Flat Collars Blow - At Least For Those Of Us With Back Problems
Posted on February 25, 2009
Filed Under Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
i tried training liame using his flat collar. friends… i really did try but the little knuckle head is so powerful that he really hurts my back when he pulls on his leash. so instead of using the gentle leader head halter we have switched to the gentle leader harness. i made the switch because i am tired of getting approached on the street and getting asked why my dog is wearing a muzzle. it shows you just exactly how clueless the general public is even in seattle when something wraps around the top of the pivot point of a dogs mouth and they are still asking you if its a muzzle. anyway, the gentle leader harness is perfect. it fits under his vest and people never know he has it on. i know in order to be able to pass the service dog exam he has to be able to walk on a flat collar but at this point my back cant take his enthusiasm and his desire to explore everything while my eyes are on something else.
Yes, I Frequently Give Commands To Random Strangers
Posted on February 13, 2009
Filed Under Mitigating Symptoms, Service Dog Laws, Things That Make Me Smile, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment
today i stopped off at home depot and got a few things for the fountain i am making for the back yard. after picking up some office supplies at the office store i dropped into the starbucks world headquarters and had lunch in their cafeteria. liame brought a lot of attention to us and it seems like every single second that i am in a publi place i am not focusing on the moment but my desire to escape the situation. people come up to me all the time at the grocery store, walking down the street, on the bus, etc and i WANT to be able to talk with them but in all honesty all i really want to do is run away. its like this war rages inside of me every time i go out in public. logically i know im not going to get hurt or people are going to make fun of me or anything bad is going to happen but all i want to do is not be there in that moment. i give one or two word answers to their questions and avoid their obvious attempts at conversations. i appear so normal sometimes to those who i have grown accustomed to but in all honesty the social anxiety is always there, under the surface waiting to rear its ugly head while i fight it back tooth and nail. i did have one redeeming moment though. i was in an elevator with a bunch of starbucks employees and told liame to sit. a guy turns around, looks directly at me and genuinely asks if “sit” was meant for him. i chuckle, look down at the dog, look back up at him and say, “yes, i frequently give commands to random strangers” which generates a large laugh in the elevator. i get that response often when giving liame commands and i think i am going to have to use that line again sometime.
Leave It, No, Leave It, Watch, Leave It Liame! Liammmmme!!!
Posted on January 21, 2009
Filed Under Class, Major Steps, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
we have started switching to walking around on a flat collar. since one of the classes i have been assisting in had only a few dogs in in amanda has allowed me to train liame while the other dogs are training. this has given me the opportunity to work on not pulling on the leash and ignoring food on the ground. basically we spend our entire hour walking around food, waiting for him to look up and me and then giving him a treat from my pouch. im trying to get him to make the connection that if you want food then look at me rather than going after it like a madman while its on the floor of the supermarket. do you know how embarrassing it is to have a dog repeatedly try to eat a single piece of food off of the floor in a grocery market while you are going “leave it, no, leave it, watch, leave it liame! liammmmme” oh so embarrassing!
Managing Without The Training, Pay And Authority
Posted on January 9, 2009
Filed Under Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment
i knew once they started bothering me about my attendance and instituted their “tracking” system it wouldnt be long. i did a job, a job none of the other retouchers wanted to do. i got hired on to do retouch work and ended up managing the entire job from start to finish. i was the reason why we made our deadlines and the customer never really complained. i was in and out of my seat being a detective, doing the dirty work, tracking down and resolving problems before the customer even knew that they existed. because i volunteered to do a job that needed to be done and that no one else wanted to do because they were “real retouchers”
Sayonara
Posted on January 5, 2009
Filed Under Firsts, Major Steps, Mitigating Symptoms, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Todays Mood | Leave a Comment
i got to work today all excited to tell everyone that i had my fist vacation in years where i didnt spend at least half of it sick. instead i come in, settle down and got the long walk to HR. yup, i got laid off today. as you can gather from my previous posts its not like i didnt see it coming. i tried desperately to turn todays negative into a positive and went home, changed into service dog academy clothing and went to the dog park. the high it gave me worked for a couple of hours. ive been up for a while now and i think the reality of the situation is finally hitting me.
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.
