help-on-four-paws

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Together through every new adventure 🌸 . We had our first day of classes yesterday! My girl has been kept awake by migraine pain two out of the past three nights, so that hasn’t been the best way to start the semester. But we’ve gotten through past challenges together before, and we’ll conquer this one too! . Photo description: A shot through a bush of purple foxgloves. Allie is wearing a white lab coat while sitting on a wooden bench. She’s smiling and looking down at Kelsie, who has her to front paws up on the bench next to Allie. Kelsie’s tail is in the middle of wagging. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAX6K26glyg/?igshid=bl7flvi7dmq9

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Future midwoof at your service 🐶 . My girl and I are starting Emory’s accelerated BSN + MSN program to become certified nurse-midwifes! 💙 CNMs are a type of advanced practice nurse (like nurse practitioners) whose duties range from birth control counseling, IUD placement, abortion care, support throughout the birth process and postpartum period, and so much more. I’m definitely the program’s first “midwoof,” especially since healthcare providers with service dogs are rare (and even healthcare providers with a disability are uncommon), so it’ll be an interesting, unique journey and we’re very excited ☺️ . Photo description: Kelsie is wearing a human’s white lab coat that’s a little too big on her, and she has a stethoscope around her neck. She’s sitting in front of a sign that says “Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.” (at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing) https://www.instagram.com/p/CANdcgkA2Wv/?igshid=nzu6x06pi580

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Finding some bright sides in some difficult times ☀️ . It’s okay if you’re not learning a new language or training for a marathon or making art or doing that thing you’ve been meaning to do but never had the time. It’s okay if you’re not being productive right now. It’s okay to just exist ❤️ Times are tough, and you are enough just the way you are ❤️ . Photo description: Kelsie is standing in the shallows of a pond and looking alertly at something off camera. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_i6Ivcn4jL/?igshid=6fof03g3ijhx

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Cheers to five years down and many more to come ❤️ . Photo derivation: Kelsie is sitting on a grassy field with her tongue hanging out from panting. She’s wearing a pink and black floral bow tie. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_IorzLgGiB/?igshid=vv2c9611cbsj

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Guess who helped me this evening with the laundry I’ve been putting off due to laundry ☺️

At one point she decided to bring me a pen instead of clothes 😹

She’s such a good nugget ❤️

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You can’t trick me ✌️ . While I was hanging in another room, my girl sneakily put a scent sample in her sock to see if I would notice. When I joined her a little while later, I paused a couple feet from her, sniffed the air, and then zeroed in on her foot and promptly alerted. Ya girl’s got skills 😎 Not pictured: my super happy wiggles afterward! I was pretty proud of myself 😏 . Image description: Handler’s view of Kelsie standing in front of her handler. Kelsie has a paw on her handler’s foot and is staring intently at her handler. (at Allston–Brighton) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-I1NB4g2M5/?igshid=1quk4jpz54ref

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When you want to join your new friends but you don’t want to go swimming 😐 . My girl and I went for a nice long walk the other day ☀️ I got to splash in some water, stare at some geese and ducks, and crunch many sticks! The only downside was that my girl had a really big fatigue crash afterwards 💤 Even just putting words together to form coherent sentences was hard, let alone doing more involved activities like cooking or giving me a bath. She knew she was overdoing it and would face the consequences, but she didn’t think she was going to crash as hard she did. But that’s sometimes just how it is living with a chronic illness: things can be unpredictable. Even if you think you know your limits and your triggers, your body can vary a lot from one day to the next. The unexpected is to be expected. It can be hard for my girl to accept at times, since she never knows quite how any given activity is going to affect her, but at least she has me by her side to help her when she needs it 🥰 . Photo description: Kelsie is wearing a red backpack and is standing alert on the edge of a pond. She’s staring at three geese sitting on the water in front of her. (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9-lTF3gebb/?igshid=1d1elr650u6re

