Zeke's Service Dog Fundraiser

09/15/2025

NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS

I have some sad news. While I was in the hosptial this week, some people in my life came together to show me that I really can't care for Brie the way she deserves, home or in the hospital. It was in Brie's best interest that I returned her to the organization I got her from. I'm feeling really numb right now, and I'll try to post a more detailed post later. I'm updating all my socials now to say that I'm no longer accepting donations, and if any donations do happen to trickle in, I will use them for the care of my ESA cat, Speck.

Send a message to learn more

09/08/2025

New shoes and a kitty

09/08/2025

This is new, and I like it. The only space they usually share is my lap, but they're settling into the chair together pretty well with me out of it.

09/06/2025

Brie loves treats, but she is the most motivated by excited praise and a pet. She gets so wiggly and bouncy and motivated to work afterwards. She's been really unmotivated to push a specific handicap button local to me recently (I don't think it hurts her paws or anything. I examined it.), so I started transitioning her from walk to work mode with some tricks and treats a few moments before we got to the button, which is a high-distraction area for her. Then, I took a step back in training and lured her to hit this, specific button and threw a praise and pet party when she opened the door with it. She was so happy and didn't want to move on from playing the handicap button game at first!

08/31/2025

I shook Speck's toy up in a bag of catnip.
Audio description: Video has no audio other than background noise.
Image description: video shows a white cat with gray markings playing with a small stuffed mouse with catnip on it. A hand reaches in and pets the cat on the face.

08/29/2025

Someone hung some dog toys on our door, and we're not sure who. If it was you, thank you so much! We now have enough toys to rotate what Brie has to play with. :)

08/29/2025

I just got 8 lbs of raw-coated, freeze-dried kibble for about $20 at a local pet store. I looked up the brand for good measure before purchasing. This is about as much as a bag of training treats usually costs us, which is at most 2 lbs, and I'm hoping, since Brie loves the freeze dried completely raw kibble that is out of my budget, she will also work for this. If not, we'll feed it as dinner mixed with her Purina Pro Plan. I also bought a very small bag of high-value treats, anchovies, and some duck feet for chews. And that's my dog treat, toy, and grooming supply budget eaten up for this month. I started the month overdrawn from an unexpected cat medical expense, so the budget will be tiiiiight this month, especially as Brie is going to the vet this month.

08/29/2025

Every time I walk Brie during the day (evenings are just a potty break), we do some training and some fun. We were training near the road at morning rush hour yesterday, and Brie got overwhelmed and stopped being able to take treats from me or respond to my cues. So, we got a little more distance from the road, did a treat scatter (also known as the game "find it"), and after that, she reengaged, telling me we were at a good distance for her, so we played the look at that game for a minute before moving away. I was super proud of her that she was able to reengage with me and didn't need to leave entirely. And I was proud of myself for not getting frustrated and overwhelmed when she stopped listening, when I was already overwhelmed by the traffic, and instead recognizing what she needed in the situation.

08/21/2025

Our dog walker gave us new, used dog toys.

08/21/2025

An exhausted Brie exploring her new toy
Video (visual and audio) description: a medium white dog with a purple collar plays with a toy Oreo that makes clown horn squeaking noises. As the dog loses interest, the human, mostly off camera and in a wheelchair, uses their foot to squeak the toy, move it closer to the dog, and then roll it into the other room. The dog chases the toy and returns with it.