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.

Bowling Alley As Training Opportunity

Posted on October 26, 2008
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today we went bowling with the university of michigan alumni club. neil asked me to not make him go because he wasnt feeling good but i told him that i couldnt bowl without him since i needed someone to watch liame while i threw the ball. i was absolutely flabberghasted at liames behavior. he was friendly, wasnt afraid of the loud noises and (this is what was amazing to me) “stayed” as instructed while i went up to the lane, grabbed a ball and threw it down the lane. a retriever did not go after the ball, now thats a small miracle in and of itself. i guess those sessions i have been having in the parking lot with him working on his distance stays are paying off. the only real thing we had a problem with was liame stealing food wrappers off a table at his level. he has SUCH a problem with trying to eat everything in his line of sight. i need to figure out a way to be more proactive rather than reactive when it comes to this eating things off the ground, tables, chairs, etc. so as it turned out, i really didnt need neil after all. both neil and i wore our michigan shirts and as we arrived at the alley i realized that we had a u of m bandana from neils mom we could have put on liame. darn it, that would have made him an even more popular attraction at the bowling alley. i wish a few more drunk and stumbley people would have approached him, it would have turned this into one of the best training opportunities we have ever had.

Another Sign?

Posted on September 26, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Mitigating Symptoms, Service Dog Laws, Things That Make Me Smile | Leave a Comment

here was the fortune of the second fortune cookie of the two ones i received today. this one states “you could prosper in the field of medicine”. OMG! even though I am training dogs it still falls within the field of medicine because I will be helping people attain a dog to assist them with their medical disability. spooky.

The Sign

Posted on September 26, 2008
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last night i took my canine studies exam. im pretty sure i passed.
i had a very interesting thing happen yesterday and today that leaves me excited about what could be. my mother in law sent me a link to googles 10 to the 100th contest where you can win money to start a business. i was instantly interested and started thinking about how money could turn this simple one person business idea into a full blow non profit with a puppy raising program, dog rescue, multiple trainers, advocacy, couseling and legal support for those who receive the dogs.
so here is where it got weird. not that i believe in fortune cookies but today i got chinese food for lunch and my fortune stated “an important business venture may soon develop for you”. i wonder could this be THE SIGN?

Going Clothing Shopping With A Service Dog In Training Puppy

Posted on August 24, 2008
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went to the service dog club meeting yesterday. i was again amazed at how well liame ignored the other dogs.

we also went to the mall and i tried on some clothes at a clothing store. when you go to try on clothes with a young pup make sure you get a big wheelchair access room, the floor is clean (unless you want your dog to clean it for you and swallow pins), and your dog cant dart under the door. it takes me 3 times as long to try clothes on with liame than it does with jasper. jasper would just sit there and wait until i was done, liame can only sit for a minute or so and then has to try to clean the floor, pull the tags off the garments and lick my shoes. sometimes i cant help but laugh at his antics but other times they drive me crazy!!!

Going To See The Specialist

Posted on July 15, 2008
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tomorrow i take liame in to be evaluated by a specialist about his leg. he is still limping on despite large bouts of rest and crating. it seems to act up after exercise and when first rising. he will limp for a few seconds and then be back to his old puppy self jumping at jasper, play bowing and leaping down the stairs. his foot turns out like a duck, which i hear isnt a good sign. i was going to go back to my vet to get evaluated and then go to a specialist but decided to head straight for the specialist. i didnt want to have to put liame out for 2 sets of xrays because my normal vet didnt get the right angle needed or have to put him out for xrays at the normal vet and then mris at the specialist. since i am not dealing with insurance i might as well go right to the head honcho who can tell me what is going on immediately. i hear the service dog club i am interested in joining wont certify dogs with hip or elbow problems. man, thats going to really suck if i cant get the paperwork to certify my little guy. i want liame to be official with real licensed paperwork. ive sort of been having anxiety attacks over this entire situation (money for the surgery, not getting official paperwork and the possibility i wont get 10 good years out of this guy). im trying to tell myself that its all going to work out OK, but each time i see him set down with his paw turned out i get another reminder about the reality of the situation i am about to get myself into. im in love with this guy and i hope they can do something for him.

