No DISASSEMBLE!!!!

Flying with a dog can be a hassle, flying with a Service Dog can be rewarding but is still a pain in the butt.  Here are a few hints for those of you flying the first time.

Food, if you are going on a long trip, or multiple planes it is suggested that the dog should have their last meal 12 prior to your flight.  Limit water during this time too.  Ice chips when you get close to landing, depending on how much of an iron bladder your dog has.

Be prepared for stupid "requests" from the TSA.  They don't see many of us and really have no idea what to do.  So off came my shoes, Spirit picked them up and put them in the basket and we walked forward.  As I came up to the scanner a TSA agent walked forward with his hand out and gave this lovely "request".  He asked me to remove my dog's harness, boots and ANYTHING else that had metal...like his collar...and leash.

Um....I'm disabled...he has gear on for a REASON!!  And loose dog?!?! Is that anyone's idea of "safe".  I looked at the agent, with sarcasm and disbelief dripping off the tone of my voice and asked him if he was willing to be responsible for my $30,000 dog in case something happened? Was he willing to walk me the rest of the way to the scanner?  Did he know what he was asking me was illegal and akin to asking me to disassemble a wheelchair?  Really?

So the dance began. He got puffed up and snippy.  I ask loudly who was his supervisor.  He was waved over and a hushed conversation was initiated.  His supervisor said, in a carrying voice, that I was correct and that the dog would be patted down on the other side.

So we came to the archway, Spirit went into a "sit-stay".  I walked through and then called Spirit over.  Another agent on the other side waved me to the "pat down" area.  She tried to catch the eye of the supervisor, who just waved at her and then turned his back.  The poor woman's hands were shaking.  

Because I could sit I asked her if she wanted me to remove his harness (remember Spirit wears cloths, so she wasn't able to see his fur) to make his pat down easier.  She asked to have his boots removed (I drew the line there) but lifted each leg so she could feel the bottoms of his feet.  She called to the supervisor to say she was done, he asked if she had looked under his chest (which she hadn't) so I had him stand up with his feet on my shoulders.  

When she saw how tall he was she paled even more, but gamely patted him down the rest of the way, very quickly.  As I snapped his harness back on she let me know that she was terrified of dogs.  I smiled and told her these were the least scary dogs out there.

As I left, I wondered what she would have done if George hadn't  washed out and she would have had to pat down a 85 lb "pit bull"?

So onto the lovely underground train where we went and got squished, though on the way off had a lovely chat with a couple that are puppy raisers for CCI and admired seeing a good team out and working (they had witnessed our little TSA pat-down) and had never seen a Standard Poodle as a working dog.

When I walked into the terminal toward my gate, I started looking for the pet relief area.  This is something you want to prepare for.  Some airports have them after TSA and some have them before.

Google the airports that you are flying to/from or click this: "Pet Relief Area" to find out where the pet relief zones are.  Please make sure you are looking at the right section of the airport.  When I printed it out for Dullas I was so happy that there were three spots, one looked to be right across to where our gate was. . .I had the international map. . . totally different layout.

And, no one knows where they are at.  Not the helpful "information" people, gate guards at 9 out of 10 gates you ask at.  The non-disabled have a completely different idea what "close" it compared to those of us with mobility challenges. 

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So yes, we had to hike to the far end of the airport before our cross country flight. Which I guess is a truism everywhere.  When you need the bathroom it is always at the far end of wherever you are. 

But it was the coolest dog potty zone anywhere!  It was in it's own room.  You walk in, then open a "gate" and step up onto a astro turf area with a fire hydrant in the middle of the room.  Bags are provided along with a high power hose to rise off the area.  Then you get to push a big red button (once off that area), the grass floods and the entire area "flushes". Spirit was fascinated.

The flight back was easier (thank you mom for the front row first class seats!) and Spirit went into sleep mode.  My brother wanted to interact with him halfway through the six hour trip.  I was like "Dude! Let him sleep!" the last thing we need is an 80 lb poodle deciding it is "play time" at 32,000 feet.

When we got home it was total play time with the brothers furry and I finally got to kiss my George between the eyes and had my wiggly, pitty cuddle.

Naked Puppy!!!!

Yeah! Today was bath day.  We are all getting ready for another cross country flight so Spirit had to get all gussied up.  

First there was the bath: "I don't want you to wash my face!"
Then the dry: "Hey!!! Get that thing away from my ear!"
The the clip: "Are you done yet?

