Kaline has always been a fussy eater, more or less. He goes through phases of eating really nicely, and then phases of just NOT EATING. As you may have guessed from my all-caps, I find this extremely frustrating.
It seems (I am trying not to jinx it) as though the fussy eater days are over! My genius friend Amber, handler of Kaline's cousin and fellow SDIT Rowan, sent me Sue Ailsby's fussy eater protocol and for the most part, it worked like a charm!
DISCLAIMER: What I am about to say is a paraphrase of Sue Ailsby's method. I did NOT think of it myself.
I was pretty desperate, as Kaline hadn't eaten anything in about a day and a half. I finally had gotten him to put on weight so that his ribs could be easily felt but not seen, and was very afraid he was going to lose it all. Amber sent us the protocol, and off we went.
For Kaline's first meal on the plan, I cut him back to about a cup (normal meals are two cups). I filled his bowl, then did what I almost never do when feeding dogs: I tried to amp Kaline up. I squeaky-talked to him, got him racing out to his food bowls, put the bowl down with a great flourish and released him. He rushed up to it, stuck his nose in ... then walked away. I counted to five, then took away the bowl.
At the next meal, I only put in about half a cup. Same excitement ritual and what do you know? He ate it! Scarfed it all down! With one or two hiccups, I got him back to two cups per meal and now he is eating like a champ. You put down that bowl and he eats until the food is gone. I am a very happy dog mommy. Here is the link to the detailed method if you too have a fussy eater and want him to be replaced by a chow hound.
In other news, I have been in a funk that I would find interesting, I suppose, were I not actually in it. I am exceedingly anxious most of the time, churning tummy, racing thoughts, etc., plus just really depressed and negative about most things. Usually it's one or the other. Usually if I'm in a depressed funk I am too low and lethargic to have this much anxiety.
Anyway. I obviously don't do this all the time, and don't really recommend it as a regular mood-booster unless you've just won the lottery, but I treated myself with some Paco collar retail therapy in addition to having the dogs help me over the weekend. With help from Lindsay and Bruce the Painted Doberman, I ordered a new black/silver deluxe super-bling Stardust for Juno, with blue and light blue sea glass along with abalone rhinestones, and a new tan/brass deluxe super-bling Stardust for Kaline, with red, blue, and purple sea glass. We are not going to talk about how much these collars set me back. It is a very great secret. However, I feel much better knowing that I didn't do nearly as badly in my dog walking income for this past month as I thought I would. (Short month, ski week, etc. and I was still only off the previous month by a few hundred dollars. Wooooo.)
After ordering the Pacos, we headed to Lindsay's grooming shop where she very kindly bathed Kaline and Juno in scrumptious-smelling shampoo and conditioner. The dogs smell so good I want to EAT them. And they're extra shiny. Kaline whined and wailed like he was being beaten, because he is Mr. Drama Queen. Never believe it when people tell you Dobermans are tough and scary. They are THE biggest babies ever. It's why we love them!
On Sunday, Kaline got to work my mom's second birthday dinner. (Juno did Real Birthday Dinner.) This was planned by my mom and her sister, so my Auntie Barbara, Uncle Paul, and cousins Walker and Whitney joined us at an Italian place in Burlingame. Kaline was pretty excellent aside from some sniffing as we walked to the back of the restaurant. First we had a table by the kitchen, but Mom didn't like that location, so we went upstairs—where the AC was making an incessant, eardrum-collapsing rumble. You know that bad feeling you can get in your ears if your car windows are open just enough while you're going kinda fast? That feeling, only more. Instant major headache. So we moved again, and Kaline was very excellent matching my pace as we went down the stairs. Then he settled nicely at the table and mostly slept through dinner. He had his head on my feet a lot, which was awesome. And then after dinner I let the kids love on him, which made all of them quite happy.
At least on the job, I think my wee man is maturing. He can still be a bit of a hellion when he gets bouncy around the house, but when he's working, he's been doing really well.
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
03 March 2014
12 August 2013
Practicing airport security
This Saturday, in preparation for our upcoming trip to Michigan, Kaline and I met Sonja and Chief at San Francisco International Airport to practice going through airport security. Handily for me, Sonja already had to be there to meet Hendrik, so I got to tag along. We not only got to do security, we explored the international terminal and got to take the Air Train (like an easier version of BART) over to the domestic terminal, where we did Delta security.
I dressed Kaline in the big vest with saddlebags (which contained barely anything, but tend to cut down on drive-by pets) for realism, and wore a jacket he'd have to get off me. We'd been practicing his retrieves a lot around the house, as well as his tugging.
First we visited the Delta Special Services desk. The first lady we talked to was exceedingly nice and wanted to help us get a pass for security. The supervisor didn't want to, but she did say they'd issue the pass if TSA approved it. So our new friend took us over to security while she chatted with TSA. I know we don't normally think of TSA folks as pleasant, but boy, were they. It was slow at the airport, and you must admit, two adorable SDITs go a long way in making people nicer. The TSA supervisor had no problem approving a pass for me, so our Delta friend printed it at her desk and off I went with Kaline.
We went in the express line to get the pass and ID (mine, not one for him) checked, then got in the actual security line. I quickly discovered that several of the surrounding people were Michiganders, who were delighted to meet a cute boy named Kaline. I took off my shoes; Kaline played with them a little, but eventually delivered them to hand. When we got closer to the bins, I asked him to help me take off my jacket, and he did that flawlessly. He blocked pretty nicely in line. We had a little issue with his saddlebags—one guy wanted me to take them off, which is rather hard for me, and we compromised by emptying them into one of those little dishes and sending them through the X-ray. Otherwise, the TSA folks continued to be super nice.
