Category Archives: Magpie

November 2, 2012

Our 2nd Halloween with Magpie!

By Bobbie

Hercules and his Pegasus
Halloween 2012

Magpie did much better with trick-or-treating this year than she did last year.  I’m sure it’s because she has been with us for longer than just a couple of days unlike last year when we were in the middle of training in Ohio with er.  This summer Deeds decided that he wanted to be Hercules and then proceeded to say what everyone else would also be from the movie.  Little sister was Meg, Magpie was Pegasus, mommy was a Muse and poor daddy got stuck as Hades.  By the end of the summer, thanks to ebay we had all the costumes set and it was really fun.  Granted no one really knew who we were but the kids didn’t mind explaining to them.

In Halloween’s past we have learned that Deeds loves the holiday but it can be incredibly overstimulating for him.  His favorite thing to do was to make sure people shut the door so he could then ring the door bell and even if it was obvious no one was home we couldn’t keep him from continuing to go up and ring the door bell of each and every house.  This year was a bit different.  We went with some of his cousins and soon our group got separated.  Deeds, Magpie and I headed off with the older cousins while daddy and Gwen hung back with the younger.

At first it was great, lots of fun and laughter as the boys ran from house to house but soon Deeds would lag behind and then start to melt-down when he realized the boys were already at the next house.  Even when they stopped to wait for him he was getting pretty upset.  Finally I figured out that it was because once at the door people were often letting the kids just pick out their own candy.  This became quite time consuming for Deeds because he would put a lot of thought into which piece he was going to pick and heaven forbid they then told him to take another.

At one point apparently Deeds wasn’t a fan of any of the candy in the bowl and I overheard him saying “Do you have any candies?  I just really don’t like any of these kinds in here.”  I quickly stepped in and tried to explain to him that it’s not polite to say and you should just take a piece anyway and say thank you.  We intentionally go trick-or-treating in grandma’s neighborhood where they all know Deeds and Magpie just in case situations like this arise.  Thankfully they were quite nice to my little dude and he was soon racing off to the next door.

As Deeds gets older we see some amazing progress in how he is doing but then there are times where the more autistic tenancies come to the surface.  Holidays have become a bit of a dance for us and while we never know exactly how something is going to go from year to year we are thankful for an amazing supportive family (including his fantastic cousins) that always rolls with the punches and helps us out.

All the boys were excited they were “Hero’s”

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Autism, Holiday, Magpie, Service Dog

October 24, 2012

First Anniversary!

By Bobbie

One year ago today our lives changed.

October 24, 2011

Friends, strangers, and family touched our lives and helped our little Deeds.  Each day he grows and with Magpie by his side he is more confident and we can’t even remember life without her.  We always say a prayers of thanks for all of your support both emotionally and financially as you helped this happen for Deeds.

Today we remember that first magical day we met Magpie.  We can’t believe it’s been a year and we hope there are many more to follow!

October 24, 2012

3 comments | posted in Magpie, Service Dog

August 3, 2012

PICTURES

By Bobbie

I have so many pictures to share with everyone.  We’ve been trying to pack in end of summer fun and all our “to-do” list before school starts for Deeds and mommy.  I’ll start with pictures from going bowling with the kids today.  Just check out the captions to get all the fun info.

Magpie watching the kids while they bowl.

Sometimes Deeds ball would go so slowly he would just lay down to watch it. Good thing it wasn’t crowded at all.

Gwen is watching for her ball to come up with Deeds plays.

Here are some random pic’s from the last week:

Deeds loves having Magpie sit in the back seat of daddy’s car with him.

Well don’t they look comfortable.

Deeds helping make his favorite peanut butter cookies.

Watching donuts being made.

These kids take eating donuts very seriously. I could tell it’s been a while since they have had one by their intensity.

He actually posed like this. Couldn’t get another picture of him without out half a bite in his mouth.

Sweet Dreams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 comments | posted in Autism, Epilepsy, Magpie, Mild Cerebral palsy (CP), Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), Service Dog

July 16, 2012

A Service Dog and Hot Days

By Bobbie

Keeping cool in the shade.

