Danny continues to make progress

Danny continues to make progress despite a rather slow training week for me with being busy on another project. I have been working on loading Danny into the back of our Summit van using some wheelchair ramps that I have. I am amazed again how quickly we progressed. A little grain goes a long ways with this guy! By the end of the first session he was loading and unloading though a little clumsily and lacking confidence. Tonight, however, he walked right up the ramp and back down 4 times with loads of confidence. Next will be a short driving trip in the back of the van. I don't anticipate any problems.

Danny has also made great progress on retrieving. He now readily takes the dumbbell from my hand and holds it briefly. He will also pick it up off the ground and has even brought it to hand a few times. I anticipated this process taking much longer than with a dog but actually have far less training time in with Danny to get to this stage. I think he will be an eager retriever.

We are also messing about with turning a light switch on. He just started reliably targeting the light switch plate with his nose tonight. I know it won't take long for him to turn on the switch as he has already done so by chance a few times.

I have put a temporary halt to bringing him in the house until I get some rubber boots for him. I'll be ordering those tomorrow from Amazon.com of all places. The boots look easy to slip on and off and should solve the problem of him slipping around on my pergo floors. Then we will continue work on housebreaking.

Hope to get a few photos or even a short video this week of Danny retrieving and loading in the van.

Sue

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser: Maya

That brings up to dog #5 who is my current dog, Maya. She is Eddie’s half sister and looks just like him, but a bit smaller. She is very exuberant and confident, but cooperative and helpful. To help ease the stress of moving to Anacortes, I bring her visiting families and classrooms, and leave her there, to see that life goes on quite happily without me. She was a weekly guest at a second grade where the kids really loved her. They gave her a crackerjack birthday party when she turned one – handmade cards, gifts, party hats, treats, the works.

She has great public access skills and does well in markets, big crowds, very noisy places. Her breeder, Sharon, works very hard with her pups before she sends them into the world. She does early neurological stimulation with them just after they are born, desensitizes them to hats, umbrellas, gunshots, surprises as well as socializes them to a variety of folks. Maya is not comfortable with balloons flying over her head, but not much else bothers her.

She now has her baby sister, Chloe, who is her full sister and just a year younger, living with us. One of Maya’s self-appointed jobs is cleaning Chloe’s ears whether they’re dirty or not. And, of course, Maya is a great chew toy for Chloe who attacks her with a ferocious vigor. They were both with me at the Pierce Co.Humane Society’s Dogathon where we had our Summit booth. Maya worked, did demos, and schmoozed for five hours without complaint while Chloe waited patiently behind the booth. I couldn’t ask for two better girls.

Maya will be moving up to Anacortes in September for her final training, and, hopefully, graduation. You’ve seen that my other 4 dogs had ‘career changes’, and I am no longer so confident to think that just because I work hard to train the dogs, that they will ‘make it’. It’s an awful lot to ask a dog to do the job of a service dog, and most of them just aren’t made for that type of work. But I am hopeful about Maya. Either way, she will be a working dog: either she graduates the program and gets a life partner, or she goes back to her breeder to begin life as a mother dog, another job that she could do very well. I’ll keep you all posted on her progress. That’s all for now.

Donna

Access challenges with assistance dogs

I have had a few access challenges with my dog, but none that upset me so much as the one I had this past weekend.

I was in an outlet mall and went into a "County Kitchen" type store.  I walked to the espresso bar in the back of the store and grabbed a Coke.   A woman rushed over to me and said, "Miss, you can't have your pet in here".  I said that he is an assistance dog, so it is legal for me to have him with me.   I work very hard at being pleasant, polite and informative in these moments.

She said, "It's my store and you can't have a pet here!"  I told her again that he is an assistance dog and would she like to see my certification card to verify that it is legal for me to have him with me.   She said, it really didn't matter, but ok.

I took out the i.d. card Summit had given to me and handed it to her.  Then, she turned around the corner of the espresso bar and disappeared from my sight.

I waited a few minutes and then went to find her.  She was just around the corner, copying everything on the card down and scrutinizing it.   She looked at me and said, "It's my store and I don't want you in the back here by the food, so I'll ring you up in front."

