I knew going into the service dog process that we would get rude comments. Heck, most of Mika's life I've heard "But she looks so normal!", and that's definitely not a compliment. I even wrote Dear Abby about what to say. And she actually answered me! I feel so famous. :-)
Anyways, Abby didn't object to my politely telling strangers to mind their own business. And yes, I'm trying to be polite and, boy is it hard. I asked her what to say to acquaintances when they asked. They are people I can't be rude to, but I'm not comfortable giving information to. She told me to say "Oh, I don't want to bore you with the details" and then change the subject. It's good advice but I'm not good at coming up with new subjects off the top of my head when there's not much shared background. I need to come up with a good go-to topic. I'm always happy to default to baseball. Some people love it and will be happy to talk. Some people hate it and will do almost everything to avoid it. It seems like a good option now that I think about it. I'll have to try it and see how it goes.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
A day of fieldtrips
What a day. Mikaela as been sick for a while now and I gave in and took her to the doctor. We spent about two hours there total between waiting and seeing the doctor. Fern did a great job overall, bar one little bark. Fern was asleep next to Mika's chair when the nurse knocked once on the door and came in. It startled all of us and Fern let out a quiet bark at the nurse. She was fine after that and even went back to sleep, but every time the nurse came in the room from then on she would tell Fern to 'chill' or 'just relax'. Given that Fern was lying under Mika's chair I didn't find her comments necessary, but I let them go for the most part.
We were sent up to the children's hospital to make sure that her heart was still doing well. The entire walk from the parking garage to the EKG rooms was filled with people smiling and even cooing at Fern. We've made it a policy that if we are on a schedule we don't acknowledge people with more than a smile. It's not that we don't appreciate the positive reactions, because we absolutely do. It's just that we've learned the hard way that once you give someone the opening to talk you will be there forever. They'll want to ask questions about Fern, then they'll want to tell you all about their dog and their favorite dog experiences, too. And then more people will stop to talk when they see that you are receptive to talk and it will take 15 minutes to move away.
When we got into the EKG waiting area a receptionist looked up and said "oh no". We went up to the desk and after a minute I told M to go grab a seat for us in the waiting room. As M walked away, the receptionist turned to me and said "Is that a seeing eye dog?" Given that my daughter very obviously was looking at the aquarium while she walked towards the chairs, it should have been amazingly obvious that she wasn't blind. I told her that she was a service dog, not a seeing eye dog and then went back to signing paperwork. The woman started to tell me that she couldn't be there but a co-worker grabbed her arm and shook her head at her. That quickly, the problem was solved.
At the end of the doctor appointments we went to Krogers, to pick up M's prescription and a couple of groceries. M, Fern and I were standing in an aisle looking for cereal when a woman came around the corner and shrieked. All 3 of us jumped and she was staring fixated on Fern. I reassured her that Fern is a service dog and perfectly behaved, but the woman was nearly panicking. Mikaela took Fern into a different aisle and I tried to reassure the woman before I left. We have definitely met people who are afraid of dogs, although most react positively when they see how absolutely calm Fern is. This was the first time I've seen an adult so absolutely panicked she froze. I feel bad for her.
There was a blip on the screen of our day and it was the cashier at Krogers. We're checking out and she asks "Are you training a service dog?" This is actually a common question, so I tell her that she's not in training, she's my daughter's service dog. She looks at me and says "Why? What's the matter with her?" I've prepared for this and I've had it happen once before but it still took me aback. I looked at her and said something along the lines of "Wow, I've never been asked that before! Don't you think that's rude?" The kid looked at me and blinked like she didn't know what to say, so I followed up with "Service dogs can be trained for many things including seizure response, mobility, PSTD and more." She kind of mumbled that there are local places that bring their dogs in for training and she thought we were one of them.
It was a very very very long day, but Fern was wonderful and definitely helped Mikaela, so there are definitely good things about it.
Here's a pic of how Fern deals with doctor appointments.
