Another leg for Juno, and Kaline's first trip to a trial

Yesterday was Kaline's first Gotcha Day—I've had him a whole year, which is pretty unbelievable—and we went to a Rally trial for Juno with friends Mary, Marissa, and Kristin. I brought the big purple pop-up crate for Kaline to chill in, along with his breakfast and a Bento ball with an actual cookie in it. (Usually Kaline finds the Bento ball so fascinating on its own that I don't bother with the cookie.)

As you might have guessed, Kaline was absolutely not interested in the diversionary things and whined a lot in the crate. Juno was her usual excellent self. It was fantastic getting to meet Mary in real life, and both the dogs quite liked her also. Juno even favored her with a kiss, which is big coming from her. It was really nice to have a friend there that one dog could stay with while I did things with the other. And Mary took a bunch of fantastic photos of both dogs, but mostly the gorgeous Juno.

I tried to do things better than last time, given it was the same venue. We got a much better course, full of things that Juno is fairly good at, and sans broad jump. (YAY!) It was overcast, so I could warm Juno up in a figurative sense without really doing it in a literal sense. And for actual SD work, I had Kaline there, so Juno didn't have to worry about that.

Well, we again had jump issues, since on the first pass Juno decided to cut around the jump rather than go over it. Not knowing that you're not supposed to repeat a jump (I learn new things at every Rally trial, and always because I've done something incorrectly, haha), I got her back and had her take it properly. We lost ten points right there, but only one point on the entire rest of the course! So I was really happy with that. All four of the dogs who got ribbons for Advanced B got scores of 100, how insane! First through fourth was decided based on speed. An awesome toy poodle got second. All of us sitting together were commenting on how nice it is to see a little dog that's treated like an actual dog. All of us with dogs competing in Advanced (me, Kristin and Marissa) got legs! WOOHOO!!!

Once Juno was finished, I left her to hang out with Mary, got Kaline vested, and decided to do a circuit of the trial. I had had him out a few times already, just in our area, and had no issues from anyone regarding his prong collar. (Prong collars may not be worn at AKC trials—unless your dog is a SD and it's part of his working gear.) That changed toward the end of our circuit, the rest of which went pretty well. Kaline apparently has more trouble ignoring single dogs than ignoring an entire area full of dogs.

Anyway, we had just spotted our Doberman friend, Sue Korp, and her lovely bitch who has All The Obedience Titles. As we went to say hi and chat a bit, a woman with an Airedale came up to yell at me about Kaline's prong collar. I didn't even let her finish her little diatribe, continually cutting her off with, “He is a service dog. He is not competing. The prong collar is part of his normal working gear.” (I wasn't going to get into the nuances of SD vs. SDIT with her, considering that in California, it doesn't really matter.) I was getting pretty worked up but not too  badly, because I had expected someone, at some point, to do exactly what she was doing and had prepared for it. Kaline was doing really well, standing in a block in front of me, between me and the yelling woman.

So I reached down to stroke him reassuringly and tell him he was a good boy. The Airedale woman gave him a disdainful look and said, “Can't be much of a good dog if he's in a prong.” That hurt, big time. I'm proud that I didn't cuss her out, or say something stupid, instead responding that my tools are my business, not hers. But you don't hear from a stranger that basically you have a terrible puppy and not feel totally like crap.

We immediately came back to the area with our friends, where Kaline parked himself on my lap/against my chest for most of the next half hour or so. He'd get off momentarily but then he'd be right back up. Such a good boy. And later, Sue came over to chat and say that the Airedale woman was over the top. She said that nationals for Rally are in Pomona this year—bad half of California, but still, West Coast! Maybe we'll figure out a way to go. It's in October, so we have time, and it'd be fun to see Sue's wonderful bitch strut her stuff (somehow at Rally I never end up finding time to go watch regular obedience).

During Rally Novice, a nice woman and her elderly mom came over to us to talk SDs—the mother is training her next mobility dog, a pretty smooth collie. She asked about Kaline's Petjoy harness vest, probably my favorite piece of gear besides our BLD, and I got to evangelize about all its wonderful qualities and how nice the company is to work with in general. It was such a nice, friendly, happy note to end on, rather than Airedale woman.  