For the metal detector, I left Kaline in a sit-stay originally while I headed through. He started to slide almost immediately, either because of the way the harness fits or because of the carpet, so I told him to down. Lesson learned for Wednesday, leave him in a down to start with. Once I went through, I called him through—perfect. A female TSA agent came to pat him down (I am not sure why “female assist” was required when my male dog was getting the pat down, and I was getting no pat down at all). Kaline stood nicely for her but did want to kiss her; she assured me that he could and that she loved dogs, so I didn't mess with him too much about it. Kaline plopped under the table while I got all my stuff back on and in my pockets, and then we made an about turn and headed out to Sonja and Chief!
Part of my anxiety involves constructing elaborate catastrophe scenarios in my head about future events. That's why I really, really, REALLY, like to do dry runs! This one definitely increased my confidence, although obviously we still have the plane ride itself to get through. On my own, I am pretty confident in Kaline's ability to handle it, but then I get the doubters and they make me doubt him. Which is stupid, but anyway.
Sunday Kaline did his usual public access work, which was generally very good. He got some looks for doing spontaneous DPT in the bagel store, but he was right—I needed it. He did pretty well in the market, which was freaking full of pets on flexis who aren't supposed to be there. He gets a little distracted by them, but I get huge spikes in anxiety, because generally the people who use flexis and bring their dogs to markets where they don't belong are the people with really badly behaved dogs, and I constantly fear some random dog attacking Kaline and ruining him. (See? Catastrophe.) But it's happened to a lot of people with SDs and SDITs, so it's not an unreasonable fear.
We did Trader Joe's at the end and Kay did really nice blocking there as well. Carts can come within inches of him, and he doesn't even turn his head. He did get surprised by the pop of a guy breaking down cardboard boxes, so we turned around and stood there watching the box breakdown and having cookies. No big.
Oh man, this is a big test coming up. I am excited but nervous to see how Kaline does in Michigan.
I dressed Kaline in the big vest with saddlebags (which contained barely anything, but tend to cut down on drive-by pets) for realism, and wore a jacket he'd have to get off me. We'd been practicing his retrieves a lot around the house, as well as his tugging.
First we visited the Delta Special Services desk. The first lady we talked to was exceedingly nice and wanted to help us get a pass for security. The supervisor didn't want to, but she did say they'd issue the pass if TSA approved it. So our new friend took us over to security while she chatted with TSA. I know we don't normally think of TSA folks as pleasant, but boy, were they. It was slow at the airport, and you must admit, two adorable SDITs go a long way in making people nicer. The TSA supervisor had no problem approving a pass for me, so our Delta friend printed it at her desk and off I went with Kaline.
We went in the express line to get the pass and ID (mine, not one for him) checked, then got in the actual security line. I quickly discovered that several of the surrounding people were Michiganders, who were delighted to meet a cute boy named Kaline. I took off my shoes; Kaline played with them a little, but eventually delivered them to hand. When we got closer to the bins, I asked him to help me take off my jacket, and he did that flawlessly. He blocked pretty nicely in line. We had a little issue with his saddlebags—one guy wanted me to take them off, which is rather hard for me, and we compromised by emptying them into one of those little dishes and sending them through the X-ray. Otherwise, the TSA folks continued to be super nice.
For the metal detector, I left Kaline in a sit-stay originally while I headed through. He started to slide almost immediately, either because of the way the harness fits or because of the carpet, so I told him to down. Lesson learned for Wednesday, leave him in a down to start with. Once I went through, I called him through—perfect. A female TSA agent came to pat him down (I am not sure why “female assist” was required when my male dog was getting the pat down, and I was getting no pat down at all). Kaline stood nicely for her but did want to kiss her; she assured me that he could and that she loved dogs, so I didn't mess with him too much about it. Kaline plopped under the table while I got all my stuff back on and in my pockets, and then we made an about turn and headed out to Sonja and Chief!
Part of my anxiety involves constructing elaborate catastrophe scenarios in my head about future events. That's why I really, really, REALLY, like to do dry runs! This one definitely increased my confidence, although obviously we still have the plane ride itself to get through. On my own, I am pretty confident in Kaline's ability to handle it, but then I get the doubters and they make me doubt him. Which is stupid, but anyway.
Sunday Kaline did his usual public access work, which was generally very good. He got some looks for doing spontaneous DPT in the bagel store, but he was right—I needed it. He did pretty well in the market, which was freaking full of pets on flexis who aren't supposed to be there. He gets a little distracted by them, but I get huge spikes in anxiety, because generally the people who use flexis and bring their dogs to markets where they don't belong are the people with really badly behaved dogs, and I constantly fear some random dog attacking Kaline and ruining him. (See? Catastrophe.) But it's happened to a lot of people with SDs and SDITs, so it's not an unreasonable fear.
We did Trader Joe's at the end and Kay did really nice blocking there as well. Carts can come within inches of him, and he doesn't even turn his head. He did get surprised by the pop of a guy breaking down cardboard boxes, so we turned around and stood there watching the box breakdown and having cookies. No big.
Oh man, this is a big test coming up. I am excited but nervous to see how Kaline does in Michigan.
14 April 2013
Tiger Pride 2013
Every year, when the Tigers come to play the A's, we have a weekend of Tiger Pride. Most of my friends have Tiger Pride t-shirts I designed when I was sixteen, and we've gotten about four batches since 2002, when this all started. We get smaller groups now that a lot of people have moved away, but it's still fun.
This was Kaline's first Tiger Pride series—I wasn't sure how he'd do, having to stay down for a whole game, so Juno did Friday night (also because it was cold at the night game, and we all know how Kaline “deals” with cold), and Kaline did the two weekend day games.
Friday, 12 April: A's 4, Tigers 3 F/12
Friday night, Juno, Dad and I arrived at the ballpark well before the gates opened, and ended up meeting my friends Danny and Evanne. Juno was, of course, a star. We schmoozed with our favorite usher, Papa Nick, who works right behind the Tigers dugout and who has known me since middle school, probably. (The Tiger Pride crew have gained the affection of all the ushers on the first-base side, because we started coming with the Tigers were so epically bad.)