We were sent up to the children's hospital to make sure that her heart was still doing well. The entire walk from the parking garage to the EKG rooms was filled with people smiling and even cooing at Fern. We've made it a policy that if we are on a schedule we don't acknowledge people with more than a smile. It's not that we don't appreciate the positive reactions, because we absolutely do. It's just that we've learned the hard way that once you give someone the opening to talk you will be there forever. They'll want to ask questions about Fern, then they'll want to tell you all about their dog and their favorite dog experiences, too. And then more people will stop to talk when they see that you are receptive to talk and it will take 15 minutes to move away.
When we got into the EKG waiting area a receptionist looked up and said "oh no". We went up to the desk and after a minute I told M to go grab a seat for us in the waiting room. As M walked away, the receptionist turned to me and said "Is that a seeing eye dog?" Given that my daughter very obviously was looking at the aquarium while she walked towards the chairs, it should have been amazingly obvious that she wasn't blind. I told her that she was a service dog, not a seeing eye dog and then went back to signing paperwork. The woman started to tell me that she couldn't be there but a co-worker grabbed her arm and shook her head at her. That quickly, the problem was solved.
At the end of the doctor appointments we went to Krogers, to pick up M's prescription and a couple of groceries. M, Fern and I were standing in an aisle looking for cereal when a woman came around the corner and shrieked. All 3 of us jumped and she was staring fixated on Fern. I reassured her that Fern is a service dog and perfectly behaved, but the woman was nearly panicking. Mikaela took Fern into a different aisle and I tried to reassure the woman before I left. We have definitely met people who are afraid of dogs, although most react positively when they see how absolutely calm Fern is. This was the first time I've seen an adult so absolutely panicked she froze. I feel bad for her.
There was a blip on the screen of our day and it was the cashier at Krogers. We're checking out and she asks "Are you training a service dog?" This is actually a common question, so I tell her that she's not in training, she's my daughter's service dog. She looks at me and says "Why? What's the matter with her?" I've prepared for this and I've had it happen once before but it still took me aback. I looked at her and said something along the lines of "Wow, I've never been asked that before! Don't you think that's rude?" The kid looked at me and blinked like she didn't know what to say, so I followed up with "Service dogs can be trained for many things including seizure response, mobility, PSTD and more." She kind of mumbled that there are local places that bring their dogs in for training and she thought we were one of them.
It was a very very very long day, but Fern was wonderful and definitely helped Mikaela, so there are definitely good things about it.
Here's a pic of how Fern deals with doctor appointments.
Monday, April 16, 2012
TSA follow up
I completely dropped the ball on posting the update on this. Sorry to keep drawing out the story!
The TSA director at the Atlanta airport had me call her so we could discuss what happened. I repeated our story and she seemed properly appalled. She agreed that several things happened that were against policy. She asked if I remembered the name of any of the employees, but of course I didn't. So she requested I send all the information I can remember about what time we went through screening, what we were wearing, etc so she could review the tapes and find out what employees were responsible. She said that there would be retraining so this wouldn't happen again.
She seemed genuinely interested in what happened and sincere about preventing this from happening again. She told me to immediately request a supervisor if this ever happened again, but the supervisor would have immediately stopped things from progressing further. Of course, I have to take her at her word, but can you imagine how much bad press this would get if the media blew up the story? Who wants to be the jerk giving a kid with a service dog a hard time?
The TSA director at the Atlanta airport had me call her so we could discuss what happened. I repeated our story and she seemed properly appalled. She agreed that several things happened that were against policy. She asked if I remembered the name of any of the employees, but of course I didn't. So she requested I send all the information I can remember about what time we went through screening, what we were wearing, etc so she could review the tapes and find out what employees were responsible. She said that there would be retraining so this wouldn't happen again.
She seemed genuinely interested in what happened and sincere about preventing this from happening again. She told me to immediately request a supervisor if this ever happened again, but the supervisor would have immediately stopped things from progressing further. Of course, I have to take her at her word, but can you imagine how much bad press this would get if the media blew up the story? Who wants to be the jerk giving a kid with a service dog a hard time?
