Taya is my daughter Katie's dog. She is a Schipperke. Schipperke's are very smart dogs. If you ask Katie, a girl's best friend.

My daughter just turned five and we are trying to help her to understand that although she has had her dog Taya since she was a baby, Trapper will have a dog of his own soon. 

 Our daughter has some sensory like issues, we try to sum it up as "drama queen", but sometimes her reactions to people are very odd. We went to the bank the other day to get some paperwork signed and Katie wouldn't come into the door of the office because of the manager. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was afraid. She started crying and hid under the desk. The bank manager handled her very well and made a point to make friends with Katie. It was still a strange reaction.

The worst incident was on Christmas day. After the accident on Nov. 2nd, we were not allowed to travel home to Alaska. My family drove to Ashland, Oregon on Christmas Day and picked up my Grandma Ann, who was also injured in the accident. She had broken her knees & wrist. She is 83 years old and had to stay at a rehab center to learn to walk before being able to come home. So, my dad & my husband had to lift her into the car so we could take her to dinner. At the restarant a woman stood behind the counter in the front entry. Katie & I went inside, while the rest of the family worked to get Trapper & Grandma inside and out of the cold. Katie walked in and started looking at the Christmas tree. The woman said "Merry Christmas sweetheart". Katie went into hystaria. She started screaming and hiding behind me. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. The woman was a little offended, but tried again by coming over to Katie with a Candy cane in hand...that made it worse. Katie ran to the door screaming and trying to get outside and away from the lady.

That was the worst incident, but after that other stange things, like at school she started to have a fear of her teacher when we got back home & the kids too. She would hide under her desk or beg me not to leave. For some children this may be a sign of shyness, but our daughter loves her friends and her teacher. She loves people. We are worried that this could be due to the accident, but are not sure. She was away from me for six days while I was in the hospital. She was around a lot of people that she didn't really know. I don't recall the accident too much. I don't remember hearing any of the kids cry. I just remember feeling trapped in that vehicle, unable to turn around and see that my babies were okay as I slipped in and out of conciousness. I can only imagine that it was very scary for them. They were completely unharmed, so I am sure they witnessed the vehicle coming off the ground and rolling twice, they may have heard screams and I know Katie must have saw blood on me as she still talks about the bood in my hair from my owie and the day mommy broke her head. Maybe it was just that, the trauma of the incident.

Taya was spoke of often while we were healing in Scott Bar, Ca. Although Taya was here in Skagway being loved & spoiled by the Gillis family, it was a very happy reunion between a girl & her dog upon our return home in January. Although my husband thinks that Taya is a "fufu" dog & not a "man's dog", he couldn't be more wrong. Taya is not only a magical dog to a princess, but also a dragon protecting her queen, and a sled dog racing across the Alaskan wilderness bringing toys to all the children of Nome. She is also a mighty hunter of spiders, and a rescue dog when Katie is a mountain climber. She has gills when Katie is a Mermaid, and wings when Katie is a butterfly or a fairy. Taya is a very loved dog, with a little girl who thinks she is the best dog in the universe.

Katie was very excited when she received a package yesterday from FelineFido.com. Inside she had a new leash to match Taya's new collar she received from Feline Fido a couple weeks ago. She also has a new tag for Taya's collar. It has not only Taya's name, but also Katie's contact info just incase her dog wonders too far from home. The best part is, they are designed to support her brother. With the autism puzzle design on the collar, leash & new fancy tag. Feline Fido is helping us raise money & awareness for Trapper's service dog. If you use the code: TRAPPER at checkout, 15% of your purchase on all items in your cart will be donated to 4 Paws in Trapper's honor. We still need to raise about $11,000 to bring Trapper's service dog home. I will find out in a couple of days the total raised so far, so please check back.

We wanted to paste photos, to share not only a little girl who loves her dog, but a sister & her best friend who love their brother.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to bring a specially trained dog into our son's life, one that will keep him safe and be his best friend.

God Bless.

- Jami