Morgan’s Blog on Halloween, 2007

Happy Halloween! My people’s favorite time of the year is Halloween. Ever since I’ve known them, they have thrown Halloween parties. They really get into it. Every year they have a theme. Last year it was “It’s easy being green.” One year it was “Pretty in Pink.” One year the color was red. I had to wear devil horns that year. One year it was “A Murder Mystery.” They are party people. Just ask Summit people, Grant, Sarah or Sue. They’ll tell you.

My favorite time is when the weird looking people arrive to visit me. When the doorbell rings, I run and get the dishtowel hanging from the stove and run in circles greeting them. I’m not afraid of any one. I know (smell) they are really just being goofy and I like to be goofy too, so it’s fine by me.

This year the Lee Halloween party was a little over the top. They know enough people in Santa Fe now to have a big party. Some of my favorite dog people in the neighborhood came: Lisa, Lois, and Wendy. No dogs came, but that’s okay, because then I got all the attention.

After a while, everybody started dancing and trading costume parts.

Here I am in a blonde wig.


My person, Alice said she would never humiliate me again after a dog fashion show, where I had to wear a cowboy hat and then dog goggles(!), but sometimes she forgets. I don’t mind the colorful collar because that’s one of my outfits when I dog dance.


I forgot to mention the cats. When people come visit they hide. Alice had little kitty collars for them too, but no one saw them, and no one took any pictures of them, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. Personally, I thought they looked stupid, wearing collars.

This year’s party went on too long for my taste. I was interacting and even dancing with them, and then I got tired and just wanted everyone to go home!


Alice won best costume for dressing as Frida Kahlo; she was pretty cool looking. Wayne was Bacchus, god of wine.


The theme this year was to come as your idol. There was Marilyn Monroe, Garth of Wayne’s World, the Pope, a lounge singer, Lao Tzu, Gaia, Jerry Garcia, Bovina, the cow, Groucho Marx, El Presidente de Mexico, Gary Cooper, and others I forgot already.

People sure can act strange! I’m glad this time only comes once a year. I like being just a regular guy dog.

Woof!

Morgan,
Summit Assistance Dog, 2002
(As dictated to Alice, his person)

Notes from a Puppy

Hello people and dogs. It's Chloe writing for the first time. I need to talk to Morgan.

Dear Morgan - We have been enjoying your posts and learning lots about life from them. I have just started learning to read and am working on 'sit' and 'down', so if you have any advice for me, let's hear it. How many words do you know? My next word will be 'ball', and then maybe 'sit up'. My mom read about service dogs that know up to 20 words! Wow! I don't know if I could do that. Let's keep in touch.

Chloe

Notes from a Volunteer Puppy Raiser - Maya and Chloe

Hello All - You might remember that Maya moved up to Anacortes in September. We went up for Summit Graduation in October and Sue said that Maya was doing really fantastic. But.......several days ago I got some not-so-good news about her. As she became more comfortable with her new people and environment, she started barking, a habit we had worked hard to correct around here. Sue has not given up on her, but is concerned that she might not be able to stop the barking, in which case Maya would not be suitable for work as a service dog. There is another career waiting for her if she does not graduate. Sharon, her breeder, would like to offer her the job of Motherhood! She would have a happy and fun life with her family in Montana. So either way, she will be a working dog!

Chloe, Maya's little sister, is now eight months old and happily exploring the world around her. Today she went to the elementary school to celebrate Halloween with the Kindergarten classes. Everyone had on a costume - Chloe was a horse with a teddy bear cowboy on her back - and we all paraded through the classrooms in the buildings. She also was on stage last week in a program put on by the primary grades on the topic of cooperation. The classes each took a nursery rhyme and presented the traditional version and the cooperative version. Chloe was one of the horses in Humpty Dumpty, and I'm happy to report that they did get that egg together again using cooperation.

