Day 9: Reflections

Tuesday, May 31

I woke up today with two resolves: to keep Gracie used to at least a little bit of time in her crate (her safe place where she is definitely off duty) and to spend some time each day with her in a high traffic area with a lot of strangers.  Being home alone with Gracie is so easy.  She gets her exercise chasing a tennis ball or practicing her skills.  She also likes to nap on the couch while I am on the computer.  However, getting too comfortable being here by ourselves is not a good idea.  I need to exercise regularly, and, eventually, we will be going together to Century College where I teach English composition.  Century is a community college with lots of activity, lots of people coming and going.  She'll be with me when I teach class and when I hold my office hours at least three days a week Fall Semester.

After we finished our morning routine--potty breaks before and after eating--Gracie went into her crate with a Milkbone treat while I went for a twenty minute run around the neighborhood.  When I got back, she was glad to see me and eager to go for a walk.  Eventually, when her paws get a little tougher, she can run with me.  I call it running, but I'm not really very fast.  I'm sure Gracie could outrun me!  Soon we'll try going together to the YMCA exercise class I had been attending three times a week before she arrived.

Later on today, we went back to Target to get laundry detergent.  Before we left, I had planned to get a Target gift certificate and a "thank-you" card for the Century student who was an in-class tutor for me last year.  But I am still nervous when in the store with Gracie and forgot. (I should have made a list and next time, I will.)  Gracie behaved perfectly in the store, but I was nervous.  Now I realize that the practice in public every day is for me!  I need to work on being more comfortable and get over feeling like I've brought a dog into a place where a dog doesn't belong.  The store people know it and Gracie knows it.  The problem is me.  Thank goodness I have three months and the desire and willingness to work on this.  I know the pay off will be big for me and for others who navigate the world with a service animal.  We'll get the gift certificate and card tomorrow!

After growling at Bruce for a couple days, Gracie has now accepted him even though I've told him that he can't cuddle or play with her...just an occasional pat.  This picture was just too cute to not include.  Does she feel a solidarity with him for putting up with me?  Maybe.

Gracie and Bruce



Day 8: Extended Outing

Monday, May 30

We got up today intending to work in the garden, only to discover that our vegetable garden had been vandalized.  Rabbits would be the usual suspect...and there was a suspicious looking bite in one of the cabbage leaves.  However, a number of leaves--uneaten--were broken off the plants and lying in the soil.  I suspect that the illegally unleashed dogs that owners seem to think the trail through the woods behind out house was designed to host are responsible.  Well, not the dogs themselves but their misguided--and criminally negligent--owners are responsible.  This was annoying, but the thought of one of the large dogs that live in our neighborhood potentially attacking Gracie in her own yard is simply not acceptable.  I plan to call the city and insist that the leash law be enforced in the park!  Numerous dog parks have sprung up around town for those who want to let their dogs run free (well, sort of free).  Our park and our back yard are not dog parks.  As IHDI has advised, though, Gracie and I will not be visiting one of those.  Instead, we'll get our exercise together both in and outside: playing with a ball or her toy that squeaks; going to walks and, eventually, runs; bike riding and so on.

After I finished picking up the leaves, the sky darkened, followed by lightening, heavy rain, and even pea sized hail!  What had started out as a good day to garden became a good day to go to a movie.  Earlier in the week, my friend Jan suggested seeing the 3-D cartoon Kung-Fu Panda 2.  Since I rely on lip-reading, I can't follow the conversation in a movie unless the actors face the audience when they speak and the camera stays on the speaker for the whole speech, all of which rarely happens.  Reading the lips of cartoon animals is impossible.  However, cartoons are usually pretty easy to follow.  The advent of 3-D and the fact that the theater is the only reasonable place at the moment to enjoy 3-D, make going to 3-D movies worth it.  Besides, this cartoon is set in China--cartoon China--and Jan and I went to China on the same tour a few years ago. 

Gracie and I drove to Jan's, and the three of us walked to the theater.  After a quick potty break, Gracie was ready to go in.  The concessions guy even gave me a cup, so I could give Gracie a little water.  Gracie then sat in my lap for the whole film.  Inspired by the Panda's love of noodles and memories of all the wonderful food we had while in China, Jan suggested we go to the Chinese restaurant across from the theater.  I hesitated, wondering if this would be too much for Gracie: a movie and a restaurant visit.  But then I thought about school and the three hour class we will be having on Fridays starting at the end of August.

Gracie goes to a movie AND to a restaurant with only a potty break and a few well-deserved pats in between.

The more we do, the better she does!  Later, when we got home, Gracie and I sat out front enjoying the 87 degree temperature and the brisk breeze.  Good thing we got the flea medicine applied that Martha recommended we get ASAP.  Now Gracie can enjoy the thick, cool grass without worrying about fleas!