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Happy Leap Day! 🎉 . To celebrate having a whole extra day to enjoy this year, my girl and I went to a park where dogs could roam off-leash 🐶 It required a two-hour nap before and an hour-and-a-half nap after BUT we managed to do our adventure anyway! I got to run through the woods, sniff other dogs, and chase balls. And I ran over every time my girl called ☺️ What did you do with your extra day? . Photo description: Kelsie in her pink winter coat is standing on top of a large rock. She’s looking off camera with her ears perked up. There’s a pine forest behind her. (at Middlesex Fells Reservation) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9LIehDgN-s/?igshid=g7omuh6v4thx

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Winter can be bright and beautiful ☀️ BUT it can also be dark and depressing (and, of course, cold!) 🖤 Winter can be a hard season to weather, especially if you are already struggling with mental health issues. My girl’s depression has gotten significantly worse every winter for the past five years, but this sixth year, it’s been slightly better. Not only was this the first winter that she started taking Vitamin D3, but she’s also gone through some major medication changes this winter that have really helped to elevate her depression’s baseline. It’s still there, yes, but it’s not as oppressive as it has been — and even that small change can make a world of a difference ☺️ And as a result, I’ve gotten to go on more walks this winter! Although sometimes it’s too cold and dark even for me to want to go outside 😝 . Image description: Kelsie is wearing a pink winter coat under a teal harness while sitting on the snow in front of a rustic wooden fence and looking just off camera. A cottage and large tree are behind her, and a bright blue winter sky is shining overhead and making the snow sparkle. (at Lyme, New Hampshire) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9IjyyKAUmy/?igshid=1ktekawnv7szt

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The only unbelievable beast on this campus 🐉 . Photo description: Kelsie, wearing a pink winter coat, is sitting in front of two snow-sculpture arches. Dartmouth’s library is in the background. (at Dartmouth College) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8sLQjGAKH8/?igshid=1qin3pdoxqsjo

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These New England winters make me want to retire somewhere warm with a beach 🌊😋 . I’m lucky that unlike a lot of humans, I can retire whenever I want. But I’m the kind of girl who needs a job to be happy 🦮 I get bored if I don’t have a purpose in life. Don’t tell my girl, but I actually get bored when she has good health days because there’s less for me to do in my job as her service dog — I prefer when she’s having a sick day so I can actually help her out 😋 Sometimes people mistakenly think I’m forced to work and feel bad for me, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m very opinionated, so if I didn’t like my job, I just wouldn’t do it 🙅‍♀️ I’m more likely to be forced to retire, not forced to work. Can you blame a herding dog for being a workaholic? 😋 . Photo description: Kelsie is standing on top of tide pools with ocean waves crashing in the background. She’s excitedly looking off camera. (at La Jolla Cove) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8FXrcvgQB5/?igshid=oz3vbbexprlo

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A spontaneous trip to a small, local botanical garden meant a chance to befriend some koi...or at least attempt to befriend them 😋 . Spontaneity can be difficult with a chronic illness and a service dog: my girl has to prepare for both her own health issues and my needs before going anywhere. The problem, too, with spontaneous adventures is that when you have a chronic illness, every action, every “fun” thing, has a price to pay afterward (where the “price” is a flare up of symptoms 😕). So when you’re someone who has to carefully ration your energy, spontaneity isn’t always an option. But every once in a while, we can make it work. This was a very small adventure close to home, and we both needed an excuse to get out of the house, even just for something short and low-key. My girl’s fatigue has been particularly prominent recently so she’s been glued to her bed, and I get antsy if I don’t work for a while (even if I get adequate exercise — I’m just a workaholic 😋). For a couple of hours, we were able to look at lots of plants and befriend some koi and turtles 🌿 . [Image description: Kelsie is putting her front paws up on a rock and peering over it into a small pond. Behind her is the lush greenery of a greenhouse. https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Kr43sgxfz/?igshid=kqwgq40m8lr2

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A post shared by Allie, Rowan, Myska, and Kelsie (@help.on.four.paws)