Donna

Morgan’s Blog

Greetings, all you mutts and people. I’m not too sure what my blog will be about today, since I’ve covered dog parks, dog dancing, the life of a service dog, reading by flashcards, vacations, and more.

Let’s see. I could talk about naps, but I don’t want you to fall asleep. I do love my naps, especially on Alice’s soft bed, when Wayne’s not around. She allows me to jump up on the bed. I admit I do spread out a bit.

What does “bed-hog” mean exactly?

We both think we’re getting away with something special, since papa Wayne does not approve of animals on furniture.


Alice usually spreads out a blanket, cause she has a number of special quilts she’s picky about, and doesn’t want them to get dirty. Tell that to Sophie, the black cat that thinks she owns the house.(Just because she’s the oldest animal, and the fattest, I may add, although the other cat, Willow is close in size.) She complains when I get on the bed. She thinks it’s her territory. Willow, the grey cat, (a dog trapped in a cat’s body), either sleeps with me or sleeps on the rocking chair in the bedroom.

We are all getting up there in dog years and cat years, so sleeping is important part of our time.

But I will jump up for walkies, or go with Alice when she heads out. I can tell ahead of time when she’s going to go out, because she goes in the bathroom and puts on earrings and lipstick and other girl stuff.

I am always ready for a car ride. Can you imagine some animals don’t like riding in a car? Take the two cats for example. They whine and cry and moan when Alice puts them in the car. Of course they know their destination is always the same: the vet. That’s the only time they ride in the car. They’re much happier staying home, you guessed it: napping in the sun.

Well, I guess I wrote about the napping thing anyway.

Gotta go sleep on my bed now, in the sun.

Yawn! Woof!

Morgan, Summit Service Dog, 2002
dictated to his human partner, Alice)

Grooming

I've decided to write about 'grooming' this time.

We all know that we have to groom our dogs: Brush their hair and teeth, clean their ears, etc. But I'm talking about when you are feeling awful and your dog looks scraggly and you just can't manage to do the whole thing in a day. I believe the most beneficial task long term, is to run a comb through your dogs hair everyday. It takes no more than 5 minutes and you will appreciate how your dog looks. It sounds like a 'slam dunk' but I've found that the more you do it, the better the coat looks and therefore it gets easier to do because you're not dealing with a whole lot of mats, which can be energy draining.

Now, I'm not saying the other things like clean ears and teeth are not important. In fact, I try to look at it like I'm feeling sore teeth and an earache and how much they hurt. But if it's just a couple of days, this may help you to get just the one thing done. Talk with you soon. wq

Morgan’s Blog (as dictated to his human, Alice) Life of a Service Dog

Hey all. I want to tell you about some of the neat things I get to do as Alice’s service dog. We’ve been partners since 2002.

We moved to New Mexico from Anacortes, WA in 2005. Wayne drove with the kitties; I flew (in the cabin of course) with Alice, and her service person/friend, Donna, from Seattle. It took me a while to adjust to the very different climate and high altitude.

One of the neat things I get to do is go with Alice to one of the elementary schools. All the kids make a big to-do over me and the whole front office likes me too. We go once a week. Alice is teaching me to read from flashcards to show the kids how smart I am.

We went yesterday and talked with one of the counselors. She had never heard of dogs reading or even kids reading to dogs.

Alice uses flashcards with me and I know about 7-10 different words. Some of the words I recognize and some I try to read Alice’s body language, which changes ever so slightly with the different words. For example I like to bark, but only when I am asked to. Sometimes I bark when I dog dance because I get so excited. So when Alice holds up the flashcard that says, “Alert” she raises her eyebrows a bit and I know that means to bark. Pretty cool, huh?

Another thing I love to do is explore the land of New Mexico with my humans. Alice even has agreed to camp now that she lives here. I love to be outside, and they even let me off leash ‘cause I know to stay at the campsite.