After crashing away the whole afternoon with the pups, Kaline and I accompanied Mom to Stanford for a quick outing (Nordstrom and Macy's near closing time). Kaline's fear of elevators is all gone and he's blocking properly again in them. He was really accurate with all the buttons, and is mostly using his nose now instead of his feet because he is SO DELIGHTFULLY TALL. TALL, I TELL YOU. He (mostly) ignored three other dogs at the outdoor cafe where I got some tea, and was just a lovely boy all around. Everyone upstairs at Macy's gathered around him to fawn over him and his beautiful silky ears. They were super nice and asked all the un-intrusive, fun questions.

Let's see, other highlights from my undocumented week. At our last session with the tdoc, Kaline was fast asleep until I started to talk about the access challenge we had in Pennsylvania. Then he woke up and laid his head in my lap for a while. Win. We've been practicing retrieves, and he's done pretty well with different materials including metal.

Last Thursday, Juno and I got to go with Sonja and Chief to the JCC in Palo Alto to talk to a class of preschoolers about service dogs. That was super fun!! Normally I'm very afraid of small children, but the teachers had prepared them extensively for the visit, and of course Sonja took the lead in talking to them and doing demos. They were really well behaved and just fascinated by the dogs. Chief demonstrated opening a cabinet and retrieving Sonja's medicine pouch, as well as going to a target with people around it (foundation for going to get help). Both dogs did regular retrieves, and then we showed the kids how the dogs can “undress” us. Then we let each kid put one of our gloves on their hand (their tiny hands were swimming in our gloves!) and one or the other of the dogs would come and tug it off! They were totally enchanted. I hope we get to do something like that again soon! I can't wait to take Kaline and see how he does. He will definitely have fun—Juno tolerates and is very quiet with children, but Kaline just loves them.

Juno's other big outing was going to the Giants game against the Padres (extra innings, of course) with me and Dad for Dad's birthday/Father's Day. Mom and I chipped in for really good tickets on the club level. Junebug was excellent, natch. Our usher was so proactive in looking out for her—anytime someone wandered near our row, she'd jump in and go, “Find another way in, there's a dog here.” We were right below the broadcast booths (TV and radio) and got to wave to the broadcasters during the seventh inning stretch. Lots of fun. Unfortunately we had to leave before the game ended; with a SD, my general policy is not to stay past the end of the 11th inning at Giants' games. (A's games, I can leave the scorebook with Dad and get my dog out for a pee break if I have to, so we can stay later.) The game went thirteen innings and we lost, but hey, a fun night anyhow!

We're planning to go to the Pride Parade in SF this weekend. Juno will be in charge of that, and then Kaline will be on-duty for Dad's birthday dinner that night. 

Baseball! and update

Last night, Juno and I went with Sonja, Chief & Co. to the Giants game! It was a night game, plus ballgames require very long down-stays, so I figured it would not go well to have Kaline. Well, the temperature at least would've agreed with him. It was absolutely lovely out at the park. Juno was incredible as well—I was so glad to be with her.

During the game, Juno curled up so tiny and silent behind my legs and under the seat that no one in our section except for the fan right next to me knew she was there—until I got her up during the seventh inning stretch and told her to “shake off.” Chief charmed everyone, because he is so freaking adorable! He was an extremely good boy.

Something about being with Sonja gets Juno to do her best with momentum pulling. She doesn't even require a target (which she does if we're with family), just Sonja's presence. It's bizarre but I'm not gonna complain. After the game, when I really needed the pulling cause I was stiff and sore from sitting, Juno pulled magnificently! I was so thrilled! It makes me super excited for our BLD, since maybe because it's so comfortable, she'll want to pull more.

Juno was great in the crowds, as always, great with her blocking on the elevator (which is so much fun, because usually I end up with the singing elevator operator). She is such a wonderful girl, a perfect baseball buddy.

Kaline has been doing well also. He came to a lunch with some family friends, who pretty much never see me working him—I always take Juno to their house. He was perfect. It was funny: the under-table space looked very uncomfortable, so I set him up next to the table instead; but he would not settle until I put his mat behind my legs and told him “under.” Once he was in Proper Service Dog Position he immediately settled and didn't move until it was time to go. Attaboy.