By this time I was angry and embarrassed, as many of the shoppers and staff were looking at us.  We got to the front checkout and she told me how much I owed her.   I gave her the money and asked her to give me my card back.  She said she had already.  I looked in my billfold and it wasn't there.   I told her this and she said, "Oh, I just reached in and put it back in your purse!"

At this point, I was done.  I was shaking and ready to cry, just from the embarrassment, frustration and feeling bullied.   She asked me what state it was that it was legal for me to bring my pet in.  I stated that it was legal here, in this state, as well as anywhere in the US.   She said, "I'm an ex-cop and I'm going to look into this!"  She was very rude.  I said that if she'd like to call the police, I'd be more than happy to wait and they could explain the law to her.   Although I was maintaining my anger, we both knew I was jabbing back.

At that point, she quit talking with me and said I needed to leave her store.  I did.

A friend I was shopping with went back and talked to her.  The woman had calmed down and was listening to my friend, as well as to her employees.   She eventually came outside and apologized, stating that just 5 minutes before I came in a woman had brought in her Chihuahua and wouldn't leave.  She also said that the health department does surprise inspections and she never knows what to expect.  She apologized for hurting me and said she couldn't believe she acted that way.   Although I was crying, I felt like it was a pretty good ending to the situation.  Had she not come out and apologized, I fully intended to report her to the Department of Justice.

Anonymous

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser: Charley

Very shortly after Eddie moved up to Anacortes, I received dog #4 - Charley - another black poodle but from a different breeder. He was a really sweet guy, but very fearful of too many things, like the hot air coming out of the wall heater and the onions frying on the stove. Needless to say, I didn’t have him very long, and he is now a very happy pet in a home with children, and brings the family much joy.

Donna

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser: Eddie

My trainee #3 was Eddie and was one of the great loves of my life. He is a large black Standard Poodle donated by Sharon Colvin of Montana. He was so much fun to train – he could do just about everything – lights, laundry, doors, drawers, retrieval, sock and jacket removal, bracing on steps and after falling. We made a really fun book about his visit to a kindergarten class which should be in print soon.

He came very close to graduating and already had his possible partner, Michelle. He decided he didn’t want to do the job, though, as it was too stressful for him. As soon as he went back to being a family pet, his eye and ear problems, which were extensive, cleared right up, so I guess he knew best, but it broke my heart that he didn’t make it. He lives in Dallas now and does pet therapy and reads with children. We hope he’ll be listening to his own “Eddie Goes to Kindergarten” book.

Donna

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser: Tonka

My previous posting was written while I was training my first service dog, almost 4 years ago. I was fresh and very hopeful about this new adventure. My hopes were not fulfilled with Ace. He was a little to shy and sensitive and did not graduate, but went on to be a therapy dog.

My next dog was a Belgian Travern and came to me as a completely untrained pup who had been destined for French Ring Sport which involves attacking and immobilizing a ‘bad guy’ in addition to other things. The breeder donated Tonka because she said he was a ‘slug’. He was beautiful and very bright and quick to learn, and a little scary for me as a new trainer. He wanted to herd my white poodle (think sheep) and he was very serious about this job.

We had him for 10 days and then went to San Francisco, leaving him back with the breeder. Our plan was to pick him up on our return, but when I called, I learned that they had taken him to the vet and found him full of arthritis and hip dysplasia, thus their evaluation of “slug”. So that was trainee #2.

Donna

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser: Ace

I’d often thought about it – could I do it, and could I ever give him up? Raising a future service dog sounds like a great thing to do, and I’m here to say that it really is. Our five year old Standard Poodle, Chicco, completely agrees. For him, having a 24-7 playmate is close to heaven. They excel as each other’s chew toys, and are always ready for a game of chase, tug, or wrestle. Ace, the future service dog is a 9 month old Golden Retriever, and needs to learn all sorts of skills for his future life. He sits and waits before going in or out of doors, stays down for long periods of time, and does all the typical basic obedience tasks.

