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May 29, 2010 “Can You Hand That To Mom” progress report: Max is now “handing me” more delicate things (pens, small paper cup, mascara tube) as well as my SHOES (he’s hesitant to do that because, when he was a baby, he was taught NOT to chew on shoes.) With small, flat objects, he has to scratch them upright in order to gather them into his mouth ever so gently. GOOD BOY, MAX! August 5, 2010 update He is handing my shoes to me regularly now. He also helps me with laundry! I’m forever dropping clothing items and he WATCHES ME in anticipation of that! Today, he “handed to Mom” about 6 different items at various times that I dropped while loading the machine! I no longer have to give him treats as rewards for this work; a huge verbal praise and a pat on the rump suits him just fine! (WARNING: that wagging tail gets out of control very frequently!) WHAT A SMART DOG YA GOT THERE! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Summer, 2010 My Dog, the Landscape Assistant Max LOVES STICKS. He loves to fetch them, chew them up, haul them around and hunt them out. This presents a bit of a problem when he drops them here and there around the ACRES that I mow (riding lawn tractor.) Because he is always within calling distance of me, I am able to direct him to “get that stick” that is in the way of my mowing! Sometimes, I turn the power on the engine down because he gets frightened of the machine, sometimes not. His help keeps me from having to constantly get off the mower, bend, pick up, haul off, and return to my mower. He’s an excellent Landscape Assistant! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! March 25, 2010 I’m recovering from a nasty couple of weeks of bronchitis and head pain/earaches. Max has been hyper-vigilant, especially when I coughed hysterically. I discovered that he wants to help me around the house (WHEN I SEEM MORE VULNERABLE/WEAK/INCAPACITATED) more than what I’ve used him for. One thing he began to do is PICK UP MY TISSUES/HANKIES and “hand” them to me when I dropped them! I’ve never trained my Service Dogs to “fetch” things for me; NOT BENDING OVER to pick stuff up was SWEET (the dizziness, head throbbing and hip/leg pain was not antagonized by my bending over!) [note: sometimes he’ll go to the bathroom garbage and take one small tissue or whatever out and bring it to me JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES THIS JOB SO MUCH!] So, now we are working on fetching useful items for me. The cue is “can you hand that to Mom?” He gets all excited and wags his tail and, SOMETIMES, (especially with paper things) he’ll gently pick the item up and bring it to me! March 27 side note: I dropped my cloth napkin while dining last night. I cued him with my pointer finger and queried, “can you hand that to Mom?” Nothing but a tail wag and a nudge from his nose on my arm. Trying one more time, I moved the napkin a bit with my foot and said “get it.” He picked it up. With my hand held out, I then said, “Hand that to Mom” and HE DID!!!! Yipppeeeee! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ September 16, 2009 Went to Taco Bell/ KFC yesterday, a place my husband and I frequent. Of course, took GoodOne with us. One of the cashiers asked, “Is that a Service Dog?” GoodOne had on his orange work vest but I had moved the “Service Dog” patch to Max’s harness so that he is also well marked (not required by law, just a courtesy to the businesses and makes life much easier for us!) An ugly spirited patron with a chip on his shoulder growled at me, “Is that a seeing-eye dog?” I answered, “It is a Service Animal.” He kept scowling and barked, “IS IT A SEEING-EYE DOG?” The conversation went downhill from there when I tried to explain that Service Animals are trained for many different kinds of work. “I DON’T WANT A DOG IN A RESTAURANT. IF YOU HAD ANY COURTESY, YOU’D TAKE THAT DOG OUTSIDE.” He became more and more belligerent, marching over to the cashier asking her to remove us! He kept going on and on about how HE DIDN’T AGREE (with Congress!) The employee was professional and stated that, by law, we had the right to be in there. “Well I’m leavin’ and I’ll never be back! Bag my food to go!” Wow. I’ve been given some dirty looks and even had patrons (and employers/employees) of public places complain to me, but I’ve never seen anybody quite that obnoxious before! The irony is that: 1. While this guy was completely obsessed with the contamination that a Service Dog (well groomed) might bring to his meal table, HIS CLOTHES and HAT (which he wore while eating) WERE FILTHY! 2. When his ?? mother stood to leave, SHE WAS WALKING WITH A CANE! Some people!!!!
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