Happy Holidays!

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, except for Nin and her mouse.

The stockings were hung on the bookcase with care,

In hopes that The Nin would not get too near.

Shanae was nestled all snug in her bed,

While visions of military men danced in her head; and

I in “La La Land”, snoozing to the wave sounds app.

was just settling down for a long vacation nap.

When out in the family room there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the room I wheeled like a flash,

Threw open the door and rolled over the trash. 

The tree with its light shimmered so nice in the room

It gave a glow of beauty for a second it over shadowed the  "BOOM!"

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a floor full of wrapping paper and one large de-stuffed deer.

And a little Black Lab looking so cute, “Oh, that Nin!”

I knew in a moment it had happened again!

She had ripped open the gifts, each and every one.

She had chewed on the cables and ate all the gum.

Now the Wii games, the DVD's the toothbrushes, were all cracked,

The make- up, the pants and the socks now looked like they lacked.

  

The bookcase had been downed, the candy was eaten

And she looked a bit tired but clearly not beaten.

She had a big smile, her ears were all perked

And she seemed quite content like she does before going berserk.

A stocking she held firm, tight in her jaw

And it was looking like she was trying to find her next gnaw.

It took but a minute for her to notice me enter

And then dropped that old stocking and ran behind the old printer.

Then trying to sneak off into her bed

to ensure at that moment I did not kill her dead.

She closed her eyes quickly and began to fake snore,

She knew she was leaving me with a rather large chore.

My Nin, indead very frustrating, had left quite a mess

But, I knew in my heart she was just but a young pest 

With trash can close by and reacher in hand,

I tried not to think that next year her Christmas be banned.

I cleaned up all the mess, and returned the stockings back,

I folded the clothes and grabbed the boxes to be packed.

I worked mighty quickly, maybe Shanae would not wake,

I headed to my room broken presents I'd take.

Then saw Nin in her corner covered with candy and sap,

And I just knew she was getting things sticky as she continued to nap.

As I bent down slowly to pull the candy from her fur,

she let me know her contentment by giving a slight purr.

Now ready for bed, I turned out the lights, and whispered so softly,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Happy Holidays!

Krista

&

         Nin

Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore adapted by Krista

It is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year/Giving Thanks!

It is the most wonderful time of the year, or so I hear.  This is the time of year where some people give thanks for the things one has, try to look back at the year at what one did and did not do and ultimately look toward the future to what we all can do better.  At this time of year, I look at my Nin and cannot believe my good fortune; not only have I been gifted with one amazing dog but three, each with his/her own skills, personalities, and unique form of companionship which cannot be matched by any other.  There is so much that went into the making of each of these dogs.  Each one has been a gift that I can never begin to repay any of the people who made the dog’s journey to me possible.

I first heard about Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) when my parents (so rudely) moved me to Santa Rosa, California the summer before my junior year of high school.  Santa Rosa is CCI’s National headquarters, so you could not go to the downtown or around the City without seeing the dogs with the trainers practicing their skills.  It was not long after our move that my family began to discuss with me about how I should get a dog, how great would that be?  Now as a teenager, anything that draws extra attention to you is not a good.  Having a disability and being a wheelchair user was bad enough and the last thing I wanted was a dog following me around EVERYWHERE.  Watching the news one night, I saw this public interest story on CCI and the segment showed a little boy with his dog and the dog was by his side at all times, he (the dog) even slept in his bed.  I kept thinking to myself that I was not going to have a dog sleeping in my bed – yuck, not to mention, how was I ever going to go on a date with a dog tagging along.  So, a service dog was an idea I put in the back of my head and forgot about, until the middle of college. 

Growing up my Dad had always said that if I got into graduate school he would pay for wherever I wanted to go (a statement he and his bank account are still regretting to this day!).  I don’t think he knew I was paying attention but when it came time for graduate school one of my requirements was that I was out of state and away from home.  Not that I went to college close to home my school was 600 miles from Mom and Dad, the furthest that I could have gone without leaving the state, which then was my also a Mom and Dad requirement, but for me it was still too close because extended family was close.    As I started looking at far away graduate schools, Mom started reminding me that if something went wrong there was not going to be family close by to help.  I would be alone and this might be a good time to look at the Service Dogs again, so reluctantly I did and I applied. 

Ivan and I

I was called by CCI the summer before I left for graduate school in Philadelphia.  In fact, I received the phone call while I was looking for a place to live in Philadelphia.  I had never been to the East Coast and was shocked at how inaccessible the world was outside of the West.  I was not sure how I was going to survive on this very old campus in this old city, so the call from CCI was actually welcome. 

