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Yesterday was interesting. I decided to go to the grocery store with the hubby and work Frankie. Leave Willie home and work the young boy. After this outing, I came to this conclusion: neither Frankie nor I are ready to work together. When you've already been working a dog and you are now training a pup, you realize how much un-vocalized communication there is between the both of you. I can just lean into a left turn and Willie goes left. Frankie, of course, does not have any of this yet. Since I have yet not done the official transition period (one month, he's my dog only, Rick ignores him, Rick takes Willie to work, Frankie and I sleep in separate room together... kind of like a mini-affair with another man!), Frankie is still bonded to Rick big time. So he spent a lot of his energy yesterday looking for Rick. Rick had walked into the store first while I got the chair and Frankie ready. The outing wasn't a complete waste tho. I worked Frankie while Rick pushed my chair. R...

The shaker can is an empty soda can with a few pennies inside. You can tape the top if you need to, just don't use too much tape or you will dull the sound. I use this can for a few applications: unwanted barking, critical "leave it" items UNWANTED BARKING Granted, all dogs bark. A lot of us appreciate the guard-dog in our pups, even if it is just barking at the UPS guy. But unwanted barking is a nuisance, for us and our neighbors. This traning technique can actually be used for training a neighbor's dog to stop barking. THE STEPS: Unwanted barking occurs Shake the can hard and yell " NO BARKING!! " When barking stops, praise the dog Pretty simple, eh? I've used this to train my neighbors's dogs thru the privacy fence. They can't see me and I can't see them, but I can sure hear them. I have a neighbor that leaves their dog out all day, rain or shine, hot (Texas hot) or cold. To train the neighbor's dog, if you have a non-see-t...

Always in interesting question. Not the question itself, but the fact that it gets asked. It happened yesterday at the Mall. Me, Willie, and my friend Betsy went to the mall yesterday and at Bath & Body Works the question got asked. We were at the checkout counter paying up (yummy smells, my weakness!) and the sales girl asked me for my "autograph" on the credit card receipt. As I deftly grab the piece of paper and pen, she asks "do you mind if I ask, but how well can you see?". See? Oh, yeah, it's once again reared it's ugly head. You have a dog, you must be blind. Oy. Funny story: In Vermont, I wheeled into a dentists office and had a woman hold the door for me. I said thanks, didn't think anything of it. Later, we both wound up leaving at the same time. This time, I open the door myself and start wheeling to the car. I realize that she's standing outside the door behind me. As I load up the chair and dog and then proceed to get into the DRIVER...

Over the years of working Service Dogs, I've learned there's one big drawback: Farts. Sorry for the topic, but it must be discussed. It's a fact of life and something you have to be prepared for if you're deciding to get a working dog. Willie is a pure-bred lab and therefore has the inherent irritable gut syndrome of most pure breeds. Any small change in his diet and he gets the farts. I've tried different veterinarian-recommended foods, acidophilus, chicken and rice... still farts. Sometimes you can almost see these farts, they're so thick. Ew. The Most Embarrassing Times Your SDog WILL Fart: At the doctor's office. You know, when they bring you into the exam room and you sit waiting for the doctor. The dog farts, it wafts throughout the room, and then the doc walks in. Bad timing. At a restaurant. Nuff said. Ew. At church. Driving in the car... with your mother-in-law. Or your boss. Or a date. In an office... with the door closed... at a major company......

Since JoJo was my first dog as an adult (I had dogs when I was a kid, the hubby didn't), we had no clue on anything. Housebreaking, training, chewing, it was all a big unknown for us. So we bought this GREAT FANTASTIC book called " Super Puppy ". I recommend it to all new dog owners out there. It's concise, with 1-3 pages for each topic. I can't tell you how many of these books I've given away just so there would be more super puppies out there. Anyway, one of the areas we were most freaked about was housebreaking. We knew (from the book) to let her out often, after eating, after playing, after napping... But we were still freaked about accidents. It's funny, now accidents are nothing to us when we get a new puppy. Must be that "first child" syndrome. So, we decided one way to combat accidents was to keep JoJo with one of us at all times. If I was in the living room and she started leaving down the hallway, I'd call her back. If I ...

Tonight Frankie kept trying to show me his retieval skills by bringing me things I didn't ask for. He brought me 2 tugs and my socks. Well, one of my pair of socks I had left on the floor behind my chair. Later that night I needed to find the other sock. So I told Frankie to "smell it" while showing him the one sock he had already brought me. Then I put that sock on the counter and said "find it". Meaning "find me the OTHER sock". He raced around the house with such promise of bringing me that other sock. But alas, after a few laps around the house, he came up with nothing. So we thought we'd end it on a positive note and the hubby put the first sock on the floor in the hallway. Then I said "find it" again, hinting that the sock was down the hall. He sniffed everywhere but down the hall. Then he ran down the hall sniffing and ran right past the planted sock. Three times. We decided to hand him the sock and say "take it, go ...

