Not all service dogs are the same, or How not to be a jerk Part II

As you may have guessed, the response of many service dog handlers to my friend and her dog being in the news has my feathers exceedingly ruffled. So I shall make an addendum to my last post.

There are some in the service dog community who think they are the self-appointed Service Dog Police™. Service Dog Police™ members know how many patches are okay on a dog's vest or harness. More than that makes you a faker. They know which tasks are legitimate and exactly how those tasks should be performed. If you do it wrong, you're a faker. They also have a very short list of tools that are appropriate for a service dog to wear. If your dog wears something that is not on their list, you're a faker.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

I think we can all agree that service dogs should conform to certain standards. Like not biting, or lunging, or acting aggressively without reason. They shouldn't bark and make a nuisance of themselves in public without reason. They should be housebroken. (These are all reasons a service dog can legally be asked to leave a public place.) Beyond that, every team is different. Different standards apply to different teams. That's why the laws are so broad. 

Just because a service dog team uses a tool you don't use, or a tool you personally do not like, does not mean the team is not legitimate.

Some teams work in a flat collar. Some teams use a slip chain (this includes pretty much all program-trained guide dogs). Some, like my dogs, work in prongs. Others work in head collars or harnesses of various types. The only things that matter are: 1) Is the tool/combination of tools working for that dog and handler? and 2) Is the dog generally happy working in that tool? Training tools, and when to use and not to use them, are not up to the Service Dog Police™. They are up to each individual team. There is a reason why laws regarding service dogs don't require any specific gear.

Just because a service dog team uses a task you don't use, or a task you personally deem “unprofessional,” does not mean the team is not legitimate.

For certain service dogs, climbing into the handler's lap and beginning to lick his or her face in public might be a sign of misbehavior. A dog trained only to guide its blind handler would have no reason to do such a thing. However, a service dog trained to interrupt dissociation might do this as a task. Licking the handler's face is not inherently wrong, in some way, though the Service Dog Police™ would have you believe it is. Some even think that a dog being in the handler's lap to perform deep pressure therapy is wrong!

Some dogs never need to be off-leash to perform all their tasks. Some dogs, however, do—if they need to run and get help, or circle their handler in order to keep enough space around them, for instance. There are reasons for service dogs to be off-leash. The lack of a leash is not inherently wrong, as long as the dog is under voice control of the handler.

Service dogs sometimes need to be on laps. Sometimes they need to lick. Sometimes they seem to be pulling their handler along, when in fact they are leading that person to an exit, a safe place, or another person who can help them. Sometimes they seem to be sniffing needlessly, when in fact they are searching for their handler's human partner. Sometimes they need to be off leash. Sometimes, if they're small, they need to be carried in certain situations. Sometimes they wear blinged out vests which are extremely colorful or have lots of patches.

Sometimes, service dogs just don't conform to what some may think are unwritten service dog “rules.”

That does not give anyone the right to scream “faker” at another team.

Service dogs in the news, or How not to be a jerk

This is a service dog.

This is also a service dog.

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine was illegally forced to leave a hospital where she was visiting a sick friend. This happened because of the breed of her service dog: American Pit Bull Terrier. The story is finally hitting the news, especially because the person supposed to prosecute the case won't do it—because he is prejudiced against pit bulls. And because he thinks the ADA was written by morons.

Most people are being supportive. Her dog did absolutely nothing wrong, was never off-leash as this scumbag lawyer might have you believe, and she had every right to be accompanied by him in the hospital.

Yet a lot of people are doing two things that just make me flaming mad. Some of these people are members of the public who may not know any better, so I will cut them a tiny bit of slack. But some of these people are other service dog handlers.

Here are the two things. DO NOT DO THESE THINGS.

1. Respond to a story of discrimination against a service dog handler with victim-blaming. Example: “Why would you choose a pit bull as your SD? You know it's going to be harder.”

2. Demand to know exactly what the handler's disability is and/or exactly what the dog does to mitigate it.

We'll start with point one. I will be very blunt.

