And by
hallucinations, I mean it may feel like you’re seeing things that just aren’t
there when you see this blog post. “Wait – is she really blogging again or is
this a figment of my imagination?” Or
maybe you don’t put that much thought into a ten-minute quick read about
service dogs every now and then. At any rate, I can’t believe October was the
last time I wrote!
Ok, I
believe it. I’m just a little disappointed. But that’s all right, I’m here now,
and I’ve set a calendar reminder so hopefully I’ll write a little more
regularly. I have a list of issues and events worth covering, so it’s not as if
I’ll run out of content trying to do a regular piece. But enough about me and
my writing habits, on to the doggy stuff! Yes, I have more pictures.
Here’s Miss
Greta with her nose pressed up against a Boeing 757 (I think) as we landed in
Seattle, Washington this past December. My housemate and I flew out west to
visit my parents in the idyllic town of Leavenworth, Washington, and decided to
do some sight-seeing in Seattle on our way there. But before you get more cute
puppy pictures and stories, let’s count up how many trips and changes Greta has
gone through just in 2016, because that’s the lead-in for the main topic of
this blog post: Greta’s stress behaviour development and resolution.
1)
April
6, move into the House at TSE and meets her new handler, after living in the
TSE kennels.
2)
April
26th, moves to Alabama with me
3)
June
30, flies to Oregon with me
4)
July
29, flies back to Alabama with me
5)
August…some
date toward the end, spends a night in Birmingham with me, then returns to the
house in Huntsville
6)
December
13, flies to Seattle, WA with me
7)
December
14, takes train to Leavenworth with me
8)
December
18, takes the train back to Seattle, WA with me
9)
December
19, flies back to Huntsville with me
That’s nine
different places she’s slept in, eaten in, traveled to in the last year. Would
your two-year-old start acting out in the fact of that much uncertainty about
home? Mine did! Greta decided that, while riding in the car, all motorcycles,
pedestrians, bikes, and dogs were a threat to her family’s security, and she
guarded her borders jealously. Her alert system comes with battle klaxons if
someone gets too close – she barked and growled. It wasn’t the most ferocious
sound I’ve heard a shepherd make. It wasn’t angry, but most certainly a warning.
“Back away from my territory, now!’ She also decided that running children
ought to be herded together. The exhibition of this decision, however, tends to
make mothers who don’t speak “dog” nervous, because it involves herding
behaviours such as barking and lunging.
Prada did
none of these things. She was an incredibly laid-back German shepherd, as it
turns out. My trainer at TSE told me that they give first-time shepherd people
“less sheperdy” shepherds because the breed is so very…ardent about its traits
that it can feel a little overwhelming to a first-time shepherd user. Honestly,
it felt a little overwhelming to a second-timer! I called TSE, a knot in my
stomach over what I believed was too aggressive behaviour for a service dog.
Would they send a trainer to reassess
her? Would I have to give her up? To my utter amazement and relief, however,
the trainer with whom I spoke acted as if this was a call he got every day.
“Just keep the gentle leader on her every time you work for the next two weeks,
then start reducing it by degrees,” he said. “It’ll calm her down and make your
corrections more effective.” Well, I was still in Oregon at that point, and in
two weeks I’d get on a plane to Alabama. I decided to extrapolate the trainer’s
advice and keep the leader on every time we worked for the next four weeks,
then start reducing.
It worked. I
was astonished. Two months ago Greta and I walked around a corner in the
hallway at church, and a small child dashed out right in front of us and Greta
simply stopped to avoid a collision, waited for the child to get out of the
way, and continued on. Nine times out of ten when a pedestrian or dog comes
near the car she only sits up and looks at him. Same with a motorcycle or
bicycle. If she’s stressed from something else earlier in the day, she might
bark once or twice, but she settles right down when I scold her. I love my
gentle leader! I love it, I love it, I love it! It’s an incredibly powerful
tool, when applied properly. Thanks to the wonderfully knowledgeable and
available trainers at TSE, I now know to carry my leader with me everywhere. If
Greta gets riled up, it goes on. If she’s at home and barks at the doorbell, it
goes on. If she barks while in the car, it goes on. She settles right down, and
the space between incidents grows longer every time. I use it maybe once or
twice a month right now.
Of course,
we’re gearing up for another trip at the end of this month. We’re meeting my
parents in Branson, Missouri to go to a Weekend to Remember conference and do
some sightseeing. This time, however, my husband and I will drive there instead
of flying. I hope that will reduce some of Greta’s travel stress, but I think
I’ll just keep the leader on her whenever she works with me on the trip. I’d
rather pre-empt stress behaviour than wait for it to manifest and have to
correct her more often.
And now, as
promised, cute puppy pictures.
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Greta
enjoyed the Seattle aquarium as much as we did!
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Greta
demonstrates how to safely ride the subway when one has four paws, a tail, and
a nose that might get stepped on! As soon as we boarded and found somewhere to
stand, she huddled up against the wall so I could protect her with my body.
Good girl!
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“Please keep
your arms and legs inside the railing at all times.” Tiered galleries at the
undersea dome in the Seattle Aquarium make it easier for everyone – even dogs –
to see the beautiful coral and fish habitat.
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Can you find
the nose in this picture? Don’t be fooled by the cuteness in the previous
picture – this is how services dogs are supposed to ride on airplanes!
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| Someone needs a vacation... |
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