Last Ski

March 16, 2009

We went for our last ski with Kruiser this weekend. After taking both dogs on the dog trails (photo above) we left Pat in the car and skied non-dog trails with Kruiser. Crushed at not being able to find a stick anywhere in the meadow, Kruiser pulled off a small branch of sagebrush and carried it for the rest of the ski. At lunch a trail grooming snowcat came by. We fully expected them to challenge us about having a dog on a non-dog trail, but the operator only stopped to say hi. He remembered Kruiser from an earlier ski and asked how he was doing. Later we bumped into a group of 3 women who cooed and gushed over Kruiser and another guy who actually threw the sagebrush limb for him to retrieve. It sure seemed like Kruiser was carrying out a campaign to open ALL trails at Devil's Thumb to dogs.

It's hard these last days, having so many "lasts" with Kruiser, but at the same time it's exciting how well he's doing with the detailed training for helping Matthew through non-verbal prompting. With reminders from Ed, Krusier now has the routine down to go out back to pee, then jump on the bed and nuzzle my ear and face to "wake" me up, then run down the front steps to "go get the paper," then gallumph up the stairs to "bring" it to me. I then sort the paper and rebag the sections to be recycled and tell him to "bring" them to Ed (the "bringing" of the paper will transfer into Kruiser bringing Matthew his medicine in a bag, reminder notes, etc.). After coffee and paper, I ask him (Kruiser, not Ed) to "go get my clothes" and point toward the pile I left the night before. One by one, he carries over my shirt and then my jeans. To Kruiser it's all a great game of fetch. Hopefully it will make Matthew and his family's life better.

The Yoga Gadfly

Feb. 24, 2009

Just before the beginning of yoga class this morning, Kruiser took it into his mind to great each and every person in the room. We went around the circle and he had a nuzzle and a sniff for each of these folks he'd been watching from afar since last October. Very sweet. Everyone was thrilled. Did he intuit that he'll only see them a couple more times? I leaked tears during the relaxation at the end of class as I pictured future classes where he won't be lying down beside me and sending mellow vibes my way.

Happy Birthday, Kruiser

Feb. 18, 2009

Today was Kruiser's first birthday. He celebrated by going to Deborah's and meeting up with his mom, the other yellow lab in the picture named Kan Do, and three sibs--Kookie, Missie who now lives next door, and Beau who is a family pet. No party hats, but plenty of treats all round. Some good looking dogs!

Kookie was the only sib at the party who is also in training to be an assistance dog. Two of Kruiser's other sibs went to other trainers and one of them is already in service, but unfortunately neither could come.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Feb. 6, 2009

With Deborah's guidance, we've added some new commands that are specific to helping Matthew deal with his morning transitions and his meltdowns. Kruiser is learning to wake up a person on command (and with a treat strategically placed on an ear.) He jumps onto the bed and then rummages for the treat and licks the ear and face. With a "get my clothes" command, he pulls clothes over from a pile I make the night before. Up to now, I've had to toss a shirt onto the pile first to trigger his retrieval instinct, but this morning he did it on command alone. For bedmaking, I have him pull at the bedcovers, though I don't know if we'll ever get it to be more than just an initiation of the process--I really doubt a dog has a mental contruct for a "made up" bed. I have him lie next to me when I playact a mild meltdown, and after his first few very worried nuzzle responses, he now mostly stays beside me passively. He sits by the cupboard where we keep Pat's thyroid meds when I say "time for your meds, Pat," (an easy one to teach since we've usually let Kruiser lick the knife or spoon after Pat takes most of the peanut butter and pill anyway.) And finally Kruiser comes and sits by me as I wash my face and brush my teeth. This morning I was in a rush and forgot to prompt him, but he still did it. In all these new commands he's an A, number one, star pupil.

But...last weekend up in the mountains and on Monday, he bolted out of the car or pulled the leash out from under my foot or slipped out of his collar to go say hi to other dogs, and this week there have been two occasions when he really wouldn't keep a down/stay. He was good at yoga, the eye doctor's, the grocery store, a bookstore, the pet store, and a restaurant, but in my pottery class he wouldn't stay under the table in a down for more than 10 minutes. Then last night after being perfect at Tokyo Joe's and Barnes and Noble, he refused to lie down at the movie theater. When I finally got him down, he was right back up, just like in pottery class. He was so restless that I finally took him outside to be sure he didn't need to go to the bathroom. He "performed" but not with any urgency and was only marginally better when we went back inside.

So today, with trepidation, I made a prearranged visit to a third grade classroom with him. He was wonderful--responsive to the kids but not overexcited, listened to me, relaxed when he lay down to hear some of the kids read, and kept a down/stay. What a relief! A classroom setting might the most important place for him to handle well for Matthew's sake. I plan to take him back next week during science when the class is more active and maybe try a recess as well.

