Working-K9: May 2007 Posts

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Home Again

I was abandoned. Left to fend for and worst yet, entertain myself for days on end. Ok so maybe it wasn't all that bad but after all this time of being at my humans side the separation was very very hard.

My human has been having trouble with her hip for quite some time now. Yes this is partly my fault and I know it. As a puppy I did drag her around and bump in to her a little too much but I didn't know any better at that time and I know my human doesn't harbor any blame towards me.

Well the day for her operation to fix, or to be more precise, replace, to replace that hip came. My human did everything she could to ensure I'd be well cared for while she was in the hospital. I had visitors stop in several times a day to feed, play with, and brush my fun. Oh how I love the brushings! Even Raine got to come over to play with me for awhile one evening, which was awesome.

Still it just wasn't the same around here without my human. I lost the urge to bark at the neighbor kids, or anyone for that matter. I didn't eat with as much vigor as usual, heck even the bird Pogo barely touched her seed. It was simply too quiet around the house.

Finally after 6 days of isolation I heard the familiar sound of my humans van pull up in the drive and I started to wiggle with excitement. First entered my humans' mother who quickly grabbed my collar and held me back as my human drove her scooter in the door. Once inside the house there was no way the mom could hold me back. I leapt and danced and pushed myself along side the scooter and cried with joy to see my human again and she was just as excited to me see! Though humans don't wiggle in the same cute fashion as us dogs. They need to work on that.

Now she's home. Things are better but not back to normal yet. She's still quite sore and isn't walking yet. I guess she isn't allowed to walk for several more weeks. I'm sure things will get back to normal once she's on her feet again, in the mean time it's just so nice having her home once again.

Oh and yes I have resumed my duties of home protection, patrol and barking at the neighbors.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Hot Dog

For those of you who don't know, I live in AZ, the Phoenix area to be a little more precise. It does get very hot here. Last summer it was 115 for a week straight and this summer is heading that way already.

Naturally people I meet on the street are always so concerned for my well being in this heat. It's kind of funny actually; they always offer me water and shade but never my human. I guess it's because I'm so darn cute. Of course my human always carries water and a bowl for me when we are going to be out in the heat for any length of time, she's a good human and always thinks of my wellbeing. I've trained her well.

I'd like to state now, for the record, that I'm an Arizona dog. I'm not as hairy as most Golden Retrievers, and I'm used to the heat. I handle it very well. Even the hot pavement on my feet is rarely a problem for me. In fact I've only complained once about the ground being too hot and my human was quick to get me off the pavement as I made my discomfort clear. On the days that we must go out during the mid-day sun I have paw wax that is used to coat my paw pads which protects my feet from the heat. Naturally the wax isn't something you can see on me like those little dog booties but it works just fine for me. I never would tolerate the booties. I chewed them up so fast my human didn't know what happened.

The lack of visible footwear has earned my human a few glares and stares from time to time but on one occasion she was actually yelled at by a passer by who simply couldn't mind her own business. It was funny in a way, after all I was fine, my feet were protected but not in an obvious way. Times like that I wish I could speak human. I would have gladly explained to the aggressive passerby that my human doesn't dress me, I help her get dressed! That would have put her in a place, or just really freaked her out to see a talking dog. It could go either way.

So if you ever see me out and about helping my human please don't think she's being mean to me by simply having me out with her. It's my job. This is what I do. I go where so goes no matter what. I can handle myself and I can take care of her. In return she takes care of me and does all she can to keep me comfortable and content.

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Yes, pet the cute doggie. Pleeease...

I look at you, you look at me. Our eyes meet from across the room. My soft brown eyes and sweet panting smile call to you... "Come, pet me. Come to me. I need to be petted. You can not resist me."

Ok I know this is not what a service dog is supposed to do, but I just can't help myself, and in my defense these humans seem to have little self control as well. It can be so boring when I'm out working with my human. Especially if she doesn't want or need me to do anything more than sit-stay or down-stay. Where is the fun in that? Is a little lovin' such a bad thing, really?

