Going outside is not relaxing

     This week we have ventured outside twice with Wally. It's always a bit unnerving and never relaxing. We just don't know what will happen. Will he bolt in front of a moving car? Will he climb up a retaining wall and fall down the other side? Will he listen if we yell "STOP"?

    Charles took this picture the first day we ventured outside this week. We had been playing at the playground that we usually avoid because it doesn't have any fence or visual boundaries of any kind. Charles took his eyes off Wally for about 20 seconds to tell me something, and when he turned his head Wally was already off the playground and walking down a path toward the parking lot. Charles had to run to catch up with him before he got hit by a car. They proceeded to walk around campus for a while. Charles took the photo as they walked up the hill toward the academic buildings on the seminary campus where we live.

    Later on, after Leo and Theodore and I had gone back inside, Charles came in huffing and puffing... he had to carry Wally home. "It wasn't the worst experience we've outside so far," he told me. But it definitely put a damper on the day. Wally was not happy.

    Experiences like these are why a service dog would be a miracle addition to our family. Wally's service dog will be trained to anchor Wally. Essentially, Wally will be tethered to the service dog so when we go on walks we can tell the dog to "Stop" and it will stop, and Wally will stop. Something so simple, but it will make a huge difference for our family having the freedom to just go for a walk together.

    Click Here to donate towards the training of Wally's service dog.