Esoterical Musings

Ever since I got Lottie, and actually even before when I was just thinking about getting Lottie, I have become aware of many references to blindness, and also deafness, that meet me everywhere.  Is this more than normal, or am I just aware?  Because I fully believe that I’m to pay attention to things such as this, I do take note and think about every reference I see.  I know I’m supposed to have Lottie, I just don’t know yet the grand plan.  Last week in my Shamanism class, we discussed “sitting in silence”.  Our meditation was to go, in our minds, to the Cave of Silence, and sit in complete silence and darkness, to see what comes to us.  My personal vision during this journey was that the silence wasn’t really silent, it was more like an energizing humming, and the darkness wasn’t really darkness, it morphed in my mind into a bright white speckled brightly with rainbows of colors.  So my message was that there was really no difference between the dark and the light, both are core and central to the soul.  Throughout it all, I thought about my Lottie.  How her world is so different from mine, full of silence, and her vision is so sparse.  Yet I’ve seen through her that her world is not void, but full.  She is one of the happiest, most joyful dogs I’ve ever met, and she runs and has fun and learns and loves and plays and gets on with her life better than most.   Maybe my journey of silence that really wasn’t, and darkness that really wasn’t, was just one more way to help me understand my Lottie Moon.  One more way to help me understand the blindness and deafness that each of us that have fully functioning senses can still have, if we remain in an unenlightened life.

  


Lottie the day she entered the shelter,
approximately 6 months old

 

Lottie 8 months later at Dog Scout Camp



I have a bracelet that a friend made for me out of black and blue and purple beads and actual quartz crystals.  The tag she had attached to it read,  “Darkness – go into the darkness and find the stars.”  How appropriate. 

The past few years have been difficult ones for me, filled with a devastating divorce, insecurity and uncertainty.  Dark times, scary times.  And here is this little white dog, showing me in so many ways that the darkness doesn't have to be scary, if you approach it with joy and fearlessness.  In the darkness, there are brilliant, heavenly lights called stars.  Enlightenment coming from darkness.  Thank you, Lottie Moon :-)



Show time!

  

Lottie riding with Punch to Cincinnati



Last weekend I taught a seminar on dog communication at Dog Scouts Troop 107 in Cincinnati. What a great honor to help a great organization and also meet some wonderful people!




I brought Punch with me, because he is such a calm, easy boy. Lottie came along for the ride. My plan was to leave her in the car, which I did while I was speaking, but during our introductions, one of the women mentioned that I had the first blind/deaf Dog Scout, and everyone was interested. So I brought Miss Lottie in and she got to demonstrate her tricks and skills. I didn't have any treats with me (yes, no one needs to tell me I'm a bad mommy), so I grabbed a handful of trail mix from the people-treat table, and used the peanuts from that to get her interest in performing. She spit out the first nut I gave her, but then had second thoughts and ate it, and after that she had enough interest in these new dog treats to keep working, but I think she was really hoping there was gonna be some cheese or chicken appear at some point. Since raisins and M&Ms are bad for dogs, and they were part of the trail mix, I got treat, too
 :-)
Lottie did beautifully. Her stay, as always, was adorable. And the super-cool part was that a reporter was there from WLWT news, and he filmed the whole thing. Hopefully Lottie will make the story!

Sweet Dreams . . .

I’m really stressed because my dog is having nightmares.  You’d think that with everything I have going on in my own life, my dreams might take on a terrifying theme from time to time, but I rarely dream, and it’s even rarer that I have a bad dream.  But poor Lottie has been having horrible nightmares for the past couple of months, and I feel like I need to fix it somehow.

It started (or at least I noticed it, because I can be a very heavy sleeper) at Camp 1 in June.  She would yelp and cry from a deep sleep.  Sometimes she would jump up and run to a corner, snapping and growling.  I would go touch her and tell her to come get in bed with me, and she would cuddle up closely against me, sighing with relief that I was going to protect her from whatever invisible forces were threatening her.  The funny thing is, she never opens her eyes.  They remain closed during the yelping, the defensive posturing from the Scary Thing, and even when she comes and cuddles up with me, her eyes are closed the whole time.  So it’s almost like sleep-walking, or night-terrors, I guess.  Do people open their eyes when they sleep walk?  I actually don’t know.

