Saturday, April 9, 2011

Good Old Days With Melanie

I decided to take Melanie to watch the parade which kicks off Good Old Days in PG. It starts only blocks from where we live, so I thought I'd see how Melanie handled all that noise, crowds and dogs. She did great. She seemed to really like looking at all the activity around her, the noisy parade with fire engines, motorcycles, marching bands, floats, and horses. She seemed more comfortable in the "down" position than sitting, but her ears were cocked and head moving. There were many dogs on leashes walking past us, but she behaved herself beautifully. On our walk home, we took the quieter street and about 6 horse riders were coming toward us in the middle of the street (which had been blocked off). They had been in the parade and were heading toward the downtown area. Melanie was so excited to see them, she seemed fascinated by their size; so I just stopped on the sidewalk and let her get her fill of the sight. One of the riders gave us a cheery hello. After they passed we made out way home. Melanie has been in a great mood all day, just fun and loveable like a little kid who went to the circus. The weather was perfect, clear, sunny skies and a little cool. If I feel comfortable tomorrow, we might go downtown and check out the music, booths, etc. It will be really packed with people and dogs, but I'm feeling more confident with the way she's been handling herself, so, we'll see. Anyway, today was a fun day for both of us.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Luncheon and Table Scapes

It was a busy week for Melanie and me. On Tuesday, we attended the BVIC's fellowship luncheon, held every Tuesday. This day a reporter and photographer from our local Monterey Herald newspaper was there to interview staff, volunteers and members of the Tuesday group to get the word out about what the BVIC does for the community. Of course, Melanie and I were part of the interview and she got her photo taken. Not sure when the article will be in the paper but will keep my followers informed. On Wednesday, we took a two-hour walk to my doctor's office to pick up some paperwork. I wanted her to get a lot of her energy out before we attended the fundraiser in Pebble Beach on Thursday. Thursday was the day Table Scapes was held, an anuual charity for the Boys and Girls Club. Other non-profit agencies create an attractive table highlighting their own organization, as did the BVIC. This year Melanie and I came hoping to lure more folks to our table to pick up brochures, check out some low vision items and get some freebies. It was a pretty big room and the tables were full and many people came. We were at one end of the room and the FEMA service dog table was at the other end of the room, just so things would stay calm with Melanie around. One of the ladies from that table came over and said they had put doggie treats near their dogs on a low table where they could get them, but were trained not to touch them. Well, I can only hope that Melanie would have that self-control when it comes to food. But, really, she was her calm, loving, friendly self to all who wanted to see and/or touch her (with permission, of course). It was quite a long, busy week for us and we fell asleep exhausted last night. Neither of us had much energy today, even though we still went for a brisk walk in the morning. This weekend is Good Old Days in PG and I'm thinking of walking downtown to view the booths and street shows; however, many people bring their dogs so I'll have to decide if we're ready for that type of fair.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Kisses for the Kitty

Melanie is a real kissing fool. Now she's after our youngest cat, Minime. The other day, while I was working on the computer and had Melanie on her mat beside me (not tied down), the cat was in her usual place at the end of the bed. Minime is pretty comfortable with Melanie now but still doesn't quite know how to interact with her boundless energy. Melanie got a little restless, as she usually does when I'm not paying attention to her and decided to get up, walked over to Minime and kissed her on the nose. Minime didn't move and I reminded Melanie to be careful and quiet. Melanie did, but again went over and kissed her on the nose and Minime gave her a little hiss, nothing serious, just "what the heck are you doing". I told Melanie to sit so she wouldn't look so big to Minime, which she did, but, again, gave her a little kiss, and another hiss from the cat, but she still didn't jump off the bed. Melanie settled back in her bed and I gave her lots of praise for being such a sweet big sister. Yesterday, while Melanie was "sleeping" in her mat by my arm chair, Minime came in, tiptoed over to Melanie and pecked her on the nose. Things are getting just too sweet around here. She ran off, but today, Minime was in the kitchen doorway and Melanie went over to her as gentle and quiet as she could be and gave her a big lap on the top of the head. Melanie's kisses are pretty wet and Minime ran off; however, the other cat came out of the closet and looked at Minime and they seemed to be talking over what was going on. A little while later I checked on Minime and touched her head and, yes, it was still a little sticky from Melanie's kiss. I'm thinking of putting a booth outside the house and charging $1.00 a kiss from Melanie. At this rate, we could be millionaires in a month. Love that dog!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Dancing With Melanie

