Less-Words Wednesday: Where Ya Been?!

It's been quite some time since I last posted (oops!) but that's not to say that nothing has happened since last November! Here's a brief synopsis of each month:

December:
Dash was very into Christmas, as you can see! His favorite gifts were a squeaky moose from Aunt Carol and Uncle Dave, and a HUGE bag of tennis balls from his cousins (my nephews) Case and Tyce. I don't know why I don't have a photo of the balls but trust me, by the end of the holidays, tennis balls were in every room of the house! 

January:

We rang in the new year with our family.  Dash loved waking up to his cousins!

Making sure nobody disturbed baby Tyce ... or two of his new tennis balls!

Dash and his favorite playmate, Case. Dash knows that Case is good for a game of fetch at any time! This may or may not account for tennis balls in every room of the house (bathrooms included!)

February:

This year Dash, my sister Julie and I spent our Valentines day with our Canine Companions for Independence family at the most moving graduation ceremony I've been to since I got Dash. Eighteen people were placed with their dogs - about half of which were children!

"Our graduation invites are here! Can we go?! Can we? Can we? Please!!!"

We are always thrilled to get a chance to visit with Dash's puppy raisers, Jim and Sandy. Dash most definitely remembers them and goes into full happy puppy mode whenever we see them!

March:

Unfortunately, along with so many others, I spent a good portion of February and March feeling pretty yucky. I was so thankful that Dash has such a mellow temperament and was more than happy to go into snuggle mode.

We did a lot of this!

See? Total snuggle mode!

Thankfully, I was able to recover in time to speak at the Making Miracles Happen fundraiser for Canine Companions! 

(Not the best sound quality, sorry!)

And last but not least, we celebrated Dash's birthday (and MLB Opening Day!) on March 31! The big 0-4!

A new squeaky toy from a co-worker. Believe me, the sad eyes are only because I stopped his play to get a picture! Kids these days...

April:

Hey, it's only April 2! But there's a lot on our calendar so stay tuned for more!

Can I Pet Your Dog?

It's a question they warned us about. It's a question we practiced answering. It's a question I really do get asked nearly every time Dash and I are out and about. 

Can I pet your dog?

And the answer is no. Or yes. Or yes, but under a few conditions. It's complicated. 

The reason it is so important to always ask before petting a service dog is that he is working. "Working," in a dog's case, means he is striving as hard as he can to listen to his handler - and only his handler - in order to perform the tasks asked of him. So, even when a dog appears to be just sleeping by his handler's side, he is actually in a down command, waiting for whatever might come next. When people other than the handler pay the dog any type of attention - from petting to puppy talk (baby talk for dogs!) to something as seemingly harmless as prolonged eye-contact (resist the power of the puppy eyes!), the dog's focus and attention on his handler is at risk. 

For this reason, every time I am asked this seemingly simple question, my mind races as I assess the situation before answering. I am taking into account things such as:

• Dash's current state. Is he in an easily excitable mood? Is he overwhelmed or tired? Or is he on his best behavior, ready to obey and respond only to me? 

• The atmosphere around us. Is it crowded and loud? Quiet and more intimate?

• The person who is asking. And how many people are around who also might want to get in on the puppy petting action.

• Whether or not I am in the mood/have the time to let someone pet my dog, which almost always leads to further conversation. (Just being honest!)

It's a simple sort of checklist but the answers to these questions are a combination of simple assessment and personal discression. 

If Dash is not in a state where he could handle getting extra attention without breaking a command or getting excited, the answer is no. 

If we are amidst a crowd or in a loud place, I know Dash is already working to keep his attention on me and mind his manners. The answer is no. 

If the person asking seems overly excited, I know Dash might pick up on this and get excited as well. In this case, the answer is no or yes, but with some guidelines. In cases like this I might attempt to diffuse some of the excitement by asking for the person to wait until Dash sits down and to please stop petting him if he breaks his sit. This works most of the time! 