I wish I could get inside Kruiser's head to figure out why some places work so well and others don't. Are we taking him too many places? Does he not like the darkness of being under the table or in a movie theatre? I'll just have to keep trying different venues and different strategies. As for the bolting, I need to set up situations where I can remind him that it's not okay to lunge to say hello, but most of all I need to be more vigilant myself--remember to shut the car door, don't expect snow to prevent the leash from slipping away, don't be adjusting his collar when another dog is chasing a frisbee nearby. For that, I'm the one who has to be the better pupil.

Kruiser has a family!

Jan. 25, 2009

It's official. Kruiser has a family now. We made the connection through someone at the Joshua School in Denver who had worked on Boulder County school district disability policy with the mom of the family. The family has 4 kids: Christina (age 13), Matt and Katie (twins, age 10), and Donny (age 3). Matt has Asperger's and will be the main child Kruiser assists, but Katie also has been diagnosed as bipolar, so he can help her out as well. Here are some pictures of them meeting Kruiser.

From left to right, that's Mom holding Donny, Dad, Matt, a stranger who came over to talk with Deborah, Christina, and Katie's knees. And, of course, Kruiser.

Here's Donny and Dad giving Kruiser a belly rub. Mmmm.


And Matt trying to get Kruiser to "touch" his hand (with Katie to the right of him).

We're very happy, but some tears, especially at first, realizing that we will be giving Kruiser up soon. We're delighted with the family--they are so excited to be getting him (the mom left me a message early on, her voice almost breaking, calling it a godsend.) And they will clearly be able to give him the exercise and love he needs. The mom had worked at an SPCA in dog obedience classes and would have loved to raise a puppy herself if she didn't have so many demands on her time, especially with a toddler. And both she and Christina are runners. Their yard abuts a couple of acres of open space, complete with a pond (they've agreed to upgrade their fence so Kruiser can't jump out to enjoy it unaccompanied.) They even have an older dog, a 13-year-old black lab mix, and a cat that Kruiser got along with nicely on his house visit with Deborah. We feel like he will be well taken care of. And we already know he'll bring them so much.

We still have Kruiser for about six weeks to do some of the foundation work for the specialized training to support Matt in handling meltdowns and anxiety, etc.. So there will still be a few more entries, but we're getting close to closure. It's amazing how an idea turns into a real puppy and trainer, and a hypothetical family becomes real people.

Twentysomethings

Jan. 1, 2009

We had our annual family gathering at Snow Mountain Ranch over the New Year with my sisters and their families which are principally dominated by five twentysomething cousins and significant others including our son Matt and his wife Liyun. Here's a picture with Pat and Kruiser piled onto Alex and Amy, two of the cousins.



We cross-country skied most days and Kruiser went with us every day. He was great on the groomed trails. We'd let him off leash as soon as we left the busy areas and he stayed close by with stick in mouth, hopeful for a toss. We had a one or two mile downhill one day and he kept up perfectly, though at the beginning of the downhill we almost wiped out. At full speed Kruiser accidentally dropped his stick. I managed to dodge it on my skis but then he lunged for it and I had to dodge him too. By then I was almost off the trail and had to make an emergency sharp left to avoid the snowbank. As graceless as the whole maneuver was, we somehow all stayed upright and Kruiser hung on to his stick all the rest of the run down.

Pat and Kruiser made me proud more than once with their fine manners inside the cabin. Best example--a bag of trash broke as Ed was taking it out and Pat, Kruiser, and my sister Debby's dog Tucker all descended on the open trash. I called out "ignore" from across the room and both Kruiser and Pat immediately walked away. What dogs!

Wild Child to Perfect Puppy

Dec. 14, 2008

Today Kruiser went from "Wild Child" at the cabin--playing ferociously with Pat, bothering the cat, begging for us to throw sticks--to "Perfect Puppy" on the groomed cross-country ski trails at Devil's Thumb. I had taken both him and Pat on the dog trails at Devil's Thumb the day before and it was total chaos--tangled leashes, lots of tugging, having to pick up after them, my hands freezing in the wind chill. Then on Sunday went to ski with Ed on the regular non-dog trails. At the last minute I decided to at least give Kruiser a try. I put on his vest, his self-correcting collar, leash and started out. He was PERFECT. He stayed in a heel, watched me the whole time, stopped when I stopped, switched sides when I asked him to (my arms got sore poling on just one side.) It was like he needed to work, that he was bored at the cabin.

Here's a staged picture of him in his vest and me on skis and wearing a goofy hat in front of the cabin--we didn't have the camera with us at Devil's Thumb.