Alice and Wayne nicknamed me “Perimeter Dog” when we camp, because I go into this ancient dog pose, and sit on the perimeter of their campsite and watch for danger. We usually go for long hikes too, although Alice can’t walk that far. But she loves to be out in nature too, just like me.

At home I like to lie on the sofa with Alice. Since the cats get to be on the sofa, Alice lets me get up and snuggle with her. Here I am, sharing the sofa with the black cat, Sophie. I live with two cats, which are very spoiled and have great food that I snitch once in a while. Cat food is so good, but my humans don’t like it when I take the food from the spoiled kitties. Those cats are so lazy. They even sleep on my bed sometimes!



I like my job of taking care of Alice, and she is pretty good at taking care of me. We have a good life together. Woof!

Morgan,
Summit Service Dog, 2002 Graduate

Graduation Photos

Peggy takes Apollo's leash from puppy raiser Lisa:


Anne receives Scout's leash as Debbie and a young helper watch. Scout did not have a puppy raiser as he was an older rescue and went directly to advanced training:


Maggie takes Alki's leash from Zander who was his puppy raiser along with Peggy and receives a special quilt made for Alki from Wendy:



Donna

Notes from a Volunteer Puppy Raiser - Maya and Chloe at graduation

Hello everyone - Peggy posted on the Summit graduation from the point of view of a graduate, or two grads, because Apollo deserves heaps of credit for 'making it'. I know that it is not at all easy for a dog to do all the things we ask of her, especially when they don't make sense to her. I am posting from the puppy-raiser point of view.

We went up to Anacortes on Friday. Sue - Summit's Executive Director - said we could have Maya, my "Service Dog in Training" (SDIT), for the weekend, so we wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. We met at the Fidalgo Care Center where I was able to watch Sue work with Maya. I was so pleased to see Maya's attention and devotion to Sue. It really let me know that Maya was happy there. Of course I took a lot of photos, as there will be another book coming out, this one about Maya - her life with me, with Sue, and on and on.

When Maya saw Chloe and us, we got a huge welcome, and Chloe and Maya could not hold still. They soon fell into their familiar relationship and Chloe chewed on Maya and Maya washed and washed Chloe's ears. "Who's been taking care of you?" she wondered. "Your ears are definitely not clean enough!" We stayed in our motor home and had lots of long walks and free play time. We met with some of the other Summit or former-Summit dogs and their people.

On graduation day, Chloe had to stay in the RV, but Maya sat in the first row and watched the ceremony with interest. At one point she even jumped on the stage to get a closer look! What does she understand about her life, and where she is going?
The ceremony was great, and a bit of a tear-jerker, as usual. Peggy did a great job as class speaker. "Kudos to you, Peggy!" When we came to the part about the puppy raisers handing over the leash to the graduate, I could only wonder who would be on the stage next year. Would Maya and I be up there? Would I hand over a leash to someone who would love and cherish Maya for the rest of her life, and need her like nobody else? Maya is the fifth dog I have puppy-raised. If she graduates, she will be my first. This is no easy job to ask a dog to do. Sue is very happy with her so far, but we'll keep our fingers crossed and wait and see.

After the ceremony, we brought Chloe in to the reception for a brief visit. And then it was time to leave. Maya left first and went into her van. As we were leaving, Chloe was looking around for her. "It's time to go. Where are you?" I buckled her into her seatbelt harness. We started up the engine, and she knew that Maya was not coming with us. She cried and cried - something she has never done before.

It was a wonderful weekend, one that I will not forget.

Donna

Beautiful Bailey

It’s been 37 days since I began to experience the reality of a dream come true. Thirty-seven days ago Bailey came home with me after we finished team training. This was a dream that started without details—one of those times when you recognize that something is absolutely right, but don’t know much else. The moment of recognition occurred for me five years ago when I first met Hams, the golden retriever who is a team with my friend Hazel. At that meeting I got a strong impression of what a wonder a partnership can be.