Gracie learning to enjoy the street traffic from the safety of my feet.



Day 7: Eating Out

 Sunday, May 29, 2011

Every day finds me discovering in new ways how well trained Gracie is, thanks to the wonderful people at International Hearing Dog, Inc. (IHDI).
 

Today we went to Perkins for Sunday Brunch ...along with many many other people including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar!  Before putting on Gracie's orange vest and going in, we took a "hurry up" potty break.  We then put on the Hearing Dog vest and went in.  Bruce and his friend were already sitting in a booth.  We joined them.  Gracie lay down at my feet after being told to "settle" and waited quietly while we ordered and ate.  The best part of all was that, thanks to Gracie, the waitress understood that I had a serious hearing issue.  Because of this, I didn't have to explain myself every time she came back to the table to say something more that I was not able to understand because I wasn't looking at her until she was already halfway through what she had come to ask. 

As a self-taught lip reader, I think I do pretty well when I know someone is going to talk and I have the time and opportunity to look at the person while he or she speaks.  When I am not looking right at the person speaking, I do not know what he or she is saying and sometimes I do not even know that the person is speaking (or, at least, speaking to me).  Because people in general don't like to repeat themselves and because I don't like upsetting people by asking them to do this, I have developed the bad habit of acting like I know what was said when I don't really know at all. Other times, I say, "I don't hear well.  Could you please repeat that?"  Unfortunately, most people don't know that saying exactly what they said before would be the best thing for me.  When they say it a different way, I have to decode it all from the beginning!  That is a lot of work and very tiring.

Bruce's friend wanted to know--when he first got here yesterday--what a Hearing Dog was supposed to do for me (since obviously a dog does not talk and cannot, therefore, help me carry on a conversation more effectively).  When he asked, I listed off the basic list of skills Gracie came with (the ones we are practicing together).  Today I would say instead, "Gracie makes my life easier by bringing my hearing loss out of the closet."  Today, though, he didn't ask.  Today he could see himself that this was true.  He could see what an amazingly well trained dog Gracie is and how this allows me to be more relaxed when out in public with her!

"I don't see your hearing aids," he did say at one point this morning and then added,  "That's a good thing."  But I don't hide my hearing aids intentionally.  Like Gracie, I have thick, wavy hair.  I don't want to hide my hearing loss as if having a hearing loss made me abnormal.  We are all different in some way.  Instead of pretending that we're not, we should be ourselves and, in this way, allow others to do the same.  Being different from others in some way isn't abnormal; it's normal!

Day 6: Old Hat

Saturday, May 28

Today started out promising to be the ideal Memorial Weekend day weatherwise.  Biking to the Coop for more sprouts and milk felt like old hat.  Into the bike trailer and into the store went smoothly.  Even telling Gracie to "hurry up" to relieve herself before going on duty in her Hearing Dog vest went smoothly.

When we got back home, we found an old college friend of Bruce's waiting for him in the kitchen.  Off they went to play golf for the day.  So Gracie and I decided to drive to Cedar Lake and take advantage of our Minneapolis Park Board parking sticker.   Wearing the orange Hearing Dog vest, Gracie hit the Cedar Lake walking path at a trot and deftly ignored the other dogs being walked and even the occasional "what a cute dog" remark which, of course, she is.  (I hope they weren't referring to me, now that I think about it.  Probably not, right?)  No one was at the Cedar Lake beach, so we tried wading out a bit to see how cold the water still is and to see what Gracie thinks about water, lake water.  Out she waded, not a moments hesitation.  Kayaking and canoeing might just work!  Gracie seems to be up for anything I'm doing.  (Though she really does not like the garage door either opening or shutting.)

Gracie looked thirsty.  I don't have a portable dog bowl yet; though that is on my list.  I'm not sure about drinking the lake water either.  I wouldn't and so don't think she should either.  So we came home for a cool drink and a little rest. I didn't have that camera, so another shot of Gracie sleeping is all I can include today.

This dog knows a lot, including how to be comfortable!

Day 5: Mow Learning

Friday, May 27

Gracie is with me all the time--well, almost all the time.  Today I thought I would mow the front yard while Gracie watched me.  I tethered her to ground, told her to wait, and got the push mower out of the garage.  All was good until people began appearing: a woman walking past on the sidewalk, two workmen coming down the driveway across the street, the mailman crossing the lawn to put mail in our slot.  Gracie--usually so quiet and calm--barked each time.  Oh, no! I thought, this will never do.  We can't have barking at school.

Of course "school" is three months away.  But still....  I sat down with her to figure out what the problem was (and, of course, do a little petting).  I remembered reading that I should keep my hearing dog's leash on for the first several days.  I could attach the leash to a belt if need be.  So in we went and found a belt.  I also put Gracie's Hearing Dog vest on her.  Gracie went up and down with me mowing the yard and not barking at anyone anymore.  This was good exercise for both of us.

