Cabernet for a Cause
T-shirts anyone?
I am doing some “spring” cleaning and found these t-shirts. Anyone want? Leave a comment claiming your shirt and e-mail me at beckac@gmail.com with your address. I will send the shirts out as soon as all three are claimed!
The “Our Dogs are Magic” shirt is a child’s Large.
The “KSDS Puppy Raiser Answers” shirt is an adult small.
The “Dog wearing cone of shame” shirt is an American Apparel “classic girl” style medium (it’s smaller than an adult small and a girly cut).
It’s been a long time…
And I hate that I am one of those bloggers who writes “Sorry it’s been so long…” posts. But here it is. : )
Beale is doing wonderfully. We’ve been kind of slacking (see? FAILURES!) on our commitment to her lately, but she doesn’t seem to be fazed at all. She even went to an adult program for the severely disabled and was AMAZING. She was immediately welcomed by a woman who has Down Syndrome and spent much of the day being poked, prodded and hugged. She gamely greeted every person there, even though some of them wanted NOTHING to do with her. I was so proud of my puppy… she handled ear tugging and eye poking like a pro.
A couple of days later, I took Beale to a respite job with me. I was watching a 5 year old who has autism and his 2.5 year old brother. The 2 year old loves dogs, so Mom invited Beale! Beale did a good job with the boys, but was incredibly wary of the the 2 year old. The kid kept trying to “ride” her, by waiting until Beale would lie down and close her eyes, then sneaking up to her to throw his leg over. Beale was having none of it. She’d gently slide him to the floor as she got up and move to another corner of the room. I don’t think Beale wants a baby just yet.
Don’t get me wrong, she did wonderfully, but I don’t think she was happy.
I’m not sure I’ve ever written about my favorite thing about Beale, but here goes: I love that she watches me. Trego was an independent pup. She’d go off in another room and entertain herself. She would come when called (if we were inside) but she didn’t stick by me. Beale is a whole different pup. She always has one eye on me (even when she’s fighting with her brother!) and responds to the slightest gesture in her direction. She even twists when in a sit-stay so that she can tell what I’m doing. (I don’t think that’s very obedient, but it’s darn cute!)
I hope that KSDS can use Beale’s attentiveness to the advantage of her partner, because it seems like such a tool that could be helpful in service.
Oh, and when the 2.5 year old from my respite appointment saw that my hand gestures got Beale to do things, he tried it too. AND BEALE LISTENED! Beale sat and “downed” for the kid! It was SOOOOOO cute!
Yay Beale!
Love from Sacramento,
B
Tightening my blogroll
Hello friends!
I just deleted about half of the blogs I usually follow from my Google Reader. Some of the expected results of this move include:
Time to read everything that is in my reader each day!
More of a connection with the people whose blogs I truly care about (my friends IRL and people who have excellent writing skills for the most part).
However, I expect this move will also have unexpected consequences, including the possible removal of a blog I should continue reading.
That said, if you notice that I have stopped following your blog (ie. if your service e-mails you about that or I stop commenting and you expect comments from me regularly), and you want me to continue or think it might be a mistake, send me an e-mail or a comment! Also, I now have room to add a few more service dog/biking/affordable housing/living with disabilities/speech therapy blogs to my feed. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment here!
More Beale pics on the way!
Becka and Beale
January 15
My most recent picture of Beale. On the way to our Sunday morning coffee-and-the-paper ritual.
Beale and I just reached our year-iversary. I picked her up on the foggiest day I had ever experienced in Kansas on January 15. You might remember that it was also a pretty sad day for me, because I was leaving Miss Trego at KSDS, Inc. (At that point, I thought Trego would go on to be a guide dog. She had cataracts in both eyes, though, and is now a pet in Olathe, Kan.)
One of my last photos of Trego. With Lee J. at Trego's "going away dinner."
About four hours after I said goodbye to Trego, though, I was handed a new black lab puppy (I had really wanted yellow!). I immediately fell in love with Beale’s white eyeliner face and her tiny paws. She was much prettier than Trego had ever been!
Trego on her first day with me.
Beale and Mom on our first day together.
Now we’ve been together for just over a year. In this time, Beale has learned how to:
Come when called! (Trego never learned that one! : ) )
Sit
Stay (for a very long time!)
Down
Down and under
Leave it
Heel
Left and right (when Mom doesn’t mix them up!)
Kennel (EVERY TIME.)
Stay in her kennel quietly when asked (even if there are other dogs out of their kennels in the house!)
Buckle up (Get in the car and find her spot on the floorboards.)
Here-up
Weigh yourself (get on the scale at the vet and sit quietly)
High five
Go outside
Hurry up
And she will potty on virtually any surface!
Beale is comfortable around children, adults and other animals. She is curious and kind and she knows that little people and little dogs want her to be calm so that they can play together.
She is not thrown by wheelchairs or walkers or pacers or other equipment. And I think she prefers children with disabilities to the “typical” ones. They have smells and tastes and sounds that interest her and she likes making them smile and being a “therapy” dog when teachers let her visit their classes.
And she likes computers, the Internet and Cisco WebEx. At least, she likes the people at Cisco WebEx. No one lets her use the program by herself!
Beale has also overcome her fears very well. She was a very submissive dog who was afraid of all new dogs for a while (probably because she was traumatized by Mr. Wiggles at my parents’ house!). Now, though, she is a big brave dog who loves everyone but will wait for them to love on her!