But, if Dash is focused, we are in a nice environment, and someone politely asks to pet him, I'm fairly likely to say yes. I know he's adorable and hard to resist! And it gives me an opportunity to share about Canine Companions for Independence, Dash's training, and how he is such a great help to me. 

I also say yes to children almost without fail. That's why I couldn't resist when a darling girl and her daddy asked to pet Dash in BJs yesterday. I explained to them how Dash can pick things up for me, turn the lights on and off, open doors, and - what seemed to be most impressive in this case - how he only barks on command! What really made my day, though, was when that little girl's mama joined our conversation, her daughter was able to explain all of Dash's talents! Children are great at spreading the word about service dogs, and I've been impressed at the number of them that already have an understanding of a working dog. 

All that to say, I'm honored when people ask to pet Dash. I myself am tempted to drop what I'm doing on occasion just to give him some lovin' (and I do!). I wish I could say yes to people every single time. But I also love what Dash is able to do for me, and if saying no to people means keeping his focus, so be it. 

The History of Dash

Last Monday, Dash and I had the opportunity to speak to a local chapter of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The GFWC is an international women's organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service and has partnered with Canine Companions for Independence in supporting the Wounded Veterans Initiative. This initiative places CCI assistance dogs with injured service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Just like all of Canine Companions' dogs, they are given to the vets free of charge!

I really enjoyed meeting with the women of the General Federation of Women's Club and having the chance to speak on behalf of the North Central Region of Canine Companions for Independence.
Besides giving a demonstration of some of the ways Dash assists me on a daily basis and the four categories of dogs CCI offers, I also spent some time explaining the life cycle of a Canine Companions dog. I'd like to share about that life cycle again in this blog post - using Dash as an example, of course!


PUPPIES!
Along with all of Canine Companions for Independence's puppies, Dash was bred and born in California. CCI's breeding pool consists only of Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, so all offspring are either purebred or a cross between the two. People often assume that Dash is a pure black lab, but I'll let you in on a secret - his mama was a black lab but his papa was yellow! In addition to that, he also has some golden retriever in his bloodline. That's right. Dash is a lab/golden cross!

(Disclaimer: I apologize in advance for the poor quality of lots of the pics in this post. They are pictures of pictures from Dash's baby book that his puppy raisers gave me. Poor in quality, high in cuteness!)


PUPPY RAISERS!
At about 8 weeks of age the pups are taken to CCI Headquarters in Santa Rosa, California. From there, they are shipped all over the country to meet their respective puppy raisers! Puppy raisers are amazing people who are responsible for not only caring for their pups, but also for teaching them 30 commands and socializing them to as many sights, sounds, smells, textures, people, animals, and everything else there is as possible. Dash was raised by a wonderful couple named Jim and Sandy in Pennsylvania. Dash was not the first dog that Jim and Sandy raised - in fact, they recently turned in their seventh puppy, Montego, for Advanced Training!

Jim & Sandy with itty bitty baby Dash!

This is Dash in his first training cape. CCI dogs-in-training wear yellow capes/vests. 

In his big boy yellow vest. On the puppy raisers' list of things to introduce the dog to is a mascot. Check that off the list!

Once the pups-in-training are of age, they are turned in at the matriculation/graduation ceremony. More on that in a bit!

ADVANCED TRAINING!
After about 18 months of growing and learning with their puppy raisers, the dogs go to one of 5 regional CCI training facilities for advanced training, aka "doggy college"! Dash was sent to the North Central Region which is in Delaware, Ohio. In advanced training the dogs learn commands they would use as working dogs such and turning light switches on and off and pulling doors open. 

I know Dash is one of these, but I couldn't tell ya which one! (I could tell you which one he isn't, though!)

