Sandis' Blog - Working-K9

Got mobbed, again

sandi@working-k9.com — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:48:07 -0700

Well I am too cute. I'm totally irresistible in fact. However tonight was not cool. Most of the kids were ok but a few were way over the line when it comes to service dog etiquette.

You see my human and I attended a pasta dinner fundraiser at a local church. My human wanted to go mostly to visit with some of the people she hadn't seen in awhile and in that regard the evening was grand. I even got to clean up the floor after the baby sitting next to us finished tossing his pasta around.

As long as I tucked up under the table all was good. The chaos that occurred happened as my human and I were heading out. We didn't get more than four feet from the table when the first family stopped us to say hi. No biggie, the kids asked if they could pet me and my human said yes. The toddler wasn't being terribly gentile so he was eventually removed.

Then the masses swarmed in. One kid kept talking and talking to my human and she tried to be polite but she had to watch me around the other kids as their numbers were growing. Some kids had food in their hands and my human had to stop me from taking it from them several times. She finally asked that they keep the food away. While all this craziness was going on one kid kept asking me to "shake" over and over and over again. My human let it go a few times but after I nearly took his plate of food and he started asking me to "speak" she finally had to put an end to it. Thankfully I don't know the command "speak", that's not the command word my human uses or I may have started barking up a storm.

With nearly a dozen kids grabbing me, petting me, tempting me with yummy food, yelling, screaming, talking and trying to command me it was total chaos and we were trapped in it for far too long.

Only one kid in the whole lot of them actually noticed my "don't pet me" patch. The rest just kept running up to pet me and grab me and hug me and tempt me with food. I got so worked up my human could barely hold my leash.

When we finally did break free, nearly had to run over a toddler, they followed us to the donation table, my human told me to "down" but the kids kept coming. They followed us all the way out petting me the whole way. We couldn't get them off till we got outside.

To read the fill archive of sandi's stories please visit the blog at www.working-k9.com.

Valley Fever

sandi@working-k9.com — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:10:17 -0700

My human told me to hold off posting this one for awhile so I did. In fact it's been 4-5 months since I was diagnosed with valley fever and for several months before then my human knew something wasn't quite right with me.

You see it all started with a limp and a sore leg. Normally valley fever starts with a cough. I just like to make things difficult by not getting the typical symptoms. So for awhile my human simply thought I twisted my leg and needed some rest. After resting a week I'd be fine, the after a few days of normal activity I'd be limping again.

We did that cycle a few times before my human finally called the vet to have me seen. She and I were both still hoping it was something structural like a torn ligament or tendon. The vet did his exam and as he got to my right elbow I squeaked in pain. So he ordered x-rays. They didn't show anything super obvious so he ordered blood work at which time I tried to hide under the bench my human was sitting on. Darn my big back end, I couldn't get hidden away well enough so they dragged me out for the blood test.

We were then sent home to wait for a few days until the test results came in. Sure even I tested positive for valley fever, I just didn't have it in my lungs, it was in my bones! To make matters worse I had it bad, very bad. Titer of 32 which is apparently very bad according to everyone my human talked to.

I was started on medication right away and I hate taking pills. My human has to give me the pill every 12 hours with food. Ok so the with food part I don't mind. Naturally I tried everything to not take the pill as prescribed. I hid the pill in the cheek, ate the yummys then spit the pill out; that's no as easy as it sounds when you're a dog. So my human put the pill in a tater tot, I ate the tot and spit out the pill. My human finally had to push the pill down my throat a few times and follow it with some treats to make sure I didn't spit it back up again. Still a managed to spit it out a few times and one a few occasions I was quick enough to step on the pill so she couldn't find it. Hee hee.

Of course when she did find the skillfully hidden pill she was never happy and would still make me take it. She's so stubborn like that. While on my medication treatment I'm also semi-retired from service dog work. I'm on light duty only because of my sore bones. In fact I think I'm starting to understand my human feels all the time. Oh my joints! Some days are better than other days and during my bad days my human is kind enough to keep Atlantis busy so I can rest. On my good days I still enjoy beating the tar out of the crazy pup.

I guess in a way the timing wasn't too bad. I'm semi-retired and Atlantis is starting to fill my shoes, paws, doggie booties.. ok not sure how that saying will work under these circumstances.

Atlantis isn't doing to bad either. She's really stepping up and is starting to pull her weight around here. Yes she's still crazy pup most of the time but there a moments she's model service dog material. I'll give her a B- for now.

A few days ago I went back to have my titer count rechecked. We were all hoping for some improvement but it didn't happen. I'm still at 32 and now the vet is increasing my medication and we are all hoping I can handle the new dosage with out any side effects.

Keep your paws crossed for me.

To read the fill archive of sandi's stories please visit the blog at www.working-k9.com.

Power Paws walk '10

sandi@working-k9.com — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:57:51 -0700

Yes the weekly weekend festivities have begun once again! This weekend was the power paws walk. I unfortunately didn't get to go this year. My human can't take both Atlantis and I to events like this, apparently we are quite the handful and as you know my human has small hands. So this year Atlantis went. She needed the outing and I enjoyed the peace and quiet at home.

Atlantis did get to see her half sisters at the event, Brea and Davidia. My human got to see her friends from the Arizona Goldens group. Atlantis came home with several bags stuffed with goodies and samples after using her puppy cuteness to win the sympathies and generosity of the vendors at the event. Yes I taught her well!

