Cone DaysIs that a sad face or what? This week Robbie has to wear the dreaded cone. He has been having problems with rashes between his paw pads & on his belly. We recently realized the root of the problem: Robbie is allergic to chrome! A dog being allergic to chrome or nickel is rare, but it does sometimes happen. Our trainer has us leave Robbie's metal training collar on him at all times so that we can make any moment a training moment, but unfortunately we can no longer do this. The collar was leaving a blackish residue on his neck fur & he was always SO itchy!!! So, this week, Robbie is getting Benadryl tablets 2x a day, Cortizone cream on his paws, and a cone on his head. He also got a bath in doggy oatmeal shampoo to help soothe his skin. And he now wears a reflective flat collar in house (this will eventually become his all-the-time collar once he is a full SD) & only gets the training collar put on during training sessions. It seems to be helping. His neck is less itchy, but now the trick is to get him to stop licking his paws so much. Hopefully that is not a separate problem, but it very well may be. If your dog has a rash or seems really itchy, talk to your vet before doing anything. They may have different suggestions based on your dog's individual case. Our vet was surprised by the chrome allergy, but said that it does sometimes happen. Plus, Robbie is very strange dog, so it kinda figures! Owner has a "rare" condition & dog has a "rare" allergy... we were meant to be together!
0 Comments
Every handler I have spoken to about this subject says "YES" & I agree wholeheartedly. There are two reasons to journal:
While Robbie was enrolled with the Missouri Pups for Parole program, he was taken on various outings to local mental health hospitals and nursing homes. We were told that on these outings, he was on perfect behavior and was everyone's favorite dog. This tidbit of information was just an added bonus that would help make Robbie a good service dog. It also gave him a head-start for going into public areas as a working dog. Still, we have been taking Robbie's introduction to public areas slow as to not overwhelm him. Robbie has some mild separation anxiety, so leaving him at home while we run errands isn't an option. For the first few months, we only took him inside dog-friendly establishments and would trade off who waited outside with him if we needed to run into a non-dog friendly place. As his training progressed and we became more confident in his abilities & understand his stress signals better, we slowly took him to more and more places. Short trips, lots of praise, and always making him the priority. Recently, we did research on Missouri law and discovered that Service Dogs in Training have the same public access rights as full service dogs, and have begun taking him into more challenging places. After all, he has to learn somehow! Below is a list of a few of the places Robbie has been to (please keep in mind the SDiT Laws in your state may be different from those in MO, so be sure to research them & respect them):
So far we have not yet had any public access issues, but just in case we do have cards typed up with MO law to hand out to people. The key - so I've been told - to dealing with issues is to be polite, remain calm, and aim to educate, not confront. Two weeks ago, we passed the 6 week obedience course evaluation required by our trainer. We took the exam twice - once with Adam handling Robbie, and one with me handling Robbie. It has been more difficult for me in the past few weeks to participate in the more physically demanding training exercises that our trainer has us doing with Robbie, so Adam has had to step up as main handler. Once Robbie graduates from obedience training & we start doing task training though, I will resume position as primary handler. My pain has spread into both legs now, and some days walking is very difficult. While this complicates Robbie's training, it only makes me push myself harder to get Robbie trained properly. It just requires moro e teamwork from all involved! For Robbie's obedience evaluation, we had to complete several exercises with little or no corrections. Our trainer called it "The String Test". Our leash was attached to 6 inch piece of kite string which was tied to Robbie's collar. If the string broke, we failed the test. The only way the string would break is if there was zero communication between dog & handler, forcing a correction & broken string. Our string remained intact :) |
My Name is Sally...I have a condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This blog is about my journey training Robbie, a dog who helped me regain independence, confidence, and achieve the impossible in the face of my disability. It continues on with the training of Austin, Robbie's successor. Check Out... - "More than a Dog" was published on a site called The Mighty Categories
All
Archives
August 2023
|