It is also at this time that some dogs may be dismissed from the program for any number of reasons such as health issues, fear, aggression, or just a lack of desire to work. In fact, about 60% of all the dogs are released from the program! These dogs are referred to as "change of career" dogs and either return to their puppy raiser family or a friend of the puppy raiser family who has a bond with the dog, or can go to someone on the long waiting list of people who would love to have one of these beautiful dogs. Once a dog is released from the program it becomes a typical pet - at least a typical pet who knows about 30 commands! I've noticed that many change of career dogs go on to be therapy dogs of some sort.
Advanced Training lasts for about 6 months, at which point the dog has the opportunity to be placed with its forever person in Team Training!



TEAM TRAINING!
Team Training is a two week time period where those people who have waited faithfully for their service dog come to one of the 5 training facilities to learn how to work with the dogs and be paired with the ideal dog for each person. I waited for three years before I got the call that I had a spot open for me in Team Training! In a future post (or series of posts), I will recap my time in TT.

Tamale was one of the dogs I worked with in our Team Training class.  Tamale ended up with a nice guy named Tom.

 Pay attention, Dash! 

Our class ended up with 3 black labs, 5 yellow, and 1 golden retriever! (Labs or lab-golden crosses, that is!)

GRADUATION/MATRICULATION!
The grand finale of Team Training is graduation day, which is also turn-in (matriculation) that I mentioned earlier.  This is such a special day! Each graduate gets to meet and have lunch with the person who raised their puppy, and then during the ceremony the puppy raisers hand the leash over to the new graduate. It is a powerful moment for all involved. Two dreams are fulfilled on graduation day: Puppy Raisers the dog they raised graduate, and the graduates get their wonderful service dogs!

This was the moment Jim & Sandy handed me Dash's leash at graduation!

This is Montego at his matriculation ceremony. Dash and I attended to cheer him on and cheer Jim & Sandy up as they said goodbye to this beautiful pup. As you can see, matriculating dogs get to wear a cape of honor for the event - out of the yellow but yet to have an official service dog vest!

LIFE!
This is the stage we are in now. Dash does life with me - accompanying me almost everywhere I go. My life is only better for having him - independence, confidence, and joy are but a few of the gifts Dash has helped me to gain.
My hope is that Dash will work until he is an old man dog. Each dog is different, but eventually service dogs retire into pet-dom. With monitoring, a Dash's retirement (hopefully) can be predicted, at which point I will reapply for a successor dog. Successor dogs are usually provided within about six months of application, because Canine Companions knows that once a person lives with a service dog, living without is a real challenge.

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Just a reminder, Dash and I are participating in this year's Canine Companions DogFest Walk 'n Roll, the signature national event of Canine Companions for Independence. If you are in the Cleveland area, join us on October 20th from 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Volunteer Park in Strongsville. Click here for details! If you would like to sponsor team Dash, click here!

Dash does the CLE

On occasion I will get asked how Dash's training is going. My response is always slightly awkward. On one hand, Dash graduated from Canine Companions for Independence's Advanced Training with me in May of 2012. On the other hand, we are always doing routine training in order that he maintain obedience and sharpness of skill. I am also able to teach him new commands as needs arise.

In the past year of being teamed with Dash I have really learned the importance of keeping up with this regular practice. When I don't, Dash tends to grow sloppy with commands or even begin to forget one if we haven't done it for a while. I have also noticed that Dash has begun to get a little too excited when he sees another dog. I'm not trying to place blame but I blame that on this little lady and her sister:

Elsa and Dash. Not Pictured: Jorie

I realized that because Dash gets to play with the girls across the street every few days and is rarely under command when he's around them, he began to think that all dogs equal play time! In order to combat this thinking I decided on two things. 

First, Dash has started practicing his commands in the presence of his best buds. He maintains a sit or down until he is released, and he must still be obedient in the midst of play if I give him a command. If he breaks a rule, play time is over - at least for a few minutes. 

My second action point in getting Dash back on track was to join up with the local Canine Companions for Independence puppies in training on their next day out!  As luck would have it, I actually got an email inviting us to the next event the very day after I decided on inviting ourselves!

