Gone to the Dogs

     My very first dog when I was a kid, was Freckles, an Australian Shepherd. I got him as a puppy. He was just like any other pet a family would have around the house. I didn't know how to train, either did my family. The things that dog trainers roll their eyes at. I did with Freckles. I was a kid, and certainly didn't know any better. Freckles had no recall, and eventually ran out in the street and got hit by a car. He was about two years old when that happened.

      Growing up in high school we had another family dog, Malena. She too was an Australian shepherd. My dad fed her peanuts all the time. She was fat and stunk. At this time my nose was tweaked towards dogs and didn't like stinky dogs. Amazing this dog lived to 16 years old.

        When I was in college, I was having a hard time hearing the emergency alarm in the dorms. At this time I used sign language interpreters for my classes. My vision was better and I had no idea an assistive listening device would be helpful for me. My sign language interpreter was telling me about hearing dogs. I thought they were for the completely deaf and not the hard-of-hearing. The interpreter encouraged me to apply.

        At this time I was really interested in getting a border collie. It was 1987, no one knew what this breed was and thought they were some mixed mutt. I found a lady who sold herding dogs and got Watson. We went through the Ann Salem Hearing Dog Program with the Riverside Humane Society. We had a 14 week class where we learned obedience and how to teach our dogs sound alerts. We trained our own dogs. There were 10 of us in the class. 

       During this time in my life, I had worked off and on at Veterinary Hospitals while attending college. I loved working with the dogs and tending to their care.

       I did moderate herding. I entered in a number of Novice-Novice trials. I did the best I could, but distance, was a challenge to see. I often wondered if I went to higher levels of competition if I could have the bioptic lens they have for people who have low vision. The trialing committee didn't like it when another woman tried to use a small telescope to see her dog. You had to use your bare eyes. This would put me at a severe disadvantage.

        I bought a second dog, Meg, who's full name I changed to Nutmeg. She was a red and white border collie. Very shy and very little confidence. I could work her on stock, but if anyone screamed, she was gone. I never trialed with her. She was such a timid dog she never interfered with Watson's hearing dog alerts. So we were a nice little family.

         At this time I felt like there was no other dog than the border collie. But, with Watson getting older and having severe hip dysplasia, I needed to look for another border collie to be my hearing dog. I searched high and low, tried a few dogs that didn't work out and even tried a puppy I named Jazz, short for Jasmine. Unfortunately at 4 months she had popping hip dysplasia and since I couldn't afford the surgery, I gave her back to the breeder. This really broke my heart and I couldn't stop crying. The breeder was upset that I returned her, but what could I do? I couldn't afford the surgery and her popping was bad. The breeder had the surgery performed and found a good home for her.

         During this time I was training with a service dog organization apprenticing as a service dog trainer. I trained a black lab, that later found he had seizures and had to be dropped from the program and I also trained an over size sheltie that looked like a miniature Lassie. The structure was definitely Collie and didn't have the dish head of a sheltie. His name was Bo.

          I was working for a dog groomer and had my own pet sitting business. I was doing agility with my sister's McNab Jolie. This was 1994. Agility was a new sport and the community was small. I had a lot of fun doing agility and knew I liked this much better than the regime of obedience. However, how I learned obedience was by choke chain in 1987. It was now 1994 and I had learned previously another method called Clicker Training. I was slowly transforming over. I had viewed the Karen Pryor and Gary Wilkes video and had been reading the Book Don't Shoot the Dog. What a neat new way of training. I was hooked.

          In 1995 I moved to Los Angeles and worked for the Federal Government working with wildlife. I was still looking for a successor dog to Watson. I tried a few more dogs that didnt' work out, two more border collies. I then found Reid, a red and white border collie. Again, I was a sucker, letting people push their dogs on me. When will Iearn? I didn't want to hurt other people's feelings. Reid only lasted two years as a service dog. He developed some chemical imbalance and serious aggression issues. After this experience and several border collies later, I felt that I need to try another breed. That's when I got a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. They look like miniature Golden Retrievers or Golden puppies. They are redder and most have a pink nose. They have strong personalities and know what they want. They are not as easy going as a Golden Retriever. They think more. I adored Rubi and she taught me a lot about Clicker Training. Some people would call her wilful, but through clicker training she taught me the meaning of reinforcement and how to get her to do behavior freely than with force. I got her in 1998. Due to her wanting to smell the flowers and had her own agenda, she was not a natural hearing dog. I was able to do a perfect back chain of teaching her a hearing dog alert. She would offer this if the set up was how she was trained, but in the middle of the night while I was sleeping, no. Thus, she was not a natural hearing dog. I had to get another.

           This is when I was first introduced to the Belgian Malinois. Three pups were dumped off to the SPCA in Los Angeles. I weakened and adopted one. Jewel. She was a more natural hearing dog. Unfortunately she was killed in a freak accident at age 5 in April 2004. The heart break of this was difficult. She is the one sitting in front of Salmon Glacier on this blog. She traveled to Alaska with me and back. She was a very quiet dog and hardly ever barked. Loosing her was a challenge to work through and a time I did not have ears to hear the world around me. Her big ears were like radars that turned for me to hear. The movement cued me into the world around me. I knew with this I needed a dog with up ears. So I decided to get another Belgian Malinois. It was hard to decide to go with another Malinois or get my own McNab. Since I only  had Jewel for 5 years, I decided to try another Malinois. I got Mickey.

            Mickey has a very outgoing personality. Much more personable than Jewel. He's vocal and very expressive, which some people do not take to very well. They think dogs should be quiet, that means they are obedient. Dogs that are vocal, expressive and full of energy are sometimes perceived as not well behaved. Sometimes it is that energy that people like to have to do higher active work. The creativeness of Mickey makes him an awesome working dog; he's certainly not a quiet docile pet. But I love this energy of Mickey. His connection to his environment makes him a fantastic hearing dog. I can hear! I see what he hears. His over expressive nature can be a nuisance to people. In some places, they love it too, in the workplace, depending on the people it may not be a problem. But my current workplace, it was a problem and I had to apply for a new dog.

             I got Divine in July 2010. She is a career changed guide dog that was donated to The Hearing Dog Program in San Francisco. She works very differently than Mickey. She's very quiet, which pleases my work. To transform her to be a more vivid dog is what I have had to do the past few months. She's learning how to be a hearing dog, after working all her life being primed as a guide dog. She's adorable and darling.

             Mickey still works for me. I take him out in the evening and on public transportation. He's quiet and fine in those environments. In many ways his ability to alert me to incidental things makes me feel connected to my world. I have both dogs now and love them dearly. I'm so fortunate that I have two great dogs with very different personalities. It makes life very interesting.

             I have also started a dog instruction business where I help people train their dogs.I will soon be competing in AKC obedience with Mickey and will also try Rally Obedience. It takes a lot of work to perfect your dog for the obedience exercises. Doing activities with your dogs is a lot of fun! I certainly  have gone to the dogs.