Life with Melanie is beginning to be more routine, with our daily walks, sometimes, visiting a store, a doctor, etc. Always, we work on some of the same issues, ie., dog distractions, pace and pull, and many other smaller things. Today, was "pace and pull". Due to so much rainy weather, even though we've gone out just about everyday, the weather cleared beautifully today, and she could hardly contain herself. I finally had to put her "gentle lead" on for more control and kept halting and having her sit to take a breath (me, that is). Some days she forgets she's a Guide Dog and thinks she's a sled dog, just pulling me along. So, we had to slow things down today on the rec trail and, finally, after about 5 sits and stays, I was able to push her harness handle forward so she would understand that the pace needed to be slower. She walked on her tip toes for about half an hour doing the "Melanie Dance", but it helped our pace and pull to something very comfortable for me. On the way home, we stopped at the PG Police Department and picked up a copy of the citation report on the dog who attacked her a couple of weeks ago. I just wanted it for my records as I knew we'd be going up there again and want to be sure we don't have to deal with that problem again. The stramge thing is that the dog who came after her was a black Lab, guess he was just jealous of her dancing.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Melanie Kisses and a New Chip

According to my husband, who sleeps in later than I, says Melanie should come in the bedroom to wake him up with her kisses and, amazingly, she loves it too. So, just before we go out for our morning walk, I walk her to the bedroom door (without her harness or leash), tell her she can go in by herself and to be very careful. She looks at me, says "Sure", and then flys through the door and laps his face all over and falls down on the floor beside him. During the day, they play tug with her Kong tug ring and he really believes it's helping heal and strengthen his arms since his surgery a year ago. Actually, he's madly in love with her and laughing at her antics, he's just a happier person since Melanie came home. I call her the family rehab dog and she seems to love her job.

Also, we took her to the vet today and had a tracking chip inserted, even though she had tattoos inside both ear flaps and 3 dog tags (4 now). I happened to read GDB's web site where they stopped doing tatoos in favor of the chip one month after we graduated. If she gets lost now, she did it on purpose. Can't bear to think of her not being in the family.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Melanie Update

I got a very nice, concerned, email from Melanie's puppyraiser. I let her know that Melanie and I went out walking as usual today and she was her happy normal self with dogs and all other manner of Guide Dog issues. Coincidentaly, the animal control officer saw us walking and stopped to ask how we were doing. She said she talked to the dog's owner (a hardware store, not the water shop) and saw the dog. She said the dog had no history with them and that she's extremely gentle with people but does harrass dogs, but doesn't bite. She said the owner was very apologetic and the officer instructed him to have a dorr closing device installed on his front door so that when customers come and go, the door won't stay open. All in all, the situation was handled well and apparently the article I wrote for our BVIC newsletter entitled "Guide Dog Etiquette/Responsibility" came out in the nick of time. Fortunately, because we live in a small city, the police are only minutes away and the officer said she has seen Melanie and I out walking on a regular basis. However, the next time I have to go to that particular shopping area, we'll walk on the other side to get to the beauty salon. Oh, Dear, what we do for beauty!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Dog Attack on Melanie!