My first dog was Ivan, a big beautiful Golden Retriever.  Now this dog hated me when we first met, in fact for about the first month we were together he hated me – I was not too fond of him either.  The trainer kept telling me that, unlike a lot of the other dogs I was seeing, he takes a long time to bond but when he does we will be bonded for life.  At that point, I questioned Jackie’s, our trainer, sanity and knowledge.  She was right though.  Ivan bonded and we were inseparatable.  It took about six months before he made it onto the bed but he did and I did not go anywhere without him, including dates!  He made grad school possible for me.  He was not a real social dog.  He was content being with me and that was perfect for school, a thesis, work and internships (field placements).  I had lots of hours doing counseling so he had to sit quietly under a desk and his personality was perfect for that type of work.  The trainers in all of their skills and wisdom had given me the perfect dog. 

I was heartbroken when it was time to retire Ivan, but I did it.  I remember hearing that Texas A&M had an animal cloning program and for 6.5M you could have your animal cloned.  I know I would joke about collecting money for a cloning fund for Ivan and Jan, a very wise puppy raiser said, “that means that Ivan is the only perfect dog for you and you’ll never have a chance to see if there is another.”  I had no idea what she meant when she said that to me until I met Steeler. 

Steeler was the next dog.  Steeler was/is nothing like Ivan.  Steeler is a big Black Lab, Golden Retriever cross that I was in love with from the first moment I met him.  He picked me, I did not pick him.  In class he would only work for me and no one else.  He bonded instantly and had three times the energy that Ivan had.  He liked attention but still wanted his quiet corner.  He would have never lasted through the long lectures and long nights of grad school but was perfect for my career that involved lots of traveling, in lots of new places and lots of people.  Again, an absolutely perfect dog for the place I was in my life.  Another perfect CCI match. 

Now, that brings me the Nin!  What can I say?  She has three times the energy that Steeler has and then sleeps harder than anyone human or canine I have ever met.  She is precocious, silly, extremely loving, and once again my best friend.  She came into my life when I was not traveling for work but still rushing around and she keeps up and does not miss a beat.  Before Nin, I was looking at my life and getting sad at the things that I did not have; a husband (or boyfriend), family close, the things that friends my age have.  Nin came into my life and reminded me to laugh and that is a gift and what I needed at this time of my life.  CCI somehow knew and gave her to me, she would not have been a good fit at another point in my life, but she is a good fit now. 

Steeler and Puppy Raiser Jeanne

Not only did I get these amazing dogs, that are special and talented but they also came with people, Puppy Raisers.  Puppy Raisers are amazing souls that give up their time and their heart to socialize and train the dogs when they are puppies.  I did not get to know Ivan’s puppy raisers and I missed out on his early years but I can just imagine what he was like.  Steeler came with two puppy raisers, he was co-raised by Jeanne and John and Nin was raised by Buddy.  I cannot begin to explain how special these people are to me, I consider them family and I am truly thankful that they gave me the best gift ever.  Puppy raiser do not get paid, they often times don’t even get a lot of recognition but are people that give a piece of themselves with each puppy they raise and are kind enough to hand us the leash at graduation trusting that we will care for and love that piece of their heart. 

  

Before the Puppy Raisers are Breeder Caretakers.  These are the people that take care of the breeder dogs and make sure that the puppies are born in a safe and loving environment.  They take care of the puppies during their first 8 weeks of life.  They take them to their vet appointments, start the socialization process, hold the puppies to get them acclimated to people and begin to teach them appropriate play.  Breeder caretakers lose sleep, worry, give lots of love and never complain. Remarkable people!     



  

Nin as a Puppy (look at those ears!)



After the puppy raisers there are the CCI trainers, another set of gifted souls.  These folks have patience with us students as they watch us work with the dogs that they have trained and nurtured.  They are there when we have questions, no matter how small or even when we need a shoulder to cry on about our aging dog.  They give each one of us a piece of themselves each day and are amazing. 

So it is fitting at this time of year, I remember the dogs of Christmas past, the dogs of Christmas future (my best friends) and thank all of the truly wonderful people who made it possible for me to have had Ivan and Steeler (my heart) and have my (little crazy and neurotic) Nin with me this holiday season! 

Nin's Day at the Museum!

Museums are great places to visit and a fun place to work.  It is hard to complain, except during the tourist seasons, when you are going into an office inside one of the most famous places in the world.  My office is the best of both worlds, a quiet office, in a locked suite on a public floor of a museum.  Just close enough to see what is going on in the museum each day but far enough away that I am not constantly bugged by tourist, unless I want to be.  The door to our office suite is glass and sometimes when Steeler and Nin find the energy to play, I will see the visitors peeking in the door as if Steeler and Nin are also on exhibit.  It is sometimes funny to watch visitors watch the dogs play with their toys, silly people looking through a glass door as if they have never seen a dog before.  Little did they know that the staff was looking back at them as if the visitors are the zoo animals on display – after all the dogs playing in the office is something that always happens, right?   