VICTIM BLAMING IS NOT OKAY. EVER.

When someone is discriminated against, the fault lies with the person who did the discriminating. The victim did nothing wrong.

Yes, when you choose a pit bull as your SD—or a Doberman, for that matter—you go into it knowing that your dog's behavior will probably color people's perceptions of their entire breed. You accept that your dog will probably be held to much higher standards of behavior. You prepare yourself for the probability that you will encounter more access challenges than a handler of a Labrador or Golden Retriever.

Choosing a breed is very personal. It is not a choice anyone makes lightly. You choose your breed because it works best for you in terms of both your personality and disability. For some people, the breed they mesh best with is a Golden Retriever. For some people, it is a pit bull.

Just because you will encounter more access challenges with a pit bull SD does NOT mean that these challenges have any merit. Pit bull handlers deserve the same respectful treatment, the same rights, as Labrador handlers. Even if their dogs are very fit and well-muscled, even if their dogs' ears are cropped. They may have to fight harder for those rights, as my friend is doing. As I said, that's something you prepare for when you have a pit bull, a Doberman, a Rottweiler, a Cane Corso, any “scary” breed as a service dog.

When you encounter these challenges, you deserve exactly the same support as a Labrador handler. My friend did not bring this hassle on herself, somehow, by choosing to work a pit bull. This is not her fault. This is the fault of the hospital staff who illegally discriminated against her, a disabled SD handler.

Even if those who threw her out hadn't mentioned her dog's breed as the reason, his breed still would not be relevant to the case. The only thing about him that is relevant is that he is a highly trained, impeccably behaved service dog who was doing his job. His handler's federally protected right to be accompanied by her SD was violated. The end.

On to point No. 2.

I understand that members of the public are curious about other people. (Boy, do I understand.) I understand that fake service dogs are a problem (though not nearly as much of a problem as the media make them out to be). I understand that other service dog handlers are curious and want to know all the details of every service dog story.

But here's the thing: It's still none of your business. You still have no right to know what a handler's disability is or what her dog does specifically to mitigate it. If she chooses to share it, fine. If she doesn't, put on your big-kid pants and deal with it.

A service dog handler's rights do not vanish into thin air when they become a subject of a news story. I hear many handlers complain about members of the public asking intrusive questions about their dog and/or disability, but many of these same handlers feel they have every right to know this personal information once a team is in the news. Members of the public seem to feel that if they are not given this personal medical information, the team must be fake.

Sorry, that's not how it works.

The only people with the right to delve into a handler's disability are their doctor(s) and a judge, if a case regarding their SD goes to court and they need to prove their disability and the dog's training. That's the complete list.

Handlers, of course, may choose to divulge details to friends and family. Some are exceedingly open and have no problem sharing these details with the world. More power to them—I admire that kind of bravery, since I would never, ever voluntarily do that. But some handlers don't want their medical history splashed all over a news story. That is a perfectly valid position. It does not somehow mean they're fake.

Please remember these things when you read stories of service dogs and their handlers in the news. No one deserves or “asks for” discrimination, no matter what breed of dog they work. Their personal information is still personal and private. Be supportive, because tomorrow, that could be you.

Michigan Trip, Day 2

15 August 2013

Our second day in the Mitten State, we got to sleep in. How delicious. When I finally got up, the first order of business was a walk for Kaline. Our hotel had a nice little walking path behind it, plus a pond, with geese, and this big grassy strip where I later let Kaline get all his running ya-yas out. That day we did a regular walk plus some basic obedience practice.

Morning walk.

Morning walk.

We met my mom's old college roommate and her husband for lunch at a place called Sava's. The first thing the waiter brought was a bowl of water for Kaline (I didn't ask for it) which my puppy happily lapped up. He was excellent through the meal, snoozing under my chair quietly. After lunch we exchanged the car at a nearby Hertz outpost and talked dogs with all the employees (haha).

Kaline the rock star at Sava's.

