Someone just shared this link with me on Facebook. I invite everyone to check it out. It is a short article written thy Temple Gandin about Service Dogs and some things to think about. I thought it was very interesting. .
http://kidcompanions.com/archives/5642
2 years ago at the Autism Conference in Green Bay I had the opportunity to talk and eat lunch with Temple Grandin. When I say we ate lunch I don't mean with 100 other people...it was her, myself, my demo dog - Barney, and a rep from a book publishing company...yes only 4 of us (including Barney). We talked in great detail about the benefits and uses of service dogs for these individuals.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Today's training adventures
Today (as in the days past but today I am posting about it) we separated the dogs and worked individually with each one of them and here is how it went.
Cena: Went very well. She worked with both me and each of my kids and she did very good. She loved jumping on me when I am sitting in the grass and give me hugs. We also worked her in the house quite a bit and it went very good.
Willow: Willow is simply a love. She was worked with both me and both of my kids. We did alot of walking...worked in the house today and she did very good.
Blue: Blue has had some fears of walking on the leash but each time we walk her by the time that her session is about 1/2 over she is walking beautifully and on a loose leash. She is REALLY good at the affection and is doing very good. She also worked with me and both of my kids today and spent alot of time in the house as well.
Rocco: Rocco is excellent at following along. Every once in a while he thinks that he wants to "take charge" but then we stop and he understands all over again what he is suppose to be doing. He is doing very good in his training and is VERY affectionate. He also worked with me and both of my kids and spent time in our house today.
Scout: Scout is working on the desensitization and temperment evaluations. We are working with him on some possible food aggression, but he is just new to the program and going to see how he progresses. He spent alot of time working with mainly both of my kids today and spent some time in the house as well.
Congo: Congo has a new name from my sister who has been doing alot of work with him. She absolutely loves this dog to no end. I think it is funny. Congo is doing very good walking on a leash, spent time in the house today. Worked mainly with my 2 kids and is a very confident dog.
Minnie: She is doing very good. She is afraid of the least in the beginning of the training process each day, but by the time that training is 1/2 over she is walking very nicely on a loose leash. She is very affectionate and prefers to be in your lap. She worked mainly with me today because of her fear on a leash. I want to make her comfortable before my kids start to work with her.
Omega: She is doing very good also, but has alot of the same walking on a leash fear like Minnie has. Just like Minnie she has this fear in the beginning of the training but by the time that 1/2 of the training session is over she is doing alot better. She seems to do alot better with my son working with him and he has alot of patience with him. She also spent some time in the house today.
Harley: She is doing pretty good. She is funny...she responds VERY well with my daughter but when it comes to me working with her she much rather be stubborn and not move. She spent the majority of the time working with my daughter and working in the the house.
After we were all done with the individual training we spent about another hour to hour and half in the dog yard doing alot of group work/play. The dogs were tired and mainly wanted to lay down and melt. It is only 92` outside today. UGH!!!!!
Cena: Went very well. She worked with both me and each of my kids and she did very good. She loved jumping on me when I am sitting in the grass and give me hugs. We also worked her in the house quite a bit and it went very good.
Willow: Willow is simply a love. She was worked with both me and both of my kids. We did alot of walking...worked in the house today and she did very good.
Blue: Blue has had some fears of walking on the leash but each time we walk her by the time that her session is about 1/2 over she is walking beautifully and on a loose leash. She is REALLY good at the affection and is doing very good. She also worked with me and both of my kids today and spent alot of time in the house as well.
Rocco: Rocco is excellent at following along. Every once in a while he thinks that he wants to "take charge" but then we stop and he understands all over again what he is suppose to be doing. He is doing very good in his training and is VERY affectionate. He also worked with me and both of my kids and spent time in our house today.
Scout: Scout is working on the desensitization and temperment evaluations. We are working with him on some possible food aggression, but he is just new to the program and going to see how he progresses. He spent alot of time working with mainly both of my kids today and spent some time in the house as well.
Congo: Congo has a new name from my sister who has been doing alot of work with him. She absolutely loves this dog to no end. I think it is funny. Congo is doing very good walking on a leash, spent time in the house today. Worked mainly with my 2 kids and is a very confident dog.
Minnie: She is doing very good. She is afraid of the least in the beginning of the training process each day, but by the time that training is 1/2 over she is walking very nicely on a loose leash. She is very affectionate and prefers to be in your lap. She worked mainly with me today because of her fear on a leash. I want to make her comfortable before my kids start to work with her.
Omega: She is doing very good also, but has alot of the same walking on a leash fear like Minnie has. Just like Minnie she has this fear in the beginning of the training but by the time that 1/2 of the training session is over she is doing alot better. She seems to do alot better with my son working with him and he has alot of patience with him. She also spent some time in the house today.
