I have someone new to introduce you to.
Can you guess by the title of the post where I'm going with this?
No. I did not kidnap the Star Trek character and no, I did not randomly find a Spock circulating the universe, ready to join my family.
I did, however, find someone who used to be named King and who is now named Spock to join my family.
*I can hear your judgmental reading through the computer. Stop it*!
He's not a dog. We definitely don't have room for that, or the time with us both being in our masters programs.
Spock, the kitty formerly known as King, officially moved in Monday evening.
He is about seven months old and is a Oriental Short-Hair mix; or so we have been told. He is mostly white with a little black part on his head that looks like, you guessed it, a bowl cut; just like Spock's. His ears are huge which initially made me think of naming him Spock and today our vet pointed out that he has missing hair on his forehead too. Unlike the character Spock though, our Spock has some black bits on his haunches.
Since Mr. K and I lost Rufio, our Siberian Forest cat, to kidney disease we have been thinking about getting a new friend for Kira. At first, we were content to be a four dog, two human and one cat household, but as time progressed we began to realize that Kira was really needing companionship..
I won't say we tried everything because there are probably things out there that we never thought about, but we did try a lot of things to help Kira. We got her more toys; interactive toys; fed her before we went to bed to distract her; let her come and go from the bedroom. All but the last thing were a bust. And, if we let her have free roam of our bedroom she was happy, but we couldn't sleep. She is just too active at night. If we locked her out she made every attempt to break into the bedroom; again, no sleeping.
So, around the beginning of December I started looking more seriously into finding her a friend. We had picked Kira in particular due to her curious and friendly nature. We had wanted her to be a companion for Rufio which worked. Since she's not a solitary cat, expecting her to be one, just wasn't working.
I often perused Pet Finder or classified ads. We applied for one kitten because she was a a Forest cat of some sort, but she was a part of a bonded pair. That wasn't going to work.
Last Wednesday I happened to be looking at Pet Finder again and saw our little guy. Mr. K said we should go see him and we did. We were both shocked at how over crowded the facility was. Cats were in their own kennels, but in the same room as dogs and dogs were in hallways. It's just the nature of the facility. We both left knowing we couldn't leave him there. When the worker placed him in my arms he barely moved, but suddenly his little motor started and my heart melted.
They kept King/Spock for a few more days because he needed to be neutered, but when he went in for his surgery, it was discovered that he had an upper respiratory infection. Or, what we think may be more closer to the truth is that he already had one, they didn't know how bad it was and the vet told them how much worse it was. So, no neutering for him just yet.
When we brought him home Monday night he was sneezing constantly and you could hear his chest rattling. He had a bit of a temperature. Because of his infection, he's been sequestered in our bathroom to keep Kira catching from the infection.
I finally got him in to see our vet today and they gave him a heavy dose of antibiotics he's supposed to take for a week. They ran other tests to make sure he was feline leukemia negative which he is; thankfully. So, now we have to wait for him to stop sneezing and the medicine to take hold before he can meet Kira and the rest of the fur kids.
The vet suggested that we keep him in there for another week. We'll try to hold out, but the poor guy does not want to be in there. The vet said that if we can keep him in there a few days after the sneezing stops then Kira should be okay. We really don't want to have to treat her too.
But, until then, our Spock will have to live in the bathroom and be satisfied with his toys, food/water and his litter box as well as our periodic visits. He's pretty flaked out right now from all of the vaccinations he got today. We're still keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't have any sort of reaction.
Here's to hoping that Spock will become a fully integrated family member soon.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Nose Work and Problem Solving
At the beginning of 2015 I committed to working with Hermione on her nose work skills; if for no other reason, but to interact with her and give her an outlet for her energy. Every morning for quite some time now, Hermione and I play "find it" with her breakfast. It's been a really good addition to our routine. It's been a game that can take anywhere from five minutes to half an hour, depending on what kind of time I have to dedicate that morning. If I want a shorter game, I hide greater amounts of kibble each time I have her search, but if I want it to be more challenging and go on for longer I hide just one or two kibbles at a time..