After that we hopped out of the tub and he thought he was finished. . .boy was he wrong!

We went to the other end and handed him off to the groomer where she did his - face: "not the lips!" 
his sanitary: "Do I have no privacy?" 
to the feet: "It tickles!!!"

Here he is all nice and clean:

"Really? please lets just leave o.k. mom?"

"Oh there is a yummy trachea involved? Why didn't you say so!"

Training with Friends - It's all about shoes again

Today my friend Sara (an assistant trainer here in Baltimore) came over and we kidnapped my brother's dog Koda.  My brother bought him shoes (see back onto shoes again) and tried to get Koda to wear them.  He wasn't successful.

Most Service Dogs are introduced to shoes early in their life.  Because they are out and about more so than the average dog, the shoes protect their feet and provide traction on slicker surfaces.  But as anyone who has tried to put shoes on an older dog. . .well it's kind of funny.

So armed with treats we tackled Koda.  Here are some steps if you are introducing a dog to shoes.  You will need:

• A friend - As you put the boot on one foot, they will hold the corresponding food up also.  This keeps the dog off balance and keeps him from pulling his foot back and out of your hand (as you are stuffing their foot into the shoe and Velcroing them in).
• Cookies - Lots and lots of cookies.  Make them small and high value.  This can be anything from dried chicken to diced hot dogs.  
• A room with room - A clean & clear distance for you to throw the cookies and for your dog to run on.

Now if the friend also wants to run a video camera...

So, how do you do it?  Put one shoe on. Once it is secure throw a cookie about a foot away from the dog.  Repeat and throw at different distances.  Wait until it looks like they are using the paw normally.

Put on the next shoe.

I tend to start with the front feet.  It seems that they have an easier time putting down the front feet in comparison to the hind feet.  Once you dog is accepting the front feet fully booted, move on to the back.  This is where most dogs get the weird, high stepping walk.  Ignore it and keep tossing those cookies!!!  

Once they are moving normally in all four boots, leave them on for awhile.  Once the dog settles down, remove the boots and treat and tell them they are a good dog.

To get this behavior to stick, you should repeat the whole booting experience daily until they walk normally once you have put the boots on.

Spirit was watching all of this and started to mope, so we worked on some targeting.  Koda was right next to us watching (Hey, Auntie Art had cookies and some might come his way again, you never know), so I went ahead and tried to see if he understood what we were doing, and he did it like a champ.  Who knows, laundry might be next!

Sara's little dog Parker was there too, bossing the big guys around.  We went out and played in the back yard.  Koda and Parker ganged up on Spirit, who then started rolling on the ground.  Both Koda and Parker looked at Spirit and backed up and said "Nevermind", while Spirit said "Hey!! Come back!!! I made myself shorter for you!! Attack my tummy!!!!!"

Koda's brain and body were totally exhausted.  He will sleep well tonight!

can't a guy just sleep?

It Arrived! My Bold Lead Design Harness

I love the smell of new leather.

So this is Spirit's new rig.  We had been using the harness from Bridgeport, but there was too much twist and shifting with it.  Now that Spirit was done growing I decided to get him a big boy harness.

There aren't that many people out there that make mobility harness.  There is Bold Lead Design and Circle E.  It was a tough decision, but I decided to go with the Bold  Lead Design harness and here are a few reasons why:

• Construction.  Since I needed a harness that could do double duty as a mobility harness (with a stiff handle) and a pulling harness (for walking uphill, stairs, etc) I felt that the BLD fit the description better.
• I have issues with my left shoulder (probably from too many falls off of horses) and having the straight bar handle was aggravating my shoulder.  With the ergonomic handle that I selected, the handle feels natural in hand and I know that it is distributing weight evenly.
• Ability to change the handle height.  I know that I am mobility challenged, but there are days that I don't want to wear sneakers and I want to slip on a pair of Fluevogs.  To do that I need to change the elevation of my harness handle.  This allows my arm to stay in the same position and not to have to reach for the handle, or bend my elbow too much.  I also like the ease of laying the handle down.
• There are a quite a few places to adjust this harness, but once adjusted to the proper areas there are 2 quick release snaps that make it easy on and off. 

