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!

Tango the Wonder Dog

I have to take a moment here to brag on Tango’s amazingness.  He didn’t get the nickname Tango the Wonder Dog for nothing!  For some reason I don’t quite understand, Tango has never liked Lottie.  Everyone loves Tango, including Lottie, but he has never warmed up to her.  And she wants so badly to play with him!  But he just tolerates her at best, and growls and snaps at her when he’s really annoyed. 

Tango and Lottie at Petsmart during my class



 But then last week – breakthrough!  We were in the bedroom, and I was getting ready for bed, when suddenly, Lottie went up to Tango and elicited play, and he reciprocated with a play bow!  Then not only did he allow her to jump on his neck, but he also rolled over on his back and let her nom on him!  They gently rolled and played so nicely together, it was heartwarming to watch, as I have watched poor Lottie try and try and try for months to make friends with Tango.

A few nights later, I watched another Tango/Lottie interaction, that made me appreciate my good boy Tango.  Lottie has been sleeping loose in the bedroom with us for the last month or so, with the exception of a few nights when she decides to bark at Tango sometime in the middle of the night.  Last night shortly after I turned out the lights, Lottie couldn’t settle down, and started barking at Tango.  He walked over to the bed, and looked deploringly at me, as if to say, “Please make her stop.”  I said, “Lottie, that’s enough,” which is silly because she can’t hear.  Of course she didn’t stop.  I said, “I’m sorry, Tango,” and just as I was going to get up and take her downstairs to her crate, Tango went over and slowly rolled over in front of her to let her nom on him.  It was totally like he sacraficed himself for the good of us all.  After a few minutes of gentle play, she settled down and went to sleep.  Yay Tango, that’s my good, good boy!

New Friends and Adventures

It’s been too long since I’ve written about my amazing puppy, but it hasn’t been out of boredom:  life has just been in the way.  However, through all of life’s trials and tribulations, I have still managed to enjoy my little Lottie.  She has been a busy girl.

Our dog park days at lunch are over for a few months, since the weather has become too warm to allow me to bring the dogs to work.  So Lottie has been going to my boarding kennel, Blue Sky Dogs, for puppy daycare, along with Tango and Pascha, the border collies, and Phoebe, the standard poodle.  Lottie adores Phoebe, probably since Phoebe is  the only dog who really seems to enjoy playing with Lottie. 

Phoebe and Lottie share a run during siesta time from noon – 5:00, Lottie has made new human friends in Kim and Lindsey, who watch the dogs and the kennel during the week.  And she has made lots of short-term and rotating friends with all the various dogs who come to stay at Blue Sky Dogs.  Lottie never meets a stranger, and loves all, so she seems to really enjoy her days at the kennel.

One Saturday I took Lottie with me when I went to visit my friend Nila, who is the manager at PAWS Animal Shelter in nearby Urbana.  Most dogs who enter a shelter are a bit overwhelmed and somewhat concerned with all the sights and sounds, but here’s another place where a blind/deaf dog has an advantage:  Lottie thought it was quite fun and had not qualms at all!

Lottie is more excited to meet this shy puppy than he is to meet her!

My Muse

I have always felt so driven to adopt Lottie. When I was contemplating, not whether it was a wise decision, but rather, how crazy it was, to bring a blind and deaf dog into my life, there were so many nudges and prompts from . . . the universe, spirit, God. I don't think I've ever been aware of such communication from the universe to myself towards a decision at the level that I saw as I contemplated Lottie Moon. Certainly there were no family, friends, or acquaintances that pushed me into this. Quite the contrary! I don't think there was a single person who told me, "what a great idea! You should do that!" My push to do this came from other intelligence, but came so strongly and repeatedly that I never really doubted my course. So I know that I am to have this amazing dog in my life, but I don't know yet why. I want to see what she is capable of, I want to see what I am capable of teaching her. I want to grow as a trainer, and as a human, as I learn about her and how to help her soar. I want to show the world that her handicaps are not handicaps at all. Why do I want to do these things? I have no idea. I want to write a book, and write her story, even though I don't know yet what her story is. But maybe I'm thinking too grand. Maybe I'm supposed to have her in my life simply because she is joyful. Simply because she adds love and laughter to my life. Maybe I think that she needs me, but really I need her. Who knows? Only time will tell.

Nylaboning

I thank God every day for Nylabones. I honestly don't know what dogs did for entertainment before they were invented. Every once in a while at Petsmart I run into a customer who says to me, "I bought my dog a Nylabone, but he doesn't like it." I'm amazed. Once I counted 28 Nylabones under my sofa. It was such a joyful party at my house when I pulled them all out and brought them within reach of all the dogs.

Everyone, I mean everyone, at my house loves the Nylabone. It's what they do when they aren't eating or sleeping. They Nylabone. Lottie is no exception. She fits right in. Her favorite pasttime is to Nylabone on the coffee table (my coffee table has a dog bed on it, what else would I use a coffee table for??). She likes to lie with her Nylabone by the edge of the table, and every few minutes she drops it on the floor, then jumps down, retrieves it and brings it back up on the coffee table for a few more minutes of Nylabone, before she drops and joyfully retrieves it again. She has added a whole new frontier to Nylaboning.

 

 

Living Light Out Loud

As I get to know Lottie Moon, I find myself asking, What does she really see?  What does she really hear?  What does she really experience?  How sighted is she, really?  When she first came home, she ran into a lot of stuff.  I wanted to get her a helmet.  When she was in the yard, she didn't stray too far from me or the other dogs.  She seemed uncertain about what and where the boundries were.  But within a week, I find that I have to remind myself that she is blind.  She manuvers throughout the house just like the other dogs.  She runs up and down the stairs and from room to room, with pure confidence.  Sometimes she still runs into me, but I move fast, and honestly, sometimes the other dogs run into me, too.

Tango making the Ugly Face at Lottie, telling her "get away from my tennis ball."  Does she get any message from him when he does this?  Does she sense his intent in some way?

 

When Lottie barks directly over and close to my shoe, I realized I could FEEL her bark, very strongly.  It was a rather harsh vibration that was localized in my foot, and went half-way up my leg.  With her heightened non-compromised senses, is this vibration what she feels instead of hears?  There are times that she seems to respond to my voice, since I talk to her just like I would any other dog, yet when I try to establish a hearing test for her, she fails miserably.  A click or shrill scream from right behind her ear produces no effect whatsoever.  I find myself wondering what does she feel, and also what does she hear and see in her head?  Does she pick up on energy and translate that into a usable navigation and communication sense?  I am fully aware of the amazing results of energy awareness and transference.  I know that I can "think" a thought and communicate that to my pets, and they can do the same for me.  The abilities of energy within the framework of the new work of quantum physics, and certainly beyond what we yet know, is mind-blowing.  It is this potential for energy awareness in a dog like Lottie that facinates me.  Because she is lacking in two senses, she must have heightened awareness in others.  And oh, how fun it is to imagine and wonder at the possibilities!