A breakthrough!

One of the things that service dogs can do is lay on people.  Many people with disabilities have chronic pain.  For these people the service dog can be to be a giant hot water bottle and/or pressure on muscles that are spasmed.  For other issues, like in children with autism or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, it can be behaviour interruption for temper tantrums – the dog pins the child and the child eventually has to give in and relax.

How does this relate to me?  Mostly my muscles don’t spasm in the real sense of the word but they tense up to a crazy degree and are very painful after very little exertion.  The most frequent and most painful area for this (for me) is my thighs.  And then this becomes the most interfering because I am not comfortable to walk or stand at all or in any sitting or lying positon, so it also makes sleep difficult.

So this aspect of practicing with a puppy in training SHOULD be very good for me.  Except this is far from Kenzie’s strong point.  Kenzie is lanky, slight, a bit bony.  If you picture picking up a small dog like a terrier, they stay rigid, but if you pick up a cat they slide down on either side of your hands.  The slidy body is easier for laying on people – we aren’t really that comfortable!  Labs and retrievers are kind of floppy like this (but not as much as a cat, that was just for explanation!)  Collies, not so much.  Kenzie, not so much.

Some of this is body type and breed, Kenzie is even a bit willow-ier than most collies, but some is breed temperament and HER temperament.  She’s just not a super friendly, cuddly girl.  She has gotten much more friendly to strangers in the last 6 months.  Before that she wouldn’t let strangers pet her at all, now she stays for a bit of petting and maybe even offers kisses.  She will stay near us, and sit near us, but it’s usually a couple of feet away.  Even when she has the option to sit right beside us and snuggle she’s not really into it.  She will leave as soon as she can get away if we have coaxed her into it.  At night she sometimes sleeps on our bed and then she will get close to or on our legs, but often she leaves for her own bed.

So Kenzie and I have been practicing her laying on top of my legs.   I kind of have to man handle her into place, which she puts up with from me, but doesn’t really like.  So repositioning doesn’t work very well, she won’t tolerate it very many times. Usually she only stays as long as there are treats coming her way fairly regularly.  She has been getting better but still it’s a bit of work on my part to keep it happening.  One thing that has helped is doing it sitting sideways on the couch instead of on the floor or in bed.  With nothing beside us she has a tendency to move just enough to slide off, but on the couch I just position her head to feet in the same direction as mine and more on the leg that is by the back of the couch. She leans to the side, on the back of the couch that way and stays in place. Drawback - we have to kick V off the couch.  There's not enough room for all of us!

Today I thought – what if I give her something harder and chewy like raw hide, instead of smaller treats?  Except she doesn’t like rawhide enough to keep at it for long.  She DOES love these things that are kind of like bullysticks but they don’t smell and aren’t as expensive.  They are called wishbones and they are tendons or something.  And – ta dah!  Holding it in my hand gave me a good hour long heat and pressure and it definitely helped my muscles!

Now we just have to do it often enough to be able to keep her easily and without the treat.

And some random moments...Kenzie learning how to play with the kids who are interested and stay away from the kids who are scared.

 Kenzie waiting patiently in a down stay while we unload my scooter from the car and I get settled.

 Kenzie got a giant bunny at the West Coast Teams yard sale fundraiser.

...and the bunny....

 You would think I would be able to figure out how to delete this double, wouldn't you?