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Toddler time again
Over the past couple of weeks, I've come to realize that having Fern is like having a toddler again. Every time we leave the house we have to bring things specifically for Fern. A treat bag, her working vest (if we go in the car), what we affectionately know as the crap-trap (I hate people that don't clean up after their dogs!) and wipes. You should never leave the house without baby wipes, just in case. And just like every parent knows, if you bring the stuff you won't need it, but the minute you forget something that's the one item you need the most.
There are other things that are toddler like. Fern likes to have things in her mouth. She doesn't chew through things (except 1 unfortunate incident with a #2 pencil), but if she can find something mouth size, she'll grab it. The good thing is that she's very good about giving it to you when you tell her to. And she doesn't like to swallow things, she just wants to carry them around in her mouth. I bet this is a retriever thing. She usually prefers her toys, but if she finds a marker, socks, or any little toy, she'll take advantage of it. I guess the good way to look at it is that we now have a very clean house, just out of necessity.
Fern really enjoys full attention on her. You want proof? Every time I pull out my laptop, she does her best to climb in my lap. She'll put her head on the keyboard, or her paws on my chest, or even flop her duck across my hands. It's not that she doesn't get enough attention or even that she desperately needs something. If I close the laptop, she blithely bounces away, so it's not that she wants to be petted. Oh no, she just wants to make sure that I don't do anything that could possibly deflect my attention from her. And heaven help Mikaela if she tries to do her homework. More than one paper has been turned in with dog slobber marks.
Don't get me wrong, she's totally worth it and it's not completely unexpected. Still, I'm torn between amusement and exasperation about a third of the time we're home. She never has a problem when she's out in public, which is most important. It just reinforces that when she is in her vest, she's a working dog, but when she's out of her vest, she's still a 19 month old dog. A relatively calm 19 month old for the most part, but she's still barely out of the puppy stage.
There are other things that are toddler like. Fern likes to have things in her mouth. She doesn't chew through things (except 1 unfortunate incident with a #2 pencil), but if she can find something mouth size, she'll grab it. The good thing is that she's very good about giving it to you when you tell her to. And she doesn't like to swallow things, she just wants to carry them around in her mouth. I bet this is a retriever thing. She usually prefers her toys, but if she finds a marker, socks, or any little toy, she'll take advantage of it. I guess the good way to look at it is that we now have a very clean house, just out of necessity.
Fern really enjoys full attention on her. You want proof? Every time I pull out my laptop, she does her best to climb in my lap. She'll put her head on the keyboard, or her paws on my chest, or even flop her duck across my hands. It's not that she doesn't get enough attention or even that she desperately needs something. If I close the laptop, she blithely bounces away, so it's not that she wants to be petted. Oh no, she just wants to make sure that I don't do anything that could possibly deflect my attention from her. And heaven help Mikaela if she tries to do her homework. More than one paper has been turned in with dog slobber marks.
Don't get me wrong, she's totally worth it and it's not completely unexpected. Still, I'm torn between amusement and exasperation about a third of the time we're home. She never has a problem when she's out in public, which is most important. It just reinforces that when she is in her vest, she's a working dog, but when she's out of her vest, she's still a 19 month old dog. A relatively calm 19 month old for the most part, but she's still barely out of the puppy stage.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Fern at the beach
We took an impromptu trip to the beach yesterday. It's only an hour away, so it's an easy trip to make in an afternoon, as long as you don't run into heavy traffic. In addition to normal people stuff, we brought extra water, a travel bowl, treats, a rawhide bone and a toy for Fern, just in case. Traveling with Fern is a lot like traveling with a toddler. If you don't bring it, you'll need it, but if you bring it you look like a dork carrying a huge bag.
