Update After a Prolonged Absence

Wow! It's been over a year since I wrote on this blog. Obviously, I am not a good blogger! Recently though, I was contacted by someone who apparently followed my blogs (this and frompuppytopublicaccess.blogspot.com) and I realized that I haven't posted anything for a long time! 

First, Laurel and Hardy are still working well together and we are having a great deal of fun as well! Laurel will be 7 in June (unbelievable to me!) and Hardy turned 3 a couple weeks ago. They continue to take great care of me; we are still working through how to best handle the alerting and they continue to amaze me with their ability to predict accurately and consistently three different medical issues, working as a team so that one of them is always keeping track of me while the other one takes a break. I've probably mentioned this before but I did not train this (I wouldn't know how to do that) and it is everything I had hoped for and much more than I had expected. We were at an agility trial this past weekend and Hardy was obviously the "alert dog on call". He kept track of me and alerted even when I was on the other side of the building while Laurel lounged in the X-Pen. 

Laurel and I are focusing on agility right now. We are competing more than I expected to when we started but certainly not at the level of many of our friends. I think I can safely say that although there are many teams that are much better than we are, there aren't many (any?) that have more fun! Q or NQ, Laurel and I have an absolute blast together and I never doubt that she is working her heart out trying to figure out exactly what I want her to do! I also feel very confident that Laurel would not be a successful working service dog if we did not do dog sports, particularly agility. When she is vested, she is a very different dog; serious and more subdued than her normal (overly) enthusiastic, friendly self. I certainly admire her ability and willingness to "work" for me but I also recognize that it has to be stressful to control herself to that extreme. When Laurel was young, I chose to allow her time to "be a dog" despite several service dog trainers' advice to the contrary. I am thankful we decided to allow her that freedom. Laurel does not have the ideal temperament to be a successful service dog but she has given me the gift of alerting and has worked out how to be appropriate when in public. 

We participate in multiple venues because I enjoy and learn from the different classes. We do about 4 CPE (Canine Performance Events) trials a year - we love the games and the people but there aren't many trials near us in facilities that work for us. We're in Level 4 in everything but Standard, where we're still working on finishing up Level 3. 

We also do about 4 - 5 ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club) trials. You can compete with any breed, the entry fees are very reasonable, you can run 5-6 times a day, the trials here tend to be smaller, the people are great and most importantly for us, you can train in the ring! Although Laurel has beautiful contacts in class and even at run-thrus, she tends to leap from above them at trials. It's obviously her level of enthusiasm and arousal and it's particularly difficult when the contact is on the final line of obstacles coming towards the finish. Additionally, I am generally not anywhere near her when she does the down contact. So, when a friend told me that we could do ASCA and train in the ring, I jumped at the opportunity! They have Regular (Standard in any other venue), Gamblers and Jumpers (jumps and tunnels) - each class runs twice, the second class reverses the course from the first class. If Laurel misses a contact, we've already NQ'd and I can turn right around and redo the contact as many times as I want until the course time runs out. While our contacts are still not our strong suit, they have greatly improved since starting ASCA. We're also competing at the Elite Level in every class and even have our Elite title in Gamblers. Although Laurel does beautifully in Jumpers, ASCA's course times are pretty tight and we have had trouble making time so we still need 10 more points for that title. 

Although there is only 1 USDAA trial we make a year, we have competed twice. USDAA is considered the most competitive venue and we are the amateurs playing amongst the pros! I love the games and was surprised how kind the other competitors have been. We have a couple Q's in Performance I and will be lucky if we ever get a title considering how little we compete. The courses are technical, which is actually one of our strengths and I love watching the top competitors! Besides Snooker, my favorite game, they also have a Team class, which is loads of fun! 

We started competing in AKC agility almost 2 years ago and now compete more there than in any other venue. That is mostly because there are far more local AKC trials but also because all my friends compete there. When we first started, my goal was for Laurel to get into Excellent (Novice-Open-Excellent) in both JWW (Jumps with Weaves) and Standard. We got our Novice JWW title in one weekend (3 attempts, 3 Qs with 3 first placements) but there was quite a while when I thought we would never get out of Novice Standard (due to our contact issues). Well, this past weekend, Laurel finished her Excellent Standard title (AX) and got her first Masters' Q (what until January 1st was Excellent B). She has surpassed my goals for her and we are now working on our Masters' titles (you need 10 Qs). 

