ok, well now i am officially moved back into wv. it was weird unpacking this time, because we were kind of packing and unpacking at the same time. as i moved everything it, we also cleaned everything out b/c we're only here until december :( so we were trying to get rid of all of the stuff we've been hoarding for the past 2 years. i really feel like it would have been faster to just totally move into a new apartment! anyways, i feel all ready for life and school now, so i can move on, finally!
well, friday i got OLIVER & MAYZIE all moved into the prison. i think everyone was quite pleased with them : ) i also took WYATT out with me because next week he will start is transfer training process to his client.
but back to erin & SOLOMON on thursday, as promised....it was an extra special visit because the buckles were being filmed for another documentary, this time as one of 3 families being filmed with formerly conjoined twins. thanks to melissa, SOLOMON was included! it was very excited. we arrived and i got mic'd up and then (tried) to proceed normally. at first, SOLOMON was very hyped and distracted because the cat, ninja, decided to venture very close this visit. they had 2 face-offs before ninja finally retreated to taylor's room where we shut him in so we could proceed! next, erin, jade, and taylor all cuddled with a slowly relaxing SOLLY on erin's brand new huge comfy bed! after this, erin was hungry and needed a break, so SOLOMON did a very wonderful go in and took a nap of his own while she ate. after this, i knew he was relaxed and figured it was as good a time as any to try some commands. with me commanding, and erin repeating after me, we had him stay under the table while we left. then, he did a come and brought his leash. it took him a few tries to realize it wanted him to give the leash to erin, not me...but when he finally figured it out it was magic, because it just clicked with him then that i meant for him to answer to erin. then, with the other two girls running around and playing with balloons and all of the cameras and chaos, SOLOMON proved his greatness. he listened to every quiet word she said, things like sit, shake, wave, down, roll, stay, come, visit, paws, bring it here, give, kiss, speak...right down to her dropping froot loops right onto this paws and looking to her for the eat command with a camera literally in his nose! we were floored, it was one of those magical times you feel like the rest of the world doesn't exist and you get that total affirmation you couldn't have even asked for.
as if that wasn't enough, we then ventured to erin's school for some practice. it's not back to school there yet, so there were only staff present. while the crew got set up, SOLOMON read some of his cards for me to get him back into work. then, we did a lap around the school walking next to erin's chair, with me on his other side. but the time we were on the last leg, i could drop back behind him and he would walk with her several yards before noticing i'd disappeared, it was great. he did a few more commands for erin, then we did 2 trial fire alarms. he didn't react one bit for the first one while we were in the classroom, and this was just not dramatic enough for camera! so, we took him out into the hall and sat him right under the flashing light siren box thingy. that time, he stared up at that thing for the first 10 seconds, then proceeded to do commands for me as if it were silent. he can be such a good boy! i am so grateful to his inmate trainers and karen for getting him to this point, but we all know he is just naturally a great boy too.
friday as i headed back with the puppies, dad and SOLOMON met the buckles in dc at the canadaian embassy. very classy! a girl from canada who advocates for conjoined twins found erin and SOLOMON's story online and raised $3,750 canadian dollars for her fundraising campaign! the embassy agreed to host the event and SOLOMON was flawless again. two days in a row! not bad for a 16 month-old boy lab, you know!
anyways, i will be SURE to let you know when the big debut airdate of the documentary is, too, but it will be later in fall. now, time to prepare for my last first day of classes ever. i'm not sure exactly how i feel about that.....
LOVE,K
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