Breeds Of Dogs And Discrimination

Posted on July 12, 2008
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this is a photo of my first dog, Penny. she was a pure bred german shepherd.

in order for us to attend the party on wednesday we had to skip our canine good citizen class at the humane society. i originally felt bad about it but once at the party, as explained in the previous posting, i used the time to train him to accept the petting of strangers and ignore other dogs while his vest was on.

i also skipped the puget sound assistance dog clubs service dog certification meeting today because i was told by the group that i didnt have access rights to the mall they were testing in. this kind of pissed me off a bit even though it was true. some of the members of the group have been refused rights to access places because of the fact that they dont appear disabled. to tell you the truth, i have never ever, ever, EVER been denied access with liame or jasper. i think part of it has to do with the fact that they are always wearing their vests and they fit the stereotypical description of a service dog (ie labrador retriever). i bet that the members of the group that were denied access did not have a lab. this is important point for all of you out there to remember: if you want as little hassle as possible get a labrador retriever or golden retriever. with these breeds of dogs you will encounter alot less discrimination than someone with a boxer or a mutt. i know its unfortunate situation that there are people out there that discriminate based on breed, but you all need to be aware of the fact that it DOES happen. if you do happen to have a non stereotypical breed for your service dog, you need to be even more prepared to prove that your dog is an official service dog than someone with a lab or a golden. and one more important point about the breed of the dog, if you do happen to choose to go with a non stereotypical breed of service dog, make sure your breed has a reputation as being a friendly breed. the point of having these dogs is to force you to interact with people on a daily basis, not scare them away with your german shepherd or pit bull. please dont spam me with your comments about how german shepherds and pit bulls are good dogs, because i am already aware of it, my first dog was the smartest german shepherd anyone ever knew, never harmed a soul and yet everyone was terrified of her.

An Opportunity For Training

Posted on July 9, 2008
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photo taken at the citydog magazine party at the W hotel in seattle.  photo copyright citydog magazine 2008. 

i think i can safely say we are potty trained.  its been over 3 weeks since the last accident in the house.  the only reason he last incident happened anyway was that the poor guys bladder was so full he started dribbling on the floor.  i didnt think this day would ever arrive.

we went to the city dog magazine bday party this evening at the W hotel.  after initially taking off his vest so that he could mingle with the other dogs i came to the conclusion that this was a great opportunity for him to be around other dogs with his vest on and learn that he has to ignore them.  he did surprisingly well. however, since i need to proof this behavior i should really try to go to more places where he will be more likely to meet other dogs with his vest on.  currently we normally dont encountering dogs in our daily routine.  

an unfortunate issue we did have at the party was that the tables at the hotel were at shin height so liame decided that it was at perfect buffet table height.  oh boy was that embarrassing, thank god he is still wearing his “in training” patch.

i have been allowing liame to jump up and put his paws in my lap and lick my face while at home.  it didnt occur to me to train for this behavior because he offers it on his own all the time.  this behavior came in handy at the party when i got overwhelmed with all the people there.  although i dont think that liame was at all picking up on my mood, all on his own he put his front paws on my lap and try to lick me in the face, something he hasent done outside of my home before.  it was kind of nice to have him want to get my attention even when surrounded by food and other dogs.  i think i will mold this behavior into a service for him since it gets me out of the moment of what i might be experiencing (say for instance anxiety) and back into the real world.

AKC - Obedience Trials

Posted on June 14, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Things That Make Me Smile | 1 Comment

we went to the puget sound labrador retriever associations obedience trials today.  i originally went to watch but decided to participate after watching some dogs in the lower classes who were at least a year and a half older than liame mess up on their routines.  i was completely unprepared and so was liame.  we failed miserably but we had a fun time trying.  i now know that i dont want to do official obedience trials but rally obedience trials (where you are allowed to encourage your dogs and uses treats).  the formal obedience trials seemed too formal.  i didnt see anyone smiling during the trial and the dogs didnt seem to be having alot of fun until the people gave them their praise for doing what they were told.  the one good thing that came out of the day was that when liame bolted out of the obedience ring while off leash in a non fenced in park, he returned right to me once i said “liame come”.  the judge was sufficiently impressed with his recall having only been 6 months old.

A 100% Perfect Service Dog Doesnt Exist

Posted on May 31, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Jasper | Leave a Comment

today i went to the assistant dog club of puget sounds yearly conference.  although i had never been to one of their meetings and was not a member i was able to partake in the 8 hours of classes and discussions.  what i found most intreguging was that some of the dogs there acted exactly like jasper does i.e. not a 100% perfect service dog.  i give myself a very hard time whenever he does something a service dog isnt supposed to do (for example pay attention to other dogs rather than me).  now that i know others have had the same experience with their rescues i dont feel so bad.

one of the best parts of the conference was the seminar on how to pick out a good service dog candidate from the humane society.  the handout will be very useful when it comes time to start my non profit training service dogs for psychological disabilities.  i am still debating on raising vs rescuing but after today i am leaning towards rescue due to the statistics presented at the conference.