Summers in Utah can get very hot.  We live in a desert climate so while it is often “dry” heat with little humidity still very hot.  When I lived in Florida I learned what a difference the humidity made.  I learned that it can be a lower temp and still feel like 106 degrees in the shade.  In Utah if it’s 106 degrees it’s probably because it is literally 106 degrees.  This past week or two there have been multiple days with temps reaching above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  This has led us to become much more aware of Magpie and her needs due to the heat.

Here are the tricks we have learned to help us brave the heat with Magpie.

  • Water, water, water.  I don’t get out of the car anymore without a bottle of water just for Magpie.  I don’t always take the travel bowl since I can cup my hand and she can still drink but it’s imperative in the heat that along with everyone else she stays hydrated.
  • Asphalt.  I grew up walking around by the pool all the time because of swim team.  I remember sprinting across parking lots barefoot because of the blistering heat and it’s a good reminder for remembering that Magpie doesn’t wear shoes.  We pay close attention to if she starts pulling or high-stepping due to hot surfaces and we get her off of them asap if she encounters them.  I’ve even tested it with my hand a few times to make sure she would be okay.
  • Scope out the shade.  We always find the shady spots at the parks and pools for Magpie.  There is also a beach umbrella in the car just in case there isn’t any easily found.
  • Hot, hot, hot.  I have learned that Magpie reaches her heat threshold at the same time I do.  Since I have a bad heart the heat can really make me feel incredibly ill.  I don’t know if Magpie picks up on my feeling sick or just starts to have problems with the heat at the same time but she will stand up and refuse to lay down if we’ve been outside too long on a hot day.  The kids have learned that it means play time is done and we all head back to the car or inside for some air conditioning.
  • Take the vest off.  If she starts getting hot I take her red service dog vest or harness off.  Legally she doesn’t have to have them on, we do it to avoid questions and educate people but I’ll just carry it if she shows signs she is struggling to cool down.  Poor black doggie doesn’t need an extra layer on her back in the heat.
  • It’s okay to leave her home.  If we are going somewhere where I am worried she might not be okay due to the heat it is okay, and better for her if we just leave her home.  Yes ideally I’d rather have her with JD as much as possible but not at the risk of her health or her not wanting to go anywhere because she is miserable.
  • NEVER leave her in the car.  This is just common sense.  You would never leave your child in a hot car, same goes for Magpie.
  • Brushing.  You wouldn’t necessarily think it but brushing her more frequently has helped a lot.  Poor Magpie sheds a LOT so we are usually quite good at brushing her but making sure we do it even more often in the summer keeps her coat thinner by pulling up all the hair that’s falling out.

We hope everyone else also has a fun but safe summer and remember a lot of these tips would be great for your pets too.  We are so thankful for all Magpie does for Deeds and we plan on taking good care of her through the years so that she can continue to be his constant companion.

3 comments | posted in Magpie, Service Dog

July 11, 2012

Splash Pad

By Bobbie

Yesterday it was so hot we decided to take the kids to a local splash pad where they could play in the water and cool off.

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Deeds loves laying on the hot sidewalk when he is wet.

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Magpie wasn’t so keen about having to stay out of the water while her boy ran around paying.  We couldn’t stay too long since we didn’t want Magpie to get too hot.  Even with bottled water for her and an umbrella for shade it was a scorcher yesterday.

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Leave a comment | posted in Family, In Public, Magpie

July 9, 2012

Cabin Fever

By Bobbie

My mother’s side of the family has a cabin in the Uinta mountains.  My great grandparents started building it in the 1950′s.  The past couple of years my parents have been going up every weekend during the summers and fixing it up for all the generations of the family to be able to enjoy it again.  The past couple weekends I went up with the kids and Magpie to help out and this weekend we even got to take Deeds cousin from Houston with us.

Deeds and his “best girl buddy” Magpie the miracle service dog.

We have never taken Deeds up before because I was terrified.  Loosing him in a public place is frightening but you can usually enlist a lot of help to look for him.  Loosing him where there is nothing but vast wilderness and no cell phone coverage to call for help was something that I wasn’t willing to risk.  Now that we have Magpie and Deeds is getting older we decided it was time.  We even did a practice track while we were there to make sure Maggie could still find her boy out in the woods.

