Happy 3rd Birthday, Belly Boo!

Jesse's Girl

One of the first entries posted to this blog introduced the label "Dog Songs" - songs brought to mind by the antics of Belle. It's fitting then that the news we're about to share brings yet another song to mind.

We are pleased and oh so proud to announce that Belle has met her match. The beautiful Brown-Eyed Girl will soon be Jesse's Girl. How cool is that!

Eagle Mountain High, Minnesota

She came, she saw, she charmed one and all on the highest point in Minnesota. 2301 feet above see level.

"Wiggle My Waggles Away"

A couple of classes ago, Eileen gave us a new assignment - get our dogs to wag their tail without using treats. I know what you're thinking; they are retrievers - how hard an assignment could that be?

Sadly, at least for Belle and I, harder than you would think.

For the last two years I've worked so hard to keep inflection out of my voice - Belle treated any enthusiasm on my part as a contest to see who could be most enthusiastic and she always won. Now, the only time my voice gets wild wags is when I've been away for awhile.

I guess I just found another reason to wish that Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak wasn't just fiction. Heaven help us both if we have to resort to Raffi*.

*The title of this post is a phrase from the song, "Shake Your Sillies Out". To hear a preview of the song, click the link above, click on the Play arrow at the top left of the iTunes page.

The Skye's The Limit

Meet Skye*, another of Belle's siblings making news in the metro!

I wonder if Irving Berlin was thinking about Skye when he wrote this classic refrain...

Blue Skyes
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue Skyes
Do I see

*Thanks to EB for throwing me a bone for the blog!

Belle Amie

My Belle is back and there's going to be trouble...
Hey La, hey la, my Belle is back.

Belle's evaluation was completed and she was delivered as promised yesterday morning. Cody was so glad to see her - the two had some serious playtime to catch up on.

As for Belle and her skills, we have lots to work on; crate behavior and socially acceptable greetings being right at the top of the list.

Gotta go, we better get started!

Anticipation

An article in this morning's paper talks about a "new" phenomena in child rearing; no diapers on infants. Families that follow this practice routinely hold their infants over a bowl or potty chair and make a "suush" sound. The baby will usually respond by eliminating on cue.

Hmmm. Sounds a lot like the method we use to teach Helping Paws puppies to go when and where we want them to go.

I expect the article will get a lot of feedback about the sanitation (sanity?) of the parents following this method. But(t) the method makes sense. It's always easier to train a new skill than to try an untrain an old habit. As the article mentioned, it seems counterintuitive to teach a kid to go in their diaper then at some arbitrary age, tell them they can't do that anymore. Some kids can and do, balk at the change.

When Molly was a wee one, her red hair and fair skin made her prone to skin rashes. Diaper rash was the worst. At times, the only thing I could do was hold her under the tub spout to rinse off her little behind. Wiping was just too painful. At nine months she had a bout with diarrhea that was so bad the skin on her little cheeks would bleed with each bowel movement. Soon, she started to fuss before she had to go. Desperate to help her, I trained myself to listen and watch for her cues and she was totally trained by age 1. But more importantly, her little bottom healed for the first time in her life.

I hope the method described in the article catches on. Our infants deserve not having to sit in their own waste. Like puppies, their elimination schedules are very predictable - when something goes in, something else comes out. If we adults can train ourselves to pay attention to a puppy, how hard is it to anticipate the eliminate of a human child? Trust me, it won't be a long wait - despite what Carole King had to say about it.

"Red And Yellow And Pink And Green...

...purple, and orange, and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, too."*



Sometimes you have to really search for beauty in life. Sometimes it's right outside your back door.

A big thank-you to Belle and Cody (and their morning needs) for the opportunity to see this beauty.

*So goes the song from an unknown source that I used to sing to the kids when they were little.

London Bridge is Falling Down

The old nursery rhyme came to mind as I was musing what to write this morning. Yesterday's bridge collapse is never far from my thoughts. For six years I saw this bridge just below my office windows in the WBOB building on Washington and 35W. Two days ago, I crossed it twice - the second time sitting on the bridge for 10 minutes or so due to the maintenance construction. I had Belle with me both times.