Since that beginning the dream’s details have been filled in piece by piece: finding out the huge range of what assistance dogs do, searching web sites and talking to people to discover how and where to apply for a dog, filling out piles of forms, enlisting friends and caregivers in the process, and all the while gaining information and trying to explain to others what I thought these partnerships are all about. And then waiting and waiting and waiting.

But things really began to deepen for me when I came for my assessment days and met the amazing people at Summit. Honestly I didn’t know how to explain what I thought was the most important task I wanted a dog to do for me, and I hadn’t heard anyone describe what sounded right for me. I knew that the biggest danger to my health was falling and I had a very vague idea that a dog could help with balance. When I mentioned that I had a balance problem, people tended to think I wanted to fall on a dog! Not at all true! But I didn’t know what I wanted until I walked with a very tall poodle called Eddie during a Summit assessment day. Then I realized that lightly holding a harness would help me retain my balance. Sue Meinzinger and Bailey’s trainer, Sarah Broderick, watched me walk with various harnesses during an assessment day and figured out that using a guide dog harness would give me enough feedback to keep balanced. What a wonderful experience—no cane, and the sense of walking ‘normally’ in harmony with another creature! You couldn’t convey that kind of joy on a list of tasks that assistance dogs do!

Then one day the wait was over! An unforgettable phone call came from Elizabeth Landrum, and the marvel that I was actually matched with Bailey. But that was only the beginning of marvels. The next wonder was the exhilarating and exhausting process called team training. It was clear to me from the first day that we humans were much harder to train than the dogs. Think about this process! The puppy raiser, Christy Durham had raised the dog for 1 ½ years. Sarah, the trainer has trained the dog for 6 months, and as team training begins she is faced with training a human who has little or no idea about communicating with the dog and is disabled to boot! At the same time she must make sure that the dog does not have his training eroded by the person’s inexperience, and that bonding is transferred from the trainer to the recipient—all this was done with the utmost grace and diplomacy. These folks are so loving and skillful it is almost unbelievable.

And a word here about the support of family and friends and acquaintances—for me at least it couldn’t have happened without their efforts and good wishes both now and in the waiting time. I think it is safe to say that my husband, Seth, who has never had a dog, is totally smitten with Bailey. (It has been pointed out that he is certainly starting at the top!) My daughter, Nadya, always has a clear sense of what is good for me, and fortunately for me she is married to Mathew, a dog whisperer in his own right! I think often of the generosity of Bailey’s puppy raiser and of Deb Hall’s gift of keeping hope alive!

Now the filling in of the dream continues. Team training, as transformative as it is, is only a good beginning of this profound relationship, and like any relationship worth having, it has challenges. The first week at home, having left the daily support of team training, reminded me of the first week of having a new baby. Did he eat? Did he poop? Is he getting enough exercise? Are my family and friends petting him too much? Am I doing this right? He’s so wonderful; does someone else deserve him more than me? But Summit has wisely added regular follow-ups to help with problems and questions.


It’s only been 37 days but already I know, as others have said, that the tasks the dog performs are a great help and will evolve as my needs change, but the amazing gift is the presence of this angel. What a difference it makes!

Louise

2007 Graduation Ceremony for Summit Assistance Dogs

Well its official...Apollo and I attended the 2007 Graduation Ceremony for Summit Assistance Dogs on Sunday.


Much to everyone's surprise, I actually spoke for a few minutes at the ceremony. They had emailed and asked me to speak for the graduating class a few weeks ago. In my heart I wanted to do it and actually wrote out a speech, but chickened out and said no. I didn't tell anyone here that they had asked or that I wrote something out because I didn't want them to be disappointed in me when I chickened out. Well the lady they had asked after me couldn't make it to the ceremony because her daughter went into labor so I got up the nerve to do it. It probably wasn't great, and I almost cried in the middle of it, but I guess it went OK.


Apollo's puppy raiser, Lisa, presenting Apollo to me with Apollo's advanced trainer, Wendy, presenting our diploma and a quilt throw that one of their volunteers made for each of the graduating dogs.