When Nin first started working with me the suite door needed to be “tugged” open, she quickly adapted.  The museum powers that be, had told me about a year earlier that the door would soon be automated so as I saw it, a year later we were right on track!  Opening the door from the museum side to let me in the office suite was easy for Nin, and it did not take her long to figure out how to push it open from the inside.  At first she pushed it open to let Steeler out into the museum.  Next, she realized if she pushed a little harder and was fast she could also get out the door.  I learned about this skill when I was coming into the office, from talking outside in the museum to a colleague, and found Nin missing.  I looked all over, called her name, went into ever open door and looked in every nook and cranny – No Nin!

I started going through the museum calling her name, asking everyone if they had seen a black lab walking herself through the museum (no doubt she would have her leash in her mouth, she would not want to violate any leash laws now).  I was panic stricken and feeling a bit stupid because people kept asking me, “How did she get out the door?” At that point, I really had no idea since I did not witness this Houdini act.  So, I shrugged.   Figuring that she would stay on the first floor, since I did not anticipate her using the elevator, I looked all around through the first floor exhibits.  This still consisted of a lot of real estate.  I started strategically looking to the west side and then heading to the east.  I was getting increasingly more worried and a bit frustrated, I might admit, when out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of black fur.  She, of course, had found her way to Julia Child’s kitchen and had made herself at home in the corner of the exhibit, with a view of the kitchen counter and table.  She was sitting there looking longingly as if Julia herself was going to pop up and start cooking for her and if not Julia then someone should after all, it is a kitchen.  I grabbed her leash and took her away, as we walked out she kept looking back in disbelief as if to say, “No food? What is the point of a kitchen without food?”  To this day, I know that this exhibit, one of the museums cherished, is her biggest disappointment.

Nin on the Move

After that day, I kept a closer eye on her and never underestimated her power to get through a door but I did however, underestimate her need to have the typical museum experience.  It was about a week or so later and I was leaving the office.  It was after hours, the museum was quiet and normally when I left after hours I would let her follow behind me and we “run/roll fast” in the open lobby.  It was a tradition and it had been fun, a time for us to play in a huge enclosed area with a nice, slippery floor.  Most nights I would watch her run around and slid all over the floor before I would put her leash on and head out toward the metro.  But on this Friday, Nin apparently had other plans.  


As usual I opened the door, had her go first and sit while I turned off all of the lights and made sure the door locked.  This went fine.  Nin sat patiently and waited for me.  I was out the suite door and said, “Let’s go…” as I took off at full speed and she came running I headed toward the front of the building and turned around and she was running toward me, however, at the last minute she looked right and took off full speed into the east wing of the museum and kept running.  I went chasing after her calling her, trying to entice her to come back and no…she is gone, out of sight.  I knew which gallery she went into but the lights were off and it is a B I G gallery.  I had no choice but to go and hunt for her.  I head into the exhibit and I see her and watch her go under the exhibit barrier, around the animals by the locomotive and then she jumps over the barrier out of the exhibit through the Center Market and she is gone...again.  Down the ramp, over to the cabin, up the ramp on the other side, by the Woody (Station wagon) and onto the Chicago L train, out the other side and over onto “Hollywood Boulevard,” through the cars.  She has now attracted the attention of security as alarms have been set off, because she is crawling in exhibits under exhibition items, running and sniffing.  A security guard comes over and offers me a hand.  We each enter at a side of the exhibit trying to contain her in one area but at this point we cannot find her.  Then the head of security comes over the radio with the announcement, “there is a dog on Route 66”.  Off we go.  It is somewhere between Route 66 and the trolley car that I caught up to her, panting heavily and with a huge smile on her face.  She had gotten tired and just laid down in the middle of the exhibit floor (safer than Route 66).  Angry but also I can’t help but be amused; I am trying not to laugh.  I know that this is a scene that could only be written for Hollywood or a "Day in the Live of the Nin,"  I keep thinking, “what have I gotten into with this dog?”

Now that she has independently explored the entire first floor of the museum her curiosity is not as great and she does not try to run off but, I am not in any hurry to show her the stairs or teach her how to use these elevators.     

Nin's Spa Package





Nin Face

It started with a mud puddle.  (How many good dog stories start with a mud puddle?) Nin was on her daily afternoon walk and play session.  She has this big grassy area that surrounds the museum in which to play ball, chase a stick, run, eat grass; or, as on this particular day, just find a nice big mud puddle and roll.  This is something every dog loves to do, however, a really bad thing for a service dog to do in the middle of the work day.  Dave, curator/dog walker dried Nin off and proceeded to continue with their afternoon routine, which consisted of going from office to office trick-or-treating for daily sustenance.  (Apparently the museum staff feels that I do not feed Nin enough at home and it is part of their job requirement to supplement her food intake.)  During the trick-or-treating process, Nin encounters Bethanee (another important member in Nin’s cast of characters), as the story has been relayed to me, Nin smelled like a swap so Bethanee decided what Nin needed was some French perfume to offset the swamp smell.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Bethanee and I know the characters that work around Bethanee so I am not sure this was a truly independent act –however, this was not one of Bethanee, et al. finest  moments, because Nin then is returned to me with a toxic smell created from a combination of stale swamp and French perfume, reminiscent of a French hooker.  