Unbeliievable, but totally not unexpected, according to the GDB info. As Melanie and I were leaving my hair appointment in the shopping square between Safeway and Trader Joe's in PG, we had to walk around a truck parked in the driveway area and without warning of any kind a dog about the size of Melanie came out snarling and growling trying to attack her. The owner of the dog came out of the store (a water store) and had to restrain her dog twice (without a leash) to get her away from Melanie. She said her dog tended to be aggressive to dogs outside and she usually keeps the door to the shop closed, but this time it was open. We checked out Melanie for any bites or injuries, but she appeared to be okay. However, a man came over to me very upset and said he saw the whole incident and had immediately called the police. I thanked him and another female came over who also saw it. The man thought I might also have been injured because of the way the handle of the harness had beenh wrenched from my hand; however, I did still have her leash and I was okay. The police (animal control) came and interviewed the witnesses and me and said they would interview the owner of the attacking dog and a report would be ready for me to pick up in a couple of days. Apparently, PG animal control are aware of not just physical injuries that can happen to a Guide Dog but the emotional trauma, mentioning that if the dog had to be retrained it would probably have to be paid by the owner of the attacking dog. At that point, I left and Melanie and I walked to a local store I had planned to stop in and picked up a couple of items. Quite frankly, dear Melanie, seemed none the worse for all the commotion; in fact, seeming to wonder what all the fuss was about. She is not a timid dog, but certainly not aggressive in any manner. I'll be taking her out again tomorrow to see how she does around other dogs and going around vehicles. I think she'll do just fine. I did call GDB to alert them to this matter and was told that unless a criminal complaint was filed or if I just needed to express my feelings about this, there really wasn't any need to report this type of interference.

Well, Melanie is on her mat next to me having a siesta after her evening meal and just being her wonderful self.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Catching Up With Melanie

It seems like I post about once or twice a week these days. Melanie and I have a regular routine in the morning and we keep working on the things that I feel are important. She really is doing a great job as my little Guide, even the dog distractions don't seem quite as "distracting" as they used to. Of course, many people are keeping their dogs from interacting and some ask if it would be okay for the dogs to meet. Sadly, right now, I tell them it would not be a good idea since Melanie still needs more discipline in that area, but, hopefully, eventually, as we walk and meet some of the regulars, we can stop and have a calm hello. But, all in all, she's doing much better. Yesterday, we walked to "Pet Extreme" and bought her 3 new nylabones, regular, bacon, and chicken. I also ordered an extra handle for her harness as a backup.

Today was our first time together when I went to have blood drawn for a annual lab test. She was her usual "lady-like" self and everyone said how well-behaved she was, not realizing the amouut of time and money it took to get her that way. However, I still have to be the one to be sure she follows the Guide Dog rules. My husband picked us up there and on the way home we stopped for breakfast at Coco's restaurant. Again, she was very polite but found it hard to get all the way under the table because of the way the booth tables are desined. But she worked it out and all the staff loved her. We went for one of our "power" walks to burn off some energy and now she's in the TV room with my husband "loving and teasing" him. Every day I'm so thankful to my puppy raiser and GDB for giving me this opportunity to live my life with such a special little person (I mean dog).

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Melanie's Beauty Appointment

Today, was Melanie's first bath and nail trimming since October. We went to Petco and they said to come back in 2 hours. It seemed like a long to me for one little dog, but I saw more people bringing in dogs so I assume they had some sort of assembly line. We stocked up on bags of her special food, bought a new brush, ear wipes, and body wipes (so when we come back from a walk I can wipe her fur down and she'll smell as sweet as a flower; although, I prefer her Melanie odor). My husband loves her and teases her by telling her she smells like a dog (well, of course, she does, but a sweet dog).

Well, after 2 hours, we came back and boy was she happy to see us. She had a certain worried look on her face as we were driving home and then I remembered I had taken her out early before her appointment and when we got back I gave her the usual bowl of water. Well, we had to leave pretty soon after that and poor Melanie must have been holding it in all that time. She could hardly wait to get to her outside bathroom at home. It must have taken her 30 seconds to go. Poor thing, she almost ha her legs crossed trying to keep it in before we got home.

When we got back in the house, she was a happy maniac. She ran all over, threw her bone around, and just seemed happy to be home. And that made me happy to think that she really thinks of us as her family now and The Butterfly House is her home.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Keeping Up With Melanie

I haven't posted for a while, Melanie is doing real well. She has great guide work days, moderately good ones, and some days, WELL! But all in all, she really is coming along very well, really working the curbs and she finds signal poles, benches/chairs, and trash cans (most important). Of course, she gets a treat for these good deeds, but I keep them to a minimum.

