Blog Post #1

  Hello! So I guess this is going to be my first written blog post for this class. My name is Allison Mlcoch, I know you can't pronounce that last name, don't worry because nobody can. It is pronounced ML-O-K-A, or basically like Moca, the drink you get at your local Starbucks. Not a lot of people like to say the L in there so just call me Moka haha. This last name actually comes from Czech Republic, which is where me and my family are from. My parents came to the U.S. at 19, which gives me until October 28th, and I will be their age when they move here. Crazy how time flies. Anyways, to add some fun facts, my whole family is indeed European. My whole family also lives in Europe, so I don't know what it's like to have a family reunion or what it's like to have my grandparents over for dinner. That totally doesn't bother me though, since I get to visit them once a year and have dinner in Czech instead.

So that's a bit of my life background! another interesting fact, if you've seen the photos I put out on another blog, I have a Service Dog! Long story short as many people around the world also suffer from this, I have PTSD and very bad anxiety, and Reina, the German Shepherd came to me as an abused and abandoned puppy just at the right time. I suffered a terrible accident and just as I was on my way to therapy one day, it was a very cold and snowy night, when I saw a little scruffy German pup laying next to my car tire. I wondered if it was a coyote since we see a lot of them here, but seeing how her patterns looked different and how cold she was, I took her into my car and drove to therapy with her. There, I had the support of many staff members that gave her a small cup of water, a leftover sandwich and some blankets. The whole time I was there, me and my therapist continued the sessions with the puppy in my arms, just talking about how crazy this was. After we finished our time, I brought the puppy back home with me and told my mom about the dog I found and everything that happened. After some food, water, warmth, and some cuddling, the puppy perked up very quickly and seemed very happy. Then the next day we threw up some fliers, and shortly we got a call from our very grumpy neighbors. They told us it was their dog and wanted the puppy back. so we gave her back to them. 

    All was quiet for a week, before suddenly we found the puppy on our front porch. When I saw her again this time however, it was a very quick trip to the animal hospital. Turns out this poor puppy had been brutally beat up, dehydrated, and very malnutritioned. Knowing this and how mean our neighbors were already, we called animal services and had them get rid of two other dogs they had, also very poorly taken care of and abused. They went into an adoption center after much care, and we were able to take our found puppy home, and named her Reina. A few weeks passed, and we collected Reina’s papers. Turns out, her birthday is in the same month as mine, and at that time she was only four months old. My therapist had suggested a great idea, since she was the perfect breed and age, that was to put her into a service dog program, and she got accepted. So after months and months of training, we worked very hard with the academy and at home to put this scruffy little thing into a working service dog. Today, she is a “Puppy Graduate” at her training school, and a full time service dog helping me out in many different ways and preventing life threatening events or behaviors. She is like a sister to me, and always a part of the family, truly a girl’s best friend haha. I am almost never separated from her, and she is always up to something that makes the whole family laugh. I am not sure what we’d do without her during quarantine, as she's kept us all on our toes and always laughing or playing together. So that’s Reina’s story, and hopefully when classes resume(IF they do), you all will get a chance to meet her. In the end, I help her and she helps me. From abused rescue to Service Animal, I hope that the both of us continue to climb any mountains in our path together.

Thanks for Reading!