Like many, I'm wondering and hoping that the death toll will go down, the lost will be found safe, and the cause of the collapse will be no-one's fault. But it's just the beginning of life without the bridge. In all the speculation to come and possible finger pointing, I hope we won't forget the images that stick in my mind the most - our paid rescue workers working along side the civilians that just couldn't help but lend a hand. Carrying the injured away from the danger, holding the hands of the wounded waiting for help.

I hope too, that we recognize that it doesn't need to take a bridge falling down to reach out to each other. Not all tragedies are so large, but they're tragedies none the less. A "helping paw" is always welcome.

"Who Let The Dogs Out"

Happiness is summer, some friends, and a place to run. From L to R, Belle, Bella and Cody.

Sisters

Bella arrived today for a week long visit with her sister, Belle. Like two peas in a pod, the pair of them have personalities as similar as their names. That is, if the two could talk, all we would of heard today was, "party, party"!

This is my first venture into the world of three dogs, and I must say that if the past six hours have been an accurate indication of how the week will go, we're going to have a good time. Dinner was so easy - Belle and Bella each went to their kennel, and Cody had his usual spot right next to the water cooler. Cody even showed Bella his fabulous dinner dance.

So far, the wrestling between the three is manageable. I do wish I had a fence, though, when other dogs come to play. Bella has done great with coming when I call her if she strays out of the yard, but I can't really let them run and romp for fear the chase will take our guest beyond the bounds of our invisible fence. To make matters a little more challenging, Macalester is redoing their tennis courts, so I can't even take them up there.

I do hope to take the dogs to the dog beach at White Bear Lake if Molly will be able to spare some time. All three dogs love the water, and it would be a lot of fun to take them where it is safe and legal for them to play - and burn off some of the excess energy that just seems to build when they're together.

I know the cats will appreciate a dog free afternoon. It's clear they know they're outnumbered.

"Meme"-ries, Part II

I was tagged with a new meme recently by Sara. Referred to as a "4 X 2" meme, the goal was to list four new things that happened in your life in the last four years and then list four new things that you would like to try in the next four years.

In reading the 4 X 2 submissions connected to Sara's tag, I was struck by the dramatic changes that had occurred in each of the submitters lives; relocation to foreign locales, children's graduations, the death of a very dear loved one, the ending of a long-term relationship to name just a few. Four years ago, I doubt that any of these events would have been included on the "four things to try in the next four years" part of this meme. But as Sara so perfectly pointed out in one of her comments to the post (and I'm paraphrasing here), it's a tribute to our resiliency that none of these tragic or dramatic events have defined who we are.

I think the fact that we are willing to try four (and more) new things in the future is the key to this resiliency.

Four years ago, just owning a dog - not to mention training a service dog, was not even remotely in my plans for the future. Yet here I am, working with Belle on a daily basis, meeting others whose lives have become bound with mine because of her, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of the experience (well, maybe not the diarrhea minutes).

So how does this particular meme-ry light the corners of my mind? Life would certainly be a lot easier if it was laid out like the checkerboard squares of the farm fields seen from an airplane. With well marked intersections, and straight lines that allowed you to see all that was headed your way. But life isn't like that, and we can't see what's ahead. Yet the surprises in store are just as likely to be delightful as they are to be tragic. The key is to keep moving, eventually another path opens. The only real tragedy would be to choose not to take it.

Why Can't We Be Friends

Sometimes, with all their little spats, it's hard for me to believe that one day they'll be great friends. This photo gives me hope.

Meme-ries

One of the rewards (hazards?) of reading professor/writer blogs is the possibility of being assigned some homework. Today's assignment? Answer the question, "What are five things you do every day to contribute to your success?"

Since this is a dog blog - I hope Tenured Professor Dr. Auntie Cara (TPDAC) won't mind if I add the words "as a foster home for Helping Paws" to the end of the question.

1. Get myself ready for the day before I take care of the animals. This may sound like a no-brainer, but when Belle was a little puppy I got so focused on avoiding accidents in the house that the first thing I did every day was take her outside. When we came in from that duty, the cats were whining to be fed, their box needed to be clean, and oh, while I'm down in the basement, why not start some laundry? Then, back upstairs and it's time to get breakfast for Molly and I, and you get the drift. Before I knew it, half the day would be gone and I'd feel like a heap.
2. Go for a long morning and evening walk with Belle. Not only is this good exercise for us both, but it has many other advantages as well. Such as - the opportunity to meet my neighbors and other fellow dog walkers; a chance to practice new and old cues in different settings; and time for reflection and thought.
3. Work through Belle's daily homework upon return from the morning walk. Focus on the tasks that she (or I) struggle with - and end each work session with her favorite thing to do.
   