Deeds was so excited that he finished this puzzle all by himself!

Little sister painting and being a goof.

He calls this his “Spelling learning game”

The kids had a lot of fun playing games, doing puzzles and watching Disney movies while we were inside.  We would go for walks outside and it became quickly apparent that Deeds is not a huge fan of the great outdoors.  He never wanted to go for walks but once we got down to the water he would always have a lot of fun with Magpie playing fetch or throwing rocks into the creek.

Little sister LOVES being outside.

Deeds laughing as Magpie sticks her entire head under the water.

 

One day another family was also down by the creek and Magpie thought it was Christmas since they had two dogs and she got to play with them for a while.  She hasn’t been able to run and play that much since we were at training at 4 Paws.  Every once in a while I would randomly call out a command to make sure she was still aware we were still there and she would come bounding back with her tail wagging.  I’d praise her, Deeds would giggle and give her a treat and then we would let her jump back into the cold water to play some more.  It was a really great weekend.

Rock throwing, look at that form!

Beware the flying dogs!

You do NOT want to be standing next to Magpie when she is shaking off the water.

Deeds showed his cousin his favorite “biggest rock”

On the way home we took a little stop by the Provo River Falls.  They are beautiful and I promised Deeds cousin she could get some pictures by them.  About a half an hour later in the car as we were driving Deeds started to scream that he couldn’t find his blankie.  My heart sank and I pulled over to look around the car.  Sure enough it wasn’t there.  I could flip through the pictures on my phone and see exactly where he had it one second and not the next.  We turned around to drive back and prayed it would still be there.  My little guy was beyond upset and I was dealing with a great deal of anxiety about it myself.  Lucky for us someone had found it on the trail, folded it up and placed it on a rock.  I’ve never seen such a look of relief on Deeds face.  There is a new rule that the blankie doesn’t come out of the car unless mommy or daddy has it.  Since it’s what he hides under when he is overstimulated it’s more than just a comfort thing for him.  I’m so thankful that someone was nice enough to pick it up for us and set it somewhere we would see it.

All the cousins on the trail right before we lost blankie.

Provo River Falls

Deeds and Magpie checking out the falls. It was a beautiful day.

 

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Autism, Family, Fun, Magpie, Service Dog, Tracking, Travel

May 3, 2012

Disneyland Day 2

By Bobbie

On the second day we spent the entire time at Disney California Adventure.  The kids had a lot of fun playing in the Bugs Life area.  We even ran into my cousins and their family and Deeds hit it off so well with their youngest that we had him stay with us and hang out for a little while.  He is such an out going little guy that it was perfect for Deeds.

Gwen and Mommy riding a ride in Bugs Life Land.

Almost unheard of for Deeds to let another child he doesn’t know touch him!

Silly Boys.

Marching in to become a wilderness explorer.

The kids got to be wilderness explorers, we road Ariel’s ride again (quite a few times) and the best part of the day for the kids is the lunch we had with the princesses.  They couldn’t enjoy their food very much because a different princess kept coming around during the meal.  The three adults loved the food however and so the overall experience was fantastic.   We even ran into a family who’s little boy has Dravet, a form of epilepsy that one of our friends from training has.  They even knew our little friend and the cute little guy loved playing with Magpie.

My favorite part of the day was when we happened to be in the right place at the right time to meet sailor Mickey Mouse.  We didn’t only get to meet him but since there was no one around at first he played with the kids a lot.  I think the kids favorite part was when he hid from them behind the garbage can and then bounced his nose a lot when he was kissing them.

Mickey, come out of hiding!

LOVE MICKEY!

Best pals!

Mickey meeting Magpie with Deeds.

After that we went and rode the Toy Story Mania ride.  The cast members were fantastic and even with a packed line they let our little party ride twice in a row.  Deeds and Gwen were SO EXCITED!  It was a great magical moment.