Next we went to the mall (our hotel was basically across the parking lot from Briarwood) where I worked a lot with Kaline on matching my pace—sudden stops and turns, changes of pace, etc. He did a nudge alert right before I went all fibro foggy. He pulled pretty well once that started but I was still only about half-functional. We came back to the hotel for a break after that.

Kaline at Briarwood Mall.

When we got up, Dad and I took Kaline in the back on his e-collar and just let him run himself out. He also wriggled hilariously on his back in the grass. He was just having so much fun.

Getting the ya-yas out.

 After the run, we went to State St. for some shopping and dinner. In Nickels Arcade, we saw a guy approaching with an Airedale, so I got Kaline out of the way and was keeping his attention on me. Once the Airedale saw Kay, it began lunging and basically screaming, trying to get to him. I shoved treats in Kaline's mouth and just waited for the guy to go away. But of course, when he got close, he goes, “Can he say hi?” I replied pretty sharply, “Absolutely not.” Probably offended him, but better than getting my dog hurt.

Other than that guy and one other, though, basically all the people I encountered in Michigan were politely curious about Kaline, rather than the intrusively curious folks you get in Northern California. It was really pleasant to be asked things about his training rather than about my personal medical information. And Kaline was a great Dober-ambassador, since a lot of people had never seen a Dobe SD before.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for Boneless Thursday, and actually saw another SD team! It was a Golden Retriever and a man in a wheelchair. I generally don't go up and talk to other teams I see unless it's a meetup, so I was just quietly happy they were there. Kaline was again excellent, the food was very tasty, and we got to see part of the Tigers game.

At B-Dubs, yum yum!!

After dinner there was yet more shopping and a stop at Insomnia Cookies on South U. And then, the obligatory Meijer run.

Shopping at the M Den. Yes, I bought this, I never put things in his mouth that aren't mine/I don't intend to buy.

Meijer is this store in Michigan (well, chain of stores) that has everything. I am not kidding. Everything. Food, clothes, hardware, pet supplies, you name it, they probably sell it. My parents used to take me on Meijer runs when they'd visit me at school, and we still do a run each trip. It is ridiculous. Somehow we always manage to fill up the cart with stuff. You wouldn't think we'd need groceries and such but apparently we do. Kaline did awesome, even though he was pretty tired.

Kaline and Faygo, the best pop ever. Many flavors, but Rock & Rye is by far the best. It's a Michigan thing.

Filling up the cart!

The Ear Saga of Woe

The Ear of Woe. Spot the injury—if you can!

Holy crap. Most exhausting, stressful week in quite some time.

After Kaline got the sutures in his ear, he had to be in a bandage, snood, and cone for three days. On day two, I noticed the snood's mesh starting to cut into the exposed underside of his ear, so back we went to have that off. The bandage and cone remained. Kaline, on sedatives, stayed mostly quiet and actually had a fairly good appetite. We got the poor little invalid some baby food to tempt his palate. Mom has been especially solicitous, even to the point of telling off her “girlfriend” Juno for barking at Kaline!

Sunday was day three, and we took Kaline back to the e-vet to have the bandage completely off. He was in the back an interminably long time. I heard the ominous sound of him being allowed to do a whole body shake. A long while after that, a vet (not the last one we had) came out to talk to us.

He had, indeed, busted his ear yet again. They'd glued it and were bandaging him again. I was extremely frustrated that they had allowed him to shake off as hard as he wanted right after the bandage came off. I was frustrated that they only wanted to leave the bandage on three days. (The reasoning for that—limiting the risk of other problems arising due to moisture in the ear—was explained to me by one of the excellent techs.) The vet just said we needed to be patient. Which was also frustrating, because I for one would've been happy to leave the bandage on for a week! (Before learning that that would be bad.)

Then came the kicker. The vet goes: “Well, he is a Doberman. You could always crop his ears.” Were I a cartoon character at that moment, my face would've turned bright red, smoke would've come out my ears, and my eyes would have zoomed about a foot out from my face. Kaline's cut is measured in millimeters. And somehow a solution to that would be cutting off most of his ears? Also, HELLO, you don't crop the ears of a fifteen-month-old dog. Twelve weeks old is considered late to do it. I was just furious and way overwhelmed with anxiety and worry. And I'd been stupid and left Juno home with Mom.

