Here it is, eight months after my last post. Shortly after writing that post in October of 2011, I started to feel very fatigued. It got worse with every passing week. I not only couldn't work with Remy but just the thought of taking him out for a walk or to work on his obedience made me want to take a nap.

Finally, in January, my husband and middle son convinced me to see a doctor. It turned out that I had pneumonia and had been walking around sick for months. It explained why I was so tired and weak but began a six month (so far) battle to cure the pneumonia.

I've been on antibiotics and steroids nearly uninterrupted since the diagnosis.They've given me Zythromax, Erythromycin, Levoquin, and now Cipro. I've had two CT Scans and more x-rays than I can remember. I've had a Pulmonary Function Test, a TB Test, and blood tests. Now I'm scheduled to see a Pulmonologist in July. I still feel tired and weak most of the time but I decided to fight through it as best I can and do things.

During the months I was mostly restricted to bed Remy became a wild child. My husband, Marty, was taking him for walks but Remy began to be difficult to handle. While he retained his basic obedience - sit, down, wait - he lost the ability to heel nicely for Marty. Remy also never got the concept of "stay" and could no longer be trusted to stay within the boundaries of our unfenced yard.

When I began to feel a bit better we started taking Remy and Houston to the park in town for walks. They have a one mile long, paved walking path where the dogs could get exercise and meet other dogs and their owners. Remy acted like a wild dog. He'd jump, twist, and whine every time we came upon another dog. He wanted to play and had to be dragged away. It was hard on me physically but I didn't want Marty to walk him as Remy is supposed to end up being my service dog and he had to learn to behave for me even when I didn't feel up to the fight.

One day, after Remy had been particularly difficult to handle I insisted Marty take us to the pet store to buy an electronic collar. While some people are adamantly against the use of these training tools, I knew that it was the only way I'd be able to control Remy while I was still sick. The tone setting was effective in stopping Remy's wild behavior and "shocking" him wasn't necessary. The e-collar was very helpful but I knew it was a temporary fix. I decided that the structure and socialization of an obedience class would really benefit him.

I searched the Internet for nearby trainers and talked to several on the phone. One was unusually rude in her response to being informed that we'd used the e-collar. She told me she would not work with anyone who used that type of collar and all but stated that I should not be allowed to own a dog. She also told me that she only did "private lessons" and would come to my home for a couple of hours (for an outrageous price) and "fix" Remy. Obviously I was not at all interested in her as a trainer.

After speaking to a couple of other local trainers I found one I felt really knew how to train. Her name is Karen and she told me that she had pretty large classes so the dogs learned how to behave even with a lot of dogs and people around. She also said she threw in a few agility "obstacles" so that the dogs didn't get bored with the same old routine. Karen wasn't offended by my use of the e-collar and told me that if I wanted to continue to use it she could give me tips on how to use it effectively and suggested I try the prong collar. I'd used one with Houston and I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about them!

We enrolled Remy in Karen's class and I am so glad we did! Karen needed surgery and so the classes didn't continue this summer but I plan to take him to the advanced class this fall. If she offered a graduate school for dogs I'd have him there!

Remy takes it easy with Houston

My next post will cover Remy's first few months at home. He grew like a weed and he did learn things even though we couldn't do "formal" training. We still have a long way to go and a lot of catching up to do on his behavior but I still believe Remy is going to be a great service dog!