We finished up the evening watching the World of Color water show.  Deeds was NOT a fan but fell asleep part of the way through.  Gwen was really excited about the water, colors and fire.  Hopefully next time we go we will be able to see Fantasmic but they weren’t doing it the days we were there.

3 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Autism, Family, Fun, Magpie, Service Dog, Travel

March 9, 2012

Out of the Blue

By Bobbie

This is Magpie, anxious and waiting for Deeds bus to bring her boy home.

This is Deeds and Magpie, happy as can be right after he got off the bus.

Less than 15 minutes after those pictures were taken Deeds had the worst meltdown of this year.  I was doing homework and he asked me to stop.  I told him I couldn’t right then and he was fine, just went back to playing.  Five minutes after that is when it started.  He didn’t ease into it, there were no warning signs, it just happened.  He exploded.  For the next 45 minutes I tried to help him, while calming down a very scared little sister.  Deeds was screaming and kicking.  Rolling all over the floor and I’m positive I will have many bruises tomorrow from getting kicked repeatedly from him.

Magpie came over but I told her to go away because I was afraid that Deeds would kick her and she would start avoiding him.  I finally realized I couldn’t calm him down on my own and my already thin patience was gone.  I was crying, Gwen was crying, Deeds was out of control and so I took a risk and called Magpie over praying that she would help.

It made him freak out even more, screaming about how he didn’t want Magpie.  I had Magpie put her head on his lap and he kept screaming and kicking so I gave her the “over” command.  This is a command we’ve never used since training but I have seen work on other children.  The dog steps over the child’s legs and then lies on top of them.  The extra pressure calms many kids down, like a weighted blanket can.

Deeds FLIPPED out even more, but he couldn’t kick anymore so I was able to move behind him so he was sitting up and leaning (head banging) into me.  I then grabbed both his hands and put them right on Magpie, making him pet her.  He fought me for only seconds before he was sitting petting her, yet still screaming.  Then the screaming calmed down enough that he was able to ask for her to move.  She moved off him and laid in front of him.  While crying he rested his head on her, and I was able to take these series of pictures over the course of the next two minutes.

It still brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.  Magpie helped me in a way no one else could.  He may not always want her around but the calming effect she can have on him is amazing to me.  She was there for him, I was loosing it and sobbing and Magpie was calm and right there, remembering her training when we needed it most.

Deeds meltdowns are getting further apart and happening less in public but seem to be getting more intense when he does have them.  I think it’s because he is so big and I can’t always handle him anymore because of his strength so it’s hard for me to comfort him.  Thank you 4 Paws for Ability, thank you donors, thank you emotional supporters, thank you everyone from the depths of my heart.  There are no words to describe how I’m feeling as I write this.  Magpie is once again proving she is our Miracle and meant to be with this little boy.

5 comments | posted in Autism, Magpie, Service Dog

March 6, 2012

Digging the Dinosaurs

By Bobbie

One of Deeds favorite places to go is the local Museum of Ancient Life.  We have a family pass to the museum, gardens and animal farm so that we can go often.  In the past few weeks we’ve gone so many times the employees know who we are.  It was overwhelming the first few times with Magpie since there are a lot of kids there and it can be hard to keep her on task because they constantly come pet her.  We have turned it into a training for her so that when we go to Disneyland she will be prepared.

Having Magpie there we’ve been able to do things while at the museum that we’ve skipped over with Deeds.  There is a tunnel that is dark and just full of little lights all the way around you, I love it and think it’s pretty awesome but the one time we insisted Deeds go through it he freaked out.  There is also a room towards the end that shocks you a bit the first time because you turn the corner and a HUGE shark is right there.  We often just hurry past that room as well.  I don’t blame the kids for being freaked out.  My mother won’t even go into that room so it’s understandably frightening.

Waiting for daddy and sister before we head inside.

The last two times we went having Magpie with Deeds made him ready to try all the things we usually skip.  He would want to “show” Magpie things.  We did the star tunnel a few times and when we came to the shark he walked right up with Magpie and then asked for pictures.  Even sister got in on the action.  He also did it again so he could show his new sock monkey the shark.  He won’t go up to it without Magpie, but with her he is so much more comfortable!  This is what we’ve wanted for him, to help him become more and more independent, so blessed that Magpie is doing that for him.

