my appeal for volunteer help is working -- 2 people who's names and faces i don't recognize were out there filling potholes in the lovely spring aire...and there were enough people to "special" the dog who just had surgery- and still manage to do mailcall etc
plus teh fact that jody is here.. she is a camera op--- that is the bunch that keep the explore.org cameras pointed in the most interesting direction-- i don't give cam-ops enough "press" it certainly adds to the enjoyment of following animals as they run around, i don't know much about the process, but it must be like we move the camera for mail call.
amazing-- sit here and move a camera in africa.
thank heavens for cut and paste today---i am already nodding off at the keyboard.. and i have 20 kids comeint this morning and have to be at some highschool by noon????--- with bentley and zsizzle...
*****
Hello Carlene,
I can’t believe that I have only had Riz for one week! She works with me like we have been partnered much longer....as my granddad would say about a good horse, “she drives like a Cadillac!”
Besides the normal, “life in a service dog” stuff, we have also worked this week on peeing on command, trains, and squirrels.
Because I travel so much to places where it is not the practical to let her off leash to pee and poop, she needs to be able to do so on a leash. So, this week I worked on teaching her to pee on command, which she now does. Next week, I will teach her to do that on the leash.
Learning to ride on the train was pretty uneventful. We hung out at the train station a couple of days at rush hour to desensitize her to the sounds of the train and crowds and then yesterday, got on the train and rode to D.C....she slept the whole way.
At first, the sight of a squirrel caused her to lose her mind (not surprising, since she grew up in a play yard where keeping vermin out of it is part of the entertainment) Even though I live in town, we have a significant squirrel population, so she lost her mind often. I am proud to say, that after many miles of walking and exposure to hundreds of squirrels, she now walks past them without looking at them and with only a slight change of speed in her walk.
The fact that she has been able to learn all of these things in just a week is a testament to the solid foundation of training that she received from the SDP trainers - especially in the squirrel department....her training to pay attention to her partner first, allowed me to keep her focus on me while I trained her to not focus on the squirrels.
Thank you for this wonderful partner and I am sure we will continue to grow as a team and have even more accomplishments to report next time I check in.
All the best.
Heidi and Riz
***
HI CARLENE,
HOPE ALL IS GOOD WITH YOU. TUMBLER FINISHED HER THERAPY DOG CLASS. SHE HAD 23 SCENARIOS TO PASS ON SAT TO BECOME REGISTERED. WE HAD COMMANDS AND ROLE PLAY SITUATIONS TO COMPLETE. NEEDLESS TO SAY TUMBLER WAS THE BEST “LEAVE IT” THEY HAD EVER HAD . WISHED I COULD SAY I WAS RESPONSIBLE BUT IT WAS THE AWESOME TRAINERS BEFORE I BECAME HER MOM THAT GETS CREDIT. I DID HAVE TO TEACH HER TO “SIT”. SHE HAS A BALLET LOOKING “SIT”. QUITE CUTE AND EVALUATORS GOT A KICK OUT OF IT.
WE ARE WAITING ON OUR BADGE AND THEN WE WILL START HEADING OUT. INTERMOUNTAIN THERAPY ANIMALS IS ORGANIZATION I CHOSE BECAUSE HOSPITALS LIKE VANDERBILT RECOGNIZES THIS ORGANIZATION AND REALIZES WHAT WE HAVE TO PASS TO REPRESENT THEM. I AM VERY PROUD OF HER AND LOOK FORWARD TO MAKING SOMEONE’S DAY A LITTLE BETTER .THE EVALUATORS TOLD ME THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I WILL HAVE WITH TUMBLER IS SHE IS GOING TO BE A PEOPLE MAGNET BECAUSE SHE IS SO DARN CUTE! HEADING UP THERE MAY 4TH. LEAVE ME SOME LEAVES TO RAKE ! KARI AND TUMBLER AKA TUMMY,TUM TUM, TUMBLEWEED
