That hoist again!

Playing on the floor is getting better and better.

My hoist is a wonderful thing for Middi and me.

He has worked out that if my wheels are in the room when I get into my sling, we are probably going out.

BUT

if there is no chair about, we are probably going to have a play on the floor.

This causes much excitement and he runs  round and round under the sling, while I am lowering it.

He has worked out approximately where I will land

and puts his head right where my head will be.

Next comes the face wash!

then he buts me gently in the stomach, 

so I will scratch the special place behind his ears.

Last night I decided to take some pictures from the floor,

here is the first one,

not great photography, but I am down, the blue "thing" is my sling.

After the cuddle we play "touch" with my stick,

usually he does not chew it!!

Next he finds a toy, last night it was his pull ropes,

we played with them for ages, now he has learned to bring them back to my hands when I let go.

After half an hour ........

we were both exhausted, but very happy.

I treasure these times when we can be so close to each other.

Until next time --- treasure the special moments!

Just a bit of fun!!

Last week I went to Costco,

it is an enormous barn of a place that sells all sorts of "stuff"

While I was there I found a box of toys

that I thought might suit that boy of mine.

He loves anything with a squeak, the louder the better!!

There were seven toys in the box and five had squeakers!!

I left the box open on the lounge room floor,

this is what I came back to half an hour later......

A MESS! -- one down and six more to go!!

Here goes the next one!!

and we are left with the indestructible, ear less, squeakless,

 fox. He has lasted an amazing two weeks.

Poodle boys have very strong jaws!

An Interesting project

Tonight I received an email from Indie's friend Annie,

she is doing an interview for a journalism award,

these are the questions she has sent me, remember she is only in grade six! 

Questions for Anne:

1.      What difficulties do you face?

2.      How did you end up in the position you are in now?

3.      How old were you when you were disabled?

4.      What do you think is the most difficult about having a disability?

5.      Have you achieved anything in your years in your chair(medals, trophies e.t.c)? What are/were they?

6.      What are some of your goals for the future?

7.      If you met a Genie and they granted you 3 wishes, what would the wishes be?

8.      Have you gotten better over the years? How?

9.      Tell me a bit about your disability

   How did your life change at first?

A very interesting set of questions, I have been asked to answer them in depth, perhaps my answers might be too deep for an eleven year old.

Incidentally, she had to pick someone she thought was inspirational!

Usually I hate that word because I find it embarrassing, but I think children look at things differently to adults.

What difficulties do you face;

The biggest  difficulty I face is coming to terms with loosing my independence.

Before I became disabled I was a teacher of special children and   grandmother to Indie,

now I need someone to look after me all the time.

In the old days I could go where ever I wanted, 

now I can only go out, if I can get a carer to take me,

and if the place I want to go is accessible!

How old were you, when you became disabled;

Well, Indie was not quite 3 years old,

and I have been disabled for nine years,

so I guess I was in my middle 50's!!

Sometimes it seems such a short time ago.

 What do you think is the most difficult about having a disability?

This is such a big question, 

I think I will leave it for tomorrow night.

Until next time ---- Think about those sleeping out tonight,

It is going to be very cold!

The "boy" as usual!

As usual I am talking about my boy!

Things are changing.

Last week Chris suggested we go to the local obedience club and see if they would be interested in helping me with his socialisation.

He loves dogs, but because I can't take him to the park and let him run free, he has no idea that some grumpy dogs do not love big silly puppies!!

with goofy faces!!!

So Chris, Helen and I went to

"Bayside Companion Dog School"on a wet, freezing, Thursday morning.

As usual I was nervous about what the boy would do, 

how he would react to three "Rottis", two German Shepards and a Ridgeback, or even more important, how they would react to him.

I need not have worried everything went well

and we were invited to join.

While we were there we tried another collar - a"Gentle Leader",

I think we might have found the right one at last,

I am not sure that Middi likes it much,

but I certainly do! Now I have control without any strain.

We are going to stay in the beginners group, 

even though we can do most of the commands,

reason -- because Midnight needs to learn how to behave around all sorts of dogs.

I need to learn not to say , "walk on big bum",[because he is skinny]

It is not a proper command !  :--)

We are off to school again this Thursday, I hope it is as good as last week.

Maybe we might get some pictures this time.

Until next time --- tell someone how much you love them!!

The Baybarker Autumn Newsletter

I think every one knows that Chris who runs Baybark, is teaching Middi and me, how to become a team and hopefully get that difficult Service Dog registration.

I an always full of worries that I am not doing the right thing and my darling boy is "blowing me off again"!

Not my words, but usually true.

Behind those serious eyes is the cheekiest brain, he can be a perfect angel and do everything I ask, 

or he can frustrate me so much with his inattention, that I am almost in tears.

Really its just like being a young mother all over again.

None of this has anything to do with what I was going to write about tonight, so back on subject!!

Chris has just published her Autumn News Letter,

and there is an article about Middi and myself.

