Day 30!

We made it! 30 days of training for Lyon-Martin!

This was definitely a success for both of us. I got ample opportunity to practice patience -- both with Pickles & myself -- and also found that the experience of feeling out when she's ready to move to the next skill level has already translated into making me a better human trainer at work.

And of course, Pickles has worked hard all month. Here's a quick video showing off her "Grab it!" skills, as well as the eagerly awaited Secret Vincenzo Trick:




Next step: keep working! "Grab it!" will turn into a full retrieve before too much longer, and "Play possum!" is a stop on the road to "Roll over!" Now that we're in the groove of regular training, who knows what we'll be up to by the time 30 Days of Health 2015 rolls around. Maybe we'll be ready to train her to drive me to work in the morning.

With the support of so many generous family & friends, we smashed our fundraising goal of $700, ending up at $870, and Lyon-Martin exceeded its overall fundraising goal of $20,000! Every penny goes toward keeping this vital service in operation, providing excellent and culturally sensitive care to an incredibly underserved community. If you didn't get a chance to donate & would still like to, please click here. Every dollar is needed & appreciated!

Oh, & as promised, every donor to my project will receive an autographed photo of Mrs. Zoey Pickles herself. I'll get those out to all you kind individuals over the next couple weeks. Thank you again to everyone who supported us -- monetarily, morally, or both!

See you in 2015!