But…the story does not end there, Dave then suggests that we can rinse her off in the museum fountain, sounded good to me, why not?  So, off to the fountain we went.  I took a bit of coaxing to get Nin in (apparently she was the only one thinking clearly on this day) but we managed or rather Dave managed and he got her all nice and wet.  She jumped out, shook off and now smelled like a moldy French hooker.  Brilliant!

A few days of doggy perfume on top of the various other odors was all my roommate and I could take.  It was actually my roommate (Shanae) who broke first.  She comes barging into my room laptop in hand and says, “THAT’S IT! The dog is going for a bath!  I found a groomer down the street, they have a spa package that I think she will like. I will call and make an appointment.”  Now, if you knew my roommate, the fact that she was willing to put this much effort into anything is a miracle. I recognized a woman that had reached her breaking point.  I agreed to the bath, but questioned “Does she really need the spa package?”  The spa package contained: nails trimmed, ears cleaned, anal glands expressed (yuck), bath, blow dry, and four hours of play at the doggie day care.  Aside from the bath, the play time was the part that really excited Shanae, “She doesn’t get to play with dogs that often and it has been four days since she has seen Steeler,” she said. “She will love it!”  “Ok!” I said.  My soft spot is always when someone implies that I am depriving Nin of anything.  After all it had been four days since she had played with Steeler.  So Shanae called and made the appointment for the following Monday. 

We prepared Nin’s paperwork then Shanae and Nin headed to “Dog’s Day Out”.  After the talk about the, now five days, without other dog/Steeler interaction; I was worried that Nin would not want to leave after her playtime.  I would send Shanae over there to pick her up and she would have to be dragged out– similar to the experience of taking her to the vet.  Visions of a despondent service dog went through my head. Especially the next morning when she realized she had to go back to work and not to play.  This thought process was very traumatic for me. 

As soon as I got to work, I already had a call from the “Dog’s Day Out,” administrator.  Nin was doing well, her paperwork all checked out but she was not interacting with any of the dogs so they were going to give her the bath.  “Ok,” I think.  I went into my meeting and when I got out I had another call from “Dog’s Day Out”.  “Hi Ms. Flores.  We’ve given Nin her bath, and the rest of her spa treatment. It all went well.  She is very well behaved.  Can you give us a call when you are free?”  Now, every parent knows these are rarely good words to hear in this order, but I called anyway. 

Apparently, my dog is a snob!  She would not play with any of the dogs at the doggy day care.  She did end up finding another black lab named Mandy that she followed around and hung with but that was it.  No four hours of play for Nin.  I sent Shanae to go pick her up.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Nin loves to play.  She has her CCI dogs, puppies in training, a few Guide Dog friends that she plays with but apparently she will not play with pet dogs.  I guess in the service dog industry there is a secret tail wag before you get to sniff a butt or a special lick that lets each other know that you are just a bit smarter than the rest, you have the vest/harness, you don’t have to sit in the car or wait at home while your person goes out. You get to enter into that restaurant while all of the rest of the animals are relegated to their place in the world --outside.  So there!

I realize that I cannot take responsibility for her being raised a snob but maybe I take some responsibility for perpetuating the snobbiness into her adolescence and adulthood.  It probably goes with the couch in the office and letting her stare at the pet dogs through the glass from inside.  I know I should feel bad about this but I just cannot help but laugh about the entire thing.  Maybe it is time I work on those parenting skills, then again…I will think about it when I stop laughing.   

HALLOWEEN 2011




"Dorothy" with the Ruby Red Slippers at The National Museum of American History

 

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road"
Halloween 2011

Hey! Bring Back My Blanket!

A service dog is a fine tuned machine.  From the day that we meet our dog the trainers tell each of us students that we must exercise our dog each day, not just take the dog for a walk, for a run but exercise their mind.  Practice all of their commands, challenge the dog, teach them new commands, keep them at the top of his/her game.  In Team Training we spend a lot of time learning about canine behavior and how to continue training our dogs.  We learn that a lot of the commands that are the “standard features” on our dogs are building blocks for other commands or can be generalized into different areas or purposes. 