Admittedly, we have gotten more serious about agility. We didn't start taking agility class using all the equipment until Laurel was almost 3 and since we were never going to compete, we didn't work on contacts or start line stays. And still, we generally take one class a week (although for about 12 weeks, we've been splurging by taking 2). We don't have equipment at home and we just do agility in class. I have been lucky in having instructors willing to work with us and my power chair. Agility is a fun game with my chair but it is a very different one! And recently, a world class agility competitor and an amazing teacher, Stuart Mah commented that Laurel and I had to be better than everyone else in order to compete at the same level. It's not something that I focus on but it was nice to have someone confirm that it is harder to do agility using a power chair (and I know someone who uses a manual chair!) Laurel and I certainly don't need to compete but I think Laurel needs to take agility class in order to be able to do her job as my service dog. It is her love; her favorite thing in the world to do with me (other than snuggling in bed or on the sofa with me)! 

We have continued to do some rally and obedience competitions - I substituted as the trial secretary for an APDT rally trial in October and Laurel got her Level 3 title with an Award of Excellence. And I act as the Advocate (Representative) for 2 C-WAGS Obedience & Rally trials a year so Laurel has gotten every rally title C-WAGS offers as well as her Level 2 Obedience title with Qs towards Level 3. It is clear she does obedience and rally to humor me; in fact, you can see the look of disappointment on her face when she sees the rally signs and/or lack of agility equipment! 

Laurel & Hardy APDT Oct 2012 - 8 placements, 2 titles with Awards of Excellence,  & 1 Level Championship

Laurel and Hardy continue to be best friends. She is clearly his teacher and he obviously adores her. When I ask Hardy to do something for me, Laurel waits without interfering until and unless I ask her to take over the task for me. And if I ask Hardy to get something by name and he doesn't know what it is, Laurel will pick it up and then drop it so that he can get it for me. I am often reminded about what one of Hardy's first veterinarians up in Guelph, Ontario, said when he saw Laurel and my brown puppy together when Hardy was about 10 weeks old. He talked about what a great teacher Laurel was, that Hardy was lucky to have her and that he would grow up to be a better dog because of it. 

I wrote my last post the middle of March 2012. Hardy and I had just responded to the school shooting at Chardon High School February 27th and we were still going to visit the students and staff every day at that point. I had no idea the depth of the journey we were on, how long we would be involved at Chardon nor how much we would become a part of that community. 

Hardy and I, along with several other teams, continued to go to school every day for a little over a month immediately following the shooting. Not only were many of the students profoundly affected by the events of that day; so were the adults! Although many of the administrators were very skeptical about having crisis response dogs in the schools, they heard from the students, teachers, staff and parents how important the dogs were. In fact, we continue to hear that on a regular basis. 

During March, we reduced the number of teams at the High School to three (including Hardy and me) and in April, following the school's Spring Break, we began to reduce the number of days the dogs were there. If the school felt like they needed us more (during exams or at an assembly, for example), they let us know and we responded accordingly. During the seniors' last week and at the end of the school year, we went back to every day. We attended Chardon High School's Baccalaureate, 8th Grade Graduation, 12th Grade Graduation rehearsal and the teachers' last day as we tried to help everyone prepare for Summer Break. Because some of the students indicated they'd like the opportunity to see us over the summer, we made arrangements to go to the local Public Library once a week. 

Visiting with Chardon first responders at a rally in their honor

For a number of reasons, seeing people at the Library didn't work out very well. Hardy and I were only there a couple of times but we managed to have at least one of the three teams there most weeks. When school started the last week of August, we were there every day again. The trial of the shooter was originally scheduled to begin November 26th but was delayed until January 10th. Additionally, it was difficult to anticipate what might trigger people in the Chardon community - a scheduled drug sweep with a bunch of police dogs or a missing teenager which sent helicopters into the air again.  Then the unimaginable happened at Newtown, CT, sending the Chardon victims into crisis mode again. When everyone came back to school after the winter break, it looked like the trial would happen - the jury had been seated and everyone was gearing up for a very difficult ordeal. A week before the trial date, however, the trial was continued again until sometime after the 1 year anniversary of the shooting (February 27th). 