When Kaline finally came out, with a bandage that looked like a diaper on his head in addition to his cone, I immediately went to hug him because I was just so relieved to see him. Despite being sedated and probably in some pain or at least discomfort, Kaline immediately started deep pressure into my chest. I almost started sobbing right there. I couldn't believe he was trying to take care of me when he was the one all the bad things were happening to.

Diaper bandage and cone.

Everything just looked disastrous—we might have to cut off a piece of his ear (again, explained by the tech as to why that could be helpful/necessary—the techs are unfailingly excellent over there), the entire trip to Michigan could be off, Kaline was back in the cone and clearly not a happy camper.

Three more days of tense waiting commenced. The appetite stayed fairly good, amazingly, and somehow my family were all able to work our schedules so Kaline was almost never by himself. The sedatives were a really big help, because it stopped him wanting to shake so often and also meant that the 20-30 minutes of exercise he was allowed per day were enough. I shudder to think of an un-sedated Kaline forced to endure days with that little exercise!

Poor little invalid.

Yesterday, we headed to our regular vet to have the bandage off. I formulated a plan, we followed it exactly, and it worked!

When we went in, Noel carefully slid the cone off and cut the bandage off Kaline's head. He had a ring of adhesive residue around his neck and some irritation from the bandage on the front of his neck, but the ear looked pretty good. I kept a good hold on his collar, preventing him from shaking, and gently held his bad ear in a piece of gauze. Dr. Mihalek came in with the little plastic vials of glue and applied that while I held Kaline and his ear. Once it was dry, we let him go but I still didn't let him shake. Brilliant.

Yay, Real Kaline™ is back!

We got home, and I gathered my supplies bought earlier in the day: wound cream, wound powder to stop bleeding, and liquid bandaid. All we needed was liquid bandaid. I applied it liberally to his ear and since then, it has held up beautifully! I've been watching Kay carefully, and he's always either on leash or on an e-collar so we can nip any shake in the bud. Nonetheless he's managed about three full-body shakes (mostly in the car) since yesterday afternoon, and his ear is still intact! Liquid bandaid, you are my hero. The trip to Michigan is back on, and boy, is it ever wonderful to see my puppy's beautiful face framed by his marvelous, silky ears again. I feel like I worked really hard to get those ears! I don't want anything bad to happen to them. Kaline is clearly so much happier out of the cone (shocking, I'm sure). I'm still a little on edge and checking his ear obsessively anytime he gets a good shake in, but I feel loads better.

In case they're reading: Big, big thanks to all my friends who supported me through all the stress and offered excellent advice. Especially everyone who said, “Just GLUE IT already!” Should've listened to you much earlier. And extra super special gratitude to Maura, Kaline's breeder, leader of the Glue It Already group, who is always there with super helpful advice and encouragement. 

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. 

Our trip to Pennsylvania!

In which I shall make up for long inactivity with a marathon post about how freaking fantastic Juno and her amazing harness were on our trip to Pennsylvania.

We left last Wednesday, having dropped Kaline off with Freddie the previous evening. He was so happy playing constantly with Rio, he didn't even notice we left. Most of our stuff at the airport went fairly smoothly, but I was still left with a bad impression of United.

When we arrived at the security line, I asked the woman directing people where the express line was. She put me and my parents in the line resembling the one for Space Mountain in Disneyland, only at the end you get groped instead of going on a rollercoaster. Noting this issue, I then approached the guy in charge of the express line. In order to get into that, he said, I'd have to talk to his manager. The woman who put me in the wrong line in the first place.

So I went instead to a security guard. She rolled her eyes at the manager and most efficiently put me and Juno in the proper line, then rounded up my parents as well. When I thanked her, she snorted dismissively and said it shouldn't be that difficult for the other ones to just put us in the right line.