Nin demonstrating a "Tug" at the office

 

Let me illustrate this for you better.  The dogs are taught to tug –I have mentioned this command before, he/she can tug on an object to pull open a door, drawer, etc… when I brought home Ivan (first dog).  I, like so many others, had seen the beer commercials where the dog goes to the refrigerator, opens the door, pulls out the beer, closes the fridge, and brings the beer to the guy lying on the sofa.  Cool!  Ivan knew all of these commands all I had to do was teach him to string those commands all together. Then put a single command on the string, “BEER”!  Brilliant!  Ivan was smart but lacked a bit of a work ethic and so this process took awhile.  I often ended up with cheese, water, soda, bread, fruit and the refrigerator never was closed but we made progress and I was pleased until the night I went to a concert and left Ivan alone in my apartment.  Ivan was not really accustomed to being left alone but that night he did not seem to mind.   I came home at about 2:00am, as I opened the door I found Ivan asleep in the middle of my bed and the wrappers of the contents of my refrigerator spread about my little studio apartment from the kitchen to my bed.  The worst of it was the refrigerator door was still open!  From that day on, I could not leave Ivan home alone without blocking his access to the refrigerator. 

Since then, I have been a little reluctant to teach my dogs new tricks (as they say) that did not involve them playing dead when you made a gun with your fingers and said “bang” or flipping a biscuit off their nose, until Nin.  Nin is smart.  She learns things that I teach her in no time and has a tendency to learn things that I have not taught her without much difficulty; for example, how to open the office suite door and go for a walk in the museum, without permission or adult accompaniment.  The thing with Nin that I seem to underestimate is that she is a prankster.  I am not sure if dogs have that capability but if they don’t some canine behaviorist is going to have to spend a lot of time explaining this to me before I am going to believe it. 

It all started one day when I was lying in bed, I was hot.  My feet are the fastest ways to regulate my body temperature (like a bunny ears).  If my feet are cold, I am cold.  If my feet hot…well, you get it.  I use to be able to just scoot my foot out of the covers until I was cool and then back under the covers they went and all was right with the world but over the last year I have lost more strength and this has become harder to do.  So, I thought … (always the beginning of a bad plan) I will just have Nin “tug” my top blanket down a half way or even off the bed if I am too hot.  Easy! This would simply be a modification of her “Tug” command, which is her favorite so it should be simple. 

I called Nin over.  She dutifully bounced over, I showed her the corner of the blanket and said, “Get it!” She did.  Then I said, “Tug!”  It took her a bit to figure out which way and where to tug, but she did and she got the blanket half way down the bed and I said, “Give!”  Which means let go of the blanket, again, she did.  It was beautiful.  There was lots of praise and scratches behind the ears.  She was perfect!

Fast forward to the next week, I was lying in bed and this time just wanted the blanket off.  So I called Nin over and once again gave her the “Tug” command and “Tug” she did – off flew the blanket and she did not even come back for her praise, I said, “Good Girl!” and off to her bed she went.  That was the end of my good Nin. 

The next night I woke up in the middle of the night freezing because I had no blankets or sheets – nothing left on the bed they were all on the floor at the base of the bed and Nin was in her bed.  A few days later, I was sleeping and my roommate was lying on our sofa when she heard rustling in the hallway, she got up to see what was going on to find my blanket pulled into the hallway onto the floor while Nin was running back to her bed. Wait, it does not end there!  A few nights ago I was in bed watching TV and was almost asleep,  I look down to see my blanket creeping ever so slowly down the bed when my remote control falls onto the floor and the back pops off.  All of the sudden, without me saying a word, the remote slides up on the bed next to me, than the back slides up next to it, as I stare at remote in awe, my blanket starts sliding away again! 

Moral of the story:  Be careful what you teach you dog and always hold onto your blanket!

Steelers v. Ravens

I am a California girl!  It really pains me to admit it.  I was born just outside of Los Angeles, I was around 3 three years old when we moved to San Diego and we lived there for a few years.  I basically grew up in Colorado and my parents, claiming it was for a job, moved me back to California before high school graduation.  I personally think it was just an evil trick!  Anyway, somewhere in the middle of San Diego and Colorado there was a short detour to Oregon but that move barely registers these days.  So with all these moves in my childhood, I really only use “California Girl” excuse to explain why I am such a weather wimp (and why I love my Raiders).  As soon as the temperature drops below 70 degrees I am pulling out the winter woolies and counting down the days until summer. No respectful Coloradoan would be this wimpy in the cold.   

The reason that I am telling you this is that all this moving around in my youth should make for a very confused sports fan.  But I was born a Raiders fan -- not sure why but, a Raiders fan none the less.  I have been a fan through the Oakland, Los Angeles, and back to Oakland phase and even when they were contemplating being the Irwindale Raiders, I was a fan.  Through the wins and more often the losses, still a fan.  I admit that there was a blip while I was in Colorado that I was a Bronco fan but it past quickly and for that blip I truly apologize to my Raiders.  

