Hard to believe we've been here for 5 days already... Before the move we were in moving chaos. 😳 Now we're in settling down chaos! 🤣 Stable Internet connection is #1 priority I'm working on, with mobile backup. Then, there a bunch of things we need to get to feel comfortable in this apartment. Work in progress... Meanwhile, here are a couple more pictures from our trip and final destination. Warm regards from Peru! Leo, Luli, and Guy. PS - It's now winter here.

The leading night to Friday was a crazy day of moving, packing and getting everything ready for the flights with Leo. But.... as of right now, 1 flight is already behind us and 1 flight (the longer) still to go. Leo is actually doing international travel! I'm very proud. 🦮❤️ All the training, attention, and practice is actually paying off right now. He was a little nervous during take off and landing, but nothing serious. We're schedule to arrive into Lima around 10:30pm and then have a long drive, but I'll try to post another update on Saturday (maybe a walk on the beach 😊). Yours truly, Leo y Guy. PS - Flying on an airplane with Leo makes him look very big (because the seats are small with no let room)!

Alright, it's Friday, time for the next Leo update. This time, I took Leo to the Denver International Airport, which is a major hub (and a big airport) in the USA. 🛬 I had to drop my daughter off, so I decided this would be a good training opportunity and take Leo with us. When we first got into the airport, I started with the regular leash and quickly realized Leo was a little nervous. He did not do anything bad, and he was not trying to back away or panic, but you could tell he was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, the noise, and the announcements. So I switched back to the leader leash setup. That helped a lot. After a few minutes, he became much calmer, and we started walking through some of the busiest areas of the airport on a Friday morning. We went from baggage claim to check-in to the security area, and overall he did really well. At one point, when my daughter went to pick up her friend, I thought about going back outside, but then I figured, I already drove about 40 minutes to get there, so I might as well use the opportunity and spend more time training with Leo inside the airport. 🕑 So we went back in and kept going. One funny part was the escalator. The first time, he was definitely not sure about it and tried to back away. But the service dog harness has a really solid loop on it, so I was able to lift him and place him properly on the escalator, and once he was on, he was fine. Later, we used the elevator instead. 🐶😁 We went through some very busy check-in areas, back through baggage claim, and around a lot of people, noise, and movement. People were loud, some were shouting, and Leo stayed pretty calm through all of it. 👌 He also got a lot of smiles from people around us. A lot of people were looking at him like, “service dog, so cute,” which was nice. He has the “do not pet” sticker on, and I was happy that nobody actually tried to pet him. That let him just do his job and stay focused. So other than the first few minutes, and the first escalator experience, he really did very well.

....... full report coming later!

Sorry I missed last Friday. Last week was pretty crazy for me; 2 new tinnitus sufferers signed up for my program, new video, and working on the new interactive course that hopefully you all can experience yourself soon. Leo & I are still working on the sound alert training, and we did make progress. 👌 At this point, I stopped using treats during the actual alert practice. Now I ring the bell and wait to see if he will come to me on his own and do the right behavior, which is come over and make sure I pay attention. When he does come to me, I reward him with attention, affection, and a lot of “good job, Leo.” So the reward now is more about my response to him than food. Then I go to a different part of the house, let things settle down a bit, and do it again. Sometimes he gets it right away, and sometimes not so quickly. 😂 If I see that he is not making the connection, I try to catch his attention visually without saying anything, just enough to help him realize, okay, I need to go alert my dad that there was a sound. So overall, definitely making progress, but still more work and repetition needed. He still misses some of them, especially if he is busy with something more interesting at that moment. But he is definitely starting to understand the job better. The second update is that I got his (actual) service dog harness. That is helping a lot! 🐕‍🦺 Before, I was using that short leader leash, which worked, but honestly was awkward. Now with the harness, I can use a regular leash attached to something that is actually built for this kind of work. We already practiced with it multiple times, and he is adapting pretty quickly. ✌️ The next big test is going to be this Friday. I’m planning to take him to... the airport! 🛫 That will be a very different level of distraction and stimulation, so it will be a really good test to see if he can still stay patient, focused, and work with me in a busy environment. 🤞🐶 I’ll report back after that. What do YOU think will happen at the airport? Vote below.