While this may be old news to some my Person and I thought we should just mention it.
We have managed to find a hands free lead and it is AMAZING! To say the least.
We would definitely recommend this type of lead to anyone with a service dog (that doesn’t work alongside medical equipment like a wheelchair etc).
Thanks for reading.
Here’s a photo of me at the shops just because….
While eating all the pizza in the house is far better than drinking yourself stupid it is not always the best solution when you are having a bad day. Especially when you are gluten intolerant and your liver function is startlingly low.
The best solution is to have a sleep in the sun with a dog. Or two.
You know you have had a rough day when you end up eating an entire pizza in front of the TV while watching Seinfeld
28th August
While humans can be frustrating, ignorant and a little annoying at times, there are certain things that people do that rekindle our faith in humanity.
When my Person walks with me and uses her crutches people will go out of their way to help her, which is wonderful – but I think they are trying to put me out of a job!
In the shops the other day, my Person was waiting for Little Sister and I was laying on the ground beside her. A man was walking past and saw that my lead was on the ground, so he stopped and picked up the lead, giving it to my Person. Obviously he thought that she had dropped the lead and, seeing the crutches, assumed she was unable to pick it up. It was very nice.
People will also pick up the crutches if she drops one, even if we’re in the middle of task training, and they will also offer to throw out the rubbish that I’m learning to carry to the bin.
While it may not seem like much, these little things that complete strangers do and offer to do for my Person really show that, despite what the media would have us believe, there is still good in the world.
This is a great post. No one likes being alienated in public, people with service dogs already stand out enough – no need to stop and point. And it’s very important to understand that just because a service dog handler has no visible disability does not mean that they must be training the dog.
I just got back home from a good day out with Cory (my fiancée) and Toki. We decided to go take a walk around the mall and just browse the shops. I had a few interactions with people today that I would like to share, because I want to blog more about our adventures and public encounters.
When we finished shopping at a store we decided to take a seat on the chairs in the mall which were arranged nicely with little tables. I got Toki to lay down in front on my legs and proceeded to have a conversation with Cory. While speaking with him I did notice a few stares but the worst was when I looked over and saw a whole family turn around and them come over and point at me exclaiming, “Oh look it is a Service Dog!” I seriously watched a group of people…
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This has become a reoccurring problem for my Person and I when we are out in public; a stranger will come up to us and give me a pat and then they try to give me a command. The conversation goes pretty much the same way each time:
Strange: Aw! What a cute dog!
My Person: Yeah. She’s a good dog, very helpful
Me: *likes the pats but stays next to my Person*
Strange: Aw! Sit…. sit… sit…
Me: *wondering why the pats have stopped and stares at stranger for more pats*
Strange: Haha. You don’t know that one, huh?
My Person: ….yeah….
However, we have recently been coming across people who seem shocked, even offended, that I don’t sit when they tell me to. There was one lady who thought I was stupid because I wouldn’t sit and she walked away shaking her head, as if I was poorly trained! Yeah, can fetch a wheelchair but doesn’t know how to sit.
Not just that, but also when people ask to give me a pat and my Person says it’s alright they try to call me over. They seem very surprised when I don’t rush over to them and give them a big hug, they are shocked that I stay next to the handler I have been trained to help. This correct behaviour on the dog’s behalf is what makes people think we never get any time to have fun and play with people.
I have spent many, many hours training with my Person. I listen to her and her alone (unless I am super distracted), I can’t even take commands well from Mother and I live with her.
So please don’t be offended if a service dog doesn’t listen to you, please don’t assume that we never get love and affection because we don’t rush up to strangers and please don’t think they’re stupid for not knowing how to sit. It is nothing personal, it’s just we are trained to our handlers and the fact that we don’t take commands from strangers means that we are focused on our jobs.
22nd August
While I was walking with my Person around the food court at the shopping centre I stepped in part of a sandwich that was on the floor. I lifted my paw and looked at it, then I looked at my Person who thought it was really funny. She took the sandwich off my paw and put it in the rubbish before I could eat it. What a waste.
It was very busy at the shopping centre, there were a lot of children and many were completely out of control. I was very patient with the young children, so was my Person, as it’s very hard to explain to kids that they shouldn’t be playing with a service dog because they don’t understand the concept of work. These children, there were three (all siblings) at once, who rushed up to play with me and I barely paid them any attention – even when they threw a ball for me to chase! Which was a huge accomplishment for me since I LOVE chasing balls! These kids also jumped on me at one stage and pulled my tail and one said to my Person “Here. I’ll take her for you” and tried to take the lead from her. This was when their mother noticed that they were gone and quickly hurried over to stop them.