When the school representatives told us they felt like they were back in crisis mode, we brought back the entire team (about 13 teams with two support people). We did this following the Sandy Hook shootings until the students left for Winter break and then when they returned to school in January. The entire team stayed there until everyone's emotions settled following the delay of the trial and then came back in the month prior to the anniversary. Hardy and I spent the 27th at the High School with our friends. We attended a Memorial Service the night before, spent the day being available for anyone needing a friendly dog to pet or sit with or cry with. The students spent the day participating in acts of service and while they were planning the events, decided that they wanted to do something for the dogs that had shared their time with them. Someone suggested that they make fleece leashes - each of us that had been with them during the past year got at least one and we use them with gratitude. I use mine to remember why Hardy and I are doing crisis response work to begin with. 

Walking with Chardon students to 1st Anniversary Memorial at Chardon Square

About three weeks later, the shooter pled guilty to all the charges and was sentenced to multiple life terms plus some years. There was a problem with what the shooter did and said during the hearing and that also created stress and pain for his many victims. We went back to every day for a short time and will be at the school through the end of this school year. Although the staff and students have indicated they would like us to come back next year, with a new superintendent taking over this summer, we are not sure whether we will be asked or allowed back. 

Hardy loves going to Chardon - just ask him if he wants to go see his kids! He enjoys therapy work but crisis response is something different and that is what he loves and for which he is really talented. In early January, we went with Extra Mile Ministries to Newtown, CT. We spent four very busy days there providing comfort to people hurt by the tragic school shootings at Sandy Hook. 

Visiting in Newtown, CT

We also went to Boston following the bombings at the Marathon. We arrived Friday before they had caught the second bomber and drove through a downtown Boston devoid of people. Saturday and Sunday, Hardy and I teamed up with my daughter, Kristen and her Pointer, Soapy to visit people at the memorials and to see the police and national guardsmen. It is very hard to describe what happens when people who have been touched by tragedy visit with our dogs but it is something pretty amazing. Besides the comfort they find with the dogs, it often provides a bridge for them to be able to start talking about what happened. I know that Hardy and I always leave exhausted but I know that it is a privilege to be there attached to my special brown boy's leash!

Visiting in Boston

The experience at Chardon has changed my life. For a period of time, in fact, it took over my life. It has changed my perception of the tragic events and crises I see on the news and in the media. I used to feel empathy from a distance and now I know what a difficult time the survivors (victims, family members, witnesses, community members, first responders etc) are going to have for a long time to come. We will continue to respond to those crises that we can - I am very grateful to have this way to share how much my service dogs have changed my life with others. In my opinion, not all therapy dog teams can do crisis response work and I am grateful that we can. 

Unfortunately, shortly after school ended last June, we experienced our own small crisis centered around Hardy. Because we had been told that he had a reaction to anesthesia used during an eye procedure when he was a year old, we took him to a cardiologist prior to having his neuter surgery/x-rays done in July. We thought we were going to discuss what kind of anesthesia to use that would not cause his heart to go into arrhythmias. Instead, we found out that he has a random heart problem. Apparently, a section of his heart is sending out extra electrical impulses so that his heart has lots of extra beats. The first holter monitor report showed that he had 9000 extra beats over a 24 hour period. 

Normally, this problem is not diagnosed but is the leading cause of young, healthy dogs dropping dead. As soon as we got the diagnosis, we stopped most of his activities while we tried various human heart medications to regulate his heart beats. It was a long, painful, frightening time but by October, we felt like we had found a combination (Mexiletine and Sotalol) that was working. It is a pretty daunting drug regime - he takes Sotalol every 12 hours without food (none 2 hours before or one hour after) and Mexiletine every 8 hours, with food. The Labs are now getting food five times a day; although it's the same total daily amount as their 3 times a day schedule, they are delighted with the change. We were encouraged by the changes we saw in Hardy's behavior on the medication - he seemed generally more energetic and was even getting into trouble. Unfortunately, the holter monitor done in October didn't show any major reduction in the number of arrhythmias but we continued the medication based on what we had observed in his behavior. The cardiologist kept assuring me that Hardy could do all his regular activities, including agility. We started agility class again but when he didn't seem to really love it, retired him again. Over time, we let him play a bit after Laurel's class and got to the point where it seemed like he was really loving it again so we brought him out of retirement once more. He even competed in a couple more agility trials and got a couple titles.