This isn't the first time I've tried to be disciplined enough to work on nose work with her, but the first time I tried, I failed miserably. I think I tried to take too big of steps too quickly and ran out of ideas too soon. I also didn't understand what skills I was trying to work on with her, but this time around I have done more research. One important skill is obviously the sniffing part, but problem solving and the drive to "hunt" or search is also equally as important. This was something I figured out on my own after hours and hours of reading articles by various trainers and watching videos. A lot of what I read just told you what to do and that information wasn't very thorough either. By watching and reading as much as I did, I was able to put the pieces together and figure out these skills. I'm sure there are more, but I think three to start with is quite enough.
Knowing this, I have different goals for Hermione than before. It's not just about her sniffing things out in a box and then adding more boxes and letting her sniff. I thought that was it. I just wanted her to learn how to sniff and as soon as she figured out how to sniff things out in one box I'd add more to increase the difficulty for her and make it more interesting/challenging for her. I think she still enjoyed the training before, but now she's even more enthusiastic.
So, what am I doing differently to achieve our three, what I like to think of as, foundation goals?
Well, I started with the sniffing. Maybe this wasn't the right place to start, but I started here because I didn't realize at the time that there were other skills we needed to work on. I had noticed that if Hermione could see the treats or kibbles she would just use her eyes. A trainer recently told me that this apparently doesn't matter and that the important part is to encourage the hunting drive which I took to heart, but I still wanted Hermione to sniff. Putting things in boxes wasn't cutting it. She could hear it or see the box and automatically ran to the box, usually skipping the trail of kibble I had laid out for her to "follow" to the box. Then, I saw a random video where that person was using a towel. It got me to thinking that I should try a towel.
I got a small hand towel and initially hid quite a few kibbles in one place under the towel. This new idea seemed to work great. Not only did Hermione start sniffing, but because the search area was so tiny I knew when she hit the hidden kibbles and I could click to mark her behavior. As the days went on, I made the hide and seek game under the towel more challenging. I'd hide less kibbles; I'd put one kibble under each corner of the towel so she would have to keep searching; I'd fold the towel in half so it was harder to smell. Hermione loved it. She'd circle around her fan tail waving, her little sniffer working over time. I could actually hear her sniffing which she had never done before. She was learning to sniff and I think it was turning on her hunting drive as well.
Once we had been using the towel for a while and she seemed to understand that she should search an area and not just check one spot, I thought I'd try building on her problem solving skills. Again, we started off slowly. I started placing a kibble on top of the towel and one under a distance aways to get her used to the idea that what she was searching for wasn't going to be where she assumed it to be. I was also worried that she would only search with that particular towel, so I got a second one that was a different size and material. At first I placed kibble under the original towel and with every search moved them closer to the new towel which was laid out on the floor as well. Eventually, I was hiding kibble only under the new towel and then both. She needed a little encouragement at first, but she soon realized that she was supposed to search both areas.
For more problem solving I placed some kibble in her bowl and covered it with the towel so that she would have to figure out how to get to the food. I added new hiding places too like a small cardboard box, a few food storage containers and even my slippers. The key was for me to remember where I had put the kibble and praise her whenever she searched and found the hidden treasures. Today I saw some great improvement in her problem solving skills that she did all on her own.
As usual we started off with our towel search area. I placed just two or three kibbles under the towel to warm her up. I've noticed that she searches for longer now and so sometimes while she is searching I'll drop a kibble or two when her back is to me into the towel or under it. That way, she is rewarded for her continued searching. She seemed a bit fidgety this morning. She was breaking her sit stay which has been improving with this new exercise as well. She wouldn't wait for me to hide her kibble and I'd have to put her back in a sit and try again. She was just too excited. A definite thought didn't exactly cross my mind, but I remember half thinking that she may be ready to try something a bit harder. I wasn't sure what, so at first I just would put out one random kibble for her to find nowhere near the towel. Well, I say nowhere near, but the area really isn't that big yet. I don't think she's ready for a five foot radius or anything. As I randomly placed kibble I noticed an over turned dust pan. Kira must have knocked it down. Not sure if Hermione would get it, I put a little pile of kibble just at the edge of the dust pan. When I told her to "find" she searched her towel first, but quickly moved away; her nose working. She found the kibble and was so excited. I brought her back to sit and decided to up the stakes again.