...in which I almost rip my girl’s pajama pants 😹 . Last night I helped my girl undress before bed - and as you can see, I’m a very enthusiastic helper! 😝 You may wonder why I do this for my girl since she’s physically able to do this herself. But this can be helpful for days when she’s experiencing bad fatigue, a lot of pain, or a migraine. And I’m always very happy to help! My job might involve serious matters, like health problems, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun and be silly along the way 😋 . Video description: handler’s view of Kelsie bringing a purple rope toy to her handler. She grabs the right leg of her handler’s pajama pants as instructed, but she tries pulling to the side. She’s redirected to pull straight back, which she does successfully. She continues to pull enthusiastically even though the left leg hasn’t been removed yet, and she’s hurriedly told to Drop It, which she does...and then immediately tries to play with the pajama leg again. She’s then directed to pull off the left leg, which she does, and then she shakes the pajama a little bit before finally handing them to her handler. Her rope toy is tossed as a reward. . Audio description (Allie speaking): “Oh, thank you. Hold on, hold on. Okay sock. Kels, you’re gonna want to go that way. Sock, yeah good job. Good job. Okay okay! Kels drop it! Kelsie!! Kelsie give. Thank you. Kelsie sock. Good girl, good girl. Can I have it? Thank you, good girl. Okay there you go. . (Lol yes our cue to undress is “sock” because my girl didn’t think she was going to teach me to help with anything but her socks. Hindsight is 20/20!) (at White River Junction, Vermont) https://www.instagram.com/p/B56lkPdAGOM/?igshid=1kmqknu62cbts

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How much work/how did you go about teaching the implied leave it? I would love for my dog to have a better implied leave it but I sometimes feel like he’s had so long NOT doing them that he’ll never really get it. He’s so curious and food motivated which I love, but he sucks at leave its in general let alone auto-leave its

Hi Anon!

That’s a really good question.  My first piece advice would be that practice makes perfect (or “practice makes permanent” - whichever phrasing you prefer).  If it’s been a while since you’ve worked with your pooch on Leave It, then I suggest dedicating some time to the concept.  I worked a lot on Leave It with Kelsie, partially because it’s something you can work on literally anywhere as long as you have some kind of food with you (and in the early days of training, I had kibble/treats with me constantly – funnily enough, I’m back to having kibble on me constantly because Kelsie’s life is more interesting for her if she works for her kibble rather than getting it all in a meal).

I remember doing the “kibble name challenge” at one point, where you spell your dog’s name in kibble and have them Leave It (and I did her full name at the time, “Kelsie Iris”).  And I thought I had the video of this somewhere but couldn’t find it: the first summer I had Kelsie, I did a training session in PetCo/PetsMart (they’re the same thing so idk which one), and I threw treats at her as a Leave It exercise – and one even landed on her head.  I tried to come up with as many artificial Leave It scenarios as I could and practiced a lot with her.

When I have the time/energy, I like taking advantage of life’s many training moments.  And a training moment that comes up quite frequently is Leave It.  Whether you have a pet dog or a service dog, chances are you’ll be encountering dropped food frequently with your pooch – just the other day on our morning potty walk we randomly encountered three bagels on the sidewalk lol.  And I’m definitely known to drop food in the kitchen/when I’m eating, so that’s always good practice.

As far as building up the “implied” part, I think a lot of that has to do with my Very Strict Rule of not giving the dog something that I told them to Leave It.  Leave It is permanent.  If I tell them to leave a treat that I placed in front of them, then I reward them with a different treat.  Even when my friend spilled popcorn all over the floor and Kelsie and I rewarded Kelsie with a piece of popcorn, I treated her with a piece that I’d “hidden” from sight, rather than picking a piece up off the floor and directly giving it to her.  I also make it very clear that any dog of mine, Kelsie included, isn’t allowed to eat/chew on something that I haven’t specifically told them they’re allowed to have, with the exception of toys, sticks (in Kelsie’s case), and food they’ve previously been given (e.g. if Kelsie hasn’t finished a frozen Kong or something, she’s allowed to go back to it at a later point).  Kelsie loves prancing around with my clothes when she’s asked to take them off or to help with laundry, but she never, ever takes my clothes without permission despite the fact that I leave them all over the floor (whoops).