We got to sit in Nick's section, cause he's awesome like that, and the game was pretty good. My nominal favorite Tiger, Max Scherzer, was pitching, and he was decent; the offense just didn't do much. Prince Fielder homered to give us a 3-0 lead, and then we gradually let the A's chip away till they won in extra innings. It was a really good thing I had Juno. Not only was it a ridiculously long game in terms of time, it was cold. I was miserable. Juno, with her nice double-coat topped off with her grey Cloudchaser, was just fine. Slept under my seat the whole time, then helpfully pulled me up the stairs and out of the stadium.
On the way out, we passed some middle-aged female A's fans perched at the side of the concourse, booing anyone wearing blue and orange. They were like high school bullies. So I flipped them off as we went by. One of them then decided to come up behind me and grab me by the shoulders, telling me authoritatively, “You're too young to be doing that.” Just writing about it is making my heart rate shoot up. She is bloody lucky that I freeze in fear when I get grabbed by a complete stranger, instead of freaking punching them as hard as I can. I should've punched her, and I should've responded that she was way too old to be doing what she was doing, but instead I said, “Fuck you, I'm twenty-seven,” and rushed outside to find enough open space for Juno to lie across my lap and lean into my chest. She did that as soon as I sat down. I was shaking. People have no boundaries. But my dog is freaking awesome.
Saturday, 13 April: Tigers 7, A's 3
Kaline's first Tigers game was a smashing success. We got to the park later than normal, still an hour-plus before game time, and met up with Danny, Ryan, Evanne, Sonja, Hendrik and Chief at various times, along with my Tigers buddy Sabrina, the #1 Don Kelly Fan.
Kaline did incredibly well with the crowds packed in the concourses—it was a beautiful Saturday, there was a giveaway, and Justin Verlander was pitching for the Tigers, so it was a really well-attended game, especially for the A's. Crowds really send my anxiety through the roof, but watching Kaline be completely cool while trying to find a way through was amazing at calming me down. He's going to do great with the Leading Through Crowds tasks, when he is old enough to learn it. I think so, anyway.
I took Kay to meet all our favorite ushers, like Anthony, Mark, Other Mark, and Rod. They all loved on him, and I didn't say no because you totally want the ushers to be on your side; it was cool to watch Kaline accept their pats and kisses without really getting lovey back. After the game, I found Sabrina (who has a Doberman) and her birthday group and unvested Kaline, who had done really well. He immediately went into social-butterfly mode then, kissing everyone, giving hugs, draping himself across convenient laps. Super cute, a great reward for a good day's work, and the humans thought it was great too.
During the game, to my delighted surprise, Kaline curled up under my seat and barely popped up at all. He did slowly wheel himself around, trying to find the optimum orientation, but he was calm and down and that's all I really cared about. Our only minor issue was that he wanted to do a little sunbathing, and kept sticking his head and one paw out into the aisle, where he could easily get stepped on. I was able to get him to crawl backwards by just holding a treat against his chest. It was actually quite amusing.
And the Tigers won! Not without a lot of scary-ness, after Justin Verlander departed, but still, a win! And toward the end of the game Kaline and I moved up with Chief, Sonja and Hendrik, which was great fun as well. Kaline finally stuck his paw in Chief's face one too many times and Chief told him off. Attaboy, Chief!! Everyone was charmed by the pups. Cause they're freaking adorable.
Sunday, 14 April: Tigers 10, A's 1
Today's game went quite well also. We got there before the gates opened, so we'd have lots of schmoozing time before the game. Kaline did well in the small handicapped line (which I am so grateful for, by the way—no having to wait in big crowds of hostile A's fans. They're super mad at the Tigers right now, because not only did we eliminate the A's from the 2012 playoffs, we then failed to beat the A's crosstown-rival Giants in the World Series. Much bitterness).
We visited with Anthony, Sabrina, and other Tigers fans during batting practice, which Kaline found alternately fascinating (ooh, flying baseballs!) and really boring. It was great fun introducing him to other Tigers fans, because when they heard his name they'd smile with recognition. You don't really get that with the general population, haha. Donnie Kelly came over and made Sabrina's day by signing the baseball he'd given her on Friday and taking a photo with her. What a guy!
Anthony set us up with excellent seats and we happily watched the Tigers pummel the A's. Kaline was a little more fidgety today, because though it was sunny, it was windy and kind of cold. He was wearing a Cloudchaser under his vest, and he was still curled up under my seat shivering. About halfway through the game I wrapped him up in my dad's big hoodie, which seemed to help. Hopefully once he fills out and puts on more muscle, etc., maybe he'll stay a bit warmer. If not, we're going to have to figure out some kind of plan for night games ...
Kay was definitely more on his game today—any sign of anxiety (including when I made joking distressed sounds) and he was pressing himself against me. I was super pleased with his whole weekend performance. It was a lot more than I was expecting! I have much more confidence now about taking him to ballgames in the future. He got to love on Sabrina after today's game too. Then he nested adorably in the back seat on the way home.
This was Kaline's first Tiger Pride series—I wasn't sure how he'd do, having to stay down for a whole game, so Juno did Friday night (also because it was cold at the night game, and we all know how Kaline “deals” with cold), and Kaline did the two weekend day games.
Friday, 12 April: A's 4, Tigers 3 F/12
Friday night, Juno, Dad and I arrived at the ballpark well before the gates opened, and ended up meeting my friends Danny and Evanne. Juno was, of course, a star. We schmoozed with our favorite usher, Papa Nick, who works right behind the Tigers dugout and who has known me since middle school, probably. (The Tiger Pride crew have gained the affection of all the ushers on the first-base side, because we started coming with the Tigers were so epically bad.)
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| Juno waiting to go in. |
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| Juno being a pretzel under my seat. |
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| Less pretzel-y. |
On the way out, we passed some middle-aged female A's fans perched at the side of the concourse, booing anyone wearing blue and orange. They were like high school bullies. So I flipped them off as we went by. One of them then decided to come up behind me and grab me by the shoulders, telling me authoritatively, “You're too young to be doing that.” Just writing about it is making my heart rate shoot up. She is bloody lucky that I freeze in fear when I get grabbed by a complete stranger, instead of freaking punching them as hard as I can. I should've punched her, and I should've responded that she was way too old to be doing what she was doing, but instead I said, “Fuck you, I'm twenty-seven,” and rushed outside to find enough open space for Juno to lie across my lap and lean into my chest. She did that as soon as I sat down. I was shaking. People have no boundaries. But my dog is freaking awesome.