Harley: She is doing pretty good. She is funny...she responds VERY well with my daughter but when it comes to me working with her she much rather be stubborn and not move. She spent the majority of the time working with my daughter and working in the the house.
After we were all done with the individual training we spent about another hour to hour and half in the dog yard doing alot of group work/play. The dogs were tired and mainly wanted to lay down and melt. It is only 92` outside today. UGH!!!!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Today's happenings
Today was a GREAT day at the facility. Cena did a WONDERFUL job with her little man (who she is going to be placed with eventually) during open house today. I really think that they are going to make a wonderful team together. All the dogs are doing very good in their training. Some of the smaller puppies who were a little on the skiddish side are starting to show some major improvements. In fact, Minnie decided today that she was going to take a liking to the vacuum cleaner. It was cute...she sat at (well actually ON my feet) and just looked at me when I was trying to vacuum. Kind of makes it hard to get the housework done. LOL.
I am going to be getting invoices out for the dog food within the next couple of days. With the short week (due to the 4th) I completely lost a day of work (in terms of computer work) and so I am a little behind on that. But just as a reminder to those of you who didn't pay the bill from last month....it is due upon receipt. I charge this onto my credit card and I have to pay a 9% interest fee if I don't get paid back for this dog food ~ simply because I don't have the funds to cover it for everyone's dogs. I have not had to charge this fee back to the families as of yet, but if I don't receive the payments I may have to in the future charge you that fee (as it is being charged to me) to recoup my cost in that. Please be responsible and pay that....I would appreciate it.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather and I will post more later.
I am going to be getting invoices out for the dog food within the next couple of days. With the short week (due to the 4th) I completely lost a day of work (in terms of computer work) and so I am a little behind on that. But just as a reminder to those of you who didn't pay the bill from last month....it is due upon receipt. I charge this onto my credit card and I have to pay a 9% interest fee if I don't get paid back for this dog food ~ simply because I don't have the funds to cover it for everyone's dogs. I have not had to charge this fee back to the families as of yet, but if I don't receive the payments I may have to in the future charge you that fee (as it is being charged to me) to recoup my cost in that. Please be responsible and pay that....I would appreciate it.
Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather and I will post more later.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Looking for a new home and other stuff
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A FAMILY!!!!! One of our clients decided that they didn’t want their service dog any longer (that is still in training). So, unfortunately we have a dog here that is available for adoption. This dog is an approx. 9 month old St. Bernard/Blue Heeler mix. This dog is NOT going to be the size of a St. Bernard. In fact, the dog may only manage to be 40 – 45# when he is fully grown. This dog may also not make it through public access certification so may be a wonderful house pet, or would be WONDERFUL for a child on the spectrum for therapy at home. This dog is PERFECT with children. If you know of anyone interested please have them e-mail me or call me immediately.
My e-mail address again is: vpingel@compassionatepaws.org and my phone is 920-225-9984. This dog is available on a first come – first serve basis and depending on the specific needs of the individual (if going as an therapy/assistance dog) may still require some time in training but would be ready within the next couple of months. If going as a pet or in-home therapy dog is possible that he could be ready a lot sooner. Again, below is my attempt at attaching a photo.
SHOCKING, I KNOW. Looks like I am having some issues attaching the correct photo to this blog, but if anyone is interested or knows of anyone interested in the puppy...again, let me know. UGH!!!!!! My computer wants to attach a DIFFERENT clients dog (so sorry if you are seeing your puppy on here. Your puppy is just fine). The puppy looks exactly like this just has a little bit of red tint on his nose otherwise the markings are pretty much the same...in fact, exactly alike.
Over the weekend we integrated all the dogs together. This means that Harley, Minnie, Omega and Congo are now playing with the BIG dogs. Integrating 1 dog into the pack is time consuming...integrating 4 puppies into the pack is no small task. YES, it took 2 solid days of doing it but we managed and everyone seems to be getting along very good. There were a little tiffs here and there, but nothing compared to what it could have been.
We also re-connected our electric fence. We have an electric line that runs along the bottom of the fence to discourage the dogs from trying to dig out of the dog yard. The dogs love to dig and it was going to be another "great escape" attempt if not done quickly. Some of the dogs have felt the effects of the electric fence and please understand this fence is MEANT for small animal such as dog. We didn’t not hook up a electric cattle fence (at least not yet – hahaha).
Other than that I would like to welcome Beth, Dave and Candice to our list of trainers. At times some of the dogs will be going through training at their homes and with their children. These are all people that have been approved to work with me and assist in training. TO MAKE THIS VERY WELL UNDERSTOOD and because we have had some issues with this rather recently...these people are volunteers that are working with me. We will always respect them the way that we wish to be respected in return. I will not allow and take it very personally when mutual respect is not observed. These people are very well educated in what they do and should be considered an honor to work with them. I am very grateful that I have them helping me out.