I will note that Kelsie was super easy to teach Leave It because she wasn’t super food motivated when I got her, so she didn’t really care excessively if she wasn’t allowed to eat something.  She’s definitely gotten more food motivated as I’ve owned her, but that initial indifference really did help us create a solid foundation.  I’d imagine Leave It would be hard for, say, a Lab, since a significant percentage of Labs have a gene that makes them never feel full from food (aka they’re always hungry - which is part of why they’re easy to train).

My second note is that no dog is perfect!  They’ll make mistakes.  Just this summer (or maybe the summer before?  I don’t remember, time is a construct), I made a pasta dinner for my mom and me.  We eat at a low coffee table (aka snoot-height), and I left the room momentarily (to refill my water or something).  My mom was still in the room though.  I walked back into the room to see Kelsie chowing down out of my mom’s bowl – and my mom didn’t even notice!  When Kelsie heard me approach, she looked up, made eye contact with me, and deliberately took another bite of pasta.  I found it so funny that I took a photo of my naughty pooch before telling her to Leave It (actually I doubt I even had to utter the command – usually I just have to say her name in that tone and she knows what I mean).  So she’s not perfect.  But she also has a mischievous/rebellious streak and likes to push boundaries every now and again, so I expect to be kept on my toes from time to time.  And luckily there was nothing toxic to dogs so she was just fine – and probably even a little smug!

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Leave It saves lives!

Tonight I found some ibuprofen pills that had accidentally spilled on the floor. I have no clue how long they’d been there, but it had been hours.

Luckily, even though my dog had been sharing this small hotel room with me for that whole time, the pills were untouched. She has an implied Leave It, which means she doesn’t get to eat/chew on something without explicit permission.

This could’ve ended up as a really stressful night at the emergency vet or even worse, but having that strong Leave It means that I’m currently lying next to my very-much-alive service dogs as she’s gnawing on a chew.

Similar situation but less dangerous, last night at the movies, a friend spilled an entire tub of popcorn all over the floor, including on top of Kelsie (lol). I didn’t even have to tell her to Leave It — she just did, and I was able to help my friend clean up the popcorn without my service dog acting like a one-man popcorn cleanup crew (she did get a piece as a reward afterward).

TL;DR last night a Leave It saved my service dog from a bad tummy ache, but tonight it saved her from something potentially far worse. Leave It saves lives

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Made it into a gif because she’s too cute not to be a gif ☺️

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GIF description: (handler’s POV) Kelsie is sitting in front of her handler. She’s presented with a cotton ball in a small jar and immediately paws her handler’s leg. Her tail is wagging in the background and she’s slightly bug-eyed from being excited.

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A post shared by Allie, Rowan, Myska, and Kelsie (@help.on.four.paws)

Rainy day training games ☺️ Part of my job is being a medical alert dog, so it’s important to keep my nose sharp! I’ve never been much of a nose-y dog, so medical alerts didn’t come naturally to me, which is why my girl and I still practice. But as you can see in this video, sometimes it’s a piece of cake for me to do! 😋 Here, I’m alerting to a high heart rate sample, but I have 4 scents and 1 behavior that I’m trained to respond to. I feel like I have a small octopus in my brain juggling all these different things I’m supposed to remember 🐙 . Video description: (handler’s POV) Kelsie is sitting in front of her handler. She’s presented with a cotton ball in a small jar and immediately paws her handler’s leg. Her tail is wagging in the background and she’s slightly big-eyed from being excited. . Audio description: “Okay, go ahead and sniff it. Yes! That was so fast!” (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5RKLfhg5hS/?igshid=1vqr73pb48moz