I was the one who held the leash while we were there because if Fern bolted it could dislocate Mika's shoulder or break a bone. Fern wasn't real fond of the loose sand, but she had no problems on the harder packed sand. After staking our territory with a blanket we went for an easy walk along the beach so Mika could collect seashells and I could get Fern used to the sights and smells of the beach. The beach was covered in dried out seaweed and Fern had to stop and sniff every single clump. It was slow going, but she had a great time.
BTW, I should preface the rest of the story with the reminder that Fern is never allowed off her leash if she's not in a safe, fenced area. Therefore, I was holding her leash during the entire trip and, boy, did my arms get a work out!
I let Mika wade up to her knees in the surf and Fern kept pulling to get to her. Fern and I are buddies when Mika is not around, but the minute Fern sees her, all she wants to do is get to Mika as fast as possible. I let Fern get close to the water and check it out. We were still far enough back that only every 7th or 8th wave came up enough to get our feet wet. The first couple of times Fern would move forward to follow the waves, and then come bounding back the minute they actually touched her feet.
I let her move a little closer to the water and Fern jumped in head first. She came up and ran right towards me and I thought she was scared, but she threw herself down at my feet and let the waves run over her back. The crazy dog loved it! She would bite at the waves, then spring up on all four feet at once like a bucking horse and try to jump on the water. She got so excited she pulled hard on the leash and spun me in a circle. I had come prepared for her being unruly and I grabbed a treat from my handy-dandy treat bag. When I told her to 'freeze' she stopped pulling and looked back at me, so she got a treat. She finished chewing, looked at me again and pulled me in a circle once again. As soon as I told her 'freeze' she did and got another treat. It took me 3 times to figure out that Fern was doing it to get the treat. Once she didn't get a treat for her 'freeze' she stopped. That dog is wily, I tell you.
We were only there about 90 minutes but both kid and dog had a great time. Fern was almost wild on the way back to the car, but she was asleep in the backseat before we were fully out of the parking lot. Fern is such a water dog and I feel bad that I don't know of a safe place for her to splash to her heart's content. And I can tell you for sure that she doesn't consider bath water fun to splash it. :-)
I was the one who held the leash while we were there because if Fern bolted it could dislocate Mika's shoulder or break a bone. Fern wasn't real fond of the loose sand, but she had no problems on the harder packed sand. After staking our territory with a blanket we went for an easy walk along the beach so Mika could collect seashells and I could get Fern used to the sights and smells of the beach. The beach was covered in dried out seaweed and Fern had to stop and sniff every single clump. It was slow going, but she had a great time.
BTW, I should preface the rest of the story with the reminder that Fern is never allowed off her leash if she's not in a safe, fenced area. Therefore, I was holding her leash during the entire trip and, boy, did my arms get a work out!
I let Mika wade up to her knees in the surf and Fern kept pulling to get to her. Fern and I are buddies when Mika is not around, but the minute Fern sees her, all she wants to do is get to Mika as fast as possible. I let Fern get close to the water and check it out. We were still far enough back that only every 7th or 8th wave came up enough to get our feet wet. The first couple of times Fern would move forward to follow the waves, and then come bounding back the minute they actually touched her feet.
I let her move a little closer to the water and Fern jumped in head first. She came up and ran right towards me and I thought she was scared, but she threw herself down at my feet and let the waves run over her back. The crazy dog loved it! She would bite at the waves, then spring up on all four feet at once like a bucking horse and try to jump on the water. She got so excited she pulled hard on the leash and spun me in a circle. I had come prepared for her being unruly and I grabbed a treat from my handy-dandy treat bag. When I told her to 'freeze' she stopped pulling and looked back at me, so she got a treat. She finished chewing, looked at me again and pulled me in a circle once again. As soon as I told her 'freeze' she did and got another treat. It took me 3 times to figure out that Fern was doing it to get the treat. Once she didn't get a treat for her 'freeze' she stopped. That dog is wily, I tell you.