The day after retiring Ivan, I left for New York to start Team Training.  I was devastated to be giving up Ivan.  There were close to five hours of tears and I was not sure that I could go through all of this again. Could I love and trust another dog? 

On about the third day of training we started working with the dogs.  The trainers brought each of us a different dog to work with to see how well we got along.  One of the trainers, Laura Ann brought out a big Golden Retriever, Black Lab cross and handed me the leash, this beautiful graceful dog walked up to me placed his head on my lap, wagged his tail and looked up at me with his big brown eyes. I looked at Laura Ann and said, "I’ll take him, what's his name?" She said, "Steeler!"

There are many stories about how Steeler got his name but the one I like best is from his puppy raiser (a most amazing woman).  The Pittsburgh Steelers donated money to CCI and they had a puppy named after them, Steeler!  So now, this Raider fan has to become a Steelers fan too.  Not that I ever had anything against the Steelers, except the fact that they beat the Raiders, from time to time.  But, no matter what I would and will never give up my Raiders. 



Steeler in his jersey



Now, I was becoming a Steelers fan! I did not do this half way. I watched the games, took up the trash talk, Steeler got his jersey, leash and collar.   A good Steeler's fan, I became and am today.  So when I talked to the trainers about getting a successor to Steeler I asked the trainers specifically not give me a dog named "Cowboy" or "Raven" and they promised.  So, I get Nin.

The day before graduation with Nin I find out that she was raised in Southern Maryland-- Raven country.  Buddy, Nin's puppy raiser (Cool guy), also is a Ravens fan.  If you know anything about the Steelers, you know that it is not possible to be a Steelers and a Ravens fan.  From the day I got Nin we started the Steelers education. I was convinced that she was young enough to relearn her ways.  So her education started with the Steelers collar and leash, pink no less.  Then we moved up to watching all the games and I got her a Troy Polamalu jersey (which she promptly grew out of before the Superbowl).  Her education was going well until Dave enters into her cast of characters.  Dave is a curator at the museum we work at.  Among his curatorial duties is a dog walking duty.  3:00 pm every day, rain or shine Dave dutifully walks Steeler (yes he retired to the office next to mine) and Nin.  Nin stares at Dave with stars in her eyes (did I mention that he generally has a pocket full of treats) and does whatever Dave says and that includes cheering for (wait for it…) the Ravens!  You heard me right, the Ravens!  Steelers collar, leash and now Mendenhall jersey and a Steelers T ‘Shirt and she still cheers for the Ravens.  It is truly an embarrassment.  Next week he is threatening to paint her toenails purple – at least Ravens sounds a lot like Raiders, I am not sure how to explain away the purple! 

A look at Team Training

The Job of a Service Dog

The job of a service dog involves more than most would think. When the dogs start Team Training is dog is complete with approximately 45 commands, this is all part of their standard package of features. These commands include the basic such as "down," "sit," "here," "release" and the one that Nin hears so much of, "don't". Then there are the advanced commands which include, "get," "push," "tug," "hold" and "bed". All are integral in Nin's daily life. The sequence of commands allow her to pick up all of the things that I drop, and I drop a lot of things, close and open doors, get things off of counters and turn on and off lights. "Cool," I bet your thinking and most of the time it is but sometimes when there is food on the counter or a door she wants closed Little Miss Nin commands herself to get what she wants. Those are the days that you begin to questions why you did not get a dumber dog! 

Doing commands is not all that Nin is required to do. Having a service dog breaks down barriers between me and other people. Not everyone is comfortable being around a person with a disability but most people cannot resist a cute and well behaved dog. It is great sometime to be able to talk to people and be a proud Mama that brags about my dog but if I am in a hurry it can be a bit tiresome. Those are the days that I want to just say, as soon as someone approaches me, "She is a Black Lab. 3 years old, Her name is Nin, I have no idea why. And yes she is beautiful. Now go away!" But I don't for the sake of politeness and the reputation of CCI. Steeler use to have business cards to hand out for those occasions with all of his details, I really need to work on those for Nin.

 All this being said, the most important thing that Nin does for me is provide companionship. I am by nature a very social person but even though I have a lot of friends and a career, that I love, the reality is that living with a disability can be a very lonely existence. People keep you at arms length. After all, I can't just hop in my friends car and go out for the day. I can't just go to any bar or club. There are always has to be questions like, "Is it accessible?" or "How are the bathrooms?" These are questions the general population just does not have to ask. It has taken a long time for me to separate people desires to be with me and my disability, unfortunately in reality, they cannot be separated. Which leads to lots of nights and weekends spent alone. Nin's main job, along with her predecessors, have been to keep me company to be my friend and a constant steadfast companion, which she does happily. With her I am never alone but most importantly, I never feel lonely.