Peggy

Welcome from "Wheelie Queen"

Hi Fellow Dog Fanciers,

My name is Jan Horton and I've been asked to start posting on a regular basis. I am a veteran Summit dog owner....I've had my dog, Krypton, for 6 yrs. now.

I will share about something you have a concern about or would be good to learn about. I expect we will, together, learn a great deal. If I can't find a theme, I will go back through the archives and see if there's something there that may be useful to touch upon.

First off, I want to say to the 8 new recipients: RELAX. You've done the hard work and now you begin a different kind of work--getting to know your dog and begin making great memories with him/her. You will probably get confused with what commands go with what task. It happens and you will not damage your dog permanently if you get confused. You'll remember it next time and after awhile your dog will begin to seemingly read your mind. Sue talked about the 'overnight' learning and it's all true. If you slept through that part of class, go back and read it now while there is no stress and pressure. It is worth knowing. I'm looking forward to reading about how your dogs are doing and what you are feeling about the whole process. Talk with you soon. wq

My real name is Janice but my Summit name became 'Wheelie Queen' when Deb Hall chose it for me. So, I will be signing as: wq. If you forget, you can call me Jan. Looking forward to getting to know you. wq

Assistance dogs are still dogs

People sometimes remark that it’s mean or cruel to have a working dog. The perception is that they don’t get to play, aren’t allowed to socialize – basically, that they’re not allowed to be dogs. That’s far from the reality of a service dog.

Service dogs are just that, dogs who assist. But when it comes down to it, they are still dogs. They play, socialize, and have bad days where getting them to pay attention is a losing battle.

Where I live, there are only a handful of us who have SD’s. I ran into one of the others who has a service dog, a golden retriever a bit smaller than Crystal, and we stopped to chat. While we sat there talking, we got two groups who stopped at different times to talk to us. The first group was just interested in the dogs and went on their way. In the second group, though, was a woman who thought it was mean to have a dog not be able to socialize while working, the perception being they are always working. This is true to a point, but it’s also not true. Service dogs are always working in the sense that even at home, they do various things when needed. Say I drop my TV remote; Crystal will either get up on her own, get it, then go back to bed, or I’ll call her, she’ll get it, then go back to what
she was doing.

Crystal plays, goes for walks, and rests like any other dog. The biggest difference is that she’s not just a pet; she’s a companion, she assists me, and many times she entertains me. And sometimes, like today, she lays in bed with me, nudging my arm whenever she thinks I’m not paying her enough attention.

Jenna

Dogs@Microsoft

If you're a Microsoft employee and wondering where you may learn more about the dogs@microsoft calendar, the intranet site is:

http://dogcalendar

Morgan’s blog for Summit - Dog Parks

October already! The leaves are turning and it’s cool enough in the daytime to chase tennis balls at the tennis court that has been made into a sort of dog park.

Speaking of dog parks, let me tell you that there are some really cool ones on Whidbey Island: I know, because Alice used to take me to them.

There is controversy around dog parks, whether to let your dog socialize or run into a bully that no human controls. (It’s happened to me before.)

Here I am, running for joy at a dog park in Albuquerque. (see pic)


The last time I was up in WA, there were new signs saying no dogs allowed in various parks. The same thing was true on the Oregon Coast too.

Here in Santa Fe, NM, the idea of dog park is a wide open dusty place with landmines of poop everywhere. Alice and Wayne don’t go there much, and it’s way across town.


I live in a community that has over 75 acres of open space. They were going to fence part of it, but the neighbors complained. Yada, yada, yada….

Alice is still working with the manager to get a place for us to run. Who cares if we have to share with the coyotes and jackrabbits? Man, we need a place to be free! I like to run really fast in circles, called donuts….


The Humane Shelter of Santa Fe has plans to open a new dog park, but not yet. It’s also farther than we like to drive….

Well, I’m not really complaining, though it may sound like it.