Things Willie likes: Working for Mommy Dessert Lizard TV Eating fast Farting Sleeping on the couch Swimming with the ducks BALL Things Willie hates: When Mommy goes out without him Farting The next-door neighbor dogs

Things Barney likes: NOT being a working dog Laying on the couch/pillow/recliner/bed/floor Licking faces (professional licker) Licking the rug (can you say hairballs) Laying outside on his "veranda" Visiting all the employees at the vet's office Going for walks with Daddy Nipping Frankie's toes Things Barney hates: Fireworks or anything that remotely sounds like fireworks Pain Getting tormented by Frankie

Things Frankie likes: Daddy (likes more than mommy) Willie (likes way more than mommy) Wearing his harness and going to IBM with daddy Tormenting Barney Dragging around his giant doggie pillow Running figure-8's in his small back yard as fast as he can Playing with 4-yr old little girls There's no such thing as "bad" attention Things Frankie hates: The new, big, scary lizard When Daddy goes outside without him When Barney nips his toes Having to eat 4 times more than the other dogs (take too long!) When no one pays attention to him

Kewl, I got my first comment! Keep 'em comin'...! Frankie is a mix breed. He's part Black Lab and the other part is either Doberman or Italian Greyhound . I think he's more dobe because of his smarts, size and shape. He's got a small head, way smaller than Willie's. Willie has a monster head .

I guess I'll have to explain his name first. His breeder, the WONDERFUL Lori Dodd , puts colored collars on all her pups. Frankie had a green one on, so she called him Green Beans. I decided to name Frankie after my WONDERFUL grandfather, who passed away just a few months after Frankie was born. But my grandpa had an interesting history with his name. Everyone called him Frank, but then someone found his birth certificate, and it said his first name was Raymond, middle name Frank. Then another document was found and it said his first name was Robert! Frankly (pun intended), I think my grandpa worked for the CIA. You had to know him, he'd be the last person on earth you'd think worked for the CIA. Therefore, he'd be the perfect spy! Anyway, Frankie is currently in training to be my third service dog. We got him a little earlier than I had expected. Willie's hip surgery will probably (hopefully!) prolong his working career a few years longer then we had expected. I wi...

Willie is a pure-bred black lab . He was born on St. Patrick's Day . He's now 7 years old and he's defied all the odds. Willie was born with severe hip dysplasia . X-Rays done at 4 months of age showed almost no hip sockets. It was obviously a severe birth defect. I spent the next few weeks scouring the web, sending out emails, and traveling to Dallas and Pflugerville for second and third opinions. I even contacted Marvin L. Olmstead, the man who literally wrote the book on Small Animal Orthopedics. I wanted to find out if any Wheelchair Service Dogs working today had hip replacement surgery and continued working. No one had heard of one. I finally found Dr. Stephanie Beardsly right here in Austin. Part of her opinion was the same as all the other vets: Willie was not a candidate for TPO . But the other part of her opinion was just what I wanted to hear: let's just wait and see. In otherwords, train Willie normally, strengthen his muscles once he turns 18 month...

JoJo: female black lab mix (part golden , part blk lab , looked like a Curly-Coated Retriever ). At the time we got JoJo as a puppy, my symptoms were just starting in my legs. I had always said that I never wanted a dog because dogs were like having kids: tie you down, responsibilities, time-consuming... (of course, you don't have to save for college and don't have to worry about them getting thrown in jail at 16!). But for some reason, all of a sudden, I wanted a dog. It probably had something to do with my illness, especially because I was having to take more sick days and was sitting home alone and lonely. The timing of finding JoJo was very interesting. I had gone to see my first neurologist (a very scary proposition at the time, meant that things were serious) and the receptionist told the folks in the waiting room that her dog just had puppies and did anyone want one. I got very excited. But, alas, Rick did not want a dog. He still had the above mindset of not wanting to ...

Watching Frankie follow Betsy around the house as she cleans, we're both convinced he was a house cleaner in a previous life. According to Betsy, he's watching her to make sure she doesn't miss anything. According to me, he's a perpetual motion freak and this is just an excuse for him to walk around the house for 4 hours. His favorite thing: to eat the hair she sweeps into a pile. Dogs are gross. But I still love 'em.

I am disabled, using a wheelchair, working a Wheelchair Service Dog, and currently training my 3rd Wheelchair Service Dog (WSD). I hope to provide a unique perspective on living with a disability, and life with Service Dogs. Please feel free to comment and ask questions! The WillaWoman

To be continued!