She writes it as if Middi and I are doing all the work, this of course is not true, without her eternal patience with both of us I think I might have given up a few weeks ago.

Middi becoming a teenager has been very difficult for me, 

he is very strong physically and really wants his own way, not a good combination for a wheelie who likes to forget that she has a disability!!

ANYWAY,

this is what Chris wrote -----

A service dog in the making .......

For some months now, it has been my privilege to train a lovely standard poodle by the name of Midnight and his owner Anne. This beautiful black boy is destined to be a service dog.

Anne, lives in a power chair and had decided for various reasons that she wanted to train her own service dog, rather than have one assigned to her as is the usual process in Australia.

While there is nothing wrong with training your own dog, a service dog must be trained to a level beyond that of most ordinary dogs, the process can take up to two years, and when you are confined to a wheelchair this becomes more difficult.

Midnight is a very quick leaner, mastering walking nicely by Anne’s chair fairly early on.

His puppy training included the commands sit, drop, stand, back, and a few others.

As he progressed towards more complex training he has had to learn to feel comfortable with car rides, getting on the wheelchair lift in Anne’s transport vehicle, sitting quietly beside the chair and being confined to a crate on occasion.

While not yet a year old, Midnight must learn to ignore distractions around him when he is working and this area has been the most challenging so far.    He is now very large, very strong and still very much a puppy. He loves other dogs, but his exuberance in meeting them is often unwelcomed by the often surprised dog.

He and Anne can regularly be seen around the parks and shops of Bentleigh or McKinnon and they have become local celebrities.

 Anne adores her dog, and it shows in the dedication she has in training him.

As he matures, I believe he is destined to be everything Anne dreams he can be, giving her more independence and of course his, unconditional love.

Its a great article and of course I love the last part because he does give me his unconditional love, but it is really nice to hear someone else say it.

Read Chris' news letter, it is very interesting learning about the agility world and clever dogs and their owners.

While you are there browse her website, if you have a dog of your own I am sure you will learn something new. 

No pictures tonight, 

you will have to read the news letter for them.

Until next time --- Thanks Chris!!!!!

Oops, forgot the link !

http://www.baybark.com.au/files/Autumn%20newsletter%202011.pdf

Midnight at Ten months

Well the boy is now ten months old, actually he was born on the 3rd of June 2010.

I found his pedigree papers the other day, 

I had forgotten his registered name is --

SHERTONA SPECIAL EDITION.

He was the only puppy, hence the name.

This picture was taken when he was about 14 weeks old, 

it was his first day in a "working harness".

He still had his baby haircut and was so small.

Last week I wrote a new article  for Pet Stock,

here it is -------

                               Midnight at Ten Months

I cannot believe Midnight is now 10 months old, he is no longer a “little puppy”, now he is an adolescent, that challenging time all dogs  [and children]  go through!!!!!

 He is pushing the boundaries constantly --- never heard the word “Sit” in his whole life, and as for walking to “heel”, I am obviously talking to another dog, not him!! 

Just as well he is not my first dog, I know adolescence is just a stage, he will grow through it.

I think this is the time when I need to remember all the things that Midnight and I have achieved in seven months ----------

We have learned to trust each other enough to travel 7kms safely alone.

We can catch trains and ride in hoist buses with a carer. 

Attend council meetings and conferences, without Midnight moving from the side of my chair.

He has learned to stand still when I have a bad episode and not interfere when strangers come to help me.

My disability makes it very difficult for me to put on his collar and harness, Midnight knows when I give the command ”paws”, he must place his front paws on the chair I have chosen, push his head through his collar and harness and keep still while I slowly do up all the buckles!!

We have been working on the command “leave it”, an assistance dog must never pick up anything from the ground  or table, and definitely never ask for food. Sometimes it is really hard to walk past a piece of chicken lying on the ground, but he is now doing it.

An important thing I have learned, is how to protect him from potentially dangerous dogs. Because he is always attached to me and cannot defend himself Midnight can be a target for other dogs, a dog attack is a very scary thing when you are in a wheel chair.

This week my trainer – Chris, brought a manual wheel chair to our lesson, she wanted to replicate as much as possible, my limited movement  and possibly make training easier for me. It was very interesting for me to watch Middi working with someone else in a chair, thank goodness he was just as cheeky for Chris, as he has been for me lately.

Of course Middi and I have learned other things since we started on our long journey towards Assistance dog registration , but this is enough for now I think!  

Easter holidays are coming up soon, please remember chocolate is a cumulative poison for your dog, please don’t let him join in the egg hunt!!

Remember, if you see us roaming the area, come and say “Hello”, Middi and I love to chat, we can tell you about our holiday on Phillip Island – a puppy paradise.

                       Anne and Midnight.

Its interesting to look back on what we have done, and see how "the Boy" has grown and matured.

Like all children he can be very good 

and also very naughty,but I certainly love him!!!!!!!

                  Until next time --- Enjoy Autumn