Saturday, 13 April: Tigers 7, A's 3
Kaline's first Tigers game was a smashing success. We got to the park later than normal, still an hour-plus before game time, and met up with Danny, Ryan, Evanne, Sonja, Hendrik and Chief at various times, along with my Tigers buddy Sabrina, the #1 Don Kelly Fan.
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| Me with Ryan, Danny and Evanne in our Tiger Pride splendor. |
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| Me and Kaline with Anthony. |
During the game, to my delighted surprise, Kaline curled up under my seat and barely popped up at all. He did slowly wheel himself around, trying to find the optimum orientation, but he was calm and down and that's all I really cared about. Our only minor issue was that he wanted to do a little sunbathing, and kept sticking his head and one paw out into the aisle, where he could easily get stepped on. I was able to get him to crawl backwards by just holding a treat against his chest. It was actually quite amusing.
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| Head in the sun, nose and paws safely within our row! |
Sunday, 14 April: Tigers 10, A's 1
Today's game went quite well also. We got there before the gates opened, so we'd have lots of schmoozing time before the game. Kaline did well in the small handicapped line (which I am so grateful for, by the way—no having to wait in big crowds of hostile A's fans. They're super mad at the Tigers right now, because not only did we eliminate the A's from the 2012 playoffs, we then failed to beat the A's crosstown-rival Giants in the World Series. Much bitterness).
We visited with Anthony, Sabrina, and other Tigers fans during batting practice, which Kaline found alternately fascinating (ooh, flying baseballs!) and really boring. It was great fun introducing him to other Tigers fans, because when they heard his name they'd smile with recognition. You don't really get that with the general population, haha. Donnie Kelly came over and made Sabrina's day by signing the baseball he'd given her on Friday and taking a photo with her. What a guy!
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| Donnie Kelly and Sabrina. |
Anthony set us up with excellent seats and we happily watched the Tigers pummel the A's. Kaline was a little more fidgety today, because though it was sunny, it was windy and kind of cold. He was wearing a Cloudchaser under his vest, and he was still curled up under my seat shivering. About halfway through the game I wrapped him up in my dad's big hoodie, which seemed to help. Hopefully once he fills out and puts on more muscle, etc., maybe he'll stay a bit warmer. If not, we're going to have to figure out some kind of plan for night games ...
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| Curled up early ... |
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| ... bundled up later. 60 degrees with wind = winter blizzard in Kaline land. |
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| DPT from Kaline. |
02 April 2013
Hitchcock night at the Stannie, and pre-birthday
Last Friday, Kaline and I went to our second-to-last Hitchcock night at the Stanford Theatre. He got to burn off all his energy at the grove right before we headed to the theatre, and he had probably his best night ever, behavior-wise.
We met Sonja, Chief, and Hendrik there to see North by Northwest. We had pops, candy, and a big tub of popcorn. Kaline really wanted some popcorn but eventually listened to my leave it command. The people in front of me and Sonja were so taken by our awesome puppies. They were amazed at how mellow Kaline was acting (thank you, grove!). He only had two really legit pop-ups during the movie; the majority of the time, he was asleep between my feet. Sometimes he'd fidget and get up momentarily to switch positions, but Juno does that too so I didn't count that. I figure it only counts if I have to give him the cue back into the down.
Obedience class was off the next morning for Easter weekend, so everyone got to sleep in. Because Juno was coming to the movies and pre-birthday dinner, I got in a bunch of work with Kaline in the morning. We came along with Mom to Stanford Shopping Centre and did stuff in Nordstrom. We had lunch in the upstairs bistro, where we had the mini-access challenge a little while ago. No problem this time.
I initially set Kaline up next to the table, where they'd kindly taken a chair away. He was not settling though and kept rolling his hip so that half of his body was sticking out from under the table. So I moved his mat to just in front of my chair, so he would be lying behind my legs. Once I put him there, he hardly moved at all. Yay! I would be thrilled if that became his favorite settling spot. Then we're in physical contact and that always makes me warm and fuzzy.
After lunch, we let Kaline run in the grove, then came back to do Macy's and See's Candy. As we came into See's, one of the employees said something kind of loudly, trying to get the attention of another customer. My brain, however, interpreted the noise as MAJOR ACCESS CHALLENGE STARTING so I got this huge rush of anxiety and adrenaline even though nothing was actually happening. I went off to the side and got down toward Kaline's level, and being the wonderful boy he is, he put his head over my should and leaned into my chest. I never taught him that particular position, he just does it, like he's giving you a hug. Good little man.
Junebug came to see Admission with me, Mom, and a family friend. Our friend just loves Juno, so I don't quite know how to tell her not to try and get Juno to come over and say hi while she's working. Luckily, with Juno, I don't really need to—unless you're my dad, or former coworker Alex, you can do whatever enticing things you want and she'll just stand there and not look at you. Maybe you'll get a little tail wag if she knows you, but that's it. One of the many reasons I am totally crazy about my little Scoots.
For dinner, we went to this Italian place. I am not the biggest fan ever of their food—it's decent, nothing to write home about. But they have the most amazing olive oil for dipping the incredibly delicious bread in. The olive oil has all this garlic in the bottom of it ... it's heavenly. So, with Juno comfortably snuggled under the table, I basically had bread for dinner. And then ice cream. I always get peppermint at this ice cream place because then Juno can lick out the bowl in the car. Heehee.
