Week one at home. Some animal etiquette and education!

Our first week at home has been good! Jelly Bean and Noah are really bonding. Jelly Bean always seems to have one eye on Noah. Even when you think he's not paying attention, he really is. We have been several places this week already. Jelly Bean does great in public. He goes right under the tables at restaurants, stays on his 'place' in church, rides wonderfully in the van, and walks right with us in stores. We have not had one problem anywhere we have gone with him. We had one small situation with therapy saying something about them not being covered by infectious diseases and until they were we couldn't bring him there but I believe it was just confusion on the fact that Jelly Bean is a certified service dog and they thought he was a therapy dog. He did great at therapy with Noah. Although all the balls they have are very tempting to him!! Jelly Bean has even gone to several Fall festivals around here lately and has done well at all of them. We had one person try to feed him a hot dog at one place and I had to quickly let them know that you should NEVER feed some one's dog, especially a service dog. So I wanted to add here just a few things I've learned this past week or things that I've said a hundred times because everyone has questions!! I never mind answering questions, especially from kids, about Noah or about Jelly Bean. That's the only way people can be properly educated. So here are just a few things I want to share:

1. NO Jelly Bean does not bite!! (yes, people ask!) He is however still a dog and I can not guarantee that if you constantly aggravate him in some way or continuously hurt him that he won't protect himself. If someone poked you in the eye constantly or pulled your tail over and over, you would eventually snap too! "Do unto others as you'd have them do to you" applies here really well. If you wouldn't want someone to bug the crap out of you, don't do it to them!

2. Yes, there will be times that you can pet him, but first ask so that you can make sure he isn't needing to focus on his job at that particular moment. Let the adult handling him give him a command to sit or lay down before you begin petting him! **Please note: this does not apply to all service dogs! It is completely up to the handler as to if OR when you may pet their service dog. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK FIRST!!** Parents, please teach your children to always ask before petting any animal! I have had parents walk up behind us with a toddler or small child more than once and allow them to just begin petting Jelly Bean. This is something that should never happen! 1. because you should never pet a dog from behind, you may startle them, 2. because he may need to focus on his job at that time, and 3. I don't know how your child is going to respond to Jelly Bean or vise versa. I need to be prepared in case your child pulls his hair, his tail, or tries to hit him and I need to be able to respond if for some reason Jelly Bean is uncomfortable with the meeting. And DON'T be offended when I correct your child for being to rough with Jelly Bean. He can't speak for himself, someone has to speak for him. Remember it's all about educating!

3. NEVER feed another person's animals, but especially not a service dog. Some animals are on special diets and the item you want to give them may not be appropriate for them to eat. Jelly Bean is a perfect example of that: He has a sensitive stomach and gets an upset tummy very easily. I don't like cleaning up doggie diarrhea (and it's not easy or fun to clean up, I might add) so please don't feed him, his tummy (and his mommy) will thank you!

4. If you need to walk by Jelly Bean, please just walk by. If you need to, step over him. He's used to it, he was trained for that! There are just some places that I can't get him completely out of the way of everyone needing to come by, regardless of how hard I try. Just do your thing and keep moving! If he was a child, a wheelchair, or anything else you would just go by, so just go by already!

5. There are people who are scared of dogs. I get that! If you are afraid of him, don't get near him. He will not bother you! He was trained to ignore you! I'm not going to make him come near you. If you don't like him, he probably won't like you either!

Which brings me to the next point...

6. He was trained to ignore you!! It's not personal! He will not mind you, he doesn't respect you. Please don't correct him if you have not be trained on how to do so and if you are not the one controlling him at that time. Many people have tried to tell him to sit, lay down or to do some type of trick that they know he was trained to do. He won't do it for you. And unless you know how to give the command, please don't! And if I tell him to do or not to do something, please don't say, oh it's OK, he's fine. Because it's not. If he is told not to do something, there's a reason. And if he's told to do something, there is a reason for that also! And once again, it's nothing personal towards you either way.

7. He won't do tricks when he has his harness on. He has been trained that when his harness is on, it's time to work. When you put your uniform on or you clock in at your job, you are expected to work, not roll around or do tricks. It's the same with Jelly Bean. He has a job to do and he needs to do it and he needs to be able to be focused on his job.

I don't say any of these things to sound rude to anyone! Please don't take any of it that way! Nothing said here is directed at anyone in particular, I promise! It's all about educating others. These are all things we have dealt with since having Jelly Bean. These are things we have learned ourselves and things that we could only wish that everyone else knew! Unfortunately, that is not ever going to be the case! So we will constantly try educate people where ever we go. Many of the things said above do not just apply to service dogs, they apply to any animal. They are things that, in my opinion, should be taught to everyone. Which is why I hope that once you read this, you will remember it and practice it yourself. Teach it to your own children. Tell your friends!

Overall, this has been one of the best things ever for our family! Jelly Bean has proven to be a positive influence for Noah already. Every penny that was raised, every hour that was spent fundraising, every late night, every flyer, every visit made to ask for donations, every rejection received, every prayer, every everything that went into this journey has been worth it all! I wouldn't change a bit of it for the world! I couldn't ask for a better dog for Noah. I couldn't ask for a better organization to have worked with. 4 Paws for Ability is awesome! Jelly Bean is awesome! And our family is better because of it!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!