4. Play with Belle. Oh how she thrives on play. Throwing the ball, hiding her kong, and the coupe d' gras, inviting a dog pal over to play.
5. Finally, write about what we do each day. Writing helps me focus what our shared experiences reveal. Since I tend to see things in black and white, writing has provided a color commentary of sorts on the many ways to view our training together. Invaluable when Belle and I are struggling, enchanting when we're not.

So what's with the weird spelling in the title of this post? It's just another reward from reading writer/professor blogs each day - you get to learn new words. Meme (rhymes with theme) is the second one of the week for me (the first was "encomia" - a formal speech or writing praising someone). I'd never heard of meme before reading the good TPDAC's post, but according to Wikipedia, it's been around since 1976 thanks to a biologist by the name of Dr. Dawkins. Wikipedia has a great formal definition having to do with the propagation of ideas, but to me it seems like a Rubik's cube that's been handed to me with a "here, see what you can make of this" theme.

What do you make of this post? What are the five things you do every day to contribute to your success?

Dog Hair Blues

If cleanliness is next to godliness, I'm one step from Hell.

With two dogs and two cats (not to mention the two long-haired humans) on the premises, daily vacuuming has become a must do task. Kansas tumbleweeds are nothing compared to some of the furry versions I've seen rolling through my house lately. The one to the left is a mere four hours old.

So what's a bummed out pet owner to do (besides suck it up)? That's right - put it to verse.

Retrievers are great beauties
Of this I'm not in doubt
It's just that I
must wonder why
They leave their gold about.

Compelled to share their wealth of hair
They scatter it like litter
In every room
Please don't presume
That all that's gold must glitter.

It collects in every corner
To gossip with the dirt
It mats on rugs
Like surly thugs
Bullied by a hair shirt.

With every errant sunbeam
Dust motes smote the eye
At least in rays
That aren't waylaid
By nose-slimed windows - dried.

Yet through the daily battle
I sing the Dog Hair Blues
I cannot grouse
'Cuz in this house
The Blues wear Golden hues.

I've actually started to think I'm going about this all wrong. I mean, why clean the floors? Somewhere in the distant past I remember someone telling me that for best results go direct to the source. I think I'll just start vacuuming the dogs.

(Just kidding, Eileen!)

500 Miles

On Monday last, Belle left for her two-week evaluation with Lori. Molly and I left home to do some evaluating of our own - college evaluations. It's time to figure out where the next step in Molly's educational journey will be. We've been to Iowa State, Madison, Evanston and Champaign in less than a week. St. Louis is next week-end. At least with that trip we will get to see two colleges in one city. Then Molly must make her decision.

There has been a lot of time for thinking as the miles passed beneath the wheels. Or in the interludes between visits spent at local coffee shops or bookstores where we stopped to kill time until the next appointment. I read a book review in USA Today and shocked myself with not only remembering the book's title and subject but by purchasing the book at the first available opportunity. I couldn't know the depth of the grief and joy and memories this book would reveal. Or how hard it would be to put it down despite the tears that flowed as each passage tore at yet another badly healed scab that I thought I had covered so nicely with my own internal version of Disney heroine band-aids.

The theme of the book is very simple - that the dogs in our lives bring out the best that is human in us - but in the stories and method in which the author chooses to emphasize this theme there is so much more, a duality of purpose that at times I can't fathom entirely, but know that I will spend much time trying to do just that. As if understanding will or can stick on and help heal in a way my virtual band-aids can't.

The book? Dog Years by Mark Doty. It is a wonderful, first-person account of the love the author shared with his partner and their retrievers, Arden and Beau. But I warn you - you will simultaneously want to be alone when you read it and be with others with whom you can share the stories. To be able to read aloud the magnificent words woven together with such magic that though technically prose is truly poetry.

Assistance Dog Rap

The verses that follow were inspired by yesterday's shot of Dozer executing a perfect "Logo". My poetic license has already been revoked but here's a little ditty that I'm sure will cause some to say I got a bad rap!

