Woof - We'd love to share this portion of Dogster with you, but first you'll need to login.
If you don't have a Dogster account yet, you can register in about 60 seconds. Registering allows you to use all our free features while allowing us to create a safer, more meaningful environment for the community as a whole.
Registering is fast, free and lets you create your dog page(s), find adoptable dogs, save your favorites, connect to your Pup Pals and more.
Likes: I like long walks on the beach (and off!), training and playing with my best friends Saki and Snowy!
Pet-Peeves: Other doggies running over to me and barking at me when I didn't do anything to them... especially when I am behaving myself on leash and they are illegally off leash!
Favorite Toy: A blue fishy that has three small blue balls with squeakers hidden inside! I love to pull the smaller toys out and sqeak on them!
Favorite Food: Ham and hotdogs and cheese and pepperoni and baby food and, and, and... yum I love training! I also like raw chicken a whole lot! I used to eat Innova Evo which I think is the best kibble on the market, but now I'm a raw fed girl!
Favorite Walk: Wildcat canyon, the Bay Trail
Best Tricks: I bring my mom her medicine twice a day, I like to spin, lay down and catch treats, I recognize mood swings in my mommy and help her not get too depressed or manic or panicky, and I can do lots more!
Arrival Story: I had to live in the Orange County (North Carolina) APS animal shelter twice! The first time I came in, I was a stray. I was adopted by a woman who worked two jobs. She left me in a crate for 8 hours a day during her first job, then came home and let me have run of the house for four hours during her second job. I was very bored and also worried about being forgotten so I developed some bad habits and separation anxiety. We got kicked out of our house because of me. She took me back to the shelter after I got into some paint. I thought no one would pick me when I went back to the shelter, but there was this nice lady who came around every afternoon at the shelter and would take me for walks. She even held me while my picture was being taken to go on the APS website (you can see this picture to the left). I was very nice when she came around, and I made her fall in love with me. Every time she tried to walk me I just sat down and leaned up against her asking to be pet. The next thing I knew, she brought this man to see me. The nice lady, who became my mommy, kept talking with the man, who is my daddy, about bringing me home. They couldn't decide, so I suggested they take me for a walk. I behaved very well on the walk and kept trying to cuddle with them. My charms worked, and they took me home the next day!
Bio: When my parents brought me home, I had really bad separation anxiety. I chewed up a LOT of stuff! I was so worried they wouldn't come back that I couldn't help myself... I ate textbooks and movies and their wedding album and orchids... Once I got some raw sweet potatoes that my mommy had thought were high out of my reach and I ate three or four of them. My poop was very orange for a few days! Anyway, my mommy and daddy helped me calm down by leaving for only a second and coming right back, then leaving for a minute, then for five minutes and so on. After about six months or so I wasn't chewing things up anymore. Around that time my mommy realized that I noticed and alerted her when she was getting depressed or manic or having a panic attack (my mommy is bipolar type II and has a panic disorder) and that I was trying to either cheer her up or calm her down depending on the situation. She encouraged that behavior and also taught me to bring her the medicine case twice a day when I get my breakfast and dinner. Sometimes I'm sneaky and try to bring her the case an hour early, but she just tells me to put it back and wait until my real dinner time. I guess there's no fooling her! When she starts getting anxious I lay my head on her knee and petting me helps calm her down before she gets out of control. I do lots of other things, too, like tell mom when it's time to get on or off the BART train and I can even lead mom home from the station. On August 11th, 2006 I passed my public access test with a score of 100% to become a certified service dog. I've been working full time for a while, and while it's fun to have a job, it's also a lot of work! My knee started to hurt last winter, so I officially retired on November 6th, 2008. We recently added Ollivander to our family, and he is training to replace me-- well, no pup will ever really replace me. He'll just be going to work and stuff with mom. I'm enjoying my life of retirement, and sleeping all day means I have more energy to play with Ollie and go on walks and play tug with mom and dad.
Forums Motto: To break injustice we must break silence Dogster Local Spots I've Marked: Creature Comfort Holistic Veterinary Center, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, Gregoire, Farmer's Kitchen Cafe, Dr. Karen Rettig, Alternatives for Animals The Groups I'm In: Service Dogs Group
The Last Forum I Posted In: Submit comments on discriminatory Air Carrier Access Act
Links!: youtube videos of me, flyer about me and other service dogs
This morning mom got the bright idea to take some holiday photos. I was super excited at first when she got out my Santa dress, and I rushed right over to pose in front of the camera. I am a natural model, I know my angles and how to pose. Unfortunately mom and dad are not models at all and have no idea about these things. They kept moving me and Ollie around, asking us to sit and stand in weird positions, angling us and them incorrectly so we got sunbeams on our faces, and just making a mess of things! Mom set the camera up to remotely take photos 10 at a time, and they had gotten about 250 pictures (yes, that means twenty-five times...) before I stepped in. Ollie tried to eat his antlers, he got a leaf on his nose, mom fell over, dad tried to pick me up, it was a mess! All along I was trying to pose but they kept doing these strange things and making the pictures look awful. Finally just as mom and dad were going to give up on the whole photo idea, mom was sitting down with Ollie across her lap and I walked over, found the light and the right angles, and posed my heart out! Dad saw what a great photo it would be and he pushed the shutter and ran over to hop in the photo! It was magic! Just to be safe, mom and dad took another set of 10 in the same position. I told them all along they should just listen to me, I am the superdoggiemodel! Mom is cropping photos now, so stay tuned they should be up within a couple of hours!
Today has been boooooring! Mom gave me a bath, then she and dad started grooming Ollie which took all. day. long... And mom cooked a turkey, but didn't give me any! It was a long day. But when Ollie was done with his haircut we went in the yard and played for a bit. A squirrel came down the tree and chattered at us to go away, so Ollie and I chased him back up the tree! It was FUN! Then I decided to see if I could sneak around and trick that squirrel, so I hid in the Cala Lilly under the tree and mom took some photos of me. I really hope I get some turkey tonight, that squirrel worked up my appetite!
PLEASE HELP THOSE DISABLED BY MENTAL ILLNESS
As more people are being diagnosed with a mood disorder, the use of psychiatric service animals has increased as well. These animals (usually Psychiatric Service Dogs - PSDs) go through rigorous training to learn to perform specific tasks. They can include giving an alert to a manic or a panic attack, reminding the handler to take their medication, providing grounding during a panic attack and interrupt repetitive behavior, among other things.
This year, new rules were enacted that require airline passengers with PSDs to provide a 48-hour notice and a detailed letter from their mental health practioner stating they have a disabling mental illness.
Why isn't this being done to others using service animals for physical illnesses? They don't have to provide any notice or documentation.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) made these changes because they were concerned that people would misrepresent their pets as psychiatric service animals. However, requiring documentation and notice for psychiatric service animals is not a solution. Other people can simply fake other types of service animals as well. Why are we once again being singled out?
The Department of Transportation has recently opened another comment period ending December 17, 2009 for people to respond to these new rules.
Without your help, the discrimination will continue. Won't you make your voice heard by sending a letter to the DOT?
Make your voice heard now by visiting the following webpage and entering your zip code where it says "take action now"
My Account
