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
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Major Steps, Service Dog Laws, Things That Make Me Smile | Leave a Comment

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?

Jasper Is Famous

Posted on September 11, 2008
Filed Under Jasper, Service Dog Laws, Things That Make Me Smile | Leave a Comment

Jasper and I were featured on Evening Magazine a few years ago. Here is the link to the story if you want to view it.

Jaspers Story

I originally pitched the story idea to them as a “you should do a story on psychological service dogs” and told them I would give them info about it but I DID NOT want to be in it. After they convinced me to be a part of it I thought it would be about how these dogs are used to help people with psychological disabilities but it turned it into a girl saves dog, dog save girl story. But hey, its TV and I couldnt control the final product. BTW, I was diagnosed at 21, not 29 and am in NO way CURED of this disease.

Going Clothing Shopping With A Service Dog In Training Puppy

Posted on August 24, 2008
Filed Under Clubs And Organizations, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

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!!!

Get It

Posted on August 3, 2008
Filed Under Things That Make Me Smile, Tips and Tricks, Toys | Leave a Comment

weve been working on the command “get it” during my lunch breaks. the get it command is a step in a series of commands i plan to eventually use to teach him to get my medication out of my bag for me. its been relatively easy to teach this command because he wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth.
the training for this started with games of fetch and learning the touch command. fetch provided him with the base knowledge to retrieve an item and the touch command provided him with a target for his mouth. i chose a new toy to teach the get it command because i didnt want him to have to unlearn a previous behavior associated with his other toys. i chose the toy i did because it was part ball and part tug (a game he enjoys immensely).

we started “get it” off by placing him in a sit, telling him to leave it, throwing the ball and then me saying “OK, get it” while pointing at the ball. he ran over to the ball, immediately placed it into his mouth and ran around the room with it, not even thinking that i might want the item back. i let him get the novelty of the new toy out of his system said “liame come” and then “touch”. he came over to me, touched my hand, i clicked the clicker and he released the toy in anticipation of getting his reward. we repeated this game over and over and over, eventually removing the “liame come” and “touch” commands so that “get it” meant go over to the item and bring it directly back to my hand. i then transferred the game to another object so as to allow him to associate the get it command with multiple objects. first we used an empty pop bottle and then we used a large chunky highlighter (because it was the only disposable item lying around in the room i was in).
i dont know exactly how i am going to train the novelty behavior out of him but i know that it will diminish as he gets older.

A More Confident Puppy

Posted on July 23, 2008
Filed Under Class, Firsts, Things That Make Me Smile, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment

we skipped the last canine good citizen class tonight due to the fact that i was really really really sick. he was supposed to take the cgc test today but heh, its not like he was going to pass it anyway - the little guy cant be alone without me for more than 30 seconds without freaking out. he did something very interesting today too. while i was in the bathroom at work someone knocked on the door and he sprang up into the air and started alert barking. i cant tell if he learned this behavior on his own or has learned it from jasper. alarm barking means that my baby is growing up and feeling more confident in himself. awe, theres part of me that wants him to stay the cute little fuzzy puppy he was, but then theres part of me that is so tired of pulling garbage out of his little puppy mouth.

This Is A Test, Only A Test

Posted on July 21, 2008
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we went out for lunch today and stopped off at a store where there were 2 company dogs. the owner was taking them out for their potty break and we encountered them inside the store. they were barking and pulling on their leashes trying to get to liame. i place liame in a sit and he watched as they walked around him barking and pulling and pulling and barking. it was an amazing site to see. after the owner brought them in and put them away she said that she felt embarrassed about how they acted. i told them not to worry about it and that it was a great training opportunity for liame. you cant expect perfection out of dogs that havent been properly socialized and worked on a continual and intense basis since puppyhood.

Puppies Under My Desk

Posted on June 17, 2008
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prior to today i had jasper’s bed to the right of me and liame’s to the left but liame kept hopping out of his bed to go lie on top of my feet.  in order for him to lay on my feet he would have to squeeze himself under a shelf under my desk and trample over some cords.  since i have been having a bad couple of weeks i decided that i needed a bit more physical contact with liame during the day but needed an easier way for him to access me.  i spent about half an hour this morning removing the industrial shelf under my desk that i used to put my feet on.  it gave me just enough room to put liames bed directly into my footspace.  so now he gets to lie comfortably in his bed, keep his feet out of the way of the rolling chair wheels and gets to put his head on my feet.  its already making me feel all nice and squishy inside.

Graduating - Top In Our Class

Posted on June 15, 2008
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today liame graduated 1st in our class at the humane society’s supper puppy class.  i got a certificate and everything.  i was almost beat for first place by a puppy who was several months older than liame and who had already taken the class once before.  i was so proud even though our award was a frisbee.  i wonder when we can start winning ribbons and trophies?

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.

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