He also had his best movie-settle ever. Friday we did the last Hitchcock double feature and during the first film, Psycho, he had one tiny pop-up. Just one! I was beyond thrilled. He was more fidgety during The Birds, but you gotta have reasonable expectations for an energetic adolescent. His blocking in the crowded lobby was excellent. He stood in front of me and just kept watch, not sniffing people or trying to stare at them and solicit attention. Though we do still have a lot of work to do with The Stare. He stares at dogs because he's interested, but it's rude and some dogs can see that as a challenge—that's problem one. Usually taken care of with a leave it and if necessary a correction. Problem two is him staring at people, generally because he wants to keep watch, but humans interpret it as an invitation to pet or distract him in other ways. A bigger problem, because strange humans are nearly impossible to train!

We had a huge windstorm the other night and Kaline seemed to be completely unbothered by any of it. Another plus.

This coming weekend, the Tigers will be in town to play the A's. Juno is going to the night game, Kaline to the two day games. I am hoping against hope to somehow run into Al Kaline and get to introduce him to my little Kay. Either way, we will have a great time. I love taking Kaline to baseball events, because many fewer people give me blank stares when I tell them his name.

We are some tired puppies

I would've written yesterday, since it was a big day in the Life of Kaline: His very first day out with all the other dogs! But Dad, Juno and I ended up at the Giants game, which went extra innings ... so yeah, I needed sleep.

The first walk yesterday was with Teddy and Wilson, in Wilson's neighborhood. Poor Teddy had to be the buffer between the babies. Kaline is used to that walk, with multiple dogs, so that wasn't really much of a milestone. He was even kind of naughty. He and Wilson ratchet up each other's naughtiness. That's why I like Freddie's Saturday class as opposed to the usual puppy class (though, of course, if there was a Play & Learn happening now, we'd SO be there). Kaline isn't around a ton of other unruly puppies like himself, he's with a wide variety of dogs, most of whom are calm to one degree or another.

The second walk was the big deal—the five-pack going from The Willows neighborhood through downtown Palo Alto. Here, Kaline met Jett (Swissie), Max (McNab), and Xena (black Lab). I stuck the little man in the very middle of the pack. Juno and Max, my old hands, go on the outside, Xena and Jett on the inside.

Max fixed Kaline's backseat craziness in a quick second, by the way—this is why he's my No. 1 puppy wrangler. Kaline was romping about with Xena, which obviously is not very appropriate for the backseat of a car. I popped Max in there, he let out one or two really ugly sounding growls, and voila! Peace and quiet.

The walk went fairly well, for it being Kaline's first time. He had to be reminded about sitting when we stop (quite understandable), and forgot his manners a little at the flower shop, where all the dogs get treats (he jumped up to get the biscuit instead of staying in a sit). But he stayed in line with the other dogs, for the most part, and didn't lick Xena too excessively. Oh, who am I kidding, he was washing her ears every chance he got. She doesn't mind though, and well she shouldn't, considering she used to do it to everyone.

Juno did amazing at the Giants game. I almost made Dad leave early, and if you know us, you know that's freaking insane. We do not leave baseball games early, ever. But the game went so crazy long, and even though Juno wasn't really showing signs of her bladder exploding, I was worried about her because of her apparent early-onset incontinence. (The vet initially agreed it was a UTI, but then a culture showed no evidence of such, so the current conclusion is a bit of incontinence. Keeping a more rigid schedule of pee breaks seems to have this well in hand.)

However, being inside a ballpark with no in-out privileges kind of puts a crimp in the rigid schedule of pee breaks. It had been almost 7 hours since Juno's last chance to pee. And if Brandon Belt hadn't flied out to end the game when he did, we would have left before the end of the game. As soon as we got outside, we went to the handy gravel across the street and Juno immediately did No. 1 and No. 2. Good dog. 

Juno at the ballpark.

Her pulling on the harness was decent before the game (could've been better), but afterward was excellent. Fabulous even. I'm curious about why ... does she know that pre-game, basically we're practicing, and that post-game, I really need it? Or is she a doggie version of barn-sour, where she's just excited to go back to the car? The world may never know.