So here we are two months later, and it happens almost every night, often multiple times each night. She has bitten me twice when I touched her during her dreams.  She bit me very gently, but last night she yelped and started growling and backing away from the cat, and I’m afraid she might bite a cat or worse, Noelle.  I just don’t know what to do for her, it makes me sad.  She is such a joyful dog all day long, and fearless, and then her sleeptime is so frought with fear.  I hope I can find something to help her through this.

She's Kind of a Big Deal.

Lottie and her new friend, Luke the Picard Shepherd puppy

Lottie blew me away at camp.  Not only did she pass her Dog Scout test, she also managed to get her badge for Obstacle 1 in Agility. I’m honestly having a hard time reminding myself that her sight is so limited, I find myself wondering if her sight could actually be improving?  I have to remember back to when I first met her almost 6 months ago, when she crashed into so many things, and watched the ground all the time, never looking up at me.  Now she looks up towards me, but it’s because we have worked to get her head up into that position with treats.  She still crashes into things when she is unfamiliar with an area.  And I’m finding as I work with having her follow my hand, that she is actually working off of scent and not sight.  But she sure fools me and everyone else into thinking she can see quite well!  Amazing, and a testament to resiliency.

So many things to write about Lottie’s progress at camp, and also about my progress in understanding her, I’ll likely be posting on this stuff for months.  I’m so excited not only for what she has learned and accomplished, but also for how little effort it took on my part to get her there.  I was teaching and managing five other dogs, so I didn’t concentrate on her like I would have liked, yet she still did better than expected.

I was concerned about her DSA test, since we didn’t make much progress by the end of the first camp in June, but by early in the week this time, it was obvious she would be able to pass.  Her “stay” at a distance of 20 feet was something that we worked on previously in classes and at the first camp without much progress, but it was like she suddenly understood what I wanted.  She is very adorable in a “stay” – just lying there, 20 feet away, waiting patiently for me to return. I’ll have to get a picture . . . . anyway, once she understood this, everything else fell right into place. She’s a very smart girl. 

LEAVE IT – I touch the top of her nose.

SIT – two taps on her rump

DOWN – two taps on her shoulder blades

STAY – I touch the front of her nose

COME – I touch under her chin, and then use the palm of my hand to guide her.  I realized that I probably don’t need to guide her with my hand, because I think she is tracking me.  She lowers her nose to the ground to follow me.

HEEL – she starts in a “sit” at my side, and then I use my hand at my side as a target as I walk to get her to follow at my side and turn with me.  When we stop, she sits.

The great and amazing thing Lottie did for me at this camp was to get her Agility Obstacle One badge.  To do this, she had to navigate the A frame, a jump, and a tunnel on the agility course.  She had learned to do the small A frame at the last camp, and she didn’t forget a thing in the 3 weeks between camps.  I took her out to the course, and she went right up the A frame like a pro.  So then I tried her on the larger A frame, but again, no problem.  Up and over.  Even managed to slow her down at the bottom to hit her contact zone.  The tunnel was easy.  She went right through if I sent Tango through first, but to get her to go through on her own I had Angela’s help.  Angela held her at one end; I went to the other and enticed her through with cheese.   Just a few times and she had that.  Then the jump.  Angela and I tried setting her up, telling her to stay, and then I would go to the other side of the jump and “call” her over with a chin touch signal.  She would come, but crashed each time into the bar, not even attempting to jump.  Then we tried her on a panel jump that had small stabilizing bars in front and behind the jump, on the ground about 6 inches out.  She seemed to key off of the bar on the ground, and leaped right over!  I added another panel, so that she was jumping about 12”, and she had no problem.  I need to get some PVC pipe to make a jump like this for home.  She is so amazing and brave. One night I took a shower in the lodge late, and had to navigate back to my camper in blackness.  It was kinda unsettling, feeling my way slowly across the yard in darkness, using my hands and feet to feel for obstacles in my way as I walked really slowly and carefully.  It struck me that Lottie must have times when she cannot see what is in front of her, and yet she never lets it get to her, she charges forward with interest and joy in everything new that is presented to her.  So often she is MY teacher, and not the other way around.

