Changes and Changes!!
I am growing up so suddenly! I have gotten down some VERY important Tasks now!
This week, Dad had a thing called 'Surgery', and I have been VERY CONCERNED!
I watch him very closely, and I sniff and lick his hands often, making him show them to me by pretending to want a pet while I am sleeping in the crate beside him- and when he reaches to scritch me, I licklick and snuffle his hand carefully before I allow him to pet me! Then I know what I might need to DO...
Sometimes, Dad gets sweaty and trembly, and he is in PAIN... I know what to do then!! I have to get Dad to go to his desk and take pain medicine!!! ...if I can't do that, I get PA. He knows what to do- he brings the pills and some juice, and Dad takes them... and voila! He feels much better!!
Sometimes, Dad needs to get UP... and that is not so easy for him. I come running to stand right in front of him and lean slightly into his arms. He pushes a little over my shoulders, or pulls a little on my ribs, and oooooof, he gets up onto his feet!! We call this "steady" and it is a very very important Task to Dad! ...sometimes... I get a treat for it. But I never ask for one, like I understand now, that it isn't FOR treats anymore. It's for Dad to be able to stand up!!
Dad gets anxious and worried, and one of my Tasks is when he is sitting in the chair... I put my paws up, but I brace them on either side of him on /the chair/ and not him, so I don't hurt him (I am a BIG girl now!) and I push my chest and head against his chest and neck... my heartbeat is against his pulse, and we breathe together, and Dad gets so much calmer... I don't know what the word means, but Dad says it is a thing called "Biofeedback"... something about him calming himself more to my happy-calm level, and that it REALLY WORKS!
Pa taught me that trick, all by himself! He showed me how to put my paws so I didn't hurt Dad, so I could do it when Dad was in his chair, OR when Dad is sitting down or laying down and I can get close then too- but the chair was tricky, and Pa was very good, teaching me how to do that!
The other day there was a funny thing.
Dad did not wake up, but his friends came to get him and take him someplace!
I was all, 'oh noes... *I* can hear them!!' but Dad could not. He had his earplugs in!!
I leaned down like a puppy, and I boof'd at him.
It was a different boof than usual, and I had to Bark Bark, too- and when he sleepily opened his eyes, I was jumping to a puppy-bow to HIM, and then standing and pointing like some bird-dog, at the doorway.
'Dad, Dad, we got company!!!'
His cellphone rang, and he picked it up- and the company was all 'whar you at? we're at yer door!'
Dad was embarassed, but he let them in and then went to get dressed to go wharever he went with them- I think he got dinner, because he came back smelling like cheesy bread. MMmmmm. cheesy bread.
So I am learning so many things!
I still have two BIG flaws, and they need fixing before I can start going places with Dad more often than I do now...
One is that whole jumping up to lick people. Dad says that has to stop, if I wanna be a public access Service Dog... *sigh* That will be so hard. I just love Eeeeeverybody!!
Another is that I woo-woo-woo a lot.
Yeah. I never shut up, sometimes.
I just WANT things, ya know? Like a new toy, or a walk, or dinner, or a potty break, or to go see what's in the yard, or to go listen for other dogs for a minute on the porch, or to get pets, or... yeah.
Dad says that was fine when I was a puppy, and needed to eat four times a day and potty fifty billion times a day... but now I am a Big Girl, and I need to only woo-woo-woo when I NEED something.
I need some cheese right now.
Why is woo-woo'ing inappropriate?
Huh?
Explain this to me.
Because the way *I* see it, if I woo-woo enough, Dad will get up to see what I want, and I will sniff his plate with the cheese that is on it, and he will offer to take me potty in case I need to go... then I'll go outside and piddle three drops, and come back in with him- then I will nose the plate, and he will say "leave it" but he'll take a peice with him when we go into the bedroom... and give it to me when he says goodnight and closes my crate.
See?
Cheese.
That sounds perfectly logical to me.
You wouldn't mind being woke up by woo-woo-woo'ing because the neighborhood dog's Dad was having cheese in the other room, right?
Right?
oh.