Once that was solved, we moved smoothly through security. Juno picked up my shoes for me after I took them off, then helped me get my hoodie off. I went through the non-scary metal detector (the full body scan, which I have to use if I'm dogless, invariably triggers an anxiety attack), then called Juno through, in all her gear. She stood like a statue for her pat-down, like we were in the obedience ring doing Stand for Exam. The TSA lady who checked her over was quite impressed. Juno's a pro now when it comes to air travel.

Through security at SFO.

When it was time for early boarding, Juno and I and my dad had no trouble, but boy, were the passengers rude in general. And another disabled woman, who didn't have a dog but did have a fused leg, got a ton of rudeness and snark from the gate agent.

We watched as tons of "first class" passengers cut in front of me and the other lady, just because they're special and we're peons. The gate agent did nothing, just let it happen. Then when the other woman said she needed to be switched to an aisle seat due to her leg, the gate agent, instead of accommodating her as the law requires, told her she could either sit in her assigned seat or not fly. She did it in the most nasty, humiliating way possible. When we got on, I talked to the woman and said they had to accommodate her, no matter what the gate agent said. I found the relevant part of the ACAA but by then the people who actually worked on the plane had done their job and found her a proper seat without being assholes.

Juno and I were in Economy Plus, because the bulkhead was an exit row. I was amazed that Juno fit so well! She slid herself under the seat and had plenty of room. Then the flight attendants moved my dad, who had the middle seat, because the plane wasn't full and then Juno would have even more room to spread out. As usual she slept through most of the flight.

Curled up on the plane to Philly.

Adorable face!

When we got to Philadelphia, Juno did amazing momentum pulling on her guide handle, with and without a target.

She charmed our rental car bus driver. Then we had a two-hour drive to Wilkes-Barre and our hotel.

Juno on the bus.

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, and they needed some serious education on the ADA. At least I had some warning. Dad had gone in to check in, and came back to the car with an evil grin. “They want to see paperwork for the service dog,” he said, knowing I was about to kick ass verbally. It's the only time I'll really stand up to people and have a conflict.

So in I went with my ADA business brief. I was told I needed to show ID or certification. I passed my ADA brief across the counter, reading aloud the portion that says ID, certification, demo of tasks, etc. may not be required. In response, I got, “Okay, but ...” I said, “No ‘but.’ This is federal law.” Eventually I had to talk to an assistant manager, because the girl at the counter had clearly been told she needed to ask for this paperwork, and the higher ups needed the education. So I educated him too. Not sure how well it worked, but Juno and I had no further trouble after that, and hopefully they'll know better how to treat future teams. I walked Juno “nekkid” through the lobby a lot ... it was sometimes unintentional but not always. Hehe.

Juno's drawer o' stuff at the hotel.

Juno in our hotel room with Froggy.

On Thursday, we ended up spending the day at Harvey's Lake, where my parents used to spend their summers. Of course, this was after the first of many Dunkin Donuts runs. I am addicted to Dunkaccinos and wouldn't you know it, there are no Dunkins anywhere near me.

Dunkin!!!!

At the lake, my parents were pointing out houses where various people used to live. We got to one that belonged to Gary Frank, with a guy working outside. “That looks like Gary Frank,” said Mom. It was Gary Frank, and we ended up spending the afternoon with him and his wife on their dock and in their boat on the lake. He was good friends with my mom's older sister.

Harvey's Lake.

Juno did awesome on the boat ride. I thought she might be a little unsettled at first, especially when we went fast, so I popped some cookies in her mouth. She was totally fine. She even enjoyed the wind whipping her ears around.

I'm on a BOAT!

Chilling on the boat.

We got ice cream on the way home, and the girl working there made Juno her own bowl, with two scoops of vanilla topped with a Milk Bone. Juno was most appreciative.

I'm mean and like to torture my dog.

Nom nom nom.

We went to dinner with Dad's old buddy Pete and his wife Gail. Right as we got in the restaurant, some lady started reaching for Juno, belatedly asking if she were a “Seeing Eye dog.” I blocked for Juno and told her she wasn't, and please not to touch her. Urgh. Dinner was good though. Juno sacked out completely next to my chair until the end. Guess her harness is pretty comfy!