One day when we were practicing “back” in the kitchen, both dogs were sitting in front of me. “Back” – Ace sent back. “Chicco – back” and Chicco sat there. Ace went up and poked him with his nose, as if to say “Hey you, move back” then went back to his place. The problem is that this Ace is just so good at everything he tries, so sweet and loveable, so well behaved while in public with his magic cape on, that I’ve grown rather attached to him. But I think about the important job he will be doing soon, and the person who will grow to love him and need him even more than I do. Every morning when he gets up out of his crate, he stuffs a toy in his mouth and runs around to greet everyone as he sings his good morning song. He has a marvelous appetite and eats a bit like a vacuum cleaner. He is so interested in food that he’ll try anything for a treat. And smart too: when I have two treats out for the dogs and say “take it”, Ace grabs the one closer to Chicco, then grabs his own. When Ace graduates and is ready to go to his future home, somebody who has not had the best of luck so far, will take hold of that leash and will be the luckiest new owner of the most perfect pup – Ace.

Donna

Alice Lee and Morgan

Because I am not in a wheelchair, people always assume that I am training Morgan for someone else. I say, "No, he's my dog, and every day is a training day." I get that a lot. Also I wear sunglasses outside for the bright New Mexican sun. (Yeah, sun!) People assume I am blind and Morgan is a guide dog. Imagine their faces when I put Morgan in the car and drive away-- a blind person driving a car!

We are a very visible SD team: Morgan goes everywhere with me, and I am still able to get out and about. (I use a walker or a cane or Morgan or my service husband, Wayne, for balance needs.) I have a rare hereditary neuromuscular degenerative condition called spinocerebellar ataxia, type 3. I am moderately disabled at this time, still able to walk with help and do most things for myself. Morgan has been a great help and comfort to me for the past five years.

I medically retired from my teaching job at Skagit Valley College in June, 2005. My husband and I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Six months later I was diagnosed with stage one ovarian cancer. It's been a long and difficult challenge adjusting to all my changes in life, but now Morgan and I belong to the Santa Fe Dog Dance Club, giving performances all over town about once a month. I am also teaching Morgan to read, since I mentor in one of the elementary schools, and the kids love it! I'm still finding my way in a new environment, and I am ever so grateful that I was the recipient of not one but two Summit Assistance Dogs. (My first dog, Logan, washed out--made a career change-- yes, I graduated from Summit in 2000 and 2002.)



To describe Morgan's personality (for those who don't know him) I would say he's very amiable,sweet, bright, loves to learn new things, likes to be the center of attention, and can be goofy and stubborn at times. We are a perfect match! My life has been enriched immeasurably by having one of Summit's dogs.

Alice Lee

Hayden - the babysitter

I often travel by train to Oregon to visit my family. This is something I do often.

Hayden had only been with me for two weeks since graduating from Summit, when he traveled for the first time with me. I was apprehensive about how it would go our first time, but he traveled like he’d been doing it for years!

When we got to my family’s house, I was nervous about how he would do with the children, aged 8 months through 15 years old. He fit right in and everyone loved him.

My sister and I were in her kitchen, when we heard Jessie, my 8 month old niece, crying in the living room. We took a few steps toward the room, when we saw Hayden go over to the toy box, pick up a stuffed animal and drop it in her bassinet beside her. My sister and I couldn’t believe it!

He has shown that same desire to comfort others since then. When someone is crying, he goes to them and tries to give them attention and “kisses” (licks). I feel lucky to have such a compassionate being with me.

A day doesn’t go by that I’m not extremely thankful that he has been given to me to assist me and share my days with.

Michelle

Michelle and Hayden

Since receiving Hayden, I have been amazed at how intuitive he is with me. He is able to be present during my hard times, in whatever capacity seems appropriate. For instance, I sometimes have acute pain episodes that leave me unable to walk or move. After he brings my morphine pack to me, he will either lie down quietly beside me, or if I’m standing and unable to walk, he stands beside, or in front of me, lightly touching against my leg and waits quietly, up to 10 minutes, until I’m able to go sit or lie down. Through these “simple” behaviors, he provides comfort and support that helps me get through these episodes in a much more peaceful way.