Deeds and Magpie checking out the shark.

 

1 comment   |  tags: , , | posted in In Public, Magpie, Service Dog

February 27, 2012

Dentist, Donuts and Destruction

By Bobbie

Since Friday our little lives have been so exciting, like always, just a bit more spicy.  As I sit to write this I can’t believe it’s only been 3 days.  This may be a long post but I have a lot of pictures!

Friday evening the kids were fighting, the fighting turned into Deeds in the grips of a meltdown and the meltdown turned into utter destruction.  The victim of said destruction was the MacBook Pro that Dad was working on.  Deeds threw his iPad and it made contact with dad’s screen and snapped it off the rest of the laptop.  Chaos ensues and to make a long story short we set the punishment and all electronic devices were banned for the rest of the night and the following day.  It was hard for him to see his little sister play with something and he couldn’t touch it and we talked to Deeds about why.  I’m not sure he fully comprehends the punishment, or even that he broke the computer but we followed through none the less.  He has started to get more violent when having meltdowns and throwing things across the room has become an issue.  Of all the things he could have broken in the room he made contact with the most expensive item.  We really wanted to try to teach him why it was such a big deal.  On Saturday we did end up having to replace the computer (complete with 3 year accident warranty) and the kids have a new reverence around it so maybe he does understand a little.

Magpie laying next to a sick little Deeds

Saturday Deeds had a scratchy throat.  He would cough so hard he threw up and lets just say it wasn’t a fun day for us.  Car seats should not have so many nooks and crannies in them but thank goodness for washable covers!  Mommy and Deeds were up till past 4am so we didn’t make it to church on Sunday.  In the evening Deeds was back to his old self and we decided to make some donuts from scratch.  He thought it was so fun and even sister got in on the fun.  I wouldn’t let him do much seeing as how there was boiling oil involved, but he had a lot of fun putting sprinkles on the chocolate ones.

Gwen talking on her toy phone while we cut out the dough.

Deeds "fravorite one"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning Deeds had a followup at the dentist from when he fell and hit his teeth last November.  We prepped him all weekend for it and had some books from the library about dentists the week before.  We expected it to be chaos like last time but he was fantastic.  He even let them do x-rays and a cleaning!  FIRST TIME EVER!  I did have restrain his arms for one little bit of the cleaning because it was too loud and he tried to hit the hygienist, but overall he was amazing.  The teeth in the front aren’t dropping back down like the dentist thought they would but the good news is the xrays didn’t show damage to the permanent ones behind them.  He does have a small cavity in one of the damaged front teeth but we chose to watch it instead of fill it right now since we know he doesn’t respond to sedation and loud sounds (like the drill) would be a bit of a mess.  If it gets to the point where it really has to be done or he is in pain we will figure it out then, and may even opt to just pull the tooth since it’s dead anyway and it’s a baby one.  Right now the Dentist said it is okay to just keep a close eye on it.

After being such a good boy at the dentist we all went to the dinosaur museum and then had lunch and ice cream out.  We hadn’t ever taken Magpie to the museum and there were a LOT of kids there and they all wanted to pet and love Magpie.  The first group we came across was great.  The kids were so sweet and asked if they could pet her.  Magpie thought she was in heaven as all these cute little kids loved her for a little while.  Deeds watched but didn’t interact with them much except to tell a mom what his doggies name was.  The other groups of kids were not as well behaved and I actually had to tell some of them they couldn’t pet her.  They were whistling after her and just came up and started to try to wrestle and pet her without asking first.  We don’t mind usually if people pet her but we make sure she is laying or siting down, otherwise it’s hard for her to remember she is working and she’ll just want to play.  These kids had her so riled up it took me a couple of minutes after they walked away to get her back in to “working” mode.  She is usually so amazing and it’s not that she was really acting up, she was just not her typical working self because of the way they were playing with her she didn’t know if she was working or not for a couple of minutes.  In the end it’s all good practice for Disneyland.

 

Such good kids!

2 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Autism, Dentist, Fun, In Public, Magpie, Service Dog

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