We met Sonja, Chief, and Hendrik there to see North by Northwest. We had pops, candy, and a big tub of popcorn. Kaline really wanted some popcorn but eventually listened to my leave it command. The people in front of me and Sonja were so taken by our awesome puppies. They were amazed at how mellow Kaline was acting (thank you, grove!). He only had two really legit pop-ups during the movie; the majority of the time, he was asleep between my feet. Sometimes he'd fidget and get up momentarily to switch positions, but Juno does that too so I didn't count that. I figure it only counts if I have to give him the cue back into the down.
Obedience class was off the next morning for Easter weekend, so everyone got to sleep in. Because Juno was coming to the movies and pre-birthday dinner, I got in a bunch of work with Kaline in the morning. We came along with Mom to Stanford Shopping Centre and did stuff in Nordstrom. We had lunch in the upstairs bistro, where we had the mini-access challenge a little while ago. No problem this time.
I initially set Kaline up next to the table, where they'd kindly taken a chair away. He was not settling though and kept rolling his hip so that half of his body was sticking out from under the table. So I moved his mat to just in front of my chair, so he would be lying behind my legs. Once I put him there, he hardly moved at all. Yay! I would be thrilled if that became his favorite settling spot. Then we're in physical contact and that always makes me warm and fuzzy.
After lunch, we let Kaline run in the grove, then came back to do Macy's and See's Candy. As we came into See's, one of the employees said something kind of loudly, trying to get the attention of another customer. My brain, however, interpreted the noise as MAJOR ACCESS CHALLENGE STARTING so I got this huge rush of anxiety and adrenaline even though nothing was actually happening. I went off to the side and got down toward Kaline's level, and being the wonderful boy he is, he put his head over my should and leaned into my chest. I never taught him that particular position, he just does it, like he's giving you a hug. Good little man.
Junebug came to see Admission with me, Mom, and a family friend. Our friend just loves Juno, so I don't quite know how to tell her not to try and get Juno to come over and say hi while she's working. Luckily, with Juno, I don't really need to—unless you're my dad, or former coworker Alex, you can do whatever enticing things you want and she'll just stand there and not look at you. Maybe you'll get a little tail wag if she knows you, but that's it. One of the many reasons I am totally crazy about my little Scoots.
For dinner, we went to this Italian place. I am not the biggest fan ever of their food—it's decent, nothing to write home about. But they have the most amazing olive oil for dipping the incredibly delicious bread in. The olive oil has all this garlic in the bottom of it ... it's heavenly. So, with Juno comfortably snuggled under the table, I basically had bread for dinner. And then ice cream. I always get peppermint at this ice cream place because then Juno can lick out the bowl in the car. Heehee.
04 March 2013
Let's face it, I'm tired!
I've been watching a little too much Blazing Saddles in my bits of free time. Fifty bajillion Internet points to anyone who knows what bit of the movie the title of this post is from.
So, we are back on our normal insane schedule, which in a week or two will get just a smidge more insane, whoopee! Thus not a ton of energy or motivation to write, unfortunately.
I also gave myself a flareup on Saturday night, so we didn't do anything that interesting recently. Saturday night was Senior Night for the Stanford men's gymnastics team, so Juno and I went to the meet. It is the first time in I don't know how long that I left a men's gym meet early. This sport gives baseball a run for its money as my favorite, for crying out loud.
Juno and I were sitting fairly high up on one of the bleachers so we could see everything, and there was a lot to see—it wasn't just Stanford and Cal, like normal, but a Japanese collegiate team, as well as club teams from Arizona State and the University of Washington. Stanford, though, has one of the worst main arenas for men's gym of any team. (Iowa is by far the worst, but Stanford is down there. Also, I say main arena because if any team is hosting a conference or NCAA championship, they almost invariably use the larger basketball arena rather than the facility they have regular-season meets in.)
Not only does it have bleachers instead of real seats, there are no aisles on said bleachers. None. So once you're up, you are stuck there. Especially if you happen to be attached to a tall 65-pound service dog. Mentally, I do not do well blocked in, and physically, I was in a ton of pain by the second rotation (there are six). I had not been feeling that great to begin with, but it was the only Stanford meet I could get to so I felt obligated. But that meant I only had a little vest on Juno, because I couldn't take even the pressure of momentum pulling on my arm. Let's just say that when we finally decided it was time to go, it was extremely interesting getting down the bleachers. Thank goodness I had brought Juno instead of Kaline, because at least I didn't have to worry about her behavior as she picked her way through the crowd down the bleachers behind me. Kay probably would have stolen a hot dog or two, or at least kissed several people.
So yeah, I'm still paying for that stupid decision (or series of stupid decisions). The good parts of the meet: We got to see Eddie Penev, among others, on floor, and he's one of the best in the world on that. Everyone was extremely nice to us (especially while we tried to weave down the bleachers). One of the guest services people complimented me on the clarity of Juno's patches and I practically hugged her. That's so what I was going for when I picked them!
Was the meet worth missing a cool SF outing on Sunday with Sonja? Jury is out, just because of the guilt I would have had about not seeing a single Stanford home meet. But with guilt out of the picture? SO NOT WORTH IT. Gaaaah.
Earlier in the weekend Kaline and I went with Mom to the post office and shopping center to train. Post office was a nightmare—a huge winding line of people (two of whom had pet dogs) packed into a tiny inner lobby. Kaline began whining immediately the moment we stepped in. I was stupid for a couple minutes, then realized just how insanely high my anxiety was ratcheting. I asked for a nudge instead of a whine, then booked it out into the outer lobby. As soon as I sat against the wall, Kaline awkwardly but emphatically pressed his chest against mine, eventually working his way into a more comfortable position draped across my lap with his torso pressing heavily into my chest, just the way I need. We stayed out for quite a while before we could go back in.
The shopping center was much better. I had just watched a friend's video of her former foster/SDIT pit bull practicing “under” with various objects, so all through the various stores, I had Kaline do “under” with anything where he'd fit. He was a bit confused at first because it's not something we have worked on lately or very much, but then he got it and was a star. He also retrieved, on command, his In Training tag which fell off his vest and two of those plastic rings they use to hang up scarves. WIN. Another mundane, non-task/obedience but nonetheless very useful command we practiced was “roll” which for Kaline and Juno means to roll onto a hip while lying down. I have been neglecting commands in that category—not a task, not formal obedience, but totally useful—so I hereby resolve to stop doing that and get with the program. Naughty, naughty trainer.