Although he’s obsessed with playing, he also seems to know when I can’t give as much to him and he doesn’t bother me. If you knew how much he likes to play and how much he reminds me of the opportunity to do so with him, you’d understand what a feat this is for him!

The first week of July, I was visiting my aunt and uncle in southern Oregon. I was in a store, looking through their magazine selection. Hayden was in his harness and in a down/stay on the floor. When he is in his harness, he is less flexible. When people pet him, he seldom moves much, usually just raising his head so they can scratch his neck.

A young girl, about 11 years old, stopped right by us and was looking at Hayden. I am quite familiar with this look and smiled, asked her if she wanted to pet him and she answered that she would.

She knelt down beside him and Hayden wrapped his body around her, pushing his head into her stomach. In the first place, it didn’t look comfortable on his part, at all. In the second place, I’d never seen him respond to someone in this way. He is always friendly and loves attention, but he was cuddling with her.

I waited a bit, watching her quietly pet him and he continued to nuzzle into her. I told her I hadn’t seen him do that to anyone before. She seemed pleased. I asked her if she had a dog and she shook her head no and said, “I did, but he died two days ago.”

I don’t know what Hayden picked up on with her, whether it was sadness, or if he knew of her loss, but whatever it was, he gave to her in a special way.

It is not unusual for someone to come up to us, ask to pet Hayden and then share with me the loss of their pet and tell me stories about their loved one. I don’t mind this and appreciate being able to share with people who are touched by their animal companions. In this way, I think Hayden facilitates grief and healing for others.

Michelle

Danny

Brought Danny in the house again this evening. I am working on having him stand on a large throw rug in my living room and then I will eventually work on him staying there, much like we teach our dogs "go to bed" which means they are to go to a mat, lay down, and stay there until released. A handy cue when you don't want your dog underfoot. It will be important for Danny also to have his place. Danny has definitely learned already that going and standing on the rug earns him treats. We were also poop free again this evening. I will gradually extend his house time when I get some rubber shoes for his feet so he isn't slipping.

I also messed around a bit with the stairs this evening. I went up a few stairs ahead of him and sat down facing him hoping he might try to get to me. It took him very little time to put his front feet on the first stair and of course this earned him some grain. Very quickly he was consistently putting his feet on the first step. I won't go much further with this behavior until we have a chance to practice on some easier stairs elsewhere. Mine are small and the staircase is narrow with a very small landing at the top and then another climb. I predict climbing stairs won't take him long judging by what I saw tonight.

We also did some work with the dumbbell in preparation for retrieving. He was consistently touching the dumbbell with his nose so I upped the criteria. Within 2 very short training sessions he was consistently placing his teeth on the dumbbell. One time he even took it in his mouth briefly though I hadn't yet asked for that behavior.

It is really interesting to be teaching a horse behaviors that I never would have conceived of 10 years ago.

Sue Meinzinger
Executive Director
Summit Assistance Dogs
http://www.summitdogs.org

Danny Boy

Danny Boy, the newest recruit to our training program, arrived a few days ago. Danny Boy isn’t a typical recruit. He has hooves instead of paws, a whinny instead of a bark. Danny is a miniature horse, just 31” high. One of our clients recently inquired about using a miniature horse instead of a dog for her mobility needs and we have decided to experiment with the concept. Amy Lacey, of Finch Meadow Farm in Monroe, Washington, very generously donated Danny to our program.





Danny has settled in easily amongst the 10 dogs that share the barn and outdoor exercise pens. At first he was a huge novelty for the dogs who paced the fences, barking and whining, trying to get a grip on this new roommate of theirs. Danny was unphased by all the commotion and eventually the novelty has worn off except for my German Shepherd, Gus, who still follows every move Danny makes.

