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Holidays with Robbie are always a special time. I continue to be in awe of his ability to walk past obnoxious Christmas decorations in stores without balking, his ability to move quietly by my side through the crowds in stores (though, lately, we're given more berth - thank you inadvertent positive virus side effects), and his absolute impulse control as tissue paper and wrapping paper alike are torn apart and tossed all around him at our annual family Christmas gathering. Christmas is special for another reason, too, though. December 23 is Robbie's estimated birthdate, based on the age he was when he was surrendered to a shelter as a young puppy. Christmas is a time when I reflect on all that I have done with Robbie, all the ways he has changed my life and the joy he has brought me, and what the future may hold for my team. This Christmas may look different in terms of family traditions, but celebrating Robbie's life with us and our adventures to come will be our constant. Robbie will be 7 years old this Christmas. By February, he will have been in my life for 6 years! It feels like it has just flashed by. this upcoming year, we will be starting to prepare our house, our budget, and our minds for welcoming a second dog into our lives by 2022, when I'll hopefully begin training service dog #2. Robbie is doing well, and not close to retirement, but I'd like there to be overlap between the successor being trained and Robbie still actively working. We've already made some steps. We built a porch fence to end Robbie's days of extreme acrobatics on and off the porch at warp speed before he gets hurt, and also to have extra containment for while we have two dogs to wrangle who will have wildly different levels of training for a bit. I started lists and notes on plans to make and things to buy. I've begun working more in earnest to teach Robbie a right side heel for the time when I need to walk two dogs at once. Come spring, we hope to buy new rabbits, to finally fill our old hutch, long empty since the loss of Flopsy. It has been difficult seeing the hutch without her fluffy face awaiting Robbie's each morning. Christmas is also a solemn time, because it reminds me of seeing her go downhill last year, and her passing away at the start of this year. I miss her every day. I sense that Robbie does, as well. It has been a turbulent year, to say the least. I've been hit with being cut off from friends and family, like so many others, I've gotten new information that greatly impacts my disability management, I've busted my butt to finish setting up my dog training business and still am not ready to take clients yet, Robbie missed out on a lot of public access maintenance training, we had to home renovations during a pandemic and push my pain to new limits, and I lost a very dear friend and guardian. Everyone has had their battles this year. We are no exception. Still. I am grateful that I am mostly healthy, and the ones I love are healthy. When I asked for help, people stepped up. Above all else, the day before Christmas, I can celebrate the goofy, stubborn, and loyal service dog by my side. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, in shorthand called CRPS, is officially recognized worldwide in November every year to raise awareness about this disorder. Every year for the past few years, I've contributed to this cause on my personal Facebook page to teach friends and family more about my life with CRPS, and on Robbie's Facebook page, I've shared facts about CRPS service dogs, and suggestions on gear a team might need. This year, I'm casting a wider net and taking a slightly different approach. On Robbie's Facebook page, every day this November, I'll be posting a legal fact card with a link to the resource to help educate CRPS service dog teams on important laws, protections, public access details, and more, that they need to know to be more aware as handlers. These facts will benefit any service dog team, but my main focus is on the CRPS teams who aren't necessarily getting these lessons from a program because they had to owner-train, or are working with a trainer who may not know the ins and outs of service dog training. On my graphic design Facebook page, Country Flame Designs, I'll be sharing a fact a day, as well as resources for people with CRPS, links to other artists who have CRPS, and videos that go more in-depth on my experience living with CRPS for the past 10 years. I hope you'll be following our page in November to learn as we go, but if you missed the posts, or want them all in one place, the slideshow below is for you. Two weeks ago, Robbie and I ventured out into the world to dip our toes back into the pool of public access. It went pretty well, though it felt like we were living in a different time. Fewer people out, some in masks, some not. Barricades at store entrances and monitors directing foot traffic. Robbie & I outside, instead of inside running errands. When