With much anticipation, Dash and I readied ourselves for a day trip into Cleveland via the RTA Rapid Transit. This was an adventure for both of us as I had never used Cleveland's public transportation. I decided to invite my best friend Forth to join us in meeting up with 8 pups in training and one other graduate service dog. (Note: blog post to come on the life cycle of a Canine Companions for Independence dog!)

Dash did just as I expected he would as we arrived at the RTA station and located a few puppy raisers; forged ahead a bit in anticipation of an excitable greeting with these new friends! With a quick correction and a moment of sitting, Dash  regained his composure. I began to worry that this might be an even bigger challenge than I expected, but have no fear - that was Dash's one and only fault for the day. After a few gentlemanly sniffs to greet the others, my guy knew it was all business from here on out. 

Once our group assembled we got ready to board the train. It was quite a sight to see so many dogs on one train, and everyone did great! Within a few moments we had arrived at our destination, Tower City. 

Patiently waiting for the train

We made it!

Because some of the pups are still on the younger side, we took a few moments to *ahem* step outside. This not only gave the dogs a chance to take care of business, but also was a good opportunity for exposure to some new sights and smells for the pups in training. Since Dash has already experienced a lot of these things, we just hung out a bit, talked with a few people who were intrigued by our entourage, and enjoyed the sunshine!

Big dog, little city

Eventually it was time for lunch at Cleveland's Hard Rock Cafe. Our group was seated on the patio and the staff went above and beyond in serving our group, including giving each dog its own water bowl! Once again, everyone was pleased with their dog's performance- staying neatly tucked under a table, and not eating any delicious morsel that may have been dropped.

(Side note: leaving food is a CCI standard that puppy raisers begin to enforce at a young age. A popular challenge in the past few months is the kibble name game. Check out Dash dominating)

The grand finale of our day was a short jaunt to the casino- sure to have distracting sights, sounds, and perhaps even smells to challenge the pups! Now, I'm not much for gambling but I saw a new side of Dash! 

Game face!

Thankfully I was able to talk him down before he blew through his savings! What a sad example for the puppies!

Eventually it was time to head back. Our trip home was a bit more eventful with some real characters on our train. We even got serenaded! 

By the end of the day all members of our party were worn out, but none more than these guys: 

The Day that Dash Taught Math Class

Today Dash and I had the opportunity to speak to a high school math class about what it is like to have a disability and how a service dog can be such a life enhancer!

You may wonder why we were invited to a math class, of all things. Well, does this answer your question?

Probably not. So I'll explain! It just so happens that my best friend Emily is a teacher at the high school and her math class has been learning about the PythagoreanTheorem and as a real life example they used it to determine the proper length of wheelchair ramps! Pretty  clever, eh? The math lesson (including this fabulous illustration) lead to a conversation about disabilities and service dogs, which eventually lead to an invitation to visit!

Dash was on his best behavior, laying under a table while the students filed in and waiting patiently while I spoke about living with muscular dystrophy. Finally it was Dash's turn to show off!

Dash jumped up as soon as I called him over, giving me a snuggle and then handing me his leash which had been hanging off of him. While Dash sat next to me and the class had a chance to marvel at how handsome he is, I took a few minutes to explain a bit of working dog etiquette.  I stressed the importance of not distracting a service dog by petting it or offering it treats. Then Dash demonstrated picking up a pen and a credit card, and then doing an "up" on the table to do a mock store transaction. As the piece de resistance Dash flipped a light switch off. I was very proud of how well he did everything. He always does bit it can be nerve wracking with all those people watching (for me more than Dash, I think). 

The students asked some great questions about whether Dash would protect me if I was attacked (nope! I'm the leader in our relationship, ergo I am the protector!), to if he had to have his leash on at home (no way! He's basically a regular dog at home!). 

As class ended a few kids got to shake Dash's paw as they left. True to form, Dash tried to sneak a lick almost every time. Not ideal but overall he did a fantastic job today. We enjoyed our time and hope to have more chances to share with others soon!