The Poodle Cut
Posted on October 13, 2008
Filed Under Care, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry | Leave a Comment
i had no idea that when i gave liame to the surgeon i would end up taking a poodle home. could they have shaved more hair off this poor dog?
as you can see liame is healing well. there has been no swelling around his stitches and i have managed to keep him from pulling them out. he hasnt had any limping - even after the removal of his pain patch. the doctor has OKed him to go back to work with me as long as there isnt any jumping or running. ive been preparing him for the canine good citizen test by leaving him alone at my desk for short time periods. this is going to come in handy tomorrow when i have to place him on “restricted duty” (no running, jumping) per instructions from the doctor. i dont think he knows that liame doesnt do any of that at work anyway since they are two completely inappropriate behaviors for service dogs.
liame is starting to develop the initial stages of separation anxiety and i have been working on trying to keep it from going into full blown separation anxiety. i was hoping to give liame another couple of days of rest but neil decided he just couldnt take liames separation issues for the next 4 days. he has no idea that separation anxiety is the hardest behavior to treat in dogs. unfortunately this issue has developed due to a multitude of factors, most of which are out of my control. however, with time and dedication i know i can solve this problem.
Puppy Projectiles
Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Care, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry, Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment
i used to travel around with jasper and liame in the back of the car without a barrier up. jasper would be free to roam around in the back and liame was in his crate so that he didnt try to play with jasper while i was driving or chew/eat anything when left to himself for a few minutes. i frequently listen to the good dog podcast and there was an episode about dog car safety. once i learned that my poor pooches could become a couple thousand pound projectiles i started to get a little freaked out. but when they stated in the podcast that most dogs not killed in crashes are killed during rescue attempts because they are so scared that they have a tendency to bolt out the door and into traffic that sealed the deal for me. i know that if i lost them either way and could have prevented it from happening i would NEVER EVER be able to forgive myself. so as of monday, liame has been riding in the car in his dog seat belt harness. i had originally bought one a long time ago for jasper but it was a pain in the a$$ to use so i returned it. the one i bought on monday is a snap. you can keep it plugged into the seat belt base and then using a carabiner easily clip him in and out. you can even use the harness that the carabiner clips to as a walking/sensation harness. although jasper isnt traveling much in the car now adays, i bought him one too just incase. i need to keep my boys and my investment in my future safe.
I Still Love You My Floppy Eared Boyfriend!
Posted on October 1, 2008
Filed Under Care, Jasper, Mistakes, Things That Make Me Want To Cry | Leave a Comment
jasper peed on the floor again this morning. it was my fault for not taking him out immediately upon waking (i thought since he had already been out a couple hours earlier we would be OK for 20 minutes while i fed him - big mistake). he has been taking a diuretic for his congestive heart failure and its making him pee like a race horse. its like all of a sudden he cannot hold it anymore. i never see any pre potty rituals going on before these “water breaks” happen. he never went to the bathroom inside the house until they started giving him the meds for his heart problem. its so sad because i try to not make a big deal out of it but he seems so embarrassed (he goes as far away from me as he can, he hangs his head down low, wont look at me, submissively grins at me, etc). i know its not his fault but i dont think he knows that i know. i still love you jasper, no matter how many times you pee in my house, and dont you ever forget it my floppy eared boyfriend.
Mary McNeight, CCS
Posted on September 29, 2008
Filed Under Class, Firsts, Things That Make Me Smile, Things That Make Me Want To Cry | Leave a Comment
the boss I loved so dearly was just fired today. no one really knows why. this is not good news. i hope it wasnt for helping to accommodate me. i wish him the best of luck in this job market.
we passed our test! i am now Mary McNeight, CCS. actually if you want to get technical about it, im really Mary McNeight, BGS, CCS. isnt it interesting that i havent been crediting myself with my bachelors degree from the university of michigan but am marking my name now with a CCS, like somehow my bachelors degree isnt relevant anymore? anyway… i am tracking my hours training Liame (and Jasper) and I am over half way there to qualifying for CPDT. at least I have something to fall back upon if I was to get fired too.
keep looking »Recently
- Flat Collars Blow - At Least For Those Of Us With Back Problems
- Renewed Sense Of Optimism
- Yes, I Frequently Give Commands To Random Strangers
- CSDT vs CPDT
- Elitist
- To Puppy Park Or Not?
- Leave It, No, Leave It, Watch, Leave It Liame! Liammmmme!!!
- Back To The Surgeon
- I Cannot Fail
- Managing Without The Training, Pay And Authority