Healing Through All The Senses

I'm home today.  I haven't been feeling well and need to take a couple days to recover before my job gets busy again for the next month.  My day started as usual.  I got up early, now before it is light outside, to let the dogs outside.  I checked my email while they ran and played in the yard. 

But then, when I let them back inside, I laid back down in bed for a bit.  The puppy bounced around on top of my various body parts and played in the covers.  His enthusiasm was at first less than appreciated, but soon he had me smiling at his abundance of energy.  Treasure found me right away and came over to snuggle, trying to find a safe place to avoid being bounced on by Brinks.  She nuzzled her head into my arm and my chest and gave me a few licks on the chin.  I lost myself in time, as I laid there with her, both of us connected in the moment, and I started to feel better.

I really didn't feel like going out, but I had library books due today, so I made myself get in the car.  My thought was to get it done earlier in the day, so I could come home and sleep.  But a marvelous thing happened as I was driving to the library.  All my favorite songs seemed to be playing on the radio, so I was singing along.  And the landscape had exploded with every color imaginable!  It is autumn and the trees are so incredible to look at, that it's important to remind myself at every opportunity to pay attention to the road in front of me. 

I had no schedule, nowhere I had to be at a certain time, no one I had to answer to.  My day has been one small moment of healing after another.  It's easy to forget to notice those moments when we get caught up in our routine and our schedules.  Those small moments where, if we allow ourselves, we can rejuvenate and connect with ourselves.  Where we can experience healing. 

It occurred to me that healing happens through all of our senses when we allow it to.  The touch of a special dog's head resting on my chest, feeling her breathing, being encompassed by her loving energy.  The sounds of music and meaningful lyrics of my favorite songs.  The birds singing in the new morning light.  Singing along with those songs; a form of expression.  Seeing the bright vibrant colors of the trees spreading everywhere along the horizon.  Feeling the cool crisp autumn air.  Smelling and tasting the healing power of food as I prepare and eat my lunch, and then on to a nap. 

How nice it was to be reminded of these things today and to be able to slow down and appreciate them all.  I hope every one of you will experience your own moments of healing today and every day.  

In Her Likeness ...

A huge THANK YOU to our friend, Mary Beth Genter, for creating this perfect likeness of Treasure on her new bag!  Everyone loves the bag, especially me - and Treasure!  

Learning to Heel ... Finally!

Another beautiful picture of Treasure from the sheltie picnic! 

It's been a year since taking Treasure through obedience classes.  I had started teaching her to heel then, but it just wasn't happening the way I had hoped.  I wanted her to learn to lean into my leg, so she could feel it moving and know which direction to come with me.  Treasure tends to want to walk slightly away from my leg, and she cues very well with a slight jiggle of the leash, but keeping her in heel position with a loose leash is tricky because she can't see to reference where she needs to be in relation to my leg.  I've been wanting to try using a solid leash to give her more feedback as to my position, speed, etc. 

Well, today I finally made a solid leash ... I know, I know, what took me so long?!  I let her sniff it before putting it on her, just to let her know what this new thing was.  It worked like a charm!  Of course, she had already learned to walk in the direction that she feels very light collar pressure, either from a leash, or from my hand lightly guiding her by the collar.  This made the transition to the solid leash very smooth.

We walked short distances, after which I stopped to give her a treat and a pet.  I kept a very light contact between Treasure's collar and the solid leash.  It was nice to be able to stand up straight and walk in a normal manner, but I was still able to guide her on her level through the leash snap.  An about turn went well, but slowly.  As she gains confidence, I'm sure her speed will return.  She walks much faster with the solid leash on a straight path than she does with a regular leash.  I think this is because she is getting more information from the contact on the solid leash, so she feels more confident stepping out. 

When I touch her collar, she will scoot forward very quickly, knowing that she can trust me not to run her into anything. When she walks on her own, she goes much slower to avoid smacking her nose on things.  So it makes sense that having a light contact on the leash gives her that same confidence.  

I also introduced her to a collar cue for sit, as in sitting when I halt.  I moved the solid leash at a slight angle and at the same time lifted very lightly under her chin.  I gave the cue immediately before giving her the sit cue she already knows of touching her rear end.  By the third time, she sat with only the collar cue before I could touch her.  Good girl!  Of course, she is a very smart girl and she does love those treats!! 

In other training, we are working again on stays ... sort of got lazy working on those.  She will now roll over, but she prefers going to her right side.  She will roll the other way, too, but only after she first rolls to the right.  She is learning to sit up and beg.  When we first tried it, she was very off balance, but now she is starting to balance for short periods of time.  We continue to work on shaking hands.  Sometimes she will lift a paw, but not consistently. 

We continue to work on K9 nosework.  She did a demo and amazed everyone at the sheltie picnic last weekend!  I am pairing odor with her hides now.  The first couple we did with odor, she definitely realized something was different and took a few extra seconds to sniff the odor before eating her treats.  Our official nosework training kit came yesterday, so ... happy scenting! 

Shelties and Fall!



