the expression....."you will think this is funny years from now" means that at my age-- there is alot of hysterical historical humor...i get requests to go "speak" - it is fun- rotary, lions club. church groups or whatever...so i rattle on for 20 minutes about service dogs tell a few funny stories then answer questions... the ones that are really fun are the few times someone has called in a panic because they have a group meeting antd their speaker cancels at the last minute- the expectations of a substitute are not great- so with maybe 3 topics written on the back of my hand as starter points, just in case i draW TEH SENIOR BLANK MOMENT- I CAN "THAT REMINDS ME OF..." AND GET RATTLING AGAIN....
HOMELESS --- GETS ME GOING ON 2 STORIES....FOR A FEW YEARS WE- AS "ANIMAL EPISODES" TOOK A COLLECTION OF ANIMALS TO BE SANTAS "FARM IN HAVERHILL -- FRIDAY-- SAT-- SUNDAY 6 TO 9- REGARDLESS OF TEH WEATHER.- I HIRED KIDS- AND OCASSIONALLY A BRAVE PARENT WOULD GO WITH ME... I OWNED 5 EXTRA LARGE SKI MOBILE SUITS FOR WHOEVER WENT-
FRIEND "DIDA" AND I WERE HUDDLED IN A HAY PILE ONE MISERABLE DARK RAINY NIGHT-- THINKING "WHAT'S MERRY?" AND A POLICEMAN HOPPED OVER OUR BARRIER OF HAY BALES- AND TOLD US WE'D HAVE TO LEAVE BUT HE WOULD BE HAPPY TO TAKE US TO THE TOWN' S HOMELESS SHELTER..... THAT ONE INCIDENT GAVE ME A PERSPECTIVE ON HOMELESS.. AND POLICE..
THE OTHER HOMELESS STORY IS.... FOR SOME MOVIE ( I DUNNO WHICH) THERE WAS A CALL FOR A HOMELESS PERSON'S DOG AT A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION OF BOSTON- WITH THAT TRAFFIC I COULD NOT TAKE ANY SMALL DOG I KNEW OF WHO COULD HOVER LOOSE AROUND A SLEEPING HOMELESS PERSON-- AND TEHN I FOUND A HOMELESS PERSON WITH A DOG - THAT DOG -- BY AKC AND ADI STANDARDS HAD PERFECT BEHAVIOR- WHICH AS I GOT INTO SERVICE DOGS I EALIZED ONE OF THE REASONS WAS IT WAS WITH IT'S OWNER 24 HOURS A DAY, AND TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD THE LIFE IT WAS LEADING... THE CHAOS OF TRAFFIC AND FILM MAKING WAS NOT A BIG DEAL-- IT KNEW IT WAS TO STAY CLOSE TO IT'S OWNER- WHO WAS JUST OFF CAMERA... WORKED BEAUTIFULLY.
THAT IS IT FOR HOMELESS STORIESW...
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SO "ZENA" WAS HERE YESTEERDAY-- BEAUTIFUL DOG-- WONDERFUL JOB... LONG STORY...
I HAVE TREID TO GET OTHER ADI MEMBERS TO CONSIDER USING GREAT DANES AS SERVICE DOGS.... THEY DO SUCH A WONDERFUL JOB.... I GAVE A PUPPY TO AN ADI MEMBER WHO RAN A TRAINING FACILITY IN FLORIDA... A FEMALE- WITH THE HOPES THAT THE MIGHT BREED HER ONCE AND THEN MAKE A SERVBICE DOG OF HER.- SHE PARKED HER WITH A TRAINER- AND ZENA GREW--- AS ONLY DANES CAN.... I TRIED TO SUGGEST HOW TO START TRAINING... BUT THEY WERE REALLY ONL INTERESTED IN GOLDENS-- AND ZENA GREW.... AT ONE POINT THEY TOOK HER TO THEIR VET- WHO SAID IT WAS A TERRRIBLE IDEA BECAUSE ALL DANES HAD HIP TROUBLE- AND SHE HAD A HEART MURMER- IN AN EFFORT TO HAVE AN EXCUSE NOT TO DEAL-- ZENA BECAME A PET. THEN..... THERE WAS A DOG FIGHT - WHERE A SMALLER DOG WAS BITTEN - NEEDING STITCHES... AND IT WAS DETERMINED ZENA WAS TEH BAD DOG- IT IS A FACT THAT IN A DOG FIGHE THE BIGGEST DOG WILL BE BLAMED-- WHICH WAS ZENA-- TEHY SAID SHE WAS "UNCONTROLABLE" THEY WERE AFRAID OF HER-- WE SENT MEGAN DOWN TO GET HER- GOT HER HERE-- ZENA SEEMED FINE-- PERFECT BEHAVIOR AS FAR AS WE COULD SEE-- WE TESTED HER FOR "AGGRESSION" ETC.. NOTHING... SO WE GAVE HER TO A PERSON IN ? VERMONT? WHO WORKS IN A COURTHOUSE- SHE REPORTS THAT ZENA IS THE PERFECT DOG FOR WORKING THE COURT-- SHE HAS PERFECT INSTINCTS FOR SEEKING OUT FRIGHTENED CHILDREN, ABUSED WOMEN AND VETS WITH PTSD-- HAS NOT MADE A WRONG STEP-- JUDGES OFTEN COME AND SIT WITH ZENA ON OFF TIME- PERFECT DOG. ALSO ABSOLUTELY NO SIGN OF HIP DISPLASYA- AND ZENA IS NOW 6 YEARS OLD... BEAUTIFUL DOG ON ALL SCORES.
THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH DANES... ALONG WITH INCORRECT MEDICAL EVALUATION.....THEY ARE BIG AND PEOPLE ASSUME THEY WILL MISBEHAVE LIKE THE SMALL DOGS OFTEN DO.... AND IF THEY DO BEHAVE LIKE A SMALL DOG, THEY WOULD BE A DISASTER ON SIZE ALONE-- A 150 POUND FLYING OBJECT IS NO JOKE.
WE HAVE A PUBLIC PERCEPTION TO DEAL WITH --
I AM WORKING ON IT.;