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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
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"
Yesterday my friend Josephine came over. She said hi to me, and I was happy to see her since it had been a long while! I did get a little jealous when mom and dad were giving her lots of attention, but she gave me some happy Jojo looks so I got over it quickly!
While Josephine was here, she told me that I looked nice and skinny. So I had daddy weigh me on the Wii Fit Plus (I have my own character!). Turns out Josephine was right, I have lost one lb and weigh 50 lbs now! Yippie! That makes me happy because it means I can get slightly bigger meals again. Last time mom and dad weighed me they shook their heads and put me on a diet! That was no fun. But now I am back down to 50 lbs, though mom says probably 49 lbs would be my ideal weight, she says I deserve to be able to have an extra lb if I want one! And I do! I LOVE food!
Last night was AWESOME! My friends Auntie Sonja and Uncle Hendrik came over just to see me! Silly Ollie kept trying to say hi, but I could tell they only cared about me and not about Ollie at all. I could swear Auntie Sonja told me that they came over to see me and only me, and they didn't even really care about seeing mom or dad, or the chocolate covered cherry cake.
I said hi very nicely (unlike Mr. Ollie-monster who tried to maul them in his excitement) and then I helped distract Ollie by playing with him-- see what a good doggie I am? I helped out when Uncle Hendrik spilled some soup, I caught it nicely on my bum for him, then licked it off. Tasty treat and a helpful gesture, everyone was so pleased! Then I helped out while they played Wii. I made sure the couch was always a nice warm spot to sit on, and I made sure that Auntie Sonja and Uncle Hendrik got plenty of chances to sit close together by taking up about half the couch.
I could tell that I was the princess of the evening in everyone's eyes. Even the cats told me how wonderful I was a few times! He he, the life of a diva and retired service dog is great!
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