Looks like this week I'll take her to Petco for a bath and nail trim. Her nails have really gotten long since October. It's especialy noticeable when she does her dance with her nylabone in her mouth on the wooden floor. Looks like she's doing the tango.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Busy, Busy, Melanie

We have had some really good days out walking and working. I've been listening more closely to the GDB CD's on obedience and training and have realized that some things I was doing was getting a little lax, which, of course, Melanie picked up on. I have really tried to be consistent with her, ie., when she slows or stops at a curb, I probe with my foot to find the edge of the curb which makes her wait a little longer before we cross a street and she also notices the foot probe as a signal. Also, during dog distractions, I more often use the command "NO" in a very firm voice with a encouraging hoppup. Using the correct terms, ones that were used with her seems to help get her attention most of the time.

Yesterday, was her first visit to the mammography center for my annual screening. Instead of putting us in with the other patients and having to use a locker to put my belongings in, we went right into one of the screening rooms. It was much quieter and more room and except for one little "down" command, Melanie lay there, leash outstretched on the floor until I was done. I asked the tech the direction to the waiting room and Melanie took me right there, she found the stairs to the outside door and we walked a long way home. It was such a beautiful day, we went on the rec trail and she was happy.

Today, we took a shorter walk in the morning and went to one of my BVIC board meetings in the afternoon. There were a lot of people there, but she was a very attentive and alert Guide. I am really proud of her.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Melanie is Pooped

I've been working so consistently with Melanie on all proper Guide Dog responses that today she'is just pooped. I still had her take a walk in the early afternoon, but it had warmed up a bit and she "acted" tired. However, yesterday, we had a really super Guide Dog experience, and, of course, when she does the right thing, it also means that I've been working to do the right thing as well. I think she knew I was tired today, so being so insightful, took full advantage of it.

Yesterday, I decided to go to a different beauty salon than I was going to as Melanie and I could walk to it as opposed to asking for rides or getting a cab. It was about a 25 min. walk and she had to wait for about an hour until my hair was done and then we walked back home. I had already taken her out early in the morning just to make sure she was nice and calm for my afternoon appoinment. It did help and my new hair dresser just loved her, of course.

Last week, I stopped at a local pet store to see if they carried the type of nylabone she likes. They did and I bought her a regular and bacon flavored one, which she's never had before. She knew it was in the bag and could hardly wait to get home. She's been having a ball running around with it and sharing it with me and my husband. She is such a doll. I let her have a good night's sleep and see what adventures we can find tomorrow.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Melanie Continues to Shine

A couple of local high school students have a project to do a documentary and they chose to do it on the BVIC. This, of course, means that Melanie and I will be a part of it. If they win the cash prize, a portion of it goes to the BVIC, so Melanie needs to start shining up her sparkly smile. Also, she is doing much better with dog distractions in the last week, noticing and anticipating meeting another dog but still responding to my "corrections/commands" to stay focused on her job. Part of the focus is the "super treats" she gets when she does so. But right now it's working pretty well.

Also, in April, we'll be in Pebble Beach with a couple of board members displaying a table scape of the BVIC. There'll be many other tables and all profits go to a local boys and girls club. However, the advertising of our special table, which will celebrate 40 years for the BVIC, will help bring our message into the community even more. Last year and again this year there will be a table featuring service (search) dogs. So, Melanie has her work cut out representing the BVIC as a product of the training I received and the training we both received through Guide Dogs for the Blind. Looks like a lot of fun.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Every Day is a Work Day for Melanie