Since one of the big things we need to determine is whether a horse could be a practical animal to have in the house, I was keen to see what Danny’s reaction would be to coming inside. The first night he walked right through the door like he’d been going in and out of people’s houses all his life. Absolutely no fear. He took one round through the lower floor to investigate, then pooped. So much for my prediction that he might not be comfortable pottying in the house after growing up with grass and shavings for a toilet area. I immediately took him out the front door and left him there to graze while I went inside to clean up. I took him outside because I didn’t want to turn him loose in the house while I cleaned up for fear he might slip and fall on the slippery pergo flooring. After cleaning up I brought him back in. Within a minute he pooped again. Same scenario. I took him outside and let him graze while I cleaned up the mess. I brought him in one more time and he pooped again within a minute or so. Gee whiz, I thought to myself, I haven’t ever seen a horse poop that many times in close succession.

The following night I brought Danny in again. Almost instantly he pooped. As I was taking him outside this time the light went on but I couldn’t imagine he could be so much more clever than I. Did I just teach him to poop in the house by reinforcing the pooping with a trip outside to the green grass, the highest value reinforcement he seems to have from what I can determine so far? I cleaned up and brought him in again and almost instantly he pooped again. This time no trip to the grass. I managed to clean up while holding onto him. Shortly thereafter a third poop. Again no trip outside. By the third poop I was tiring of the clean up and used a little aversive hissing sound as Danny lifted his tail. It startled him just a little. When he started to lift his tail a fourth time I used the hissing sound again and he dropped his tail and didn’t poop. Now this isn’t normally how I’d housebreak but I was feeling just a little frustrated with so much horse manure in just 10 minutes time and wondered if he would respond to the sound. It seemed to work. I gave him a short clicker training session which he loves and then we went outside and I put him up for the night. He urinated on his shavings and I positively reinforced that behavior. It’s the first time I’ve been able to catch him pottying outside of my house.





The past two evenings Danny has spent 20 minutes in the house with no pooping. May be a coincidence but the more I get to know this guy the more I believe he really did figure out that pooping in my house earned him a trip to the grass so he repeated the behavior. He is just lightning fast to pick up on things in our clicker sessions. So far I’d rate him as fast or faster to learn than any dog I’ve worked with but we are only doing relatively simple targeting behaviors like touching his nose to a plastic lid and to a dumbbell, placing his front feet on a rug, turning his head away from my treat pouch, etc.

Last night I had a huge scare. I had 4 dogs in the house that I had put into the back laundry room while I brought Danny in. I was clicker training Danny in the living room and suddenly the whole pack of dogs came busting through the laundry room door. They must have turned the handle by jumping on the door. Anyway, they rushed into the room and surrounded Danny. Gus, my shepherd, ran up to his face and started licking him. I was freaked out trying to fend off the dogs and yelling to my husband for help but Danny stood there motionless, calm as he could be given the circumstances. He didn’t even venture to kick. He didn’t like Gus licking his face but tolerated even that. I was really in disbelief. What could have been a really bad mess with flying hooves and a panicked horse in my living room turned out to be no big deal thanks to Danny’s bulletproof demeanor around dogs. I couldn’t ask for a better horse to come live at a dog kennel. And now that my dog Gus has properly introduced himself he seems to be less fixated on Danny. I’m thankful Gus only seemed to want to wash Danny’s face. For the other dogs, Danny seems to be becoming old hat. Thankfully the barking and whining is dying down and things are returning to normal again. Danny will never be left unsupervised with a dog but I am happy that none of the dogs seem to have an aggressive streak with him.

Well, there’s so much more I could write but this is all I have time for today. I’m posting a couple of photos of Danny with Wesley, a teenage boy who uses a wheelchair. Wesley is Barb Clark’s (puppy raiser) nephew and came with us when we picked up Danny from Finch Meadow Farms. The miniature horses were just the perfect size for him to groom and lead from his wheelchair.


Sue

Welcome!

Welcome to the Summit Assistance Dogs Blog. Summit Assistance Dogs is a nonprofit organization located in Anacortes, WA that provides mobility,hearing, and therapy dogs for people with disabilities. We hope you enjoy reading about the people, the animals, and the activities that make Summit such a wonderful organization to be a part of. Our graduates are the reason we exist and I know you will be inspired by their journal entries, as well as those of our puppy raisers and trainers. We welcome you to share a link to this Blog with your friends and family. Happy reading!

Sue Meinzinger
Executive Director
Summit Assistance Dogs
http://www.summitdogs.org/