Friday we got to do family history stuff. In the morning, we went with my Uncle Larry (Dad's youngest brother) and Aunt Nora to walk Juno in Kingston, starting from Dad's old house. Dad will call family members by wrong names a lot, and it got hilariously worse with Uncle Larry around. Every time he wanted my attention, it was, “Larry! No, Donnie! No, Nancey! No, COLT!” At least once I was also Juno. We walked all around the old neighborhood, with Mom, Larry and Dad all pointing out the houses of their old friends and of various family members. I love that kind of stuff! And Juno enjoyed her nice walk.

Juno at Dad's old house.

In the afternoon, we went to the Lackawanna Coal Mine. I was on the tour of the actual mine when I was about nine, and I didn't really feel like taking Juno down in there. So Mom and I did the museum while Dad, Larry, and Nora did the mine tour. It was good fun and I was especially tickled to see that one of the electric coal locomotives had come from the Henry Ford.

That night, we went to our first actual family event, the Shabbat dinner for my cousin Noa, who was having her Bat Mitzvah the next morning. Juno did her best at blocking when we came in, but I was getting swarmed from all sides. Yes, by family I was excited to see, but still swarmed. It was too much and we had to go off and do deep pressure so I could calm down. I got to chat with a bunch of my favorite cousins, and Juno did really well when a very tiny cousin screamed bloody murder at the sight of her standing up. Totally ignored it. She's such a rock.

Saturday was awesome. I spent the morning killing some time with Juno, going to PetDumb, Barnes and Noble, and of course, Dunkin, before heading to a tack shop in Dallas to meet up with Francine and her SD, Rocket, an amazing pit bull/Lab mix. I also got to meet Francine's lovely husband, Chris. We've been talking online for quite a while, and it was really neat to get to meet them in real life! We got to talk shop a lot, and the dogs did great working in each other's presence. We had a delicious lunch out in the middle of nowhere at a grill that had shockingly delicious burgers. Juno got an amazing compliment from Francine that I will treasure forever, that she seems like she was raised to be a SD from puppyhood. (Actually, I got her at 18 months and she was totally insane.) We had a marvelous time!

Francine with Rocket; me with Juno.

In the evening was Noa's party by the pool at the hotel where most of the family were staying. Again with the overwhelming crowding; eventually I was able to get a spot at a table, where the crowding would be minimal, and again I got to talk to a lot of favorite cousins who I don't get to see much. Juno conked out under the table once I was settled. Everyone was amazed at how calm and well-behaved she is. I really hope one day Kaline is like that. Juno and I had such a great time bonding on this trip, and I just wish she never had to retire and that we could be a working team forever.

Outside the hotel with this awesome car.

Sunday was brutal. We had to get up at 3:00 am to get on the road to Philly by 3:30. Our flight was a little before eight. Juno was excellent in the airport again, doing momentum pull with Dad as her target, blocking when she needed to, ignoring randoms trying to distract her. We got Dunkin again, naturally, and once we were on the plane (much better experience) Juno absolutely crashed. She was quite a tired girl!

Juno riding the luggage cart because 3 am is too early to walk around.

Juno crashed out on the plane.

Our flight seemed to take forever, but finally we were home. I picked up Kaline, and he was super mellow all day, probably out of exhaustion from a weekend of nonstop bromance with Rio. It was super convenient for me and the parents and Juno, because all of us pretty much passed out for the afternoon.

May begins!

I am mostly enjoying May so far! We've had more good things happening than bad (though of course the bad things make more interesting stories, I suppose).

I've been working on Random Retrieving with Kaline. We use objects I know he'll like, but we do it in odd places. Due to allergy stuff, I've gone out multiple times to buy different pills. They come in boxes, so once I pick my box and commit to buying it (obviously), I start practicing with it. First, Kaline has to do eager, non-chewy take it & hold. The take it is the very important part—he has to reach for the object. The holding he knows, and will do even with objects he doesn't like. Once he's done several good take its, then I drop it and have him do retrieves. I'm working on getting him to paw it less, and just pick it up.