We were only there about 90 minutes but both kid and dog had a great time. Fern was almost wild on the way back to the car, but she was asleep in the backseat before we were fully out of the parking lot. Fern is such a water dog and I feel bad that I don't know of a safe place for her to splash to her heart's content. And I can tell you for sure that she doesn't consider bath water fun to splash it. :-)
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Fern's squeaky toy
Here's a video showing how much she loves it. The good news is that she has really calmed down on the need to squeak it and I'm now only occasionally hear it in the middle of the night.
I just played this video on my computer to make sure it was the right one. Fern was in the living room sound asleep. At the first sound of the squeaky toy, so jumped up and came running to see if I had her bone. It's funny because she had been sleeping with it at the time.
I just played this video on my computer to make sure it was the right one. Fern was in the living room sound asleep. At the first sound of the squeaky toy, so jumped up and came running to see if I had her bone. It's funny because she had been sleeping with it at the time.
The girl likes her toys
I've spent all evening getting ready for Easter festivities. Cookies are now cooling, dyed eggs are now drying under Mika's watchful gaze and I've got the goodies for her Easter basket hidden around the house. I wanted to take some time and get some photos uploaded. It seems like a good way to fill in between the boiled eggs cooling and the cookies coming out of the oven, but once again I've completely underestimated how long I spend on the blog. I'm an addict!
Back on topic. While the dogs are growing and learning at the CA farm they have lots of Kong balls to play with (they really are indestructible) but they share. No dog has their very own toy for a number of reasons. Can you imagine trying to keep 50 balls straight? It would be a nightmare. So on our 1st outing we got Fern a couple of toys, not realizing how much she would adore them. The two tennis balls lasted a couple of days before they were thrown away. The duck stayed and we added Bogey on our second outing. I'm honestly not sure how Bogey got his name, but this long yellow plush dog is a favorite. She picked up a smaller, purple version of Bogey at PetSmart when we made an emergency stop for poop bags. Her newest favorite is a plush bone. The MilkBone representative gave it to Mika at her presentation ceremony because they were a main sponsor for her dog. BTW, so was Sam's Club.
Fern enjoys showing her toys off, but she doesn't really want you to touch them. Instead, she'll carry them back and forth between me and Mika to make sure we both see how wonderful it is, then she'll carefully pick the spot she wants to lay down and place it there. Then it's repeated with two or three other toys. She usually brings at least one up into Mika's bed to sleep.
I'm going to try and upload some pics of her and her babies. Last time I tried to get more than two pics on the same post, it froze the upload, so I'll see what I can do. I also have a video of Fern playing with her 1st squeaky toy. She REALLY likes to squeak that toy when she's in the right mood.
BTW, ignore the mess in the the this one, we had been home for about 45 minutes total. Oh, and her newest trick is to carry two at the same time.
Back on topic. While the dogs are growing and learning at the CA farm they have lots of Kong balls to play with (they really are indestructible) but they share. No dog has their very own toy for a number of reasons. Can you imagine trying to keep 50 balls straight? It would be a nightmare. So on our 1st outing we got Fern a couple of toys, not realizing how much she would adore them. The two tennis balls lasted a couple of days before they were thrown away. The duck stayed and we added Bogey on our second outing. I'm honestly not sure how Bogey got his name, but this long yellow plush dog is a favorite. She picked up a smaller, purple version of Bogey at PetSmart when we made an emergency stop for poop bags. Her newest favorite is a plush bone. The MilkBone representative gave it to Mika at her presentation ceremony because they were a main sponsor for her dog. BTW, so was Sam's Club.
Fern enjoys showing her toys off, but she doesn't really want you to touch them. Instead, she'll carry them back and forth between me and Mika to make sure we both see how wonderful it is, then she'll carefully pick the spot she wants to lay down and place it there. Then it's repeated with two or three other toys. She usually brings at least one up into Mika's bed to sleep.
I'm going to try and upload some pics of her and her babies. Last time I tried to get more than two pics on the same post, it froze the upload, so I'll see what I can do. I also have a video of Fern playing with her 1st squeaky toy. She REALLY likes to squeak that toy when she's in the right mood.
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