In random cool news, LDS sent us another blue vest. No I did not order it. YES I am keeping it. I already ordered another set of patches. Once it's got all its stuff sewn on, I'll take our current one back to the tailor to get the patches sewn rather than what they currently are, glued. Bleh, glue.
So, we are back on our normal insane schedule, which in a week or two will get just a smidge more insane, whoopee! Thus not a ton of energy or motivation to write, unfortunately.
I also gave myself a flareup on Saturday night, so we didn't do anything that interesting recently. Saturday night was Senior Night for the Stanford men's gymnastics team, so Juno and I went to the meet. It is the first time in I don't know how long that I left a men's gym meet early. This sport gives baseball a run for its money as my favorite, for crying out loud.
Juno and I were sitting fairly high up on one of the bleachers so we could see everything, and there was a lot to see—it wasn't just Stanford and Cal, like normal, but a Japanese collegiate team, as well as club teams from Arizona State and the University of Washington. Stanford, though, has one of the worst main arenas for men's gym of any team. (Iowa is by far the worst, but Stanford is down there. Also, I say main arena because if any team is hosting a conference or NCAA championship, they almost invariably use the larger basketball arena rather than the facility they have regular-season meets in.)
Not only does it have bleachers instead of real seats, there are no aisles on said bleachers. None. So once you're up, you are stuck there. Especially if you happen to be attached to a tall 65-pound service dog. Mentally, I do not do well blocked in, and physically, I was in a ton of pain by the second rotation (there are six). I had not been feeling that great to begin with, but it was the only Stanford meet I could get to so I felt obligated. But that meant I only had a little vest on Juno, because I couldn't take even the pressure of momentum pulling on my arm. Let's just say that when we finally decided it was time to go, it was extremely interesting getting down the bleachers. Thank goodness I had brought Juno instead of Kaline, because at least I didn't have to worry about her behavior as she picked her way through the crowd down the bleachers behind me. Kay probably would have stolen a hot dog or two, or at least kissed several people.
So yeah, I'm still paying for that stupid decision (or series of stupid decisions). The good parts of the meet: We got to see Eddie Penev, among others, on floor, and he's one of the best in the world on that. Everyone was extremely nice to us (especially while we tried to weave down the bleachers). One of the guest services people complimented me on the clarity of Juno's patches and I practically hugged her. That's so what I was going for when I picked them!
Was the meet worth missing a cool SF outing on Sunday with Sonja? Jury is out, just because of the guilt I would have had about not seeing a single Stanford home meet. But with guilt out of the picture? SO NOT WORTH IT. Gaaaah.
Earlier in the weekend Kaline and I went with Mom to the post office and shopping center to train. Post office was a nightmare—a huge winding line of people (two of whom had pet dogs) packed into a tiny inner lobby. Kaline began whining immediately the moment we stepped in. I was stupid for a couple minutes, then realized just how insanely high my anxiety was ratcheting. I asked for a nudge instead of a whine, then booked it out into the outer lobby. As soon as I sat against the wall, Kaline awkwardly but emphatically pressed his chest against mine, eventually working his way into a more comfortable position draped across my lap with his torso pressing heavily into my chest, just the way I need. We stayed out for quite a while before we could go back in.
The shopping center was much better. I had just watched a friend's video of her former foster/SDIT pit bull practicing “under” with various objects, so all through the various stores, I had Kaline do “under” with anything where he'd fit. He was a bit confused at first because it's not something we have worked on lately or very much, but then he got it and was a star. He also retrieved, on command, his In Training tag which fell off his vest and two of those plastic rings they use to hang up scarves. WIN. Another mundane, non-task/obedience but nonetheless very useful command we practiced was “roll” which for Kaline and Juno means to roll onto a hip while lying down. I have been neglecting commands in that category—not a task, not formal obedience, but totally useful—so I hereby resolve to stop doing that and get with the program. Naughty, naughty trainer.
In random cool news, LDS sent us another blue vest. No I did not order it. YES I am keeping it. I already ordered another set of patches. Once it's got all its stuff sewn on, I'll take our current one back to the tailor to get the patches sewn rather than what they currently are, glued. Bleh, glue.
24 February 2013
Kaline's ten months old!
Kaline turned 10 months old yesterday, and did great today in his usual round of Sunday morning public access. First was the Farmer's Market. Just as we were heading in, we saw a super adorable Large-Eared Black-and-White Dog tethered at the entrance: Max! I of course had to say hi to him and love him up, so Kaline got to practice a little self-control and try to hold a sit while I did so. He was great at heeling and blocking through the market and only did a little illicit sniffing.
We were in the part of downtown with several handicap buttons, so Kaline got to work on those, including the difficult one at Walgreen's which is mostly blocked by a trashcan. (He will usually hit the trashcan at least once before figuring out how to orient himself to aim at the button.) In there, Mom and I did things with the small rolling baskets to work on proofing. I had him do a block and then got Mom to gently nudge him from different angles with the little basket (came up to about his thigh). I also had fun flipping it around in front of him, sometimes clipping his toes gently. No problems.
In Village Stationers, we ended up having a big training opportunity. Kaline was lying at my feet while Mom talked to one of the cashiers when a lady with a Basset hound came in. Kaline had no clue the dog was even in the store until she started barking at him. At first he was startled and jumped up with a little growl. Then he was like, “Oooh, a dog! Playtime?” The Basset continued barking away (no, I have no idea why the owner didn't find a way to shut her up) so I decided to take advantage of it—I turned Kaline away, so he was facing me, and just had him do very basic commands that he knows well and likes, such as touch and the “up-down” game. Once he was mostly focused again, we headed out.