My e-mail address again is: vpingel@compassionatepaws.org and my phone is 920-225-9984. This dog is available on a first come – first serve basis and depending on the specific needs of the individual (if going as an therapy/assistance dog) may still require some time in training but would be ready within the next couple of months. If going as a pet or in-home therapy dog is possible that he could be ready a lot sooner. Again, below is my attempt at attaching a photo.
 | ||||
| Here is a photo of a VERY similar puppy |
SHOCKING, I KNOW. Looks like I am having some issues attaching the correct photo to this blog, but if anyone is interested or knows of anyone interested in the puppy...again, let me know. UGH!!!!!! My computer wants to attach a DIFFERENT clients dog (so sorry if you are seeing your puppy on here. Your puppy is just fine). The puppy looks exactly like this just has a little bit of red tint on his nose otherwise the markings are pretty much the same...in fact, exactly alike.
Over the weekend we integrated all the dogs together. This means that Harley, Minnie, Omega and Congo are now playing with the BIG dogs. Integrating 1 dog into the pack is time consuming...integrating 4 puppies into the pack is no small task. YES, it took 2 solid days of doing it but we managed and everyone seems to be getting along very good. There were a little tiffs here and there, but nothing compared to what it could have been.
We also re-connected our electric fence. We have an electric line that runs along the bottom of the fence to discourage the dogs from trying to dig out of the dog yard. The dogs love to dig and it was going to be another "great escape" attempt if not done quickly. Some of the dogs have felt the effects of the electric fence and please understand this fence is MEANT for small animal such as dog. We didn’t not hook up a electric cattle fence (at least not yet – hahaha).
Other than that I would like to welcome Beth, Dave and Candice to our list of trainers. At times some of the dogs will be going through training at their homes and with their children. These are all people that have been approved to work with me and assist in training. TO MAKE THIS VERY WELL UNDERSTOOD and because we have had some issues with this rather recently...these people are volunteers that are working with me. We will always respect them the way that we wish to be respected in return. I will not allow and take it very personally when mutual respect is not observed. These people are very well educated in what they do and should be considered an honor to work with them. I am very grateful that I have them helping me out.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Let the legal battles begin
I tried to post multiple times yesterday but with the weather I kept loosing power and finally decided that it was't worth fighting mother nature and the storms so that I could post an update.
Let the legal battle begin....a very good friend of mine who has a Mobility Service Dog that I certified was denied public access at a place that she VOLUNTEERS at. She was denied this access for a multitude of different reasons that are unlawful. This is something that makes me VERY upset more than what many people know. I am going to fight this legal battle right alongside of her and establish that we are not an organization that can be "pushed over" or "paid off" so that a place or school doesn't have to "deal" with a service dog. I just want to tell the world that I believe in what I believe in and EVERYONE including those who have disabilities deserve the right to live a life where they feel safe and comfortable. Again, I am blessed with a family where no one has disabilities...I do this because I love it. I don't do this for the idea of "what is in it for me". I do it for the idea of I have a gift, yes that can always use improvements but I have a gift and a love for people and animals that I want to share. I am trying soooooooooooo hard to not let my anger in this be the reason that I am fighting for my friend and everyone else out there that fights this fight every day. I need to remember that this fight is being fought because I have a passion that I will go to my grave fighting for.
It was kind of a sad day here yesterday, but yet in the same respect a very happy one as well. One of our training dogs was lucky enough be moved into the home of another trainer. Yes, it actually is a good thing. This trainer/family is REMARKABLE in what they do. Hopefully, we will be able to move all the other dogs through their home during some point and time that they are here. These are amazing people with an amazing talent. I would like to share more about this family but for the time being I will need to wait and ask permission. I am working on that.
With the other dogs yesterday. We worked for a while with them but being in the middle of a monsoon lately makes it REALLY difficult. With alot of the dogs the hardest thing is getting them to walk on a leash. Some of the dogs are alot easier than others, but that seems to be our biggest challenge with most of them. Sure makes for a sore arm after you get done walking or ATTEMPTING to walk 14 dogs. UGH!!!!
We had some massive storms that whipped through the area mid afternoon and a rule that I have here is that if the weather is getting yucky (lightening, or worse) we will do everything in our power to get the dogs indoor to their kennels as long as it is not putting at risk the safety of me, my husband or my kids. Well, with about 2 - 3 minutes notice of a nasty t-storm and a tornado only 15 minutes to the south and headed straight for us I told the kids to get the dogs in their kennels and WOW!!!!! I never saw my kids move so fast. They were amazing. They didn't panic and knew EXACTLY what to do and how to do it. Kudos to my kids Nathan and Nicole. They do alot around here and have alot of responsibility with the animals. They really do a good job and I don't give them the credit like I should sometimes....Thank you kids. Mom loves you dearly.
