't be too much walking involved as most of the trip is spent sitting around waiting. It will also be nice to walk in front of all of my doctors for the first time in over 7 years!). Because I had my walker, Via forgot to bring the lift to the platform so I had to climb the stairs very carefully. This was not a great start to our trip but we managed.

We were pleasantly surprised with the type of economy seats we had. They gave us a quad section with 4 seats to ourselves to accommodate the two of us and Troy. I was expecting just two normal seats so we had a lot of extra room which made the train ride a little more pleasant. 

My mom tried to take Troy outside for a quick bathroom break while we were stopped in Kingston. She was told that they would need to be escorted by the service manager and that she was busy at the moment. So needless to say, Troy didn't end up going outside for the entire trip. I was almost hoping he would go in the train after that just to prove a point - but he didn't. Good boy Troy!

Troy is having a little bit of a tough time getting used to being in a hotel. He is sleeping beside me now but at first he was restless and interested in all of the sounds from the other rooms and outside (Montreal is much noisier than Toronto!). I'm not really sure why because we live in an apartment but our building is fairly quiet and I guess he just misses our bed as much as I do.

Our evening has been spent relaxing as much as possible and eating poutine from Angela's - they have the best chicken poutine in the city! 

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. We have to get up at 6:00, be at the hospital by 7:15 and then wait around for the nurses to start my treatment, get X-rays and two bone density tests, see my surgeon and a few other doctors, see PT and OT, and then wait around at the train station until our train departs at 5:00. We will be home around midnight if all goes according to plan. (Last year our train broke down in Kingston and we were stuck there until the the next train came which delayed us about 5 hours and we got home just before 2AM). 

I'll update either on the train tomorrow night or on Thursday to let you all know how our appointments and treatment went! Have a goodnight everyone. Troy and I are off to get some sleep! :)

Do we have to get up now? It's too early for me mom...

That croissantwich looks good...

There's plenty of room when we have 4 seats!

Almost there!

In the cab going to the hotel... Man I'm exhausted!

Angela's chicken poutine... Mmm

Goodnight everyone! I'm pooped :)

Provincial Advocate's Office, Hot Docs, Double Dates, and Final Exams!

This weekend was really busy and full of exciting new things for Troy!

On Saturday we went to a meeting at the Provincial Advocate's office for Children and Youth. We are part of an advocacy group for youth with disabilities called "I Have Something To Say". We got on the Go Train at 9:30 in the morning (I don't think he was a fan of going out so early on a Saturday... But that's besides the point). When we got to the office, Troy was very excited to see his best friend Rush, and his new friend Basil (Rush is a service dog, like Troy, and Basil is an Autism Assistance dog - they are both from Lions). He said a quick hello to his friends and then settled down amazingly. He laid beside me for the 3 hour meeting with just a few groans of boredom throughout. 

After the meeting, Zak and I went on a double date with our friends / Rush's handler, Tim, and his wife Natalie. It was great to catch up with them as it's been a few weeks since we've had time to hang out. We walked to the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre to watch a film from Hot Docs. We were lucky enough to get last minute tickets to the screening of Thought Crimes. I'm not a movie critic whatsoever but I highly recommend this documentary if you into crime and psychology. Although, keep in mind that it contains some graphic & mature content. It's definitely not for the whole family to enjoy! 

After our Hot Docs screening, we went across the street for dinner at Hush. I completely forgot that we'd be out past Troy's "dinner time" so he was hungry while the rest of us were enjoying our meals. He usually eats at 5:00 and that is the time that we arrived at the restaurant. He was very well behaved despite being mad that mommy forgot to bring his dinner though! 

We took the train back home around 6:30 and we were home (my boyfriends house) shortly after 7:30. Troy got his dinner and played with Benji (my boyfriends bichon-poodle) before getting a good night's rest. 

Now we are waiting to write our first exam together. Why they schedule an exam on a Sunday, I'll never know... 

I'm just praying he doesn't disrupt anyone with his moans of boredom. I'm sure it'll be fine though...He's cute and that's all that matters! ;) 

Here's an adorable picture of Troy laying on Rush and Natalie's feet at the theatre! 

Walk for Dog Guides - Toronto (High Park) on May 29th

Hey guys! I just want to give you a quick update on something we are participating in next month that means a lot to me.

Troy, Zak (my boyfriend), and I will be taking part in this year's Purina Walk For Dog Guides at High Park on May 29th. If you don't have any plans for that day I strongly encourage you to come walk with us! If you're already planning on being there, I can't wait to meet you! 

Every dog guide from the Lions Foundation is provided at no cost to the client. Each dog costs approximately 25 thousand dollars to raise and train as a puppy. Since Troy was given to me at no cost, I want to be able to pay it forward in some way. The walk for Dog Guides is where I am starting.

My fundraising goal for this year is 500 dollars. We have raised 131 dollars so far and with your help I am confident that we can get Team Troy to $500! I would really appreciate it if you could share our fundraising page or this blog post to help us achieve our goal. 

Here is the link to our page where you can donate:

https://www.purinawalkfordogguides.com/locations/team.cfm?ID=136

Once again, thank you for reading our blog! If you cannot donate, you can still help us reach our goal by walking with us and/or sharing our story with your friends :) 

Canadian Pet Expo: Day 2

Saturday was our second (and last) day at the pet expo. We brought my boyfriend's little sister which is why we went a second day. Friday was very exhausting for both Troy and I so I was a little worried that a second day would be too much to handle. Fortunately, it was much less busy on Saturday compared to Friday. 

