Working on a Book & Doing Crisis Response with Hardy

Obviously, this blog is not going to be a day-to-day journal like Puppy to Public Access was. Laurel, Hardy and I have all been doing well. We've been busy and I've been working on a book - for awhile, friends and family have suggested that I write about my experiences with owner-training my service dogs. I'm not sure anyone would buy that book but I have researched the available books and haven't found one about doing owner-training - planning, researching, getting the puppy or dog etc. The books that talk about having and using a service dog assume you have a program dog. My husband, Brent is definitely my biggest supporter and for my birthday at the end of November, he got me a couple days at a nearby retreat/conference center to work on the book. Between the Holidays and my reluctance to see whether writing a book is actually something I could do, I didn't go to River's Edge until the end of February. It was a remarkable experience! The energy there is wonderful - it is quiet and everyone is really lovely. My room had everything I needed and the Internet connection is spotty at best which meant that I could read e-mails on my phone but wasn't able to respond at any length. I took Laurel with me and other than running her outside a couple times a day for potty breaks and heading to the dining hall to get a food tray to eat in my room, I was able to focus on my book. I got an outline completed as well as notes for many of the chapters. In fact, it worked so well and the price is so reasonable that I'll be going back on Sunday. I have another reservation for May and eventually, plan to spend a couple days there a month until the book gets done. This way, I can work around my other commitments - my infusions, teaching class, workshops/seminars and competitions but if I need a longer period of time there too, that's a possibility. Unfortunately, the day after Laurel and I returned home, there was a school shooting at Chardon High School about 30 minutes away from our house. One male student shot and killed three other male students sitting in the cafeteria before running through the building and shooting two other students. Hardy and I went to the Chardon Middle School the next morning as part of Partners with Paws to be available for students, staff, teachers, parents and community members coming to talk to counselors there. Friends of ours, Laurie & Ken Buchele, who live in Fremont, OH, are part of a K9 Crisis Response organization, Extra Mile Ministries. Ken arrived Tuesday afternoon and went with us to the community memorial service that evening. We went back to the Middle School the next day and made arrangements for the K9 Chaplains/Comfort Dogs to be a part of the school district's & community's healing from this tragic event. Hardy and I with our support person, Mary Berr, were waiting for the students and their parents when they entered the cafeteria for the first time that Thursday and we greeted the students back to school for the first time Friday. In fact, we've been there for about 4 hours almost every school day since. It has made for long days and has consumed my life for the past couple weeks and while there is stress, it has also been very rewarding to see the healing that has already begun. By all accounts, the Chardon school administration has responded about as well as possible to these tragic events; the Chardon community has come together to provide support and people around Ohio, the country and the world have gone to extraordinary lengths to show their caring! For my part, it has been a privilege to be at the other end of Hardy's leash and to see the students', teachers', administrators' and staffs' response to having a dog availabe to pet and hug. I have watched Hardy closely to make sure that the stress doesn't overwhelm him; when he gets tired, I make sure he gets a break but, he loves spending time with "his kids" and despite his youth, has done a beautiful job in this crisis response situation. The school wants us to continue to bring the dogs through the end of the school year so we are slowly transitioning from "crisis response" to a more normal "therapy dog" situation. Hardy will continue to visit on Wednesdays. And we have let the school administration know that we will return for those difficult times - graduation, the 1st anniversary or whatever. I do not think that all service dogs make good therapy dogs or should do therapy work. I don't do therapy work with Laurel. She is such a friendly, enthusiastic dog that she has had to learn that when she is out with me, she cannot solicit attention from others. I feel that having her do therapy work would be unfair because it would just confuse her - sometimes she can be petted but other times, she can't. She already knows that when she isn't dressed and we are taking classes or she is competing at dog sports, she is "just a dog" and gets to act like her real, goofy, Labrador self. Hardy, on the other hand, is a friendly but more reserved dog. When he is out with me as my service dog, he doesn't ask others to pay attention to him. If someone asks to say hello and I agree, I release him by asking, "Want to say hello, Hardy?" So, when he is out doing therapy work, I release him to say hello. And during this time, when he is being petted by so many people over so many days, when he has gone out as my service dog, he has had no problem with the difference. Laurel and Hardy have changed my life in such dramatic ways and I have wanted to share that with others. Being part of the K9 Crisis Response team, K9 Chaplains/Comfort Dogs has allowed us that opportunity. We will continue our therapy dog visits but now we will be available for any crisis call-outs in which we could participate. Once again, I'm very proud of my young brown boy!