Let the legal battle begin....a very good friend of mine who has a Mobility Service Dog that I certified was denied public access at a place that she VOLUNTEERS at. She was denied this access for a multitude of different reasons that are unlawful. This is something that makes me VERY upset more than what many people know. I am going to fight this legal battle right alongside of her and establish that we are not an organization that can be "pushed over" or "paid off" so that a place or school doesn't have to "deal" with a service dog. I just want to tell the world that I believe in what I believe in and EVERYONE including those who have disabilities deserve the right to live a life where they feel safe and comfortable. Again, I am blessed with a family where no one has disabilities...I do this because I love it. I don't do this for the idea of "what is in it for me". I do it for the idea of I have a gift, yes that can always use improvements but I have a gift and a love for people and animals that I want to share. I am trying soooooooooooo hard to not let my anger in this be the reason that I am fighting for my friend and everyone else out there that fights this fight every day. I need to remember that this fight is being fought because I have a passion that I will go to my grave fighting for.
It was kind of a sad day here yesterday, but yet in the same respect a very happy one as well. One of our training dogs was lucky enough be moved into the home of another trainer. Yes, it actually is a good thing. This trainer/family is REMARKABLE in what they do. Hopefully, we will be able to move all the other dogs through their home during some point and time that they are here. These are amazing people with an amazing talent. I would like to share more about this family but for the time being I will need to wait and ask permission. I am working on that.
With the other dogs yesterday. We worked for a while with them but being in the middle of a monsoon lately makes it REALLY difficult. With alot of the dogs the hardest thing is getting them to walk on a leash. Some of the dogs are alot easier than others, but that seems to be our biggest challenge with most of them. Sure makes for a sore arm after you get done walking or ATTEMPTING to walk 14 dogs. UGH!!!!
We had some massive storms that whipped through the area mid afternoon and a rule that I have here is that if the weather is getting yucky (lightening, or worse) we will do everything in our power to get the dogs indoor to their kennels as long as it is not putting at risk the safety of me, my husband or my kids. Well, with about 2 - 3 minutes notice of a nasty t-storm and a tornado only 15 minutes to the south and headed straight for us I told the kids to get the dogs in their kennels and WOW!!!!! I never saw my kids move so fast. They were amazing. They didn't panic and knew EXACTLY what to do and how to do it. Kudos to my kids Nathan and Nicole. They do alot around here and have alot of responsibility with the animals. They really do a good job and I don't give them the credit like I should sometimes....Thank you kids. Mom loves you dearly.
Monday, June 20, 2011
"Tango Magic"...video of one of our service dogs working his little man through a meltdown
This is a video that EVERYONE should watch. Tango was one of IF NOT the best dog that I have ever placed. There was alot and I don't say that lightly...I mean ALOT of work done with Logan getting him ready for Tango's arrival and alot of work done with Tango not to mention alot of mental preperation for myself for his departure. In this video Logan is having a meltdown and Tango is doing many different things in order to get Logan out of the meltdown. Logan would have many of the meltdowns during the course of the day and most of them would last for a LONG time. As you can see this one was started and finished in something like less than 2 minutes. This particular family is WONDERFUL at posting YouTube videos on their progress. I will see if I can find any others and eventually get them posted.
AND in the meantime if this actually posts without causing me any problems (posting the video that is)...I may just have to celebrate tonight. That would be 2 things related to technology that I learned how to do today. LOL
This past weekends adventures at the Ranch
What a party. At least that is what the dogs would say. The only thing that would have made it any better is if the cat, guinea pigs and chickens were invited. They OBVIOUSLY forgot to invite the people to this party. My sister Teri was here for the weekend caring for all the animals and OHHHHH the surprise and warm welcome that she got when she went to the kennel on Saturday night was probably priceless...if only we could have seen her face. All the dogs "escaped" from their kennels and decided to have one heck of a party. They chewed up all the insulation in the barn along with the roll of carpeting and carpet pad...then if that wasn't enough to "fill them up" (we DON'T think that any of the dogs actually ingested any of that stuff) they decided to eat down a couple bags of dog food. WOW!!!! Needless to say Teri tried to feed the dogs that evening and not too many of them were very interested in the food that they were offered.
Boy we have some dandy escape artists here. We have not taken pictures yet and the pictures that we would take would not have done it justice simply cuz my sister cleaned up the mess to the best of her ability, but it must have looked like a snowstorm in there. Wonder what we should name that snowstorm?????
Boy we have some dandy escape artists here. We have not taken pictures yet and the pictures that we would take would not have done it justice simply cuz my sister cleaned up the mess to the best of her ability, but it must have looked like a snowstorm in there. Wonder what we should name that snowstorm?????
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