Rockstar Azul Fan Club

       I hope your having as much fun this summer as I am! I only wish I had the energy to do more! Here is just a highlight of some of our grand adventures this month. Most of you have seen pictures on FB so I'll spare you the long details but just to see it all in one place, I'll share a list of adventures. July 1st was my birthday weekend and I had family come to stay. That was an adventure in itself! We took Azul and the grandkids on a kayaking adventure. Bon fire with family in the backyard The family and I went to a great pet friendly beach in Escanaba, MI. (twice!) We went camping at a campground (I haven't done this in over 10 yrs) and on a holiday weekend! We hiked up a to see a small waterfall. Roz met and played with SD Willow on the beach. Azul met and played with a little girl on the beach during one of our kayaking trips. Our Wednesday Group hiked around Little Fumee Lake, my first time this year and Roz's first time ever. The dogs and I made a road time t

I haven't written a blog here in quite some time and I'm sure you all know why! Life is busy! I never did an introduction post for Miss Roz, but everyone here basically knows that situation already. But you guys are in my closed group, so instead of recounting what has been public I want to add some not so public fun to this blog. Azul and Roz are best of friends with a definite sibling relationship of loving to pick on each other, get in trouble together, and also help each other out. Azul has never been a cuddle bug and still wants his space when he's sleeping but he's also pretty chill with Roz invading his space when he's awake. They take turns laying on top of each other during their daily WrestleMania fun. Azul still enjoys one-on-one time for kayaking and grocery shopping or other work environments. But he's also enjoying more alone time to nap, most likely due to life in general being so busy. He's generally happy

 Traveling with a Service Dog on a Holiday Weekend What started out on a road trip that we've made together hundreds of times, soon became a weekend filled with new experiences for Rockstar Azul the Service Dog. Most of you know that I visit my adult children and grandchildren in Illinois as often as I can. Most times, it's all about visiting family and friends and a little about PA and petting zoo animals. This trip was a bit different. About 1/3rd of the way there, our transportation (my Kia) broke along the side of an expressway. This was a new experience for Azul seeing the cars wiz by us while we sat still. It didn't take me long to realize my car was in "limp mode" and I could drive at a snail's pace to the next exit and gas station to wait for assistance. I'm sure Azul could hear the stress in my voice as I first called my husband then AAA for a tow. After about 15 min of phone calls and 20 min of going on a field sniff-a-bout, we saw the tow truck

It's been awhile since I've done a Rockstar Azul post and everyone here knows why I've been so busy. I figure it's time a talk a bit about my awesome Service Dog and how amazing he has been through this all. Thankfully the medication I'm currently on has reduced the amount of tasking that I need now compared to a few months back. That also means my task needs have changed a bit. Azul is now only doing 2-3 migraine alerts a month and only a handful of overly dizzy alerts. Instead he's been doing more forward momentum pull and a new exhaustion based need to sit down alert that we are still fine tuning. We are working more heavily on the dropped item retrieve again since I'm spending more time in a vertical position then I've been able to do in years. Before opening the Training Center we spent a ton more time at home where Azul interacted more with husband during the day to day simply because I wasn't doing anything with him. After opening the Training

Rockstar Azul March Madness Update! It's been awhile since I posted an update and I know you all understand with all that has been going on trying to set up the Yooper Paws Training Center. That all happened so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to post a sneak peak about the possibility to this group. And many of you have made it possible for this dream of mine to come true. Faith for all the help moving stuff in and setting up, clearing the snow, and watching over the place when I can't be there. Plus being open to learning how to teach classes and all your offers of being my Admin Assistant! Cindy for brainstorming with me and discussing what I thought was a pipe dream and has now become a reality plus for sending me the cool steps to use as stations. Scott for being willing to pick up FREE furniture for me and all your efforts in making it be something that will work at the Training Center. And everyone else for jumping in and picking up all the stuff that needs to

  Yooper Paws Training Center 611 N. Hooper St. Kingsford, MI  49802 We are pleased to announce to our clients that we will soon have our very own Yooper Paws Training Center! Friends & Family of Yooper Paws is quickly working together to bring this amazing opportunity to the Kingsford/Iron Mountain and surrounding areas.  Here is a line up of some of the things we have planned. Positively Puppy Class This class is geared for puppies under 6 months old. We practice setting up new experiences for our puppies with socialization to all the senses; smelling, hearing, seeing, tasting, & touching. We also work on the foundation skills that will lead to pups having the skills for the STAR Puppy & AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. Yooper Paws of Love does not give these AKC tests, but we train to the same goals by using positive reinforcement based training methods. We are currently finishing up a class and will have the dates for the next class ready very shortly. You can get on the w