The barking when the dogs are together has gotten pretty ridiculous, so we've got a couple different things to try. First stage, removal of whichever dog instigates the barking (usually Juno). If that doesn't work, Binaka, sprayed in the mouth of the instigator. Last resort, e-collar for precisely timed corrections. So far this evening, Juno has been removed three times. It seems to be working, knock on wood.

Kaline and Juno went on a sort of training walk this morning to the park, which went okay. Juno did a lot better than her wee brother; he was just so distracted. We did a pack walk with Gracie, Baxter and Jett. (Just FYI, if Jett is on a walk, we go to downtown Palo Alto.) Kaline looked so cute between the two yellow Labs. For now at least, the very middle is a perfect spot for him.

Junebug did fabulous jumping today at training—three jumps all in a row, almost like flyball! Kaline obviously can't do that kind of thing. We did lots of handling with him, Kumbayayas, and worked on stand.

Kaline, Juno and Teddy during Kumbayayas.

One week to Kaline!

Kaline will be here in just seven days! Brown-collar puppy, now wearing a brown and blue collar, is for sure The One. I am so excited! He's super sweet and pretty sure of himself, which I love. The puppies met Maura's potbellied pig, Stella, this week, and Kaline went right up to her to check her out. The little red girl ran away when she realized how big Stella was, but Kaline was just cool. He and the red boy are both unfazed when they go exploring and find themselves without their siblings. I guess the others don't really like that.

I'm guessing this is before Stella was let out; all the pups going, “WHOA, what is that?!”

Handsome red boy, Wilson, in the yard with his black sister, Olive.

One of the black boys approaching Stella.

Puppy pile on a young friend! Kaline has been quite calm and friendly meeting all kinds of strangers. WIN.

More introductions to Stella!

Juno has had a busy week! On Wednesday, we went to the Giants game, likely our last of the season, and if you're a baseball fan, you know that Matt Cain pitched a perfect game that night! (If you're not a baseball fan: In a perfect game, the pitcher allows no baserunners. No hits, no errors, no walks, no dropped third strikes. NOTHING.) It was amazing, and Juno handled everything with her usual no-sweat attitude. She got to watch the game a little (we had several empty seats around us) and otherwise slept through pretty much everything. She worked the crowds like a champ.

Juno at the perfect game—“What do you want me to watch you for? I'm watching the game!”

She also got to go to a couple new pubs (new to her) to watch some Euro 2012 games. One was the Rose & Crown, where my friend Ben and I watched England play to a 1-1 draw with France. That one wasn't too crowded, but when the goals were scored, it got fairly loud. Then on Wednesday afternoon, we went to Rudy's for the Netherlands-Germany game. Rudy's is the local pub where all the Dutch fans gather to watch their team, so Rudy's was packed wall-to-wall with crazy people in orange. (Yes, I too was a crazy person in orange, though sadly I am not Dutch.) Juno, who had just been on two hour-long walks, sacked out under the bar with Ben and me standing behind her, guarding her paws from wayward human feet. Lots of loud noise, crowding, food everywhere—no big deal for Junebug!

Juno at the Rose and Crown.

It's been really hot here lately, so much so that Juno has been dancing about uncomfortably on pavement, so today I got her Ruffwear Skyliners—dog booties. She pranced hilariously when I first put them on her, but I think they will really make a big difference. Yet another small proof of global warming: Juno has never, ever had this issue with pavement before, even in summer. This year, it's hot enough around here that her paws are hurting and her nails were getting ground down to an uncomfortable point. But not anymore! Yay booties. I also got her some ointment for her pads.

We picked up Kaline's puppy food (Royal Canin), one of the last things I need for him. I also got him a Zoom Groom, cause they've been highly recommended and I certainly can't use a Furminator on him. (Juno, on the other hand, has been Furminated nearly every day in the past two weeks, and the amount of hair that's still coming out of her is absolutely preposterous.) I'm sure there'll be more things I have to get for him—dogs are 'spensive, jeez!—but I think I'm as prepared as I can be for now!

Outing to the San Jose Giants with GDB pups!