Gracie is definitely a different dog when wearing her orange vest--a professional.  She also loves riding in car too and is always up for that.  So this afternoon, just as the rain began, we went to Trader Joe's in the car.  Decked out in her vest, Gracie walked the aisles like a queen and then waited patiently in the bagging area.  Though lots of Labor Day shoppers filled the store, Gracie didn't bark at anyone. 

Dog tired.

Day 4: Biking

Thursday, May 26

This morning, Gracie and I did a lot of practicing: someone is at the door; hey, the phone is ringing!; and wake up, the smoke alarm went off.  It's hard not giving her a treat for everything, but Martha said only for the phone since that one is the hardest one for any dog--even amazing Gracie--to find urgent.  Getting a coveted treat, of course, IS urgent...especially when she sees it sitting by the phone BEFORE it rings.  I'm glad we have three months to work on all this!!  I'm also glad Gracie is so patient with me.  What a good dog.

After our work, Gracie and I took a bike ride.  The bike trailer I found on Craig's List a few years ago for grocery shopping is perfect--a little heavier than most bike trailers (the reason it was for sale, actually), it is very stable even with a light load like groceries...or Gracie.  Best of all, Gracie likes it.  She likes it so much, she didn't want to get out of the cart when we got back to the house.  Next stop?  Lake Harriet!!

Stopping off at Bruce's office for a quick pic.  Smile, Gracie!

Day 3: Errands in Earnest

Wednesday, May 25

This morning, Martha arrived at 9:30 a.m. and announced that she was leaving.  The story of her past as a professional dog trainer was very interesting.  Clearly, both Gracie and I are beneficiaries of Martha's experience.  Though we are ready to work on our own after Martha's five coaching sessions, it was sad to see her go.  Gracie is really fond of her and I am too.


After Martha left, Gracie and I headed out to run errands.  First stop, the BoneAdventure where we got a seat belt for Gracie and found a perfect dog car seat that could double as a bike trailer bed that we are seriously considering, especially since I had to pry Gracie out of it after she sampled it for a few minutes.  Next we went to the Coop.  Being with Gracie helped me notice how good the Coop smells with its Deli section.  I wondered if this would distract her, but it didn't!  When she is wearing her Hearing Dog   From there, we went to the bike store to check out the front facing bike seat that sits on the handle bars.  Though the idea was intriguing, Gracie is just a bit too big for it.  The bike shop folks had a lot of good suggestions the best of which was this: "Make sure she is comfortable."  The dog car seat at the BoneAdventure was certainly that!  Our final stop was at the Westgate Pet Clinic for the Frontline Flea Prevention that Martha insisted we have for Gracie as my lawn and garden assistant.  That turned out to be more of an ordeal than I planned as Gracie had to be weighed and photographed because dosage is dependent on weight.

After a quick but noisy walk back to the car, Gracie and I headed home.  This time, we were both exhausted.  





Errands wear me out!



Day 2: Venturing Out

Tuesday, May 24

In some ways, I feel that Gracie has always been here.  She is so calm and so accommodating to  whatever I am doing.  Because of all this, I boldly went to Target with her this afternoon, hoping to get her a seatbelt designed for dogs--a harness affair that will double for bike rides and maybe even boating. I knew that Petco had what I was looking for; however, Petco is like a dog park in that they allow every dog to come in.  Martha told me NOT to go there with Gracie--like taking the Queen to McDonalds or maybe like taking the Dali Lama to a prize fight. So, instead, we went to Target.

Gracie wore her service dog vest and was the model of civility, from the car ride to the check out line.  I, however, was a basket case.  Of course, we drew attention, which made me surprisingly self-conscious.  I was prepared to be confronted and planned to show my service dog credentials which I'd thoughtfully brought along.  No one stopped us or asked any questions or even tried to pet Gracie, who looked very businesslike and professional.  Target didn't have any seatbelts for dogs.  I could have gotten other things there--like something for our recycling stuff--but I couldn't think.  I guess I need more training and more practice.  I'm lucky Gracie is as patient as she is.

Day 1: Gracie arrives

Monday, May 23

Today, Gracie arrived with Martha, the founder of IHDI--International Hearing Dog, Inc.  Gracie was wary of me, but she is a very friendly dog who has given me the benefit of the doubt all day.  Though she clearly prefered Martha to me as long as Martha was around, Gracie was willing to walk to the Vet for a dog brush with me and then stay quietly with me while I planted a few flowers in the garden.  She played fetch a bit but stopped because I found myself saying, "Go get it," which Martha said NOT to do as "go" sounds too much like "no"!   As Martha advised, I gave her dinner at 4 p.m., which she ate all up (as her instructions said she might not do!)  Now she is napping while I write.