Normally when we are out in public I stick to my humans' side and behave very well, but I also start sending out the "pet me vibe" within moments of hitting a crowd. I know it's only a matter if time before I melt through the hustle and bustle of the busy humans activities and I'm noticed. That's when I'll smile sweetly, let my tongue hang out just a little; I've snared them in to my hypnotic gaze. I only need to wait a few minutes more before I'm rewarded for all my effort and receive a loving pat on the head.

Granted once one human has touched me all bets are off. I'm totally focused on locating the next weak... umm I mean soft hearted human to lure in.

There is a down side too all of this hard work. I stop paying attention to my human and I've been known to walk into the scooter when she makes a turn, or get a quick tug on the leash when she takes off when I'm not paying attention. Oh and apparently our outings get cut a little short due to my lack of attention on my human. "What, you needed me to fetch that? But I want to see if this person over here will pet me first. Oh look another person. Ya, I'll get back with you later mom!"

Friday, May 11, 2007
Poor Dog

I hear this all too frequently while I'm out working with my human. Generally those words are spoken when someone sees my human correcting me or oddly enough when she simply tells someone to not approach or pet me.

I'd like to set the record straight. I'm not a "poor dog". I'm actually a very lucky dog. Most Fidos and Rovers spend most of their day's home alone just waiting for their humans to get off work.

I spend my whole day with my human. Where she goes, I go. There are only a few times when I've been left home to fend for myself and I generally use that time to nap, patrol the territory and watch the neighbors from the living room window.

Most other dogs are only played with or worked with when the human has some free time. Often these dogs aren't given much if any formal training and those that are lucky enough to spend that much time in training with their humans still must sit home alone most of the day. Often these other dogs only get yearly visits to the vet for basic health checks and shots.

I on the other hand spend at least an hour a day in training with my human – these sessions are usually broken up in to 15-30 minutes intervals. Every time I get a runny nose or simply don't seem as perky I get a trip to the vet. Ok that part I'm not crazy about but I do appreciate that my human worries about my wellbeing that much. Heck when I had a nasty ear infection my human had me to the vet three days a week for treatments for several weeks until we got the painful infection knocked out. Gee it's a good thing I have no concept of finances, I'd hate to think what that must have cost. My human also keeps me fully vaccinated against everything, not just the basics.

You see my human needs me. If I can't do my job she suffers and I'm feeling pretty darn bad as well. I enjoy helping her and want to be there for her. It's my job and because of this job I am afforded extra care and privileges that most dogs will never know. So next time you humans are out in public and see a working dog on the job, please don't think we are poor or mistreated dogs. Rather try to understand that we probably get better care and attention than most dogs. Hee Hee.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007
A Morning with Kevinmiller

Kevinmiller came over for a visit, and he was good enough to bring his human along as well. Our little outing occurs on a somewhat regular basis. The humans hop in the scooters – my human has an extra scooter – and we dogs jog along side.

We walked for several miles this time, even darted across a few fairly busy streets. Apparently the humans wanted to view some artsy water fountains and architecture. Personally the sounds of the water falling and flowing made me want to pee. Crossing the busy streets didn't help any in that area either.

Stopping to pee isn't generally an option unless I make a big fuss so we continued onward through the city streets. Most of the trip was rather uneventful until we came across these very large, odd smelling creatures. No the humans weren't sweating that badly. I'm talking about horses. This was the first time I had ever seen a horse up close and personal. Borderline of way too personal – I wasn't expecting the horse to lean in for a sniff as I did the same.

Another horse approached Kevinmiller but he wasn't about to get as close as I did. He's a great playmate but a bit of a chicken.

We also came across many flooded yards on our walk. Flooded not due to rain, this is Arizona after all, but due to irrigation flooding used to water the lawns. The humans let us stop to cool our paws in the water. Kevinmiller took it one step further and splashed around like a kid in a pool. A very shallow pool but that's beside the point.