So now Lottie Moon is the first deaf/blind Dog Scout.  Next, we’ll have to get her to pass her Canine Good Citizen test from the AKC.  It is not as difficult as the DSA test, but similar, so it should not be any problem for her.  After that, Therapy Dog.  I understand that TDI has lifted their ban on deaf dogs, so we can now show them how awesome deaf dogs can be.

Resting with big brother Punch
right before going up to get her Dog Scout
certification.  One day she will have
lots of badges like Punch :-)

Seeing Into Light

I called my blog “Seeing Into Darkness,” which is from a poem by Lao-Tzu.  I liked the image of breaking through the darkness born of sightlessness, and helping to bring light into Lottie’s life, as well as my own, through her.  But recently I learned that Lottie’s vision difficulties might actually result from too much light!

When we were at Dog Scout Camp, I met an optomitrist who had recently helped a veterinarian design a vision test for a dog who had had cateract surgery.  She felt that Lottie probably has rods, and not cones, in her eyes, which would mean that she sees better in lower light.  She said that in daylight, things would look whited-out to Lottie, and that only high-contract, larger objects could be seen.  This totally makes sense to me, because Lottie gets very excited to chase shadows in the moonlight, and not so much in the sunlight.  She also seems to be able to see objects at a distance much better at night, as well.  She will alert and bark at trees or buildings at night, and ignore the same ones during daytime hours.  I can totally picture in my mind, too, what this “whited out” vision might look like for Lottie.  You know how on TV or movies when people have near-death experiences and they go to the light, and see dark pseudo-outlines of angels and loved ones who come out of the white light?  That’s what I imagine Lottie must see, based on my new knowledge.  Do I look like a dark angel appearing from the light to Lottie??? Maybe!!

So based on this, I decided to get Lottie Moon some sunglasses.  I figure that if daytime is too bright for her, maybe darkening things a bit might help.  I also would feel better when she is outside in bright sun light for longer periods if she had on some darkening glasses.  She is rarely outside in bright sun for very long, but if she is, I worry about her pale blue eyes and the sun damage that might result.  The first time it was ever a concern for me was at camp when we were out at the pond during the middle of the day.  So for camp #2, I bought her some Doggles.

We haven’t had much of a chance to play with them since they arrived in the mail this week.  I put them on her, and she flailed around a bit and tried to take them off, unless I distracted her with food.  We’ll try them again when we are doing something fun and exciting, like taking a walk, and get her used to them.  Regardless of how Lottie feels about them, I think they ROCK!  I got her the leopard design, which is ultra phat, and looks fabulous on her!

Dog Scout Camp!

We are back from Dog Scout Camp #1!  It was wonderful to spend 7 days with only my dogs to worry about, and as I expected, Lottie Moon had a wonderful time.  So many adventures, and yet, so many more in store for us next month when we return!

I was super-busy at this camp, since our Core Staff was short 3 instructors.  I taught my usual Agility classes, but without any assistant, so that alone kept me pretty busy.  Luckily, the campers were wonderful and working with them was a pleasure!  But it did mean that NONE of my 6 dogs I brought set foot on the agility equipment, except for Miss Lottie, who I brought out for a quick lesson our last day.  Of course, she was wonderful, and learned quickly to navigate and climb the small A-Frame.  I was so proud.  We’ll practice the large A-frame at the next camp!



Punch, Tango, Pascha and Lottie in
the fenced play-yard sand-pit



In addition to my Agility classes, I helped Chris with the new Trash Agility class.  This was pretty cool.  It is like Urban Search and Rescue Agility, designed to really test the dogs’ skill and balance and courage.  But Lottie must learn to master the large A-frame before she can attempt something this tough!

I also taught my expanded Animal Communication seminar, and we had a nice turn out of people interested in learning more about their pets.  And I did about a gazillion private readings for people, which I love because it gives me a great insight into the campers and their love of their dogs. 



Resting in the camper



Lottie "looking" for me
from the camper window!