Trader Joe's was the best. As I've noted, Kaline is always really on in there. He was being really great and we were almost done. Mom sent us to the other side of the store, and for some reason my anxiety just started rising. Kaline stared up at me and then started nudging my leg (yay!!!), then my drooping sweatshirt pocket for more emphasis. Once I stopped he leaned into me with his whole body. I was so thrilled with him. And then soon after that, I started getting all foggy like I sometimes do, where it's like my brain is on a seven-second delay. We were standing in line and Kaline jumped up on me, trying to press into my chest. It wasn't like when he's being a goofball and leaping up at me; he came up pretty carefully, for him, and just tried to stay there. I acknowledged him, cause I definitely want him to be proactive, but then I got him down, had him do some leg nudges, and gave him treats. Excellent little boy!
In retrieving news, Kaline continues to steal shit all over the house and deliver it to me with great pride. On command, he is very glad to retrieve clothing, but not my sneakers. (Mom's nice shoes, or Dad's leather dress shoes, not a problem!) He will also gleefully retrieve things like plastic water bottles or vitamin bottles, which I find a little odd just because Juno didn't want to get stuff like that for the longest time. When I dropped my chapstick (capped, thankfully) in the kitchen, both dogs went to get it for me and Kaline was the one who came up with it.
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| Kay doing deep pressure and looking extremely cute while doing it. |
This weekend we also headed up to Berkeley to pick up Juno's beautiful new Paco collar. It's a black rainbow Glow and she looks fantastic in it. She posed for pictures while we were there, which hopefully will end up in the Paco Gallery (fingers crossed!). Kaline was uninterested but Juno did a paws up on the lowest shelf with collars and then when asked looked fetchingly over her shoulder to show off both the collar and her insanely cute face. She got to come along to Johnny Rockets later that night, teehee.
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| Hard at work in her new bling. |
Bizarrely, after the movie, when Ben and I headed to Pizza My Heart across the street, Kaline blocked fairly well (he wanted to sniff some people, and also to lie down sometimes), and then when we got to our table, he went under, curled up and didn't move till we were ready to go. Explain yourself, wee one! So he really ended the night on a good note.
15 January 2013
Fun, and why you really shouldn't touch a service dog
In case I haven't made it obvious, this being a dog-centric blog, I am an atheist. I read atheist blogs all the time, and follow issues of separation of church and state really closely. There is a pretty good atheist community in San Francisco, and I don't do enough active community type stuff.
This past weekend, one of my favorite atheist bloggers, Greta Christina, was giving a talk hosted by the Atheist Advocates of San Francisco. I totally had to go. I got Dad to drive so we wouldn't have to take BART.
Since the talk was scheduled to be two hours, followed by dinner at a local Chinese place, I took Juno. The foregoing parts of that sentence, in dog, translate to: Long down stay with limited distraction. Short walk, then almost as long down stay with food all around. So you can see why it wasn't a great fit for Kaline at this point!
Juno spent the talk lying quietly next to my chair, and absolutely no one bothered us. The talk was fantastic, because Greta is awesome! But then the talk ended, and boy, that was just no good.
Everyone got up at the same time, changing the calm, tranquil room into a seriously crowded, noisy space. Dad went ahead of me and Juno so she would have a target to follow out quickly. But it was like the end of the talk signaled a free-for-all on that cute dog. Hands were coming at Juno from everywhere, and people kept getting in her way. She was trying to lead me out, and these people, however well-meaning, were actively keeping her from doing her job. I don't do well at all in crowds, so I was just frozen—I couldn't even talk to say, "Keep your paws off my dog! Can't you see she is trying to do her job and you're stopping her?!"
As you can imagine, this did nothing to lower my anxiety level. It took forever for us to wiggle our way out of the room and I was hyperventilating by the time we did. Gaaah!
Right as we got out of the very gorgeous Women's Building, Juno had a little spaz-out upon getting reunited with Dad. Then she did amazing momentum pulling all the way to the restaurant, even when Dad walked behind us! She slept next to the table during dinner (there was no room for her underneath due to the table's enormous four-pronged "feet"). And dinner was incredibly delicious. Gotta find a way to go back to that place.
Juno and I are going in a rally trial this weekend. Two actually; there are three total happening but one of them was full by the time I sent in our entry. I'm hoping against hope for two legs toward her Rally Novice title, but I'll try not to have too high expectations. That never ends well.
In Kaline news, his training is going nicely. He's getting good at his leg nudge. He's getting a lot more proficient at finding heel exercises, and is learning to back up on command. We continue to work on doing long downs/settles throughout the day. I'm trying to do capturing for retrieving, and that's also kind of working! I actually get excited when he steals something forbidden, because then I can reward him for bringing it to me. We're still practicing the open-wait-close gently sequence with regular doors, and he's starting to open the fridge in a more Juno-esque (aka way more effective) style. We need to get back in the habit of practicing "legs" ... Still working on loudness desensitization. He's cool with everything except the high/shrill loud sounds.
And he got his pajamas from Cozy Coats. Woohoo!
This past weekend, one of my favorite atheist bloggers, Greta Christina, was giving a talk hosted by the Atheist Advocates of San Francisco. I totally had to go. I got Dad to drive so we wouldn't have to take BART.
Since the talk was scheduled to be two hours, followed by dinner at a local Chinese place, I took Juno. The foregoing parts of that sentence, in dog, translate to: Long down stay with limited distraction. Short walk, then almost as long down stay with food all around. So you can see why it wasn't a great fit for Kaline at this point!
Juno spent the talk lying quietly next to my chair, and absolutely no one bothered us. The talk was fantastic, because Greta is awesome! But then the talk ended, and boy, that was just no good.
Everyone got up at the same time, changing the calm, tranquil room into a seriously crowded, noisy space. Dad went ahead of me and Juno so she would have a target to follow out quickly. But it was like the end of the talk signaled a free-for-all on that cute dog. Hands were coming at Juno from everywhere, and people kept getting in her way. She was trying to lead me out, and these people, however well-meaning, were actively keeping her from doing her job. I don't do well at all in crowds, so I was just frozen—I couldn't even talk to say, "Keep your paws off my dog! Can't you see she is trying to do her job and you're stopping her?!"