Once home again we rested but a bit as the humans parked the scooters. Kevinmillers human wasn't demonstrating his scooter driving prowess and crashed in to a few objects resulting in the toppling of several stacks of bird seed. Just can't leave these humans unattended for a moment.

He was good enough to re-stack the seed for my human. Kevinmiller and I supervised the work from the comfort of the sofa, naturally.

That's when it happened. My human got out the nail clippers! Oh how I hate to have my nails trimmed, but after being put in a tight hold and my belly rubbed I turned to puddy in his hands. Really, I couldn't have gotten any more relaxed. Kevinmillers human even bathed me which gave me the extra vigor I needed for another wrestling match with Kevinmiller before they both headed home.

Sunday, May 06, 2007
Blue Ball

This will seem a bit silly to all of you but when you have something you just love, you want to tell the world about it. I have such adoration for an object, my blue ball. Ok so maybe I'm a dog and I can't really see the color blue but that doesn't bother me. I love this squishy ball anyways. I love to chase it when someone throws it, I love to sit and chew on it, and I love simply carrying it around with me.

This ball was a gift from one of my human friends. My human has gotten many interesting and fun toys for me as well and while I do enjoy them, there is something about the irresistible allure of this ball that I simply can not ignore.

I often bring my ball to whom ever enters the house, not always with the intention of sharing it with them but to merely show them the ball. After all, it's mine and I don't always like to share. Sometimes even the humans can't resist the temptation to play with my ball; a little excess drool often solves that problem. Hee hee.

Is it the odd lumpy texture, is it just the right size, maybe it is simply the perfect balance of squishy that I enjoy ever so much. I can't really say. All I can say is that I love my blue ball!

Friday, May 04, 2007
I would walk 1000 miles

I am a high energy dog. I will probably always be a high energy dog. When I was a pup I had more energy then I knew how to handle and I would frequently explode with energy. These explosions would result in my running around the house at top speed; then out to the back yard for even more running back and forth; then in again before dropping to the ground for a short nap. My human called these little outbursts "Puppy Bursts". Kinda cute eh?

I admit I had little to no control over myself during these bursts. I simply had to run and my human had better get out of my way, which she did. *Gang way, coming through – no breaks!!*

As I matured I've mellowed out a tad but I still do suffer from the occasional burst of energy. My human says she doubts I'll ever really "grow up". Is being a puppy forever such a bad thing? I don't think so.

My human was quick to realize that I needed an outlet for all this energy and the best way to do that was with a few long walks. Every day my human hops in her scooter, turns the power up to full and we dart off through the residential streets and sidewalks. At first these walks were just around the block. When I'd start to lag behind she's stop and let me rest in the shade a bit before heading back home.

Over time the 2-3 walks a day became one or two very long walks a day. We don't just go around the little block anymore. No. We run (more like a brisk jog to me) for one and half to three miles without stopping to sniff or potty and I love it. We run across pavement, grass, rocks, dirt and just about any other surface you can come across. Whatever makes the trip more interesting for me. Occasionally I'll even get to run through a little water to cool my paws off if someone is washing a car or has the yard sprinklers running.

Apparently all this running on various surfaces also keeps the pads on my feet thick and rough which in turn protects my feet from the hot pavement in the summer months.

Not only have a lost some of the excess flab I collected during the cold winter months but I have excellent muscle tone. You can actually see my rippling muscles now. I'm in the best shape of my life and my extra energy has an outlet.

So if any of you other dogs out there are getting a little saggy in the tummy or wide in the rump, go grab your leash, track down your human and get out there. Apparently the exercise is good for humans too.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007
My own domain!

My human has decided that my little blog is worthy of a domain name! You know what this means right? It means I get to keep my blog and continue sharing my stories and experiences with all of you!

Welcome to my new domain. This is the new blog address where I will be posting all my new stories from now on. This site is still being built and added on to but I think it's coming on very nicely. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.