Last Thursday, we headed back down to the big veterinary clinic in Akron, Metropolitan Animal Hospital to participate in the annual service dog eye exam and see Hardy's cardiologist. Laurel's eyes are just fine. Hardy had thickening of his eyelids plus all the wandering eye lashes (distichia) that were removed when he was a year old have grown back. Normally, we would use steroids for the eyelids but that would encourage the hairs to grow and of course, normally, we would freeze his eyelids and pull out the extra eye lashes but that would potentially increase the thickening of the eyelids. Additionally, overnight, Hardy had developed a big red lump on one of his upper eyelids. One of the vet techs was able to "express" it which indicates that it was a clogged duct. We got a prescription for an antibiotic/steroid ointment to put in his eyes and the ophthalmologist will see him again at the end of June. 

The cardiologist performed another echocardiogram to see how Hardy's heart looked as well as how it was functioning. Nine months ago, there was a possible indication that his heart wasn't functioning as effectively as it should but because it was very slight, we were hoping it was nothing. Unfortunately, this time that same measurement (fractional shortening) showed a decrease of over 3 points indicating that Hardy's heart doesn't contract as well as it should. Additionally, his heart is now slightly larger than it was and although it is not yet enlarged, since he is only 3 years old, it is not a good sign since it indicates cardiomyopathy (which I made the mistake of Googling so now I know that would be bad). For now, things are slight enough that we are just going to do another echo in 6-9 months. The good news was that Hardy's sinus rhythm was normal during the test! He came home with a holter monitor and we're awaiting to hear the news from that. Based on the most recent news, the cardiologist supported my decision to retire my brown boy for the third and final time from agility. It certainly seems as though the risk outweighs the benefits since agility is not his favorite thing to do! She also assured me that Hardy can continue his service and therapy/crisis response work. Since those activities are the ones he loves, we feel very fortunate and grateful. We're also going to try some freestyle based on CFF (Canine Freestyle Federation) and see how he likes the idea of "dancing" to music! 

Since finding out last summer that Hardy's future is somewhat less certain that we would like (although in reality, none of our futures' is at all certain), I started thinking about the timing of my next service dog candidate puppy. Although we have never actually wanted three dogs, Brent and I think we need to consider our next puppy sooner rather than later. Even though looking for one this year seems like it would be very early; the reality is that if we got a puppy this summer, by the time he/she was two years old and ready to start working, Laurel would be 9 years old and even Hardy would be 5. I have gotten so spoiled having dogs that alert and when I see how Laurel and Hardy work together, allowing each of them to have time off when they're not focused on me or working; that is something I don't want to risk. 

Obviously, our most recent cardiology appointment did nothing to dissuade me from the decision to begin looking for a puppy so our search begins again with a litter born April 15th that will be 8 weeks old June 10th. We are going back to Hardy's breeder and will be looking at yellow or black puppies. I would prefer a girl but if the right puppy is a boy, I'd have to take that puppy. I found a certified CARAT (Suzanne Clothier's puppy temperament test) evaluator in Chicago who has agreed to come and look at the puppies on the 10th. I just purchased her airline ticket so this is starting to feel real. This first litter is all yellow, with 5 girls and 3 boys. The breeder is very excited by this litter; the sire is a pretty amazing dog and his sire is the leading sire for one of the largest national service dog programs. Although I am hopeful we might find the right puppy in this litter, I'm prepared to continue to look if we don't. 

Sometimes I'm very excited about starting this journey again and other times I'm just terrified! Laurel and Hardy have settled in, work so well together, get along beautifully and are so easy. Now, we're voluntarily going to upset that particular apple cart! Seems kind of crazy to me!