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Frankie has certainly come a long way. From a hyper-active toddler, to a troubled teen, to a playful but mature young adult, to a genius middle-aged woman. Oh wait. That's me. Remember how your parents would say to you when you were being bad as a child: "I can't wait until you have children. I hope you have one just like you so you know how you made my life a living hell."? Well, that has happened to me. Except my child is furry and has 4 legs. Frankie has always been a handful for us. He didn't respond at first to the training techniques we were used to. He defied authority. Any attention was good, even if he was getting disciplined. And that all sounds just like me! But this weekend he showed that, like me, he also turned out pretty good. Rick and I worked him using the wheelchair. At first, as usual, he was pulling hard and fast. Too fast, and too out of control. But after a few minutes he calmed down and was responding well to commands. I had Rick let go of ...

Today, one of my best friends moved back to NY. Here, I'll make this dog related: he said goodbye to all three dogs individually, and he's not really a dog person. I'll miss you buddy.

I should probably call this post "Shit Happens Part A" because when you own dogs, lots of shit happens... and this is no exception! Yesterday, we had two sick doggies in the house. Both Willie and Frankie were loose and both had Alert Level Red Farts. And both, of course, still wanted to sleep behind my chair. Ew. In the afternoon, Frankie went with Rick to work and slept a lot there. I dunno if they both got into something or had some kind of virus (can dogs get these things?). When Rick got home with Frankie, he seemed fine (Frankie, that is). But then he went into the living room, and promptly pooped on the floor! WHAT?! But he's housebroken! Luckily the poop was soft-serve, not a big runny mess. Guess he just had a very bad urge to go and couldn't even wait long enough to ask to go out. K, did I ruin your appetites?! Oy.

Right now, Rick (the hubby) is Frankie's main trainer. (I'm now participating more because I'm doing the retrieval work and both Rick & I are doing wheelchair work.) Because of this, Frankie is VERY attached to Rick. If I'm talking to Frankie, holding his attention, and Rick walks into the room... it's as if The Pope just entered. All bow-wow down to Pope Richard the First. So, there will have to come a time when we transition Frankie from Rick to me. I'll be doing what some guide dog orgs do. For one month, I will be Frankie's sole provider of food, love, attention, petting, everything. Rick will not only have to ignore Frankie entirely, but he will also attempt to form a closer bond with Willie. He'll take Willie to work a few days a week, giving Frankie and I a chance to connect without Willie hogging him. This will hopefully prevent Willie's separation anxiety when I start leaving the house with Frankie and without him. Waah! I'm looking ...

When Frankie poops, his butt (sorry, backside!) is so close to the ground that his output winds up looking like a Dairy Queen soft serve chocolate cone. Ew. As I always say, as pet lovers, we must love all the inputs and outputs of our non-human kids.

Today, the hubby was in his studio and I was sitting on the floor down the hall looking into his studio. Frankie was hovering with the hubby, as usual. Suddenly, Frankie ran down to see me. Then he ran back to Rick. Then back to me. Then back to Rick. Rick says: "I just thought in my head... Go See Mommy"! TWICE! Uh oh.

I had some very nice visitors the other day (hi Lara and Jack!). Jack is a 5 month old Boston Terrier and he's doing so well! I realized after they left that I had vomited mucho information about dog training tips to Lara and I hope I didn't overwhelm her (did I?) . So I thought I'd post a list here of some of the things we talked about: Jack Come, Jack Heel... Jack Off??? Lara was using Jack's name along with most other commands. One of those commands, the "off" command, was becoming embarrassing. Oy. Anyway, I suggested she use his name only for the "come" command (Jack, Come) and the "heel" command (Jack, Heel). All other commands should be used by themselves (sit, down, stay, off....). Knee bone's Connected to the... Butt Bone This one was fun cause Jack is so short! I demo'd to Lara how to get Jack's little butt down to the ground when he was not sitting on command. I scooped my hand over his bum and then ...

Hey Kat! Let me try to answer your questions, and hopefully provide some info... Q. "Working" mode -vs.- "at home" mode A. I get the following question a lot when I'm out with my sdogs... "does he ever get to be a *real* dog?" And the answer is "yes"! Kat, you got a chance to see this, my dogs at home are just like anyone else's pet dogs. They run around, play, bark, sleep, scratch, jump...and just have lots of fun! Even though my dogs are always working for me, my needs are different in my house and I'm very comfortable letting my dogs be dogs. If I need some assistance, I just call over Willie or Frankie and they are back in "working mode" for just that moment. Q. How do I keep people from petting/talking to my sdogs when they're working? A. I have a sign on their vests that says "Please don't pet me, I'm working". I got these signs here: www.SitStay.com . Granted, this sign...

One of the biggest problems we had when we first started training Frankie was trying to get his attention. He paid way more attention to his furry brothers because they were more fun. Mommy and Daddy were trying to keep order in the house (imagine that!) and Frankie just wanted to play. All day. All the time. Recently my friend Lara was having the same troubles with her Boston Terrier Jack, so I thought I'd post here a few of the tips that worked for us. The key word was: separation. For the first year of Frankie's life, we limited his access to the other dogs. Not 100%, but enough so that Frankie had to look to Rick and I for playtime, affection, discipline, and had to learn the hierarchy of the pack from us. We still allowed occasional dog playtime, but we dictated when, where, how. It was used as a big reward. We put a few gates up in our house, blocking off the kitchen area and our studios. This made the job much easier. It still was difficult to do, but worth i...