The small cardboard pill boxes are very fun and easy for him. Then I decided to buy shampoo, and that was pretty amusing. He clearly wanted to practice with it, so we did the same exercises, but it was more difficult for him because it was much heavier and the bottle was smooth plastic. He was so determined though! It was really cute.

Kaline accompanied me to a baby shower over the weekend, and that was pretty much a disaster. He was super whiny and fidgety, even though I was able to let him run in this big pasture behind the house in the middle of it. By pet standards, I guess he was a good boy, but certainly not by my standards! It drove me nuts when people were telling me he was being such a good boy, when he was whining all the time and breaking downs constantly. Of course, as soon as we got home he curled up like a little angel and cuddled all evening. Figures.

He was much better the following morning, when we did the usual Sunday public access work. One of the many things I did wrong on Saturday at the shower was to be really tight on the leash all the time (there was a ton of food right at Kaline face level). That, naturally, made him pull all the more. So on Sunday, I tried to be very conscious of the leash and tried to keep it loose as much as possible. Shocker, Kaline hardly pulled at all.

In the afternoon, I took Juno out to meet Marissa and Macro for a socialization outing. We had lunch at Max's and then walked around Stanford Shopping Center. Macro was such a good little boy! He's a very relaxed little puppy. We took him and Juno into Needless Markup, where he was totally unfazed by the tiles and the escalator. He curled up for a doze near the escalator, actually. Nobody could keep their hands off him! He's so damn cute. Teehee!

Something else cute happened on Friday. It was really hot by our fourth walk, so on that walk, all the dogs wore shoes. It was freaking adorable. Many compliments.

Then today. We had our usual four walks, which were mostly nice (mostly because I found out that the "brother" of one of my dogs died, sadly. He was old, though, and it was very fast). Then we finished up the car upholstery saga.

Without going into too much detail, let's just say the car upholstery people don't understand the concepts of: customer service; people not being able to drive two cars at once; people having jobs that last past 4:00 in the afternoon; people not having chauffeurs/people on call to drive them places. My friend agreed to drive me to this place, thankfully. I took Juno rather than Kaline.

We got there, and inside the office was an enormous Labrador or Lab mix, barking its head off. Obviously I wasn't taking Juno into that tiny office with the dog acting that way, so I just waited awkwardly outside. Finally, someone came over to ask why I was there. I explained I was there to pick up the car. The guy goes into the office and leashes the dog, I assume to take it away somewhere while I conduct my business. Nope! He comes out, dog at the end of the leash and straining and bouncing, clearly intending to let the dog just run up into Juno's face.

I kept backing Juno up, asking the guy to keep the dog away from her. He responded by questioning whether she was really a service dog. I replied that all dogs value their personal space, and the majority of dogs really don't appreciate other dogs lunging into their faces. That only got me: “Oh, so she's an attack service dog?” At that point I just gave up, clearly a lost cause. The guy basically blocked the doorway with the dog, and luckily Juno remembered how to heel on the right, so I could be between her and the dog.

In the tiny office, the guy let the dog come over and sniff Juno, who showed admirable restraint and moved so that she was between me and my friend. It was just a metric ton of NOT OKAY. I am debating whether to post a scathing review on Yelp, haha.

Tonight we're going to a reading at Kepler's by one of my favorite authors, the hilarious science writer Mary Roach! It would probably be a good education experience for Kay ... But I want to just enjoy the hilarity! So Juno's going, hehe. We need our quality girl time anyhow.

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.)

Juno waiting to go in.

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.

Juno being a pretzel under my seat.

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.

Me with Ryan, Danny and Evanne in our Tiger Pride splendor.

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.

Me and Kaline with Anthony.

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.

Head in the sun, nose and paws safely within our row!

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!
 

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 ...

Curled up early ...

... bundled up later. 60 degrees with wind = winter blizzard in Kaline land.

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.  

DPT from Kaline.