I get to go for nice long walks along the trails and Alice or Wayne let me sniff some of the time. The command is “free”.

Now the ideal dog park would be as place for humans to socialize too. A portable espresso stand would be nice.

Well, in my dog years of experience (that’s over 49 years, count em!) dog parks are a great concept. Think of all the pee-mail you can savor!

Last week one of my aunties, and dog trainer, Sarah Broderick came to visit and I am happy to report that Alice and I passed the re certification test with flying colors.

But Alice needs work, let me tell you. She needs to be a stronger alpha dog-girl, more consistent and clear in her commands. We need a refresher course. Things have gotten rather lax around the Lee house.


I’d be interested in hearing what you all think of dog parks.

Paws up or paws down?

Later…

Morgan, (Summit Service Dog, 2002 graduate, as dictated to his human, Alice)

Microsoft Employee Giving - $6,000 raised for Summit through one event

October marks Microsoft's annual monthlong Employee Giving Campaign. I'm proud to work for Microsoft but particularly proud of Microsoft's and its employees' support for not-for-profits.


This week, my colleague who's also a Summit board-member, signed Summit up as a beneficiary of an employee raffle for electric scooters. I don't have permission to share the winner's name but was amazed to learn that over $6,000 was raised for Summit from this one event.


Another key Summit-related activity is the Dogs@Microsoft calendar. Employees donate to Summit and, by way of recognition, have their dog's photo placed in the calendar for the dog's birthday. It's tremendously popular and raises lots of money for Summit every year.


There are, of course, many other activities and many other not-for-profits that employees support and that benefit from this fun and rewarding period.

The photo's include Peggy, her dad and her dog - Apollo - Grant and his dog - Joey - Chrystal and Rick.

Daz

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser - Cheek Licking Delicious!

Hello everyone - Chloe and I went to school today. First we went to kindergarten and had a quick introduction. The kids sat in a circle and each child held a piece of kibble. Chloe nibbled her way around the circle as the kids petted her. Then we were off to second grade to work on our book, "Chloe is in Second Grade". We were doing a sequence about a girl who is sad, and Chloe comforts her. We had them both sitting on the rug, with the girl looking sad and crying. But then, Chloe was supposed to kiss the girl on the cheek as she started cheering up a little. How could we make that happen? Poultry flavored tooth paste to the rescue! As the girl was not delighted to have the toothpaste on her face, the teacher stood at the ready with a wipe as soon as we had shot the scene.

Donna

Utterz for Summit

Graduation Ceremony

If you live in the area, please join Summit's staff, volunteers, friends and families as we celebrate the graduation of our 2007 assistance dog partnerships. Everyone's welcome!

Date: Sunday 7th October
Time: 1pm Reception; 2pm Graduation
Information: (360) 293 5609

Where:
Brodniak Hall
Anacortest High School
1916 J Avenue
Anacortes WA
(directions)

Notes from a volunteer puppy raiser - The visit

Hello out there - You know that my Summit trainee, Maya, has moved up to Anacortes for her advanced training. So far the reports are very good - such as "Lovely Girl", "Well mannered", "Quiet...not pushy....settles nicely...gets along well with people and dogs...sweet, quiet, and well behaved, ...easy to handle" OK so you get the idea of so far so good. Of course a dog can be released from the program at any time, if some unexpected behavior shows up, so I have learned not to expect her graduating next spring, but I do have high hopes.

The Good News is - we will be going up to the Summit Graduation this coming Sunday and Maya will be staying with us for a 3 day weekend!!! We are very excited about this. Her little sister, Chloe, is not excited yet, but she sure will be when she sees Maya. She's only been away 2 1/2 weeks, but we all really miss her. So I'll take lots of pictures and bring you all the news of the event as well as all the doggy news of the area.

In the mean time, and for the next 6 months, I ask that all you in the blogosphere keep your fingers crossed for Maya's success as a service dog.

Donna