BELIEVE IT OR NOT.... I WAS ONCE A 45 POUND LITTEL KID WITH RED PIGTAILS... AND PROBABLY WHAT WOULD NOW BE CALLED ADHD...- BACK THEN WE WERE NOT GIVEN THE TITLES-- "BRAT" COVERED A WHOLE LOT OF LATIN MEDICAL TERMS... WHATEVER MY BEHAVIOR WAS... IT CAUSED MY MOTHER TO GIVE ME A LECTURE- TO THIS DAY I CAN SEE HER TOWERING OVER ME WITH HER APRON, SHAKING HER FINGER AT ME SAYING "IF A POLICEMAN TELLS YOU TO STOP, YOU STOP AND YOU DON'T MOVE TIL YOU ARE TOLD TO MOVE... YOU DON'T MOVE YOUR FEET- YOU DON'T WAVE YOUR ARMS.. YOU JUST STAND STILL." -
WHAT I NOW CALL TEH ULTIMATE "WHOA.!" --AS I OBSERVE TEH ON GOINGS OF THE WORLD... SOME HAVE IT... SOME DON'T. AND THOSE WHO DON'T CAN BE A PROBLEM---especially around animals...
99% of teh time having an animal/PERSON get injured is caused by movement.. not lack thereof.. any good drqaaft horse coming out of the fields of teh amish country will stop and stand if you yell "whoa" "MO" DOES IT WELL...-- we had a team of black draft horses which were the lead teAm of the disnEy hitch in their youth-- you coudl say whoa- tehn go have a cup of coffee-- they would be standing there when you came back.. ANY COWBOY CAN GET OFF HIS HORSE INTHE MIDDLE OF TEH PRARIE, AND IT WILL JUST STAND THERE- OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE A LONG WALK HOME...
whoa is a command we do teach our dogs. WHOA-- DO NOT JUMP IN THE CAR TIL I GET THE CASE OF EGGS OFF THE SEAT...-- WHOA... DON'T RUSH THRU THE DOOR TIL TEH CHILDREN GET OUT OF THE WAY... WHOA- THAT IS MY CUP OF HOT COFFEE.. LOTSA TIMES WE WANT THE DOG TO HALT WITHOUT HAVING TO GRAB A LEASH AND YANK AWAY..
IT NEEDS TO STAY TAUGHT-- WHICH MEANS SOMETIME TO PRACTICE IT WHEN IT IS NOT CRITICAL
WITH PEOPLE IT NEEDS TO BE PART OF GENERIC CHILDHOOD TRAINING...
THERE Are signs SOME MOTHERS TRY... -- the mom song......"if your friends jump off a cliff would you jump too??".
I SEE IT AROUND HERE WITH KIDS WHO COME BY TEH BUSLOAD...KIDS ARE EXCITED AND WANT TO RUN TO THE KENNELS WHER THE DOGS ARE THRILLED TO SEE COMPANY-- I CAN YELL "WAIT" AND 1/2 TEH GROUP WILL STOP-- TEH OTHERS RUN ON OBLIVIOUS TO WHAT COULD-- BE A DANGER-- BARKING DOGS THAT THEY DON'T KNOW ARE BEHIND FENCING...
PERSONALLY I WANT TO GET THAT 1/2 AND PUT THEM BACK ON THE BUS-- AND LEAVE TEHM THERE.
THIS IS WHY I SHOULD NOT GET INTO TEACHING.-
I HATE TO SOUND LIKE HUXLEYS? BRAVE NEW WORLD BUT GOTTA LOVE TEH ELECTRIC FENCE ANY FARM KID KNOWS ABOUT.. AT SOME POINT THE KID WAS TOLD "DON'T TOUCH THAT" AND IF TEHY WERE CARELESS.... OR... NO ONE WAS LOOKING THEY TOUCHED IT.
NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT KIND OF LESSON... IT STAYS WITH YOU.
TEHR E ARE ALOT OF REASONS I PREFER TO HIRE KIDS WITH 4-H EXPERIENCE... SOMEHOW IT IS REAL.
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KAREN MAITLAND (NHTEACH) ASKED ME TO SEND THIS FACEBOOK POST TO YOU:
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF VOLUNTEERING AT SERVICE DOG PROJECT AND HELPING TAKE CARE OF THE PUPPIES IN THE NURSERY AS WELL AS INTERACT WITH THE OLDER DOGS IN THE KENNELS, IT IS ALWAYS SO GRATIFYING WHEN I AM WALKING AROUND TOWN AND SEE SOMEONE WITH A GREAT DANE WEARING THE VEST. SOMETIMES I WALK OVER, INTRODUCE MYSELF, AND ASK IF THAT IS ONE OF THE DOGS FROM SERVICE DOG PROJECT AND HAVE A NICE CHAT WITH THE PARTNER. OTHER TIMES, I JUST STAY WHERE I AM, PROBABLY WITH A VERY SILLY GRIN ON MY FACE, ADMIRING ONE OF MY BABIES AS THEY DO WHAT THEY DO SO PERFECTLY.
OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS WHILE I HAVE BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL, I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING LISTENING TO THE STORIES FROM SO MANY PEOPLE ABOUT ONE OF OUR DOGS WHO HAS MADE SUCH AN IMPRESSION ON THE ENTIRE STAFF HERE: ZEKE. (AND WHEN I SAY ENTIRE STAFF, I MEAN “ENTIRE STAFF.” FROM THE PEOPLE WHO DELIVER MY MEALS, TO THE NURSES, TO THE VARIOUS LAB TECHS, TO THE DOCTORS, TO THE LOVELY LADY WHO COMES IN TO CLEAN MY ROOM EVERY DAY!!)
MY ROOM IS ON THE SAME FLOOR THAT ZEKE AND HIS PARTNER WERE ON RECENTLY. THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF HERE ARE ASSIGNED BY FLOOR AND IT SEEMS TO BE QUITE AN HONOR TO HAVE ZEKE’S ROOM AS PART OF YOUR ROTATION! THAT BOY HAS REACHED A GOD-LEVEL STATUS IN THESE HALLWAYS. I DON’T THINK I HAVE EVER HEARD SO MANY PEOPLE OOH AND AAH OVER ANOTHER CREATURE ON THIS PLANET WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS OF TOM BRADY AND BTS!
ONCE THE WORD WAS OUT THAT I HAD PHOTOGRAPHS OF PUPPIES WITH ME, I HAD A NUMBER OF REQUESTS TO SEE WHAT A GREAT DANE PUPPY LOOKED LIKE WHEN IT WAS BORN. THEY WERE AMAZED AT HOW TINY ZEKE (AKA “THE HORSE”) WAS WHEN HE ARRIVED AND THE DIFFERENCE IN SIZE BETWEEN MAMA AND BABIES. A PHOTO I HAD OF THE STARLETS WAS A WINNER - “OMG, SO MANY!!” THE “PUPPY TRANSPORTATION DEVICE” WAS A WINNER, AS WAS ONE OF A PUPPY MEETING HIS FIRST BOWL OF GRUEL.
THE STAFF HERE HAD NOTHING BUT PRAISE AND ADMIRATION FOR SUCH A PERFECT DOG. I THINK THE TRAINERS NEED TO KNOW THAT THEIR WORK IS NOTICED. WELL DONE, EVERYONE!! THE WORD IS OUT - THE DOGS OF SERVICE DOG PROJECT ARE OUT THERE, MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR THEIR PARTNERS TODAY AND ALL THE TEAMS THAT WILL FOLLOW.
I COULDN’T BE MORE PROUD.