We spent most of the morning just walking around and getting more free samples. We also stopped by the Peachy Keen Pets booth to pick up a new collar for Troy. We special ordered it the day before (because we wanted a specific fabric - retro pac man, and a chain martingale style) and it was ready to be picked up on Saturday! Not only is the collar really great quality, the owner of the company is super sweet. I will definitely be ordering all of our future collars and accessories from her. My boyfriend also picked up one of the dress shirt accessories for his bichon poodle. Here are a few pictures of the new collar I got for Troy: 

After visiting a few booths, we had lunch. We ate at the pulled pork food truck again (Hank Daddy's barbecue) because it was so good the day before. I hope we run into them at another expo or festival this summer. I have never had a pulled pork sandwich with as much flavour before! 

In the afternoon we spent a bit of time watching some of the dock diving shows. We also visited the exotic pet section where there was a kangaroo, red fox (which was actually black), and we got to hold a lemur! Here are a few pictures from the afternoon. 

During the afternoon we also stopped at a booth to make Troy a pet ID tag. I haven't gotten around to getting one since we came home so I'm very glad I finally picked one up with his name and my cell number on it. While waiting for the tag to be made I spotted mini cowboy hats made for dogs! I HAD to get one for Troy. I am so excited for him to wear it when we go to see zac brown band this summer (as well as the other country concerts we will be going to in the future). Here's a picture of Troy with his cowboy hat on! 

Here is a picture of everything we got on day 2. Some of these were samples (nutrience was giving out a very generous sample! The day before I thought they were for sale. I wish I picked one up both days!) and some were items I purchased (antler, liver treats, collar, cowboy hat, etc.) 

By the end of the second day, we were all extremely exhausted. 2 days at the expo was sort of unnecessary in my opinion. We could have gotten everything done on the first day (except that zaks sister wanted to come and she was busy on the Friday). We had a ton of fun though and I can't wait to go next year! It was great to see everyone, talk to people, and try out a ton of new products. I wish there were more dog vendors and a larger variety of shops though. There were only a few vendors selling toys, collars, and treats. I was expecting many more shops/dog vendors. The next large dog event we are looking forward to attending is Woofstock. I hope to see some of you there too! 

Canadian Pet Expo: Day 1

Last week I won a really amazing Facebook contest from the Canadian Pet expo. I won 6 weekend passes to the expo and a 3D model of Troy from 3-D Pet Prints!

We started our day off by walking around and saying hi to people who recognized Troy and I from the blog, Facebook, and Instagram (thanks everyone for coming up and saying hi. I love meeting you guys!). Then we grabbed a few pulled pork sandwiches from a food truck before heading to the 3D pet prints booth to get our model of Troy. 

I am so excited to share the 3D model with all of you. I am pretty sure this is the first 3D model of a Lions Foundation Dog Guide to ever exist, which makes it even more exciting. Here are a few pictures of 3D Troy. They're not the greatest quality pictures. I'll post some better ones on our Facebook page when I get home on Monday but here's a first look at the model!

After doing we got our model of Troy we did a little bit of shopping at some of the vendors. We also got a few free samples. Here are some photos of what we got today at the expo. 

The items I purchased were the 3 dental balls (small, medium, and large sizes), a tricky treat ball, a "build your own" bag of 12 gourmet dog treats from Ambers barkery, and a "happy Easter" cookie from candid K nines. All of the other items in the picture were free samples. 

I am very excited to go back again tomorrow to see some of the dog shows and get more free samples. I may pick up a few more treats as well. There were some really good prices on Merrick and Northern biscuits!

If you're going to be at the pet expo tomorrow make sure you come up and say hi to us! Troy still has some trouble with being distracted by other dogs but he did REALLY well today. We even ran into one of his trainers from Lions and she was very impressed by how well he was doing around the dogs and people! :) 

P.S. Happy Easter weekend everyone. Troy hopes your dogs (and cats!) are getting lots of extra cookies and cuddles for Easter!

Our first meet-up was a success!

On Sunday March 1st, 30 foster puppies and graduates from the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides (where I got Troy) met at Square One to socialize as well as work on some mall-training with the puppies. I organized this event and I am so grateful and overwhelmed by how successful it was! I was expecting 3-5 people to show up but we had 30 dogs plus their handlers/foster families join us! 26 of the dogs were foster puppies and 4 (including Troy) were from various dog guide programs. I even met my first Autism Assistance Dog which was really exciting!

We didn't really have a plan for the day and I think that it worked out really well. We all met in a part of the mall that isn't busy and talked for about an hour there. Then after getting the dogs used to each other and settled down, we walked into the food court (which, if you've ever been to Square One, you'll know how busy it was!). We stayed in the food court for a few hours talking to mall-goers about what Dog Guides is/what they do, the difference between a foster puppy and a fully-trained dog guide, and people even had a chance to pet the foster puppies. This was confusing for some people (especially children) because they didn't realize at first that you can't pet the fully-trained dog guides. Although Troy was pet a few times, it was a great opportunity for everyone to learn more about the rules around working dogs.

After a few hours of talking with the other fosters/handlers, working on ignoring and staying calm around so many puppies, and walking around the mall, it was definitely time for Troy to go home and take a nap. He was exhausted.

I was nervous before the outing because Troy generally has a really hard time around other dogs and gets very distracted but he was a super-star and with some treats and praise, he was able to lay down and ignore the puppies!

I am looking forward to doing something like this again. My hope is that the next meet-up we host can also be a fundraiser for LFC Dog Guides. I am working on getting the necessary paperwork completed to make that happen!

Here are a few shots from the Square One event. I did not take these pictures but I have permission to post them from the photographers. Also, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who came and I hope you all had a great time too!

The crowd surrounding all of us in the food court.

A few people showed up after this was taken but here's most of us. Thanks everyone <3