Marley and Bereavement Time For A Service Dog

Posted on December 26, 2008
Filed Under Jasper, Major Steps, Service Dog Laws, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment

we went to see marley and me yesterday. oh my god. before yesterday i had never done the ugly cry in a theater. it took me two weeks to read the last couple of chapters of the book because i knew what was coming. but there it was, boom, on the screen, them putting their bestest friend to sleep. oh my god. i am crying just writing this. i cant believe that sometime in the near future i am going to have to give jasper the injection that will end his life. i did the ugly cry for a dog on the screen, having to do that to jasper is going to throw me into such a deep depression that i am scared that i might not come out of it. up until recently, jasper had been at my side, 24 hours a day for three solid years. i had more contact with him than i did my husband. my husband refers to him as my “floppy eared boyfriend” and he is so right. in addition to losing the first dog i have ever owned (or been owned by), i might end up losing my job over it too. there is no “bereavement” time off for the death of a dog. and because disability law states that they have to accommodate me just like they do a wheelchair, they dont have to provide me time off because they dont do that for if you lose your wheelchair, or your crutches or your prosthetic arm. i wonder how others who have lost a service dog have dealt with this issue in an employment setting. im going to have to do some research about this. service dog academy’s employment coaching needs to cover this issue because its bound to come up sometime.

Awe Mom, Do I Have To?

Posted on December 23, 2008
Filed Under Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

weve been stuck indoors for the last several days due to the unusual amount of snow that has completely crippled seattle. our hill has turned from a street into a sledding hill. no cars have come down it in days. since i couldnt get my moms present out in time i had to give something to her digitally. so i sent her the photo you see to your right. i sent it to her local walmart store’s photo department to be picked up by her after she got off work. she went gaga over it. arent they cute? it had to be a photoshop job because we only had one set of antlers. i thought it was going to be a difficult shot to get liame to stay still with them on his head while i backed up to get the shot but liame seemed to be fine as long as i kept rewarding him with his treats. he is such a food whore and in all honesty, i thank god every day for that fact. i dont know how in the heck i would motivate him at work if i had to keep a squeaky ball in my pocket.

Somethings Just Not Right

Posted on December 19, 2008
Filed Under Todays Mood | Leave a Comment

yesterday my boss asked me for my administrative password for the database i built. somethings up. you dont ask for admin passwords unless…. im trying not to think like that and everyone is trying to reassure me that nothing is going to happen but i just can seem to shake the feeling that something strange is going on. ive been teasing my coworkers that i have been working on my “back up plan” for the last couple of weeks (service dog academy) but i guess they are just refusing to see what i am seeing. one of my coworkers who i occasionally discuss themes of the oprah show with reminded me of the “law of attraction” and that if i keep thinking i am going to be laid off, it will happen. but today i got a bit of reassurance that maybe things are going to be OK when the new seating chart came around and my name was still on it.

Snow Rules!

Posted on December 16, 2008
Filed Under Firsts, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

liame had his first experience with snow on sunday. i was kind of concerned that he wouldnt want to walk around in it but it didnt seem to phase him at all. infact i think he found it rather exciting. he kept freezing, shoving his head down into it, digging his nose around, taking in its aroma and then bounding around in complete and utter joy to the next spot where he would repeat the same sequence over and over again. his response to the snow also illustrates how important it is to make sure your puppy experiences everything you can introduce it to during its first developmental window and that those experiences are all positive. all the exposure training we did during those first 10 weeks has laid a foundation for an inquisitive, confident, happy, 1 year old puppy.

Crate Training Is Working

Posted on December 12, 2008
Filed Under Major Steps, Mistakes, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

it looks like the crate training i have been doing with the alarm barking and the attention behaviors has worked wonders. i only had to use the technique for a few days and all of a sudden, liame is starting to become a model service dog when it comes to people coming into my work area. one of my coworkers came into my cube this morning and said that he actually missed his daily liame greetings. i reminded him that i know he is cute and irresistible but he is training to be a service dog and for him to greet you without me giving him permission before hand is absolutely inappropriate. he left my area sulking. i felt kind of bad for it because being a dog lover i would feel the EXACT same way (MUST GREET ALL PUPPPIES - bad mary, no donut).

today i have a review with my boss and i am scared. i had to take an anxiety pill last night to get some sleep and one this morning to just make it through. its sad that im getting the equivalent of dentist anxiety because i have to talk with my new boss for half an hour. liame is still not picking up my strange anxiety ridden behavior yet. i really need to start training him to do so.

Meeting A Hero and Trying To Become A Real Life Hero Myself

Posted on December 6, 2008
Filed Under Care, Clubs And Organizations, Firsts, Major Steps, Things That Make Me Smile | Leave a Comment

today i went to the Epilepsy Advocate conference with liame and met Greg Grunberg from Heroes, Alias and Felicity. who knew 10 years ago while watching felicity with my college friends i would eventually be able to meet one of the cast members. anyway, enough fangirling, back to the conference.

in the last couple of weeks i have decided to expand my services to helping people train all types of service dogs. i heard greg was going to be there and that it would be an intro to epilepsy. not knowing much about epilepsy or seizures except from what i had seen on episodes of House, i decided to attend to educate myself on this condition so that i could help someone train their dog to detect them. i met a number of people at the conference who were interested in my services. it was so energizing to talk to people about dog training. i now know that i was put on this earth to help others with service dogs. and although it will never make me monetarily rich, it will make me spiritually rich, the type of rich i so desperately long for.