Service dog meetup at the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show

Left to right: Bella, Kiyah, Baja, Rhydian, Juno, Kaline, Delphine, and Bruce.

This past weekend was another where I just did way too much. Every year the Golden Gate Kennel Club hosts an all-breed dog show for two days at the Cow Palace, and we go and wear ourselves out. I always meet up with Sonja, but this year at one point we had eight service dog teams together!

Saturday, Juno and Kaline both got to go, since Sonja's Chief was still recovering from a paw injury and wasn't supposed to walk a lot on concrete. Juno won't work for most people, but she adores Sonja and will work for her. She was absolutely delighted to be able to go. Especially since Sonja gave her french fries.

We hung out a lot with our new friends Lindsay and Bruce the Painted Doberman (lots of people wanted photos of the Doberman service dogs in training) and with Ashley and her insanely cute Shar Pei-shepherd mix, Delphine. Probably the most commonly asked question of the whole weekend was, “What kind of dog is that?” We also met Tiffany and Baja, a German shepherd; Hillary and Kiyah, a pit bull; Heather and Bella, an Ibizan hound who won Best of Breed on Sunday; and Clara and Rhydian, another German shepherd.

Kaline and Bruce

Saturday we got there early and left early, due to a Michigan-Stanford men's gymnastics meet in the evening. Kaline did pretty well, other than our usual bugaboo of pulling too hard in harness, and pulling at all on leash. Everyone was just in love with him. I don't know why I get all surprised by that, but I guess I assume I'm in love with him cause he's, you know, mine. (Not that I don't get freaking frustrated as hell with him several times a week ...) But yeah, he was very popular among the other handlers. I of course let them love on him when he was just chilling out. He was most pleased with his new fan club.

We watched the Dobermans show, and among them was a stunning, all-natural, eight-month-old male Doberman from Poland. It was his owner/handler's first time ever showing in conformation and it was just so sweet to see all the experienced handlers coming over before they went in the ring to try to help her prepare. Argo won some ribbons, being the only one in his age group. Such a sweet, cute boy. Makes me want a Polish Doberman, haha! He had a much thicker coat than Kaline and the other Dobermans—looked like it might actually help him keep warm. What a concept!

Argo!

We came home for a nap after our time at the show, and then headed to Stanford for the meet. It was insanely loud and crowded due to the Stanford Open being held that weekend (for young gymnasts). The nice “redcoats” made us a little disabled section between two of the bleachers where the dogs (Sonja and Chief came) were protected. Michigan won, rather miraculously, and we got to see all our friends. Had one annoying stranger totally butt in on a conversation I was having with my friend, complaining about how her husband is searching for a Doberman but all the breeders he's called are “sold out” and want the princely sum (being sarcastic here) of $1500-2000. UGH. But mostly it was great. Kaline was so exhausted from the dog show that he held his down perfectly the whole evening. His pre- and post-meet crowd work was pretty excellent.

Kaline at his first men's gym meet.

Sunday we went to the dog show a bit later, though not as much later as I thought given how tired I was Saturday. We visited the Lagottos, both of whom turned out to be closely related to Kaline's little boyfriend, Lupo. We again wandered with Lindsay, Sonja, and Ashley, shopping and watching the breed judging.

Lindsay and I are both Paco addicts. WIN.

All the cute.

Five of us—Ashley, Lindsay, Heather, Clara, and I—ended up at our dinner, which we did at Buca di Beppo in the city. It was interesting getting five service dogs/service dogs in training all under or next to the table, but the staff were quite nice and set us up in a less crowded area. It was very yummy, and definitely a lot of fun to hang out with people who just get it. By the time I got home, though, I was totally zonked! Waking up the next morning to a full schedule of four pack walks: Not the best thing ever. But the exposure and distraction work are great for Kaline, and it's always wonderful to meet up with other handlers.

Snuggles at dinner.

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.

Quiet day

The second night of Kaline sleeping in the big crate in my room went better than the first. I ran him around with a "forbidden" toy, Juno's stuffed dragon—he's quite good at fetch! I call him my Doberman Retriever. Sometimes he doesn't want to give the toy up at the end, but that's the easy part to work on. He goes out to get the toy with great gusto and then comes lolloping back. So we did that until he seemed quite tuckered out, and then I brought him upstairs. He went right into his crate and set to work on the antler (doesn't make any progress whatsoever—that's kind of the point of antlers, I guess—but he seems to think he's doing well).

He only had to get up once during the night, really, and he made it across the street to pee. Then he didn't have to go until about 7 or so, which I feel like is a normal time for a puppy to want to get up. We went on our usual walk in Felton Gables for about an hour, thinking gleeful thoughts because Sam Mikulak and Jake Dalton, along with Jonathan Horton, made the Olympic team. (Chris Brooks and Steve Legendre, two other friends, along with Alex Naddour, are the alternates.)

