Emma is being so patient and good. She seems to still want gentle petting. Rosa and Sophia were awesome to be with. Emma and I will be home tomorrow. I hope to spend some time reading the book club book Loving Frank a historical fiction about the mistress of Frank Loyd Wright. Have a good weekend. I am so glad Emma seems comfortable. She is so quiet. It seems weird to walk around and not have her at my side. She did lay right by me when we watched the movie. She means so much to me. I am glad she has a good prognosis.

This will be quick. We are watching Alvin and the Chipmonks with Rosa, Sophia and Grandpa. How fun is that. Tia and Mike joined us for supper but went out for some alone time. Emma is doing okay. Rested all afternoon which was good. It hasn't been difficult to keep her quiet. She gets her medicine soon again - once a day.

A fun family night. Mary

Emma seems more comfortable today. It is weird to have her just want to stay in one place all the time (like they want her too). She did get up to eat her breakfast which we thought was good. Walking a little bit is suppose to be good for her just not a lot. Thanks for the warm thoughts and email. We will be sure she gets good care from us.

Though Emma is having trouble with a hind leg they discovered the problem is in her back. She might have run, jumped (like out of a car) and also twisted it or something. She is to have a very quiet weekend starting Friday and two weeks of restrictions.

She will not be allowed to run and play in her fenced yard. She is on medication for inflamation. We have to take her on leash to go to the bathroom so she will only walk. They want her to rest as much as possible till Monday. After that she can walk some but no big trips like to target or scooter walks.

Today she ate in the morning but otherwise layed in bed (hers on the floor) till 4 pm. That's when i had to take her to the vet. My son Mike drove us. After the pill for pain and inflamation and a day of rest she did move around some tonight.

She is a trooper. She did not wince or yelp in pain. We just noticed yestereday the difficulty walking. When they examined her back at the vet you could really really tell it hurt her a lot. Poor Emma. Obviously she has not tried to jump on the bed at all today.

We will be home all day tomorrow for sure. I think i can be home all weekend with her. My granddaughters are coming over with my son and his wife I think. Becky will be moving in Friday or Sat...so things will be a bit active none the less.

I will keep you posted on Emma. We have a very thorough vet so she also did lots of tests. Emma has been drinking a huge amount of water lately so they are at my request testing for diabetes and thyroid and some things the vet thought of. Some tests were done today and came back fine. Imagine this - they took her outside and got a urine and fecal test and did the test asap. Those results were great. We were at the vet two hours start to finish. Emma got excellent care i thought.

I will keep you posted. This time it is nurse Mary.

Mary and Emma

Today we are so grateful that Oscar (Liz) and Charlie (Judy) joined Emma and I for a presentatiion about Service Dogs and Helping Paws in Golden Valley. It was Dr. Schapiro and Dr. Calkwood's afternoon meeting with MS patients held weekly on different topics. The dogs were super. Oscar is a six month old puppy and really showed off what he has learned. Charlie is being trained by Judy (Emma's foster mom) and he did a fine job of demonstrating all he has learned.

Emma did not do as much as I would have wanted. She was more quiet, wanted to be petted and surprizingly did not want to "sit". She was favoring one leg for some reason. I am going to contact the vet tomorrow. The other dogs took over more of the skills today which I appreciated. I also realized I do not have some of the props both the other dogs are use to using. The round switch that shows how they open a handicap door, and a mock up of a light switch. We also forgot to bring our pull strap for openning doors. We just don't do demo's that often since I don't drive.

Liz was able to talk a lot about the positive training used with a puppy and Judy also. I was able to talk about what my life is like with Emma. I gave examples and we showed some ways she helps me in retrieving. tugging off socks and so on. I think it was a good presentation. I sure need to call Liz and Judy and thank them again for taking time for this. I know there were people there considering applying for a service dog and this gave everyone some valuable information.

Emma came home and of course we took a nap. The surprising thing is she slept till after 6 (I woke up before she did - unusual) and had waited that long to eat. When out and about she will wait to eat dinner but when we are home she often wants to eat by 5. We went out to dinner tonight and she went with and behaved beautifully. She didn't seem to be favoring the leg much tonight either.

Are only plans tomorrow are to go to water exercise unless the vet gets us in right away.
One time in my first year with Emma I brought her in and they determined she just seemed to have pulled a muscle a bit - nothing was wrong. I felt so much better having in checked but just keeping her in a quiet routine was all we needed to do.

We watched the presidential debate last night, some of my kids were here and Rosa and I just forgot to write. I am concerned about the election especially now with the economic concerns in our country. I applied to vote absentee as it is too hard to go and stand in line with my disability. Also then Greg does not have to load up my scooter for me to go vote.

Once everyone left, Emma enjoys having me all to herself. I went to bed and she crawled in beside me (I don't mind) and wrapped her paws around my arm like she was holding it. She slept so close till Greg came to bed. Then she moves to the foot of the bed normally or to her own bed which is at the side of my bed. She is such a good partner for me.

I was thinking that today that I can't really put into words how much Emma means to me. Usually I bring a poem to read but i didn't today. I should have to try to capture my thoughts on the incredible emotional and physical support Emma gives to me. She is such a great dog.

We wish you a great day - mary and Emma