As you can imagine, this did nothing to lower my anxiety level. It took forever for us to wiggle our way out of the room and I was hyperventilating by the time we did. Gaaah!
Right as we got out of the very gorgeous Women's Building, Juno had a little spaz-out upon getting reunited with Dad. Then she did amazing momentum pulling all the way to the restaurant, even when Dad walked behind us! She slept next to the table during dinner (there was no room for her underneath due to the table's enormous four-pronged "feet"). And dinner was incredibly delicious. Gotta find a way to go back to that place.
Juno and I are going in a rally trial this weekend. Two actually; there are three total happening but one of them was full by the time I sent in our entry. I'm hoping against hope for two legs toward her Rally Novice title, but I'll try not to have too high expectations. That never ends well.
In Kaline news, his training is going nicely. He's getting good at his leg nudge. He's getting a lot more proficient at finding heel exercises, and is learning to back up on command. We continue to work on doing long downs/settles throughout the day. I'm trying to do capturing for retrieving, and that's also kind of working! I actually get excited when he steals something forbidden, because then I can reward him for bringing it to me. We're still practicing the open-wait-close gently sequence with regular doors, and he's starting to open the fridge in a more Juno-esque (aka way more effective) style. We need to get back in the habit of practicing "legs" ... Still working on loudness desensitization. He's cool with everything except the high/shrill loud sounds.
And he got his pajamas from Cozy Coats. Woohoo!
31 October 2012
We're back!
Well, on one hand the trip was great. We went to the Henry Ford twice, my new camera behaved amazingly, we had lots of fun at the Farmer's Market, went to Charley's three times, etc. But the Tigers decided not to show up for the World Series against the Giants. And not having Juno sucked. I needed her for physical help several times, especially the first day we got there and I was hobbling around like an elderly person because I'd sat for so long on the plane. I also really needed her for keeping my anxiety in check—it was like every place we went into, I was constantly scanning, on high alert. For what? Dunno. My mom did her best to be a good service human but it's just not the same.
So unsurprisingly, I was incredibly glad to see the dogs when we arrived home Monday night. Dad pulled up outside baggage claim, where I was plastered against a pole so no one could/would sneak up behind me. I went out, got Juno, put on her little vest and strode back in. It was like flipping a switch. All trip, we were avoiding crowds as much as possible. Now with Juno, I waded in, and she blocked exactly where I needed her to without even being asked. I was complete again! I hugged her a bunch, even when she was working, and then in the car she and Kaline piled up against me in a little mound.
Kaline had a great time at Freddie's playing with her big black Lab, Rio. I assume it's Rio's fault that I observed Kaline lift his leg to mark for the first time today. Haha. We had training yesterday and my whiny children did pretty well. My dad apparently worked Kaline in class on Saturday and did really nicely with him, didn't screw him up! Freddie said he was way more conscientious with the pup than he normally is with Juno.
I was super pleased with Kaline's stand-stay yesterday—he'll do it for me with basically no problem, but yesterday I left him and let Freddie "examine" him. He moved his feet some, but he didn't sit, come to me, or go to Freddie, so I'll count that in the win column! Juno did awesome recalls, during which a busybody cop came to inform us of the leash rule in the park. Which we, as trainers, have town permission to "break," and which assholes break all the time with dogs who won't do a recall. And those people never get any consequences. I let Freddie talk, because I'm not good at being patient and polite with stupid authoritarian people.
Today most of the dogs (save Xena and Jett) had Hallowe'en flair to wear on the walks. Kaline wore his jack o' lantern sweater, Juno had a jack o' lantern bandanna, Gracie had a grinning pumpkin headband attached to her collar with duct tape, Max had a black and orange frilly collar, and Ellis had the sparkliest, most awesome bandanna with black, orange and white pumpkins, witches' hats, and skulls. YAY.
So unsurprisingly, I was incredibly glad to see the dogs when we arrived home Monday night. Dad pulled up outside baggage claim, where I was plastered against a pole so no one could/would sneak up behind me. I went out, got Juno, put on her little vest and strode back in. It was like flipping a switch. All trip, we were avoiding crowds as much as possible. Now with Juno, I waded in, and she blocked exactly where I needed her to without even being asked. I was complete again! I hugged her a bunch, even when she was working, and then in the car she and Kaline piled up against me in a little mound.
Kaline had a great time at Freddie's playing with her big black Lab, Rio. I assume it's Rio's fault that I observed Kaline lift his leg to mark for the first time today. Haha. We had training yesterday and my whiny children did pretty well. My dad apparently worked Kaline in class on Saturday and did really nicely with him, didn't screw him up! Freddie said he was way more conscientious with the pup than he normally is with Juno.
I was super pleased with Kaline's stand-stay yesterday—he'll do it for me with basically no problem, but yesterday I left him and let Freddie "examine" him. He moved his feet some, but he didn't sit, come to me, or go to Freddie, so I'll count that in the win column! Juno did awesome recalls, during which a busybody cop came to inform us of the leash rule in the park. Which we, as trainers, have town permission to "break," and which assholes break all the time with dogs who won't do a recall. And those people never get any consequences. I let Freddie talk, because I'm not good at being patient and polite with stupid authoritarian people.
Today most of the dogs (save Xena and Jett) had Hallowe'en flair to wear on the walks. Kaline wore his jack o' lantern sweater, Juno had a jack o' lantern bandanna, Gracie had a grinning pumpkin headband attached to her collar with duct tape, Max had a black and orange frilly collar, and Ellis had the sparkliest, most awesome bandanna with black, orange and white pumpkins, witches' hats, and skulls. YAY.
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| Juno, Gracie, Kaline and Ellis on Walk No. 1. |
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| Jett, Xena, Kaline, Max and Juno on Walk No. 2. |
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