Yesterday Juno and I went to see the San Jose Giants (Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants) with my dad and my friend Julie, and her guide dog Honda. It was so much fun, not just because of the baseball, but because we got to tag along with the Mid-Peninsula Puppy Raiser Group for Guide Dogs for the Blind!

It's kind of a funny story, actually. I've been a huge fan of the YouTube show Growing Up Guide Pup, for a while. Then when I was out walking dogs several months ago, I ran into a guy walking three or four dogs of his own. And two of them looked so familiar ... Suddenly I realized that two of the dogs were Ricki and Eli from the show, and the guy walking them was Matt Chapman, one of the show's creators! It was so cool! I of course was all full of hero worship and probably couldn't really talk coherently, but Matt seemed quite pleased that I was such a big fan.

From that, and through Facebook, we were able to set up a fun dinner meetup with Amie and Matt (and of course their new puppy, Pilaf!). Juno was in her temporary retirement at the time, so we went to a restaurant with dog-friendly outdoor seating. It was great fun getting to talk to them, and especially get puppy-raising tips for Kaline.

We kept in touch on Facebook and they knew I definitely wanted to do more meetups, especially since Juno got her sight back. When I picked up a Brian Wilson gnome at the Giants game with Danny, it was a great excuse to get together—Matt really wanted one, and I find gnomes creepy, so I was glad to get it off my hands! And the baby Giants game was a perfect time to do the handoff. Not to mention a great opportunity to do an outing with Julie and Honda.

The group had reserved rows right at the top of the little stadium, one of which was in the shade. The majority of the puppies were up there, out of the heat. We went to the barbecue (one of the best barbecues you will ever taste, I highly recommend it!) so we ended up in one of the sunny rows. Luckily, Julie and I had brought a towel and mat respectively for our dogs to lie on, and kept them well cooled with water and ice cubes. And when we were able, we moved up to the shady row.

The puppies were absolutely amazing. They ranged in age from pretty little (I think the lone black Lab, Adidas, was about five months old) to about a year old, I think. Everyone but Adidas was a yellow Lab, my favorite! Pilaf was there, naturally, so we got to schmooze with Matt and Amie, who were very gleeful to meet Julie and Honda. The other puppies were Andretti, Skittle, Felicia, Mecca and Blake. They were so cute, and they all just chilled out under their raisers legs, some of them working on Nylabones, some just lying there. Gigante, the mascot, came by, and rather than being afraid, little Felicia enthusiastically licked his hands.

I hope my little guy can behave as well as these puppies when he's five months old! Bravo to all puppy raisers—they are fabulous, amazing people who provide a tremendous service. They put so much love and effort into these puppies, knowing that if all goes as planned, they'll have to give them up. I really hope I get to do more things with this group—they're such fun! Wish I had pictures, but with all the dogs staying in the shade behind legs, it wasn't exactly the best photo op. Oh well!

Juno in the city

Yesterday, after Danny, Juno and I went to another Giants game, we decided to make a day of it in the city. It was great fun, and I basically could not have done it without Juno.

A characteristic of fibromyalgia is a lack of energy—it's commonly associated with chronic fatigue syndrome. So entire days of stuff just don't usually happen. I paid for it a bit today, anyway (crashed after lunch, didn't wake up for about three hours), but it's Sunday, and I could do it.

So our first order of business after the game—where Juno again was a pro, didn't even eat one peanut shell—was to get a victory donut across the street, since the Giants won. So delicious. Then we made the trek back to the car. Along the way, Juno and I ran into a Random Drunk Guy, as is wont to happen after a Giants win, who got right in front of her and was going to pet her, with a lit cigarette in his hand. As you can imagine, we both went into major avoidance mode!

We drove to Pier 39, and walked all the way to the back to put in our name at Bubba Gump's. Then we went to this awesome pet accessories store, Le Beastro, the only one I've found that sells multiple tchotchkes with natural-eared Dobermans on them. I ended up getting some notecards this time, but I definitely will be back! I need more! Had a lovely discussion with the cashier as well, about how the U.S. is one of the only first-world countries where people are still allowed/encouraged to chop off their dogs' ears.