She is just Nin!

Nin II (Can you believe there are two of them?)

When I ask people to pick a word to describe Nin I am amazed at their response.  It first starts with a puzzled look, a scrunching of the face, a sideways glance and then it strikes them..."Nin!"  Not a question but rather a statement, "Nin," she merely is indescribable in a single word. 

I have no idea where the name “Nin” came from, the most amazing thing about the name is she is actually Nin II – there are two of them in this world!  Rumors have lead me to believe that she is named after the band Nine Inch Nails, or the author Anais Nin, but no one really knows for sure.  What I know is that Nin is a compilation of characteristics typically not found all together in nature (oh thank goodness for that)!  It is a combination of silliness, with fleeting moments of brilliance, tainted by a hard head that is driven by food and sleep.  She has two gears overdrive and sleep.  In overdrive she cannot be stopped, no door, wall, or impending obstacle can be problematic – this is what makes her such a good worker.  She is going to hit that elevator button over and over, even if the elevator is off, until someone or something makes her stop.  In the middle of the night, she decides she wants out of the room she just runs full speed into the door – SLAM, “um, Nin…it’s closed” un-phased she gets up and walks back to her bed. Don’t fret, she will do it again tomorrow night and probably the next.   You would worry about her if you could stop laughing long enough to worry!

If you are a dog person, you know that all dogs have their own unique personality.  My first service dog, Ivan, was a big fluffy Golden Retriever.  He was very dignified, in fact too dignified to be a service dog.  I loved him to death but if you were to drop a series of papers, Ivan would look at you as if to say, “look closely, you have two choices here –I will pick up two items and only two, so pick carefully.”  And two items is what he would pick up, it did not matter what you did to try and bribe, coax, or beg him into picking up the rest he was not going to do it.  Maybe tomorrow he would pick up two more items, maybe. 

Next there was Steeler…Steeler is a fun loving, goofy oaf of a dog.  He is a little more graceful than Miss Nin (but then a bull in a china shop is more graceful) but he is a slobbering, lounging, loveable beast.  I still see Steeler almost daily.  He is happy to give up his working duties and to live in retirement, working was always somewhat optional with Steeler but his main concern was being with his person - ALWAYS.  And he still lives in his retirement that way.   

Now Nin…what can I say, she snores like a drunk sailor when she is sleeping and is loving life when she is awake.  She does not roll in stinky things (which I appreciate) but will jump in any puddle and if you give her a little room she will just plop herself down in that puddle for her morning, afternoon, or evening nap.  After all, she is NIN!

Taking Control of the Wheel

The Nin at work!

In Team Training when they give you the leash to your dog it is like you are 16 and you are getting the keys to your first brand new car.  This car is in exceptional condition and it is a wonder after you practice driving a few times that the car still runs.  If you can remember back that far, you revved the engine too high, grinded the gears, slammed on the breaks before your foot was off the gas and probably backed into a light post or two before getting the hang of that driving thing.  Getting a CCI dog is not much different.  These dogs have been trained by the best, they have been in the best puppy raiser homes where they learned their basic commands and then worked with the best of professional trainers.  They are fine tuned furry machines.  Then they come to us...we tell them to sit as we are wheeling along in our wheelchair dragging them behind; "no" when they did the exact command that we told them to do and they have to endure us always forgetting their name until it just becomes "good dog". During Team Training, at the end of the day you see the relief on their face when they get to go to their crate - not to mention the relief on ours when we get to go back to our dorm with our homework, a list of commands, articles on canine behavior and a hope that tomorrow we will be better. (Which happens, in time, and support from CCI, it just seems slow.)  It is amazing at that end of Team Training these dogs are still willing to do anything that we ask, generally by then, they are a bit smarter and begin to figure out how to work us, just as we have been learning to work them.  I am always even more amazed that that the dog is willing to jump in the car and leave the home that they have known for the last six or so months and come home with us, but they do and Nin was no different.  I am not saying that she did not hesitate but she did get in the car with Mom, Dad my wheelchair and six weeks worth of luggage (after all, I am a girl, two weeks away requires 6 weeks of luggage)!  And back to DC we went.  The one thing that no one told me is that the reason the dog jumped in her car is because she had spent half her life slamming her head into things and probably did not even know better, a trait that I would later learn about at 3:00 am morning after morning. 

The Nin

I was introduced to Nin sometime during the first week of Team Training, I cannot remember exactly which day.  I do remember one of the trainers brought her over to me and handed me her leash.  Nin was fairly easy to pick out in class, she was mostly black Labrador with a drop of Golden Retriever in her, a small female.  She bounced when she walked and she had this ripple of skin on her nose.  Instantly, I did not understand her.  First, she’s a girl, my two other dogs had been males, bigger dogs, and she had more of the Lab face.  Steeler and Ivan had more pronounced Golden features and that bounce – I did not trust the bounce.  But time and time again, we were paired together.  She responded ok, no better or worse than any of the other dogs, I watched her carefully because we kept getting paired together.  I saw my destiny unfolding before me.