Children often try to take the lead from my Person. They are just trying to help in their own way but their parents still need to better educate their children on, not just service dogs, but stranger dogs in general. Children shouldn’t be afraid of dogs but they do need to learn appropriate behaviour.
The children today were very cute, apart from being mildly distracting and annoying (as all children are), the girl especially was adorable. When their mother came over to tell them to leave us alone she called me he and the little girl shook her head and crossed her arms and said, “Mum. It’s a girl. Not a boy!” It was really cute! Thanks for standing up for me little girl!
I have been practicing really hard at carrying empty bottles and putting them in the bin. The bins they have at the shops are different to the ones I have been training with, so although I can do it at home I haven’t been able to do it correctly at the shops yet. But today I did! It took a while and a lot of delicious dog treats but I was able to carry the empty water bottle and put it in the bin without any help from my Person! I was very proud of myself and I got lots of hugs.
Another task I practiced today, and the most simple of all the things I have ever had to learn, is picking up the lead and handing it to my Person every time I move from the SIT or DROP position. This is the easiest task that I know but people still find it AMAZING. They will actually stop and watch me pick up the lead and then they always go, “AW! What a clever doggy!”
It was a big day of training and socializing, but I did very well and was a real help to my Person. And we got to celebrate afterwards with pizza and frozen yogurt.
21st August
This post is a little late but my Person and I would still like to say a big thanks to the park rangers at Dorrigo Rain Forest Walk for their co-operation and understanding.
I was more interested in the blow fly that was buzzing around than the actual view, which my Person said was amazing, but I still had a fun time.
It was my first time in a National Park and I think I handled it very well, there were a lot of strange animal smells and crazy bush turkeys running around but I showed very little interest in them. The park rangers were very accommodating and at no point tried to deny us access to the Rain Forest Walk, this we really appreciated.
So thanks again to all the park rangers at Dorrigo Rain Forest Walk, you made our day!
16th August
Yesterday yet another little pup joined our family. My Person went with Mother and Aunty, who I had only met once before when I was only a baby, up to Armidale to pick up the latest member of our family. A little red bi merle Australian Shepherd bitch pup, who we called Rain. She is adorable and I love her, Arlert loves her and Boof is indifferent, he might not have even noticed that there’s another dog in the house. Jerry the cat has disappeared, we think he may be hiding under the bed.
The lady we were buying the puppy from brought along another of the pups from the same litter so that we had a choice, even though we were pretty much set on Rain. Aunty saw Rain’s sister, a little red tri coloured pup, and fell in love with her. So we ended up coming home with BOTH pups.
Rain and her sister Bronte sat with me on the trip home, they both slept most of the way. They were both very well behaved their first night at our house, they didn’t whine or complain but they did both sleep together in the pen. We’ll see how she goes tonight by herself.
Bronte left with Aunty back to the Central Coast this morning and she will keep us updated on her progress.
Rain has been very good, especially for a nine week old pup, she has almost learnt her name and can already sit on command. She doesn’t like her collar very much though but nor does Arlert.
We will keep you all updated on everyone’s progress.
7th August
With a disease such as Lyme symptoms come and go and their severity may change from day to day, so I have to learn to walk beside my Person when she is walking with Canadian crutches. Today was my first day training with them and I think I did pretty well.
I wasn’t afraid of them but I was a little uncomfortable walking beside them for a while, so I was pulling a bit more than I used to which was dangerous because I could accidentally pull the crutch out of my Person’s hand, and I had to learn to walk much slower than usual. But I got the hang of it eventually and was able to walk comfortably beside my Person and her crutches.
I was also able to practice one of my tasks that I don’t use that often which was to carry an empty bottle to the bin. I dropped it a few times on my way to the bin because I find that it’s more fun to chase a spinning bottle across the ground than it is to put it in the bin. A very nice lady came over and offered to pick up the bottle for my Person, but she explained that I was still in training and was learning to do it myself. It was a very kind offer though.
It’s funny. We have found that when my Person has her crutches people stop asking her questions and saying things like: “Are you training that dog?” “Who are you training that dog for?” “You’re so good for doing this” “Is that dog for disabled people?”
This just shows that people are still really uneducated about “invisible illnesses” which is sad because there are many people who suffer from these types of illnesses every day and their condition is rarely taken as seriously as it should.
All in all it was a pretty good day.
Daily Life of Bonnie The Dog 