Dinner at Bubba Gump's was awesome. The line to be seated was in a narrow sort of corridor, and Juno blocked pretty perfectly while we were waiting. Then at the booth, which was raised about four inches or so from the floor, she got to curl up in the most adorable ball just at the edge. She could people-watch happily, with her feet and tail in safety. Plus Danny and I had room for our feet, woohoo!

Juno's big moment came after dinner, when we decided to walk over to Ghirardelli. Boy, did I need the pulling then. My back was starting to complain (it turned into full blown hatred after I leaned down suddenly to pull Juno back bodily as a passing dog lunged toward her), and I was pretty tired. I compare walking with Juno, when she's pulling nicely, to walking on one of those airport walkways. You're putting in the same effort (or less) as you usually do, but you're getting a lot more out of it. With her I can walk a lot faster, and with less effort, than I do without her, and it helps a ton.

We had about a twenty-minute walk each way along rather crowded sidewalks, which several times included uncontrolled dogs. (My idea of an uncontrolled dog: Dog dragging owner, on flat collar or worse yet, harness, by the leash.) I am vigilant and largely suspicious of dogs/owners I don't know, especially when the dog seems to have the upper paw. We tried to give them as large a berth as possible.

Juno was amazing, skillfully weaving through crowds and ignoring all distractions. Once we passed a crowd of girls, who Juno did not even look at, and you could tell where we were because each one in turn shrieked, “JESUS!” as we passed. Sometimes you wonder if people have ever seen a dog before.

We walked through Fisherman's Wharf, down several “hip” blocks that were just crawling with people, and finally made it up a bit of a hill to Ghirardelli. Juno once again smoothly worked the crowd, blocking for me in line, then hiding nicely under the table while we shared our sundae. And then she worked back through the crowds to get me back to the car.

Danny commented on the way home that I will be a very lucky person if Kaline ends up being as close to as good a service dog as Juno.

That I will.

Giants game

Last night, Danny, Juno and I went to the Giants game! We actually ended up getting to see my friends Sonja and Nicole, who both also have service dogs. It was crazy we ended up at the same game! Sonja and her SD, Jolanda (who is the cutest little Australian Cattle Dog ever) came to visit us at our seats. I keep score during ballgames and won't move unless I am forced. Sonja fostered a litter for her local shelter, and it turns out she kept one of the pups, Chief, to train as Jolanda's successor! So that was pretty exciting.

Juno spent the game conked out behind my legs (and Danny's, of course—she's big). Despite worries about squishing her in a small space, that arrangement actually worked out a lot better than having her in front of our feet, which is what we did in Sacramento. She hardly moved at all, where in Sacramento, she was a bit fidgety sometimes. And amazingly enough, people were able to get by us without stepping on any of Juno's paws or her tail! Win.

After the game, we decided to take the elevator down. I do not do well in crowds (like the one going down the ramp). I ended up in a crowd anyway, waiting outside the elevator vestibule, and while we were basically trapped by people, with Juno blocking as best she could, some guy reached down and started fondling her ears. Normally I'm happy to educate the general public, but when I'm trying to hold it together, and Juno's doing her best to help, and someone jumps in trying to pet/distract, I am, shall we say, bitchy.

I smacked his hand lightly, and said, “Don't pet her, she's a service dog.” As if it wasn't obvious, what with the many patches and the harness. He looked at me like I was the meanest person ever. Don't care.

Then I heard Nicole and her family calling—they were in line too! So we moved back a little in line, and Danny got to meet everyone. Juno and Becker, Nicole's SD, were incredibly cute, having their little reunion. Even after we told them to go back to work, they kept sneaking sniffs. And you just have to laugh.

We got on the same elevator, and heard a lovely wonderful mother telling her kids, “Those dogs aren't for petting. They're working dogs.” I absolutely love it when I hear parents educating their kids. I also love going around with other SD handlers, because invariably they're much better than I at answering the various questions we always get.

Juno pulled marvelously all the way back to the car, and did pretty much the cutest thing Danny and I had ever seen. Normally she has no problem walking on any kind of surface, but we came up to this metal plate in the sidewalk (solid, not a grate), and totally nonchalantly, Juno jumped over it and then resumed her steady pulling. Barely broke stride. We were laughing about that for a while!