Kaline is not having the runs as much, thanks to his cottage cheese. We just kind of hung around the house today, lots of naps. We had a really good training session, Kaline and I; I tried out Just Chicken, from Trader Joe's, and Kaline finds it quite acceptable as a high-value treat. (He also approves of Natural Balance Lamb, but that, I think, gives him the runs.) As the name might suggest, there is nothing added whatsoever to this chicken, so it should be very gentle on his tummy. I mean, when my dogs really have major tummy upsets, they get boiled chicken and rice. So this shouldn't be a problem!

I only had to use three pieces of chicken for a 15 minute training session, because he's so tiny and satisfied with itty-bitty shreds of chicken as rewards. We worked on sit, sit-stay, down, down-stay, watch, formal come, leave it/no mugging, and just for fun, the flip-finish and touch. My clicker was malfunctioning a little bit, which was very annoying, but Kaline did fine. Juno also did a great job "honoring" her little brother working, and got treats for that too. Bizarrely, the only one of those things that seems to really confuse Kaline is touch. But we'll get it!

Juno goes to the Olympic Trials!

Juno had a great day today. Kristin came to babysit Kaline, and Juno, Dad and I headed to the Olympic Trials for men's gymnastics in San Jose!

I am obsessed with men's gymnastics. I got into the sport while I was at the University of Michigan, and ended up covering the Wolverines for four seasons. Most of the fifteen guys competing for spots on the Olympic team are guys who were in college when I was, who I saw all the time during the season and know to one degree or another. Juno now knows a bunch of them too, since she went to Winter Cup in Las Vegas this year. (That was actually right before her temporary retirement.) She has a special affinity for the Oklahoma guys!

We took the train down to San Jose. To a lot of dogs, a train squealing into the station might be a huge scary thing, but to Juno it's old news. She's great at trains. As soon as we got off we saw a bunch of the Stanford alums, which was lovely fun. Stanford, with three competitors, had the second-biggest contingent in the competition (Oklahoma had five).

Juno had to do a ton of crowd work today, her favorite kind. The command is “Follow Dad,” and she thinks it's great fun. She completely ignores everyone in the crowd, focusing intensely on where my dad is headed and leading me through, so I can ignore the crowd as well. Thanks to Juno, we got to sit in a nice area with folding chairs near the vault runway, instead of up in the nosebleed seats.

Before the competition we hung out as close to the floor as we could get, so we could say hi to people. We saw Kurt Golder, the Michigan head coach, and talked with him a bit about Sam Mikulak, the awesome Michigan Wolverine who may just make the Olympic team (!!!). Sam is a little past my time (he was a freshman two years after I graduated), but I still know him a bit. We also saw our old buddy Paul Ruggeri, a big Juno fan, and Juno's bestest gymnastics buddy of all, John Roethlisberger. They met at Winter Cup and Juno was in love! We also got to see my two Michigan buddies Evan and Scott, who are working for Inside Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics respectively. Men's gymnastics is such a small world that every meet is like a lovely little reunion.

The meet was amazing, and so was Juno. I have never been at such a loud gymnastics meet, even at NCAA championships—I mean, people were shrieking, en masse! And the floor where we were vibrated like it was going through an earthquake anytime someone walked on it. Juno took it all in stride and went to sleep. I love her so much!

Juno at the Shark Tank!

I have to admit, I was a little worried that Juno's poutiness over Kaline would carry over into her work. But that was decidedly not the case. She was her usual excellent self, and I think she appreciated the opportunity to work even more than normal because it was a chance for us to focus just on each other, and for her to get away from the puppy. We had such a wonderful time!

When we got home, Kristin said Kaline was a little star for her (yay!). Since he was awake and peppy, I took him and Juno over to a Kepler's event. I used to work at Kepler's (it's a bookstore, in case you're unaware), and it's closing for the summer, so all the current and former staff were invited back for a sort of indoor picnic. Of course everyone wanted to meet Kaline, and I thought it'd be a great chance for socialization for him (and for Juno to see all her friends!).

It went very well. While Kaline was awake, he mostly played with his chewy ball that I brought to occupy him. He was polite with everyone, not timid and not mouthy either. He met tons of new people, and got held on many different laps with absolutely no issues. He fell asleep on my lap for a while amidst all the hustle and bustle. He was extremely curious when he saw Juno go nuts over her best friend, Alex. If she even smells him in the store, she starts whining and dancing around; once they get together, she basically attacks him (in a very loving way), whimpering and growling and wagging her entire body as she pounces on him.

Everyone loved both the dogs, naturally. Kaline settled nicely on each person's lap, snuggling into their chests and making his insanely cute little gurgly lizard noises. They said he sounds like a baby dinosaur from Jurassic Park!