Dogs have 3 forms of intelligence: Adaptive intelligence : Consists of both learning ability (the number of experience an individual needs to code something into relatively permanent memory) and problem solving (the ability to put together bits of information into a correct answer or to discover new ways to apply previously learned information to novel situations). Adaptive intelligence allows individuals, both human beings and animals, to adapt to their environments or provides them with the skills necessary to modify their environments to suit their needs. Working or obedience intelligence : Allows dogs to respond appropriately to various commands. The characteristics of working intelligence include a long attention span, the mental flexibility to try another approach when the first responses to a particular command are not rewarded, and the communication skills to realize when its handler is attempting to communicate something. Instinctive intelligence : Defined as those genet...

Those of us crips (note: only crips can call themselves crips!) who use a wheelchair and/or have no stairs in our homes often forget that we need to train our sdog pups how to go up/down stairs. Just because we, the crip, may never walk our sdog on stairs doesn't mean they'll never use them. Here's a few instances where a wheelchair service dog may have to use stairs: Non-crip trainer may want/need to use stairs. At an airport, may need to ask an airline employee to take the dog outside to potty. At a friend's two-story house, if the dog is allowed the run of the house. As for training for stair use, keep a few things in mind: Go UP before going DOWN! It's easier for a pup to pull up stairs than it is to stop momentum when going down them. At first, you may even want to carry the pup down the stairs and just work on going up. Train on all kinds of stairs. Open back stairs are the scariest because the pup can see how high they are. Spira...

Yes. Ok? Yes. There are some days when I just feel like saying "yes" and moving on to go about my business. But I realize that it's irresponsible to do that. I've always felt the need to be an educator, and hopefully it helps those who come after me. I've found over the years of working a service dog that people seem to only know one kind of working dog: Seeing Eye Dog . This is fine if they're willing to listen to an explanation that this is not a seeing eye dog, but a Wheelchair Service Dog . And that there are many other types of working dogs: hearing alert , seizure alert , mobility assistance (not always in a wheelchair)... Service Dogs assist people with a disability and that disability isn't always blindness. They can retrieve dropped items, pull wheelchairs, assist in balance, alert for seizures, alert for ringing phones/doorbells, and I'm sure I've missed much more. My dog's main jobs are: retrieval, pull my wheelchair, and stability...

Having a male service dog has it's downsides. One is the ever-present "package". Luckily, I've been blessed with 2 males that are not overly endowed. I try not to offend. The other downside is leg lifting. The problem with having a male dog that will only pee by lifting his leg is what do you do when there are no vertical opportunities? Case in point: airport tarmacs. I don't think the airport would appreciate a dog peeing on a 747's tire. The best way to deal with this situation is to nip it in the bud very early. From day one, try to avoid "vertical opportunities" by taking the pup out on a lead, saying "go pee", and stay away from trees, sign posts, fire hydrants and other vertical objects. I also recommend you neuter your males very early, preferably at 4 months of age (the same age you should do your first hip x-rays). If you have any other dogs in the house and the pup exhibits any early mounting behaviors, have him neutered even earl...

This past weekend, my hubby and Willie and I went to Home Depot . Because I've never come across another working dog while I was out with mine, not even a Seeing Eye Dog , I did not expect to come around the corner in the toilet seat section and wheel into a dog. This dog was on a long lead and was obviously not a Service Dog. Not because it's handler did not "look" disabled, I'm not that naive, but because the dog did not appear to be trained. This was a "pet" dog. In Home Depot. I went to a clerk and asked if he could find out if it was a Service Dog and if it wasn't, if he could ask the man to leave. He got on the store phone and a minute later there was an announcement over the store's speaker system. I didn't hear the verbiage, but the clerk came over and said an announcement was made that there are no "pet" dogs allowed in Home Depot. A bit later, I was wheeling up to the front of the store, and there was the guy with the dog!...

Today, the hubby and I went to look at a used SUV. I said I'd never buy an SUV because I was against their gas-guzzling, I'm Higher Up Than You, Everybody Has One, I'm a Housewife and I Have Groceries In The Back Of My Hummer - attitude that SUV's exude to me. But we're replacing a station wagon and enjoy having that space to haul stuff from Home Depot. So we're looking at SUV's and minivans. Anyway, the SUV salesman rode with us when we test drove it. He was asking questions about dog training and such and he asked "now, do you train other animals, like horses?" K, weird question. I'd thought I'd heard it all. Yes, I train dogs, cats, horses, panda bears, and crickets. I'm a genius.

This weekend was Austin's annual Pecan Street Festival. They close off all of 6th Street, Austin's famous music mecca, and for the weekend it becomes a haven for arts and crafts vendors from all over the U.S. of A. Vendors sell clothing, paintings, incense, hats, candles, jewelry, and much more. Local musicians play on and off the many stages. This year it was perfect weather too. But there's always the quandry of whether or not to take Willie to this event. There's a couple of factors at play: Heat - especially the hot pavement Stupid "Pet" Dog Owners With Flexi-Leashes As we all know, not every dog is as well trained as a service dog, nor are most dogs properly socialized. Then there's that Damn Flexi-Leash Factor. Stupid (yes, I don't care if the comments come rolling in on this one) pet owners who have absolutely no control over their dogs when the dog is at the end of a 15 foot flexi-leash. My Opinion: Flexi-leashes are for taking your...