And she can travel. Beale has been to California! (OK, we live in California!) She has also been to Kansas and Missouri and Delaware and Washington, D.C., and to Denver and to a bunch of other places. She takes all of this in stride. Airplanes are no big deal. And TSA regulations don’t phase my pup. Oh, and she is roughly the size of the space under one seat on a United flight. She’ll fit. Don’t worry.
I feel very lucky that Beale has grown into such a wonderful dog. She has adjusted to my changes of schedule (job changes, school changes, etc.) and has only destroyed a few of our nice things (a wall, a bookcase…….)
Now we have between six and ten (or so) months left. I can’t wait to see what she’ll learn next!
Love from Sacramento at our year-iversary,
Becka and Beale
Dad, Beale and Lamp. My cute, cute family.
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 89 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 177 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 367mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was September 12th with 78 views. The most popular post that day was Where can I get a vest like that? -or- Lies people tell to get their way.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were failuresofapuppyraiser.com, blogger.com, android-vs-ipad.co.cc, digg.com, and Google Reader.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for failures of a puppy raiser, puppy raiser becka, comments from of puppy raisers, puppy raiser blog, and dogs ikea things my dog ate.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Where can I get a vest like that? -or- Lies people tell to get their way September 2010
12 comments
Work February 2010
About February 2010
1 comment
Pups in print February 2010
1 comment
FAQ June 2010
3 comments
Today’s search term…
I just got home from a fun dinner with three KSDS friends of mine and our dogs. There were four people at a 4-top table with four dogs squished in under and around us. It was great to see Beale behave reasonably well in that situation. I was very proud, especially because she’s had very little practice being in public with other service dogs. That’s one of the downsides of living so far away from KSDS’s Washington, Kan., facility.
So when I got home, I checked my blog stats and found that someone accessed failuresofapuppyraiser.com after searching for “is it illegal to use my dog as a service dog and pass myself off as disabled whe i am able bodied (sic).” I am glad this person came here, and I hope he read my FAQ about where to get a vest like Beale’s. And I hope he felt really really horrible for considering pulling off this farce. I’m not sure what the laws are like in each state, but regardless of the legality, this person’s suggestion is immoral. If you’re unsure of why I feel this way, please visit my FAQ.
And to L., C. and B. (and your respective pups), I am sorry to turn a “great night out with friends” post into a rant. I love you all and am so glad we were able to get together.
Love from Kansas,
Becka and Beale
Mom’s newest adventure: Bike and Build
Jack and I are frequently asked whether we will raise another KSDS puppy after Beale goes off to college. The quick answer is “No.” I will not be “trading” Beale for a new puppy when she is called back.
There are several reasons we are not ready to have a new puppy that soon, first of which is that I’m not sure I will be emotionally able to raise another puppy if Beale doesn’t pass her health tests. News of Trego’s cataracts was really difficult to handle and put a huge damper on raising Beale for a while, so I believe I need to wait for Beale’s graduation to decide whether I can take on another puppy.
My second reason is much more exciting: This summer I will be riding a bike from Providence, Rhode Island, to the California coast to benefit Bike and Build! During this time, I will be, of course, unable to fulfill puppy raising duties. Jack and I discuss our puppy raising future often, and I am sure we will decide whether to raise another pup when I get home from my trip.
You want to hear more about that, you say? OK! Bike and Build is a non-profit group that spreads awareness of and raises money to benefit affordable housing groups. As a member of a 35-person team, I will ride about 4,500 miles in two months. During this time, we will be giving presentations about the affordable housing cause and working at construction sites for Habitat for Humanity and similar groups.
To be able to go on this trip, I must first fulfill service requirements with a local affordable housing group (I’ve chosen Sacramento Habitat for Humanity) and raise $4,000 to pay my way and contribute to the cause. Throughout the fund-raising process, I will be explaining Bike and Build’s mission and spreading awareness of our country’s current affordable housing crisis. A lot of information about affordable housing is currently available at Bikeandbuild.org. I will also be constantly learning more about this problem and, I hope, finding the time and motivation to keep a Bike and Build-specific blog so that I can relay this information and updates on my fund-raising and training progress to my supporters in this endeavor. I plan to get said blog set up this week, and will let you know how to access it as soon as I get that done!
If you are interested in donating to my trip or getting together to hear more about affordable housing and Bike and Build, please visit donatetobecka.com or e-mail me at beckac@gmail.com.
Service animals and their partners will always be important to me, so don’t worry, I’m not “switching causes.” I’m just exploring other areas of inequality and trying to do what I can to change the world. It’s possible… right?
Happy Holidays!
Love and gratitude sent your way from Kansas City,
Becka
Merry Christmas!
Beale and I are in Kansas for the holidays, so we finally have a few moments to tell you what’s up.
We are doing very well. Beale is a VERY good dog, and has even been a good dog at Aunt Pam’s house in Kansas where the temperature hasn’t been above freezing.
Frankly, I was surprised at how well Beale has done with the cold. She had been refusing to go out to potty in Sacramento, presumably because of the cold, wet ground. Here, she’s doing OK, even though she keeps sliding all over my mom’s deck.
Beale did a great job on the airplane (as expected), and has received more compliments here in Kansas than I’ve ever heard about her in California. I’ve been pretty proud of my baby girl.
Tomorrow, we are going out to eat with some other puppy raisers and KSDS folk. I can’t tell you how excited Beale is for this trip! It will be her SECOND time ever out to eat with other dogs. I hope she can handle that!
Love from Kansas,
Becka and Beale