Melanie tries so hard to be a good Guide Dog but her puppy habits are hard to overcome some days. We have good days and not so good days, depending on her attention to other dogs. If there were no dogs around she would be perfect, but, alas, that's not the case. So, we keep working on it. Sometimes, she's great the first half of the walk and the second half she just can't help herself. We're also working just as diligently on pace and pull, getting her to slow down and not pull so hard all the time. She's doing better with that. The best thing she did yesterday was when we had to cross a two-way street with a divider that we can walk around to cross the other side of the street. This street has a crosswalk but no stop signs or lights, so I worked with her to stop right at the middle divider before crossing the rest of the street. Yesterday, without my giving her verbal command, she stopped right in the middle, looked up at me and "said" okay, where's my treat? I gave her the treat, the love and thanks for a job well done. Melanie always knows what to do and learns so fast, she astounds me. It's just that she knows how to push the cuteness button and try to get her own way. Well, we have a long time to work these things out and I wouldn't trade her for the world!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Teaching Melanie to Put Away Her Toys

Despite all the other more important lessons Melanie needs to perfect (me as well), today I taught her to get her tug toy and put it away. The tug ring is literally used for her and me (and my husband as well) to tug and play. It helps keep her jaws and teeth strong and my husband thinks the tugging with her is good for strengthening his shoulder (the one he had replaced). Yesterday, I put it in a felt stool with a removable cover and showed her where it was and told her to take it out. It only took a moment for her to look through the mostly empty box and realizing I was encouraging her to take it out, she grabbed it and off to play she went. Today, I wanted to see if she'd remembe taking it out, which she did in a flash. After we were tired of tugging and not wanting Melanie to chew on it, I encouraged her to put it back in the box. Again, it took a moment, a soft voice, and she dropped it right in the box. What fun! She got treats!!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Little Artists and Ongoing Melanie Training

About 30 art students from our local elementary school came by yesterday and sat on the sidewalk and painted watercolors of our Butterfly House. I had thought they had also come to visit Melanie but their 3 teachers had them on a very "tight" schedule and their "job" was to find something on the house they wanted to pait or interpret. So, we didn't get a chance to meet them but they sounded so happy to be able to paint the Butterfly HOuse. They sounded well-mannered and kept to their task.

Today, as in previous days, Melanie and I had lessons. Some she did really well, others like pace and pull were somewhat new. One of my tasks with her now is to keep her from pulling too hard because she wants to run down the rec trail. I keep stopping, using quiet words like "steady" and "gentle". It's not hard for her to do it on the way home because she still wants to stay on the trail, but it is important for me to keep introducing a slower pace. It's also a little more difficult for her to walk on the opposite side of the trail with bikes, people and their dogs coming up behind her. The rule on the path is to walk on the right side. When we return, we do walk on the right side but then it feels right to her. There are things she's picked up really well, like that big tree overhanging a sidewalk that I walked right into because she could walk under it. That was a few months ago and I trained her to stop just before the tree so we could go to the right and avoid hitting it. It's been weeks since we went that way and yesterday seemed like a good day to see if she remembered. It was amazing, as soon as we got within a foot of the tree, she just stopped and looked at me as if to say, "I didn't forget, where' my treat"? Of course, she got her treat and all was well.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Happy Birthday Melanie

Melanie is two years old today and she seemed tired. I guess the thought of getting a year older must have weighed heavily on her (or maybe it was just that the weather got a whole lot warmer). We walked a little this morning, stopped at the grocery store and came home. I played with her on the back lawn and gave her one of her favorite treat/toys, the Kong with peanut butter and kibble. She has a ball with that and licks it clean. Then she laid down for a long nap. But she was up and wagging her tail at dinner time and ready to eat. When I'm on the computer like right now, she is on her tie down nex to me and likes to keep pushing the keyboard in so I'll pay more attention to her. Sometimes I do stop and just sit down with her and rub her belly and check her all over to make sure she's feeling good. I sit right on her mat next to her and she thinks that is just great. So do I and am happy to celebrating her birthday together.