we began Robbie's public access training in late 2015, our trainer was insistent that Robbie learn how to exist and how to do all of his commands near stores before ever going inside one. A list of 20 or so exercises became our bread and butter for public access work. Some were exhaustively boring, others more engaging. We were always certain to have at least 1 or 2 people staring at the spectacle of me and Robbie pretending to be statues or bouncing recalls between my husband and I. We got used to the looks. Robbie got the socialization. By the time we went inside he was more well-prepared for what we encountered. With the advent of the Coronavirus, and stores being both deserted and packed full, we've had to revisit those early exercises, working outside stores once more. It's safer for Robbie and I this way, and lets my husband shop faster without the slowness factor of having a dog with you. It's a little boring for us, but Robbie seems ecstatic to be out and about again. Once more, we'll make sure everything is good to go, in aspects of us and public health, before we go back in stores again. Store #1Robbie and I positioned ourselves about 50 ft off to the side of the entrance. He could hear and see cars drive past, watch people pushing carts, hear people talking, see people of all types, hear and see birds, and hear machinery. We were waiting outside for 28 minutes. We split that time between 2 Long Sits, about 5 minutes each, and 2 Long Downs, more than 10 minutes each. Every now and then I'd ask for Focus, like right as someone passed in the distance or when he'd hear a cart roll by. He did a really good job maintaining his attention on me with most distractions, but did struggle more with higher distractions like carts rolling fast on the pavement or seeing my husband reappear. That was to be expected, but it did tell me that will be a target area to work on as we resume PA work. This exercise is massively boring and painful, but worth it all the way. Number of Periods Waiting in the Truck: 3One errand called for a drive-thru run, and two other places didn't have available space for working, so we hung out in the truck. This was good exposure for Robbie, though, to practice being chill in the vehicle while waiting for one thing or another. Since the Coronavirus, we haven't taken him anywhere, so he hasn't been getting chances to experience being in the vehicle. Low effort for me, but still training happening! Luckily it was a cool day, otherwise this would not have worked. Not sure what we'll do once summer hits. This time around, Robbie jumped out of the truck in his bright blue vest, trotting on a 15 ft long line, ready to work. We moved ourselves to the back of the parking lot where there was a grassy area. Down side, the flat spot was at the top of a steep incline. Up side, it meant Robbie got to practice his hill assist task. He loves that one! We worked up there for 40 minutes, mixing playtime with serious work time. Robbie experienced the sounds of road traffic, tires being filled with air, birds, people talking, horns honking, the conundrum of knowing we were supposed to be inside, smells of a new place, and the pressure of lying alongside a sidewalk during rush hour. He did amazing! The biggest mistake he made was trying to break Down by belly crawling through the grass. He was so excited to be out working that at times, his enthusiasm made it a little hard to be so serious. It was a wonderful afternoon and training session for us both! Store #2Advice to Other TeamsDo what feels comfortable to you. Watch your dog for what they feel comfortable with. If they seem a little uncomfortable, ask them to keep going a little bit longer then end. We can't let their confidence or training slip. Normally I wouldn't have been okay with Robbie being as goofy as he was in his vest, but he was engaged, he was motivated, he was trying, and that was what was going to give him the best possible experience while being re-immersed in a stimulating world.
Being an animal trainer, I'm used to running into walls with whatever animal I'm working with. It's part of the life. My usual approach is to ask a more experienced trainer or do research. Read books, read other blogs online, watch videos - anything I can do that may point me in the right direction. Sometimes though, there isn't a perfect answer waiting for me to find it and I have to accept that I may never know exactly how to break down the wall. For the last few months, we've been living in the unknown. Will it be possible to get a handle on the virus? When will businesses re-open? When will life return to normal? Just how high of a risk faces me? Will we be okay?
One question we need to ask, in addition to those above, is, "How are our working animals doing with this?" Chances are, they're struggling just as much as we are - but they can't post it on social media. |
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
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