Here he is in his new harness (forgive the picture, all I have is my cell phone to take them):

I have him in his spring duds, otherwise all that you would see is a black blob :)

Here is a picture of the ergonomic handle:

We went outside in the backyard for about 15 minutes throwing the ball, running around like an idiot (Spirit not me), crashing through the trees, pit stop to mark a tree, bowing, laying down and jumping.  All the straps stayed where they belonged, he moved well and seemed to enjoy the fit.

We will be taking some walks this week to test it out some more.  Overall it is well made, the hardware is easy to handle and it is easy to put on the dog.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

What is the one comment I always hear as we walk by? "Oh, look!! He's wearing shoes!"

Yep, the most amazing thing about my Service Dog, is that he wears shoes.  Not that he keeps me from falling over, alerts, picks things up when I drop them (repeatably sometimes to his annoyance).  When I respond, as I often do, "Well you wear shoes, why shouldn't he?"  I always get this puzzled look.

Dogs have paws, not hooves, and they are delicate.  There is all kinds of ooky stuff on the ground.  De-icer, sticky dirt, glass, etc.  If his feet become injured I have to reassess what I can do without him.  If I were to go to the grocery store I would have to part next to a cart return (with carts in it) so I could have a walker.  I would have to stay close at home because he wouldn't be there to alert and allow me to get into a safe location.  I could not walk through the local mall.  School would be difficult to navigate, and I would have to figure some way to carry my books and not be in pain from carrying them, or off balance because one hand would have to pull them and the other would have to work a cane and not entangle myself (it has happened, and it isn't pretty).

So here is a salute to all of our amazing, shoe wearing dogs!

Some shoes that are used: Muttluks, Ruffwear

Boys back home

So I've been away for about 4 months now and have gone into complete and total George withdrawal.  Today this picture came to me in my e-mail:

Just look at the perfect space between the eyes to kiss.  Look at it!!!  I've been molesting pitties here in Baltimore for the last week or so hoping to have a lovely between the eye kiss.  The spaces have been too tiny or without the right curve.  George's is perfect.

I was also reminded about how cute Jake was when he was a baby:

He was, but the little traitor left when Ryan did his "dog magic" on him.  At least George still likes to cuddle with me (if not sleep with me anymore).

Busy day

So today a friend and I went to the Pet Expo in Chantilly, VA.  Wow! A lot of dogs all in one place.  

I think it is really tough on SDs to work in that kind of environment. Other dogs are peeing everywhere, surprise dog noses in their butts, random people touching them, etc.

So what did I see? Was there anything I had to have? And how did Spirit do?

Today was the second day of busy, but fun, days.  I really should know not to do that.  About 5 minutes from the show Spirit did his car alert (doggie drool on the shoulder), but a just, "Hey mom, prepare for a little one" so I did my first loop through there in a daze.

First off all the bully people.  OMG how cute were all your little block heads!!!!  It could be that I am in sever withdrawal (been without George for 4 months now *sniff* ) or they are just that darned cute!

So we saw the Mutt's Matter Rescue crew and they had Baby J with them. Rescue Ink was there along with Bully Paws.  Then there was the french bulldogs, english bulldogs, a shepherd group.  Puppies everywhere.

I think the hardest working man was the poor guy going around with the mop bucket.  So many dogs scent marking everything.

I ended up getting a soft harness for around the house on bad days.  Looked at some lovely leather goods.

Spirit was in his Spring Suit today:

and got lots of compliments.  Though, as usual, everyone was impressed that he wore shoes.
 
Things I expected to find and didn't:

• Reasonably priced martingale collars.  Clara's Collars has them on her website, but didn't bring any because she prefers to make them custom.  I do like her material selections so will probably pick a few up as Christmas gifts.
• Dog treat holder.  I am looking for one that is either a spring or has magnetic closure.  I cannot work the ones in the drawstring pouches.  My dexterity is just not up to it.
• 6 - in - 1 leashes.  I was looking to pick one up for my brother.  The only place that had them was the lovely leather store, but I didn't want to spend $50 on a leash.  Sorry Steve, I don't love you that much today!

He did well, though was very happy to get into Sara's car and crash on the way home.  He put up with random dogs being rude, tight aisles, me trying things on (and off) him.  He did tons of bracing work, great counterbalance and alerted me to both fatigue spells (wouldn't do pick up work, but that could be when he tried to pick something up, so other dog would put his nose up Spirit's butt and goose him).  He came home and had a double bowl of food and drank lots of water then cuddled on the couch while I read for a bit.

That's it for today folks.  I am tired and Spirit is pre-heating my bed for sleepy time, so until later.