Huh.
I dunno. It sounds good to ME!
This week, Dad had a thing called 'Surgery', and I have been VERY CONCERNED!
I watch him very closely, and I sniff and lick his hands often, making him show them to me by pretending to want a pet while I am sleeping in the crate beside him- and when he reaches to scritch me, I licklick and snuffle his hand carefully before I allow him to pet me! Then I know what I might need to DO...
Sometimes, Dad gets sweaty and trembly, and he is in PAIN... I know what to do then!! I have to get Dad to go to his desk and take pain medicine!!! ...if I can't do that, I get PA. He knows what to do- he brings the pills and some juice, and Dad takes them... and voila! He feels much better!!
Sometimes, Dad needs to get UP... and that is not so easy for him. I come running to stand right in front of him and lean slightly into his arms. He pushes a little over my shoulders, or pulls a little on my ribs, and oooooof, he gets up onto his feet!! We call this "steady" and it is a very very important Task to Dad! ...sometimes... I get a treat for it. But I never ask for one, like I understand now, that it isn't FOR treats anymore. It's for Dad to be able to stand up!!
Dad gets anxious and worried, and one of my Tasks is when he is sitting in the chair... I put my paws up, but I brace them on either side of him on /the chair/ and not him, so I don't hurt him (I am a BIG girl now!) and I push my chest and head against his chest and neck... my heartbeat is against his pulse, and we breathe together, and Dad gets so much calmer... I don't know what the word means, but Dad says it is a thing called "Biofeedback"... something about him calming himself more to my happy-calm level, and that it REALLY WORKS!
Pa taught me that trick, all by himself! He showed me how to put my paws so I didn't hurt Dad, so I could do it when Dad was in his chair, OR when Dad is sitting down or laying down and I can get close then too- but the chair was tricky, and Pa was very good, teaching me how to do that!
The other day there was a funny thing.
Dad did not wake up, but his friends came to get him and take him someplace!
I was all, 'oh noes... *I* can hear them!!' but Dad could not. He had his earplugs in!!
I leaned down like a puppy, and I boof'd at him.
It was a different boof than usual, and I had to Bark Bark, too- and when he sleepily opened his eyes, I was jumping to a puppy-bow to HIM, and then standing and pointing like some bird-dog, at the doorway.
'Dad, Dad, we got company!!!'
His cellphone rang, and he picked it up- and the company was all 'whar you at? we're at yer door!'
Dad was embarassed, but he let them in and then went to get dressed to go wharever he went with them- I think he got dinner, because he came back smelling like cheesy bread. MMmmmm. cheesy bread.
So I am learning so many things!
I still have two BIG flaws, and they need fixing before I can start going places with Dad more often than I do now...
One is that whole jumping up to lick people. Dad says that has to stop, if I wanna be a public access Service Dog... *sigh* That will be so hard. I just love Eeeeeverybody!!
Another is that I woo-woo-woo a lot.
Yeah. I never shut up, sometimes.
I just WANT things, ya know? Like a new toy, or a walk, or dinner, or a potty break, or to go see what's in the yard, or to go listen for other dogs for a minute on the porch, or to get pets, or... yeah.
Dad says that was fine when I was a puppy, and needed to eat four times a day and potty fifty billion times a day... but now I am a Big Girl, and I need to only woo-woo-woo when I NEED something.
I need some cheese right now.
Why is woo-woo'ing inappropriate?
Huh?
Explain this to me.
Because the way *I* see it, if I woo-woo enough, Dad will get up to see what I want, and I will sniff his plate with the cheese that is on it, and he will offer to take me potty in case I need to go... then I'll go outside and piddle three drops, and come back in with him- then I will nose the plate, and he will say "leave it" but he'll take a peice with him when we go into the bedroom... and give it to me when he says goodnight and closes my crate.
See?
Cheese.
That sounds perfectly logical to me.
You wouldn't mind being woke up by woo-woo-woo'ing because the neighborhood dog's Dad was having cheese in the other room, right?
Right?
oh.
Huh.
I dunno. It sounds good to ME!