Thank you Puppy Raiser for your birthday wishes. She has become a celebrity of sorts here. One of the art instructors at a local elementary school stopped by the house today to ask if about 30 or 40 students could come by Friday morning to draw pictures of the house outside and one of them wants to interview me. I assume it's about Melanie but I'll find out. Well, Melanie does seem to love kids and is really careful arond them when we go for walks, so this should be fun for her.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Melanie, "The Magic Dog"

Yes, that's what they're calling her at our PG Trader Joe's. My husband went in there today to pick up some items and one of the clerks said to him, "wasn't that your wife on KSBW TV the other day with The Magic Dog?" He said his family were watching and they all started cheering for us. Well, of course, I think Melanie is "The Magic Dog", a real darling, and tomorrow she turns two years old, 14 in human age, just a teenager. I just got out of the terrible 2's, and now a teenager?

Friday, January 7, 2011

Another New Route

Since Melanie has had too much energy the last few days, I decided to take her on one of my "old" routes, one that I used to walk when I could see better. We took a long walk from home to Asilomar Beach and walked along the ocean bike route near the road. To get there we had to take a number of different streets, one partway through a somewhat forested area and then a road through the sand dunes. I really think Melanie enjoyed this new route and I felt really great that I could walk this route again. Some odd things along the way: a local contractor we used for some work on our house stopped his truck when we were on the forested road and wanted to know if we were okay because we were so far from home. I said thanks, but I was pretty sure I was on the right road and so we were. The other odd thing to me was that I kept noticing a highway patrol car either passing us slowly, stopped on the side of the road, or at one point when we had to cross an intersection, it was the only one waiting and I guess he/she just wanted to make sure we got through safely. It felt good that the locals are looking out for us. After that a car stopped and it was one of my co-workers from my previous employment. We had stayed in touch occasionally by email, but really hadn't seen each other for quite a while. He was thrilled to stop and meet Melanie for the first time. Of course, love, love, love. YIKES!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Melanie is a Star!

Today, we finally made it on the KSBW TV news at 6:00 p.m. and it will air again at 11:00 p.m. They had to do a retape of our first interview because the "tape got lost". Well, we did it and although it only touches on a little of our experience together, it was real nice. For those who would like to view it go to http://www.ksbw.com/video/26370907/detail.html

It was short and sweet, because of Melanie, of course.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Exploring the Sidewalks of New Monterey

Melanie and I walked down Lighthouse Ave.. in New Monterey looking for the Goodwill Thrift store. I knew generally where it was, but had never gone there on my own. So, Melanie and I walked through all the cross streets with stop lights and went too far. Melanie hadn't been that way before and I kept saying "halt" to her as I checked out each likely store front. She patiently waited while I looked around and, finally, had to walk back the same way we went until I found where it was. Right where I originally thought it was, but somehow missed it. I may actually go in tomorrow just to poke around. Also, I like to get things that I can wear that I don't need to take lots of care with, like when I'm brushing Melanie, relieving Melanie, brushing Melanie' teeth, clearning Melanie's ears, patting Melanie's belly, etc. She did really well with dog distractions today and got lots of treats. She had a chance to play with an 8-year old neighborhood girl at our house while her father was doing some work for us. They've met before and Melanie likes her and I think it's good for Melanie to be around some young folk. This young girl is particularly fun and smart and listens when I let her in on the rules for playing with a guide dog. Of course, Melanie ddn't have her harness on, but there are still certain things that have to be observed. All in all, a really nice day.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year From Sonja & Melanie

We did it! Our first NewYear together. Melanie has been real sweet and pretty good on our walks. She's really trying to overcome dog distractions; although it's not all her fault. Some dogs just come right up to her and what can she do but acknowledge them? I still correct her for her interaction but she is trying. My husband got her a New Year's present, another new dog mat, this one in the shape of a giant paw with the paw prints up so you can see them. It feels like it would be real comfortable and she's taken to it right away. I've put it next to my chair in the livingroom. My husband thinks she's gotten a little taller, she was 21" about 3 months ago, so I'm not sure if she'll grow more. Her second birthday is on 1/12/11 and she's still considered a puppy for another 6 months. If she has got taller, she doesn't seem to have gained any weight. I guess all the walking we do everyday is paying off (for both of us). I'm thrilled to start 2011 with my new friend by my side.

P.s. No news from KSBW as to when the interview will be aired