Treasure, Owen, and Grace





Last weekend was Northern Chesapeake Sheltie Rescue's annual sheltie reunion picnic.  Grace and Treasure were both adopted through NCSR, and Owen, being a sheltie, was able to come join the fun too!  After a week of heavy rain, the weather cooperated and the rain held off for the afternoon.  There was so much delicious food shared by all!  The dogs enjoyed some bites of my hamburger at lunch time!

Games galore!  Musical sits, popcorn catching, biscuit on spoon race, trick contest, costume contest, who came the farthest, and more, but I can't remember them all right now.  Grace won the costume contest with her Halloween dress. Owen won the trick contest with his going to hide in the suitcase trick, among others.  Treasure got third in the trick contest by showing how she can respond to touch cues for sit, down and spin.  She got second place for smallest sheltie ... beat out by a tie between a puppy and her new brother, Timmy!  (Yes, we adopted a new boy and brought him home with us from the picnic!)

All in all, a very fun day.  We all went home tired, but happy.  Here's our newest family member, Timmy!

Please Adopt!!

September 17-25^th is Adopt-A-Less-Adoptable-Pet Week, sponsored by Petfinder.com.  It’s a very important week for me, since my Mom found me for the first time through Petfinder.com, and of course, I am considered by some to be less-adoptable because I was born both blind and deaf.  My mom knew from the first time she saw my picture that I was meant to be with her forever and ever.  Maybe you can find your own forever friend at Petfinder.com as well.  There is even a special tab you can check off to only see the animals that are considered to have special needs, like me!  It makes it a bit easier to search for us very special dogs.

If you’ve been reading my blog and you think you want to adopt a double merle, like me, please contact my Mom at k9concepts@hotmail.com because she knows about several around the country who are looking for their forever homes. 

I recently celebrated my one year anniversary in my new home!  Mom called it my New Life Day celebration.  It was lots of fun.  My human and dog friends all came to celebrate with me!  We painted and then had the most delicious cake and ice cream!  Please think about adopting today, so that many more deserving dogs can celebrate their New Life Days as well! 

Happy Day to Me!!

Eat Da Carrots!!

This past weekend Treasure helped out at our dog club booth at a huge horse show/fair.  She was part of the meet the breeds tent, helped tell people about therapy dogs, and she had a blast.  We educated a lot of people about the dangers of breeding double merles.  The kids especially loved her, probably because she was small and fluffy and white and perhaps didn't appear as threatening as some of the larger dogs.  But one small boy kept staring at her eyes.  When he found out she couldn’t see, he looked up at me very seriously and said, “She needs to eat da cawwatts (carrots)!  Day help de eyes!”  and he pointed to his eyes.  Too precious!! 

A Year of Firsts

Wow, Treasure has been with us one whole year already!  Have you ever stopped to think about a significant period of time?  Sometimes it seems the year has gone by so very fast.  I find myself surprised that it's been that long.  It seems like just a short time ago that I made that drive to pick up Treasure for the first time.  But sometimes I find myself surprised that it's only been one year.  It seems like she's been part of the family for so much longer than that.  Does this happen to you, or is it just me?

It really starts to sink in when I look at the puppy Brinks and realize that he's no longer a little puppy. He's now becoming all grown up.  If you remember, Brinks came home the very next morning after I picked up Treasure.  He has grown up with her.  When Brinks was small, Treasure wrestled and played with him all the time.  He napped next to her.  She taught him how to find the air conditioning vent and lay on top of it when the unit kicked on.  Together they learned where they fit into our family.

Now, Brinks is bigger, stronger, and a bit more enthusiastic than Treasure.  He would rather run and chase and tumble with the other dogs who aren't as calm as she is.  But he watches out for her and always greets her by licking her face all over enthusiastically.  She graciously tolerates these face washings.  Every once in awhile she will engage him in a short wrestle.  But it doesn't last very long before he overpowers her and she tires of the game.  When Treasure doesn't realize that we've moved to the next room or that the dogs have all come inside, Brinks will run back to her and touch her to let her know which way she should come.  I never taught him that; it's just something that he does. 

Treasure and I have had our year of firsts now - first class, first bath, first therapy visit, first snow, first road trip, first holidays, and so on.  It seems that passing each of these milestones has brought us into a kind of comfort - a familiarity perhaps.  She is completely at home here.  She is so full of confidence.  There is nothing we can't do together. 

I watch her run up her set of steps to my bed every night, trying to be the first to get her bedtime cookie.  Was it really that long ago that she waited cautiously for me to help her go up and down them?  Now, if I look away for a second, I miss it she's so fast! 

She gets impatient when I spend too much time at the computer and pokes me with her nose.  If that doesn't work, she puts her front feet up on my leg.  Usually, that will do the trick.  She will get a pat and an ear rub just because she's so darn cute! 

Treasure's favorite time of day (besides anytime she gets food!) is floor time.  I lay on the floor and all the dogs crowd around me.  Some just to lay by me for belly rubs.  Some bring toys to be thrown or tugged with.  Treasure comes and plays with me by pushing me with her head and pawing at me.  Sometimes she plays King (or Queen!) of the Mountain by climbing on top of me.  She's quite content to be right in the middle of the crazy dog pile! 

Happy One Year Anniversary Treasure!