On Saturday July 29th was the day that we went on a 5AM adventure to collect a potentially service dog for our disabled daughter Gypsy. #kcsgreatdanadoodle

Now we already have two dogs that were rescues and love our daughter very much. However, if we want Gypsy to have a service animal that will learn to alert for seizures, we thought it best to get a dog that is large enough to reach doorknobs, strong enough to lift Gypsy’s head if she falls into a position where she can’t breathe and loud enough to notify of emergencies.

We of course did some research on what is myth and what are the realistic expectations one should have for a service animal. Really as long as our daughter has a companion that can alert to when she is in distress; that is the most important lesson we could teach the lil 🐶.

The journey was not a simple trip to the pet store, as we had to find a breeder after deciding on, what kind of doodle we wanted to get. We looked at the Golden Doodles, Labradoodles, Bernadoodles, but ultimately went with a Great Danadoodle. What is that you ask yourself. I would only be able to describe a small brown bear looking animal with fluffy curly hair.

As I mentioned our journey started at 5AM. Traveling from our home 🏡 in Winchester, CA to San Diego Airport. We both had a 1 way ticket headed to the Midwest. Tulsa Oklahoma arrival time of 3:25PM mid-west time.

Our first flight ✈️ was to ST. Louis with a 2 hour layover. It was a 3 hour flight; not I have not been on an airplane for a few years, but I recall the planes being somewhat larger and also providing a meal and movie for anything over 2 hours so I am guessing that this was another industry affected by the Pandemic where some real cuts had to be made.

Wifey and I both were able to sit together on the first flight but the second one we had separate seating. I was concerned for her because of her chronic nausea and the amount of turbulence we experienced leaving ST. Louis headed towards Oklahoma. When we arrived; wifey told me that she was able to sustain her nausea by speaking with the other passengers around her; almost getting into a prayer session with her surrounding passengers foe a man that had mentioned he had recently left rehab and was on his longest streak of sobriety. His goals were to stay clean because he had recently became a grandfather and had plans to be there for his daughter and grandson.

It was an eventful flight ✈️ to say the least. When we finally arrived at the Tulsa, OK airport it was scorching hot and the 🐶 breeders were waiting for us at the airport. The plan was to get an economic rental car, pick up the puppy and drive back to San Diego Airport where we parked our vehicle. A total of, just over 1300 miles or 21 hour drive according to Google maps.

The First big stop was Amarillo Texas and then Driving to Albuquerque New Mexico. Then we next found ourselves in Arizona. We had to get back to our children with the baby sitter so not really much time for sight seeing. 😒 We did make a few stops to take in the sights and stretch. We arrived at SD 🛫 Airport around 8PM Sunday July 30th making the trek in a total of about 23 hours. Although, it was a long drive it was well worth it to see our daughter snuggled up to our new furry friend.

August 8th 2023 Dog Journal Update

Hela is adapting well to the home she has a puppy play pen that has taken over my half the living room and has conquered taking Number 1’s and 2’s in the playground on the puppy pads. There are a few accidents that happen outside but we rush her to the backyard to encourage her to continue to alert when she has to go. That was the first smart thing we noticed about her when we first picked ‘Hela’ up.

August 8th 2023 Weekly Update:

Hela is slowly adjusting to her surroundings. We have her confined to a single play area and are pad training. She does not enjoy the sun very much. I would imagine that it is because of her coat. She is full of energy and loves playing with our other dogs.

The Hela adventure has me letting go of all tree hugging beliefs with the rivers and ponds left in our living space and family room. At the start she was doing amazing at alerting 📢 that she needs outside.

However, she most recently has regressed and although frustrating 😑 we have to let her be a puppy 🐶 and learn at her own pace. We do include positive reinforcement through treats and communication. We are also working on the 7 basic commands at an attempt to establish rapport. If that is at all possible with a dog 🐕 a puppy also that is full of that puppy energy.