Kate filling in for Chris - Life with Ben continues

Hello family,

It's Kate filing in for Chris. We traded this week because his life is very hectic. Also today his is birthday so Happy Birthday to Chris!

I am very happy and excited to actually have things to update you all on. My life is becoming much fuller than it has been and I am happy and feeling fulfilled. As many of you know I have my own apartment with Ben. I love it and it is finally decorated and feels like home. I have a neighbor across the hall who is in the TECH program in Hutchinson and who has special needs. He loves Benny and once a week he comes over for an hour to spend time with Ben and visit with me. I also recently took him to the Cosmosphere. I like knowing that I am giving back and knowing that Benny is helping someone besides me.

Spending time with him (Doug is his name) has led me to think about exploring possible job opportunities in the future. Doug has helpers that come in several times a week from TECH that help him clean his apartment, grocery shop, take him to the movies, and just spend time with him. I think in a year or so this might be something I will look into. This would be something I would enjoy and Ben would work very well in this job.

In addition, to spending time with dog I have also been spending quite a bit of time at the Kennel Club. I began taking Ben to an advanced obedience class before Christmas and the assistant teacher was Alicia who was a friend of Sarah's in middle school. She now has a service dog who is extremely well trained. (You may have seen him at Casino Night. This dog has come light years since then.). We began talking and she convinced me to take another class that she would be the main teacher in (also she talked me into taking agility so that started this week). We began attending Alicia's class after Christmas. At that point she invited Ben and I to go out with her and  Sparrow for training sessions. Since then we get together once a week and go somewhere with the dog for training and then coffee. It has been wonderful to have a fellow service dog trainer around and also someone who is managing her mental illness very well, going to school, making plans for the future and teaching dog classes. I know she went through a lot of battles to get where she is today so it is nice to have a friend who can relate to where I'm at but also be in a more advanced spot than where I am. It gives me hope.

Speaking of hope, Alicia's goal is to someday open a service dog program. She has asked me if I would like to explore this with her. This has also been a dream of mine and right now we are looking into certification, fundraising options and learning as much as possible about training dogs as we can.

There has been a hiccup with Benny. During the last part of January Benny began growling a bit. I think this was probably because my anxiety is heightened this time of year and he was reacting to that. He just didn't want strange people (mostly men) near me. I made the mistake of calling Darcie, Ben's trainer, to ask for ideas. She has not been cooperative. Heeling Allies still owns Ben (technically they have dual ownership) which means they can possibly repossess him or require us to retire him. I do not think in anyway that his issues are non-fixable nor does anyone who has seen him exhibit this behavior (Alicia, my parents, other Kennel club members). Darcie does not seem to think so either however she does blame me for his behavior. She believes that because I began teaching Ben new tasks and skills (to help with the growling) I caused it. She sent us an email that included taking passages from my blog out of context to 'prove' her point. She has not been nice nor cooperative in this process. Her goal is obviously to save her reputation. She went as far as to imply that I am causing Ben to be unhappy.   Thankfully, due to the progress I have made (thanks to Ben, the work I have been doing with the Kennel Club, my meetings with Alicia and just the general improvements my self-esteem has had) I know I did not do anything wrong. Our goal now is to simply get Darcie out of our lives. Convince her that Ben is improving and that she does not need to retire him nor come and get him. Any prayers, good wishes or anything else you believe in would be much appreciated about this situation.

And now on a lighter note - some pictures:

Grandma made my quit for my bed - Benny is modeling

My friend Verna  and Benny

The top is the first picture I received of Benny in the spring of 2012 and below is a picture taken in December

My tree at my apartment

This is the video I made when recently speaking for a group that donated to Benny. It is pictures of our six months together.