Atlantis even wore my backpack to the event. It didn't fit her quite as well as it needed to but it stayed on. She just needs to fill out more and gain a little more weight then it'll fit properly. You'd think her wearing my pack would bother me but you know; it didn't. I never liked wearing it anyways and if Atlantis wants to carry all the supplies I'm all for it. Takes a load off my back, literally!

After the event the humans and dogs wandered down the road a bit and found a nice sub shop to each lunch before heading home. Apparently Brea kept laying her head on Atlantis and Atlantis isn't fond of being a pillow for anyone or any dog so there was some kicking and shoving but not bad. Davidia, being the smart one, slid under the bench and away from her half sisters and all those human legs and feet.

To view some photos please Click Here

Whack-A-Pup

sandi@working-k9.com — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:02:43 -0700

It's probably my favorite game. One I have played with each and every pup my human has brought in to our home to watch or train.

It all started back when I was rather young and in the obedience classes at petsmart. Many of the dogs in class with me were smaller than I was and they were constantly in my face or chewing on my tail. This was totally annoying and something I refused to allow. So I started lifting my paw and with one quick and accurate swing I'd send the little pups tumbling away. It was great fun.

The tradition continues in to the here and now. I have evolved my technique a bit over the years. For starters I don't always use my paw anymore. Sometimes I simply use my rock hard skull. Other times I use tools like all you silly primates out there. That's right, even I can use tools and I'll use whatever is handy.

My favorite tools are the pups own toys. You see the pup thinks I'm gonna play with him/her. Then in a flash I snatch the toy from the pups grip and whack it across the head with the toy! This really confuses the pup and often the younger dog will stop and ponder the situation for a few moments which, in turn, gives me ample time to whack the pup again and again and again! Muhahahahaha Oh what glorious fun it is!

I don't wanna be clean

sandi@working-k9.com — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:27:06 -0700

"You smell like a dog". I hear this frequently from my human. Of course I smell like a dog, I'm a dog. While this is a very obvious fact to my human she still insists I don't need to smell like a dog.

This is an issue we've had since I first came to live with my human and is an issue I don't see us resolving any time in the future. The facts are pretty simple. I like to be dirty. There is nothing, other than belly rubs of course, better than a good ol' roll in the dirt.

I need my morning dirt roll; my after breakfast dirt flop; my post-nap tumble, my post-errand roll in rocks; my pre and post dinner dust baths and the all important just before bed gettin' down and dusty. Ok so there are probably a few more in there during the day but you get the idea of my average daily routine.

Once a month my human insists I'm cleaned and stay clean all day until the following morning. Oh it's horrible I tell you! For several hours all I can do is stare longingly out the window towards the dust-bowl of a yard as it yearns for my return.

Even when I'm let out to potty I'm supervised and my human will stand right next to me to make sure I remain in an upright position. She actually stands there and waits for me to relieve myself. I get no privacy.

Atlantis oddly enough doesn't seem to mind the whole bathing process. In fact she seems to actually enjoy it. She's either a total nut or just a suck-up. I haven't decided which is more likely yet.

Davidia

sandi@working-k9.com — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:40:09 -0700

Christmas time has come and gone and once again it was a time for puppy fun! This year my human and I celebrated the holiday with not only Atlantis but Davidia as well. I'd like to think I was in full control of the pups the entire time but with a one year old and a six month old running around I couldn't keep up with the perpetual motion and boundless energy of the pups. In fact I gave up rather early and let my human take charge.

She tried and actually didn't do to bad. The pups were a bit of handful even for her. Atlantis and Davidia, who is her half sister, didn't always play nice together. I didn't like Davidias' constant need to be in my face so I kept my distance and only played with Atlantis. So maybe the three of us did dash about the back yard a few times together but for the most part my human had to keep us all separate.

Feeding time was especially challenging. I get a little testy when food is being served, and that's putting is very mildly. Atlantis takes forever to eat and rarely finishes her food so I have to be kenneled while she's taking her sweet time at the food bowl. Davidia on the other hand became frantic around her meals and would inhale her food. She didn't even chew! So she couldn't be out while Atlantis ate or while I ate. I couldn't be out while either of them ate. To top it off my human only has two kennels so to keep feeding time friendly only one of us ate at a time and since my kennel was being used by and being peed in by Davidia, we'll get to that part later, I couldn't use it so I was often put in the pantry to wait my turn.

Now Davidia is young and a lot of her urination problems are due to her age. She tended to submissively pee every time my human approached her kennel to let her out. Wait let me rephrase that.. approached my kennel which Davidia was using. No worried about my kennel bed, my human did remove that before Davidia was dropped off. It didn't seem to matter how well my human controlled her fluid intake; the pup peed in the kennel and all over herself every time she was put in the kennel. My human spent a lot of time cleaning the kennel and mopping the tile floor. The pup wasn't allowed on any carpeted surfaces.

As long as my human monitored us all closely we all did very well together, even posed for a few photos. Dividia actually seemed to enjoy having her photo taken once she understood the stay command a little better. When all three of us did get along it was great. Atlantis and I still helped as per our service dog training and Davidia tried to mimic our tasks but didn't seem to really grasp the concept. That does come with time and maturity.

Once Davidia gains some of that maturity and better bladder control I know she'll be welcome to come and stay again sometime.