MRI

OK, so about a month ago, I appear to have sprained my right knee.  It is not getting better.  Get the results on Wednesday.

When I was about halfway to Cton, I got to thinking what the heck am I going to do with Brooklyn.  Probably should have left her home.  Technician was fine with her sitting in the control area.  I took her to a dim corner.  Put her in, SIT.....DOWN ....STAY and she did! She changed positions from laying in an upright position, to Brooklyn sawing some zzzz's in a sidewise laying Down. She snoozed through the whole thing.

My knee HURTS.  And I am peeved because I was getting active.  Walking is encouraged for exercise, so the orthopedist says stay off of it.  I have been happy.  I have time to have fun. I have been playing with, exercising, and teaching my dog.  I took her to Witcher park today.  It is fenced so I can take her off her leash. She can run and fetch and play, we just need to stay in the outfield where there is grass.  At least for a while the football field is off limits.  It is highly desirable due to proximity, but I am not real interested in being on the receiving end of a lecture by whoever keeps that field so pretty.

I am working with her to see if we can master "go get the phone."  Lots of times I just don't know where I have set it down.  What if the battery was out?  So I am trying to see if she can generalize from one activity (Frisbee) to retrieving the phone.  So far.... The Frisbee is more fun.  They had phones and wallets and all kinds of stuff on the campus during our training.  I am not sure if the dogs were trained to ignore them or rescue them.  That could have a big effect on this training I am doing now.

Brooklyn gets a gold star for being SO well behaved at the doc's.  I probably get a red star fron being an inadequate trainer".  Must go reread training guide.

Hearing

In 2007/8 I was treated for Breast Cancer (Invasive Ductile Carcinoma).  Yeah, I lost my hair.  Yeah, I lost 9.2 lbs of boobies.  (I wear prosthetics for weddings and funeral now.  That's it.). I had an ototoxic drug known as Adriomycin and it took a bit, but, my hearing started to fade.  There are certainly people who are way more hearing impaired than me.   But, it has reached a level where phone use is almost impossible.  I prefer texting.  Less stress.

About 2 years ago I met a lady with a seeing eye dog.  We spoke briefly.  But chatting with her convinced me that I would benefit from applying to have a Hearing Dog.  So I talked it over with a friend.  Made application to be asked for the real application.  A few months later, I got the big application.  It took me about 2-3 months to complete all the requirements.  I had to write a biography.  I had to have my doctor give a statement of my health, ability to participate, and all sorts of stuff to assure these folks that I would be able to manage having a dog.  The application itself was lengthy.  Finally I had everything together, and I mailed it in.

That triggered a phone interview.  Which worked its way through the process.  Next came an in-person interview in Orlando.  After that I tried really, really hard to be patient.  I wasn't doing a great job of it.  As a last thought when I filled out and sent in the official application, I put a yellow sticky on the front page.  It was along the lines of, " Now that I am retired, I can come and go on shorter notice, in case someone should not be able to come at the last minute.  I got an email and phone call on a Thursday.  Was I still interested in getting a Hearing dog?  Someone had dropped out.  Usually they give folks 6-8 weeks notice, but if I could get to Santa Rosa, California in time to start Monday classes, there was, indeed, a last minute opening.  So I did a web search for airline tix and bought them.  I reserved a rental car at San Francisco Airport.  Sunday morning my unbelievably kind son-in-law hauled me to Hartsfield and I began a new adventure.

Monday morning I had breakfast, and was at the table with. Pen and a notebook.   There were didactic (lectures) lesions.  There were lessons in how to be a handler of a dog (using a real dog).  There were also lessons on how to be a handler with fake dogs.  And everyday, there was a quiz over what we just learned.  

Lunch was provided, and was always lovely.  Then we would go right back to lecture, practice, practice with a fake or real dog.  Tuesday was a BIG day because that was when we would have the opportunity to train with a couple different dogs.  The trainers would make observations about our human/dog interactions.   In a class of six people, they had about eight dogs that were moved around the next few days until the day came they would announce  which human was paired with which dog.  Very exciting moment.  This was the moment when they brought our assigned dog out to us, and so this photo is right after I learned that Brooklyn would be my new buddy!

To Frisbee or not to Frisbee, that is the Question

I made a remark yesterday, or the day before about the soap opera known as Brooklyn.  I liked the idea so much and our lives are so intertwined now, that, I decided to give us a "Soap Opera" blogesque look at our lives.

Somewhere in my life adventures, when I did not have a dog, I heard that if you feed your dog their meals inside the inverted Frisbee your dog would learn to play Frisbee!  Who only knows how long that piece of arcane trivia has rolled around in my head.  I am willing to guess at least a couple decades.

According to authorities who know her much longer than myself, she has never though Frisbee's worth her time.  It has been a week now that I have fed her in the Frisbee.  This morning I took the Frisbee with us going walking.  On the way back I tried lofting it a couple times.

I wish the could have been able to have this filmed!  She was SO stocked about seeing her "food dish" fly that she went after it like Indiana Jones looking for lost treasure!  In fact, a 60 lb dog can, in fact, pull a woman of substance almost over!

The fanaticism of Balls, has now opened up a whole new world of OCD fun.  Got to get someone to film this.  It is just hysterical.  (She is still working on how to pick it up.  Presently it looks like she is trying to break the speed record for digging to China through a Frisbee!

(No, I am not being generic, it really is a Frisbee.  I do have to wonder why it is only recommended for children 5+?  Can a 4 yr old swallow it?  How does one miss handle a Frisbee?

'

So, here is the first installment of the doggie "Soap Opera"--soon to be improved and expanded to reflect on the absurdities of life with a dog, specifically a Hearing Ear Service Dog.  I need to tell you this four-footed helper is giving me hysterical moments pretty much everyday!