When performing
Or reforming
A new trick or cue
And don't know what to do
Go Logo
Go Logo

To look disarming
Or just charming
Have a seat for
Shake to greet
Go Logo
Go Logo

When in public
Let this rubric
Be your guide
"Give them eye!"
Go Logo
Go Logo

If traveling you stay at HoJo
Don't forget to show your mojo
Raise your chin
Try a grin
Go Logo
Go Logo

When in public
Let this rubric
Be your guide
"Give them eye!"
Go Logo
Go Logo


ps. Molly has now denied any relation to me. Ouch! (On second thought, that's probably the highest praise possible coming from a teenager.)

To Every Thing There Is A Season...

Yesterday was Molly's last regular season hockey game for St. Paul United. She has played six seasons for the team - one JV, five Varsity. For so long, she was the "little" one on the team. Now, there are other "little" ones - and she, their captain.

There will be many of these "lasts" in the next few months. So many goodbye's - some recognized, some not - as her childhood comes to a close. These farewells would be so much harder for her if the anticipation and excitement of new adventures weren't singing their siren song so loud.

My job of nurturing, teaching, and disciplining is nearly done. I hear her little two year old voice again telling me "I do it, Mama". And she will - oh, she will. But there will be a huge emptiness inside for me as I learn to adjust to yet another new phase in my life. An emptiness I know will be filled to overflow with the joy of watching her learn all she needs to become the person she was meant to be.

Ironically, at yesterday's game a woman stopped me right after the Senior Presentation ceremony. And she asked me, still holding the rose given to me in Molly's honor, "how will I ever be able to give up my dog"? My son and daughter have shown me how. When it is Belle's turn to move on, the emptiness she will leave behind will be filled with the satisfaction of knowing she is doing what she was raised to do - to serve others with love and joy.

Thousands of years ago, Ecclesiastes said it best..

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

No-one can have only one "time" at the exclusion of all others. We must experience them all to really appreciate what that "time" means in this journey we call life. I love you, Molly. Thank you for sharing this time with me.

On Eagles Wings

Yesterday, Belle and I shared a first - but I hope not the last. The two of us were out flooding the ice rink. Or I should say, I was flooding and Belle was contentedly lying on the ice, shredding a stick all over the freshly scraped and swept surface.

Something caught my eye and I looked up. Above me, soaring with the cool wind, the sun gleaming off its white head and tail was a beautiful bald eagle. The eagle was so close I could see the definition of the feathers on the underside of the wings. I didn't say a word but Belle sensed somehow that this was special. She came and sat next to me and the two of us just watched the bird until carried by the currents it glided away.

I live in St. Paul, in a neighborhood about two miles from the river. But I've never seen a bald eagle anywhere but up north or soaring over the falls of St. Anthony. And never as close as Belle and I experienced yesterday. Raptor rapture.

Feelings...

Nothing more than feelings -

Note to self: When asked to perform a certain skill in front of potential clients with lots of other dogs in the room listen to the little voice that's telling you - "WARNING", "WARNING", "WARNING". Remember, it's okay to sit out a few skills.

Last night, Belle and I attended a field trip and short demo at Courage Center. Belle was very excited to see all the new dogs, and in warm-ups, I struggled with getting her to focus. Not only were there Goldens from other Helping Paws classes, but there were Labs too. Exotic creatures with shiny black fur. Oh, how she wanted to greet and sniff and wriggle and play with each and every one of these gorgeous strangers that she was certain would be fast friends if I would just let her! But no, Mom made her walk at heel, drop, roll over and all the other staid cues that she can do in her sleep. But finally, her opportunity came. Eileen asked the foster homes to demonstrate how the dogs could "get their leash" - and Mom ignored the niggling voice in her head telling her "don't do it, she can't be successful right now". Big mistake on Mom's part.

She picked up her leash alright, but then bolted instead of giving it to me. Right over to the beautiful black lab behaving so well for Nancy, our Foster Home Coordinator. And I felt ashamed. Not because Belle misbehaved but because I didn't heed the advice repeatedly given to all of us over the last year of training - don't put your dog in a situation where they can't be successful.

As can be seen above, Belle is very good at getting her leash, but I knew when Eileen asked us to perform the leash cue that Belle had a very good chance of bolting. The signs were there but I decided to hope for the best instead of what was best for Belle. I still have so much to learn.