The first night that the trainers told us we could take our dogs back to the dorm they handed us each a leash and Nin came bouncing over but as soon as I grabbed her leash her head sunk down as if to say, “No, not her!” To be honest, I probably was thinking the same thing.  I took her back to the dorm and she went right into her crate, she was not really interested in the toys or sniffing anything just into the crate and slept. “Hummm,” I said. 

The next day she was still bouncy but not too excited, she clearly did not want to poop for me, despite my and trainers best efforts.  She was getting a bit more stubborn on the commands and buried her head in my lap a lot.  I kept looking at that ripple on her nose, “my dog is defective,” I thought.

That night, I knew we needed to bond.  I called her up on the bed and that was it. She jumped on the bed and planted herself. She made it clear she was not going to move, no matter what.  She had received the golden ticket, the world could come to an end -the dog had made it on the bed.  The fact that she was half on me did not matter-she had made it to the bed.  You could see the happiness in her face, I started to pet her and her beautiful and unique ripple. Contentment went through her body.  I was not sure if I would ever get her off the bed again.  We fell asleep there together. 

The next day we worked in class on the “tug” command.  This is the command where the dog tugs on a rope or strap to pull something open, to pull a sweater off, etc… If I thought the bed was the golden ticket for this dog, we were now going to meet her utopia.  This 62lbs dog could tug open the heaviest of doors and pull a laundry basket full of weights,  all with her head held up and her tail wagging.  I was shocked.  She wanted to tug everything, tug for everyone and would hold the door so me and my Mom could go through.  I was so excited, we worked with her on taking off my jacket and to this day she “tugs” off my jacket and anyone else's she can find around.  She loves to tug. 

That was the first day I got a glimpse of Nin’s personality.  It appears in team training we are not the only ones tired, frustrated, and confused but our little furry friends are too.  The thing that you don’t know (and no one tells you) is that the personality of the dog really does not come out until you have been home for about a month.  Each day they show you a little more of themselves but it takes awhile for them to get the feel for you and trust you and boy was I in for a surprise as this little girl’s personality started to make its debut.   

Team Training

My journey with Nin started in February of 2010, in New York.  It was a crazy, cold and snowy winter here in DC and my service dog, Steeler was having some problems with his hips.  He was slowing down and in the cold was very reluctant to jump up and push elevator buttons for me, a command that I relied on daily.  After numerous appointments with the vet it was decided that surgery would put this 9 year old Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever cross back in working order.  He was 9.  The typical working life for a service dog of this size is to 8 years, retirement being around the age of 10. I began to wonder if it was worth it.  I called Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), the agency that had bread, raised and trained Steeler for me to see what they had to say and the trainers thought it was time for Steeler to go into retirement.  I really couldn't argue with the logic although retirement for a service dog is a word a handler never wants to hear.  

CCI, as always did a great job of getting me into a class so that I did not have to go without a dog.  I had come to rely on my service dogs for my independence.  I lived alone and the dog would assist me with opening my front door, closing it behind me, finding that oh so illusive remote control, picking up the numerous things that I dropped and pushing the many elevator buttons between work and home (and back). 



Steeler at work



I would go into February’s class.  So, I dropped off Steeler at new home on a Sunday morning and with my eyes full of tears, I drove up to New York for my next adventure...

The process of getting a dog is long.  After all the paperwork is filled out and the interviews are done, you wait...and wait...then there is that phone call saying that you have been accepted into, what CCI calls, Team Training.  Nobody can prepare you for Team Training and no matter how many times one goes through it, it will knock you on your butt.  The best way to describe it is that it is two of the most physically and emotionally draining weeks in which you will question your ability, communication skills (with people, animals and a carpet roll alike), humanity, and endurance.  You will experience the highest of highs by just having a dog "sit" on command and the lowest of lows when that same dog refuses to poop for you day after day.  You will even begin to question, at some point, for a split second, if you even like dogs.  There is nothing else like it, and the one thing that gets you through Team Training is the six to eight other people that are all in the same boat with you, your class.  You find that each person has the same questions and the same fears. Together somehow, you all make it through.   

At the end of the two weeks you go to a graduation ceremony, it may seem corny, but it is necessary. This is  where the puppy raiser, for the dog that you have been paired with, hands you a leash with that bundle of fur attached at the other end and you breath for a second before panic strikes and you hope you can control that bundle of fur from jumping off the stage into the audience dragging you screaming behind.