So all my classes, and my work with Tango to earn his Wilderness Search and Rescue badge, kept me from spending as much time with Lottie and the others as I normally do, but the dogs all hung out in our new camper (which I love love love), and had frequent breaks to take a quick hike in the woods or go dock diving and play in the pond. 

Lottie wore her new backpack, which previously belonged to my friend Grace Stevens, who passed away a couple of years ago. Jill embroidered the pack to say “We Walk With Grace,” and Lottie looked great wearing it, and I like to think that Grace helped my little girl along at her first Dog Scout camp!  She walked 2 miles in her pack, and we will finish the final 4 miles next time so Lottie can get her Backpacking badge.

 

Right before her first swim . .  !

One of the other badges I hope to get for Lottie is the Puppy Paddlers badge.  To get this badge, she needs to learn to willingly swim out to me when I call her into the water.  She had a rough start at this camp.  I was with her on the dock one morning after our backpacking hike, and the border collies were swimming and dock diving, and Lottie was crazy excited, jumping around on the leash.  Well, she fell off the dock and into the water.  So she swam to shore beautifully!  Of course, she soaked her new “Grace” backpack, but I brought her back on the dock, praising her for swimming so skillfully, and she fell off again.  She really does swim nicely; she keeps her front feet in the water and doesn’t flail about in a panic like I’ve seen some new puppy swimmers do.  Later, we practiced walking into the water for a piece of cheese.  She would come in about 2 feet out, and about 2 inches deep, than even the cheese was not enough.  That’s okay, we made some progress and we’ll work more next time!







Resting in between walking and swimming!

We have a Talent Show every year, and I decided to enter Lottie.  She only knows a few tricks, but hey, she’s blind and deaf, so just a few is still impressive in my opinion!  I entered at the last minute, so I just put a fancy Freestyle dance collar on her and we went on “stage” and performed with our touch signals “Sit”, “Down”, and “Rollover.”  Although she does all three beautifully, she must have had stage-fright, or maybe just stage-excitement, because I had to pull out the cheese and bribe her to get her to perform.  But it was fun, and she went up and kissed Sandy the judge when she was finished, just to try and get some extra cutie-pie points!

We didn’t have a chance to work at all on our Dog Scout test, but Martha was nice enough to make some time for us the last day and we were able to check out on a few of the requirements for the test, and we’ll finish the rest of them next time.  We need to practice “stay” and “come” and “heel”.    I can’t wait to see Lottie in her DSA vest when she finally passes her test . . . . !

Driving home . . . .

I Wanna Be A Dog Scout

In preparation to pass her test and become a Dog Scout, Lottie Moon and I attended our first class in June. Kym Jarvis, owner of Anything Goes For Dogs, has graciously donated her time and wonderful facility to Columbus Dog Scouts prep class, and I was so excited to bring Lottie and work on her skills. Dog Scouts is a great organization, and that is my first big goal for Lottie, to pass her Dog Scouts test. For more info on Dog Scouts, go to http://www.dogscouts.org/






 
 

Lottie did amazingly well. This was actually the second class of a series of four, but I was out of town for the first one, so Lottie was working at a disadvantage to the other dogs. She did just fine, I was very proud. There were about ten other handler/dog teams there, all at different skill levels. We worked on sit and down, stay, and heel.  Lottie struggles a lot with "stay", but she is doing much better, and up to about 8 seconds and about 2 steps away from me. Kym had some good suggestions for us, and we discussed ways to work on her comprehension that "stay" will be for several minutes . . . seconds . . . nanoseconds . . . whatever! Seriously, she has really improved, and I know she will holding that stay just fine very soon. She's made so much progress already, and really, who wants to sit still when there is SO much to do?

Working on "heel" was interesting, as this was the first time we had tried this. Up to this point, we've just been practicing loose-leash walking. I've been concerned that she doesn't care how many times she bolts forward and crushes her laynex on her collar, she continues to do it. I switched her to a Easy Walk harness, and now she does much better. "Heel" means walk right next to me and follow closely, without leaving my side. That presents some problems for a blind dog. The trainer Trish suggested I teach Lottie to bump my leg with her nose while we walk, and I like this idea, that might be a way to get her to stick close to me. We'll work on some things and see how we do.







Lottie in her favorite position,
standing and "watching" the world from underneath me!