This time I put a pile of kibble underneath the over turned dust pan. I also placed some kibble in the same spot as before to help her be successful. She searched her towel again, sniffed around me and then moved away. She found the first pile of kibble too quickly for me to say anything and the next thing I knew, she was in army crawl position, front paws and head thrust under the dust pan digging out her prize.
We had a party. Honestly though, I think the find is enough of a reward for her. She loves it. In fact, if I love on her too long and don't hide things fast enough she starts yelling at me.
I did it again without her hint pile and she searched and searched. She eventually followed her nose back to the dust pan and was on her belly head and paws thrust under the pan again. At this point, there weren't very many kibble left so I decided to do something a bit easier to make sure we finished on a successful note.
I had her sit and hid a few kibble in and around the towel. She began searching and as she searched I would sneak kibble into her search area to keep her searching. The funny thing is she showed me up when she followed her nose to my closed fist at my side and whacked me with her paw.
She had nose worked her way to my hand full of kibble. That wasn't my plan, but I guess she's no dummy.
Wondering if it was a fluke or if she had seen me grabbing the kibble, I tried again. This time I hid a few kibble in the towel and purposefully held on to the rest of the food in my closed fist. She searched her kibble out on and under the towel and sniffed a circle around me. Just as before she sniffed her way to my fist and hit my hand.
I think my dog is smarter than me, or maybe she's just smarter than I give her credit for. It's so exciting to see her work and see her figure things out. I have to be careful that I don't move too quickly in my excitement. For example, even though today was so successful, tomorrow I shouldn't expect her to search the whole living room for one kibble hidden under a couch cushion. Tomorrow we'll probably just work with the towel and maybe the dust pan, but we won't do anything new until she shows me she's ready. I think I'm beginning to understand her needs and in that way I will be a better trainer for her. In the long run, she will be more successful and hopefully continue to love the "find it" game.
This isn't the first time I've tried to be disciplined enough to work on nose work with her, but the first time I tried, I failed miserably. I think I tried to take too big of steps too quickly and ran out of ideas too soon. I also didn't understand what skills I was trying to work on with her, but this time around I have done more research. One important skill is obviously the sniffing part, but problem solving and the drive to "hunt" or search is also equally as important. This was something I figured out on my own after hours and hours of reading articles by various trainers and watching videos. A lot of what I read just told you what to do and that information wasn't very thorough either. By watching and reading as much as I did, I was able to put the pieces together and figure out these skills. I'm sure there are more, but I think three to start with is quite enough.
Knowing this, I have different goals for Hermione than before. It's not just about her sniffing things out in a box and then adding more boxes and letting her sniff. I thought that was it. I just wanted her to learn how to sniff and as soon as she figured out how to sniff things out in one box I'd add more to increase the difficulty for her and make it more interesting/challenging for her. I think she still enjoyed the training before, but now she's even more enthusiastic.
So, what am I doing differently to achieve our three, what I like to think of as, foundation goals?
Well, I started with the sniffing. Maybe this wasn't the right place to start, but I started here because I didn't realize at the time that there were other skills we needed to work on. I had noticed that if Hermione could see the treats or kibbles she would just use her eyes. A trainer recently told me that this apparently doesn't matter and that the important part is to encourage the hunting drive which I took to heart, but I still wanted Hermione to sniff. Putting things in boxes wasn't cutting it. She could hear it or see the box and automatically ran to the box, usually skipping the trail of kibble I had laid out for her to "follow" to the box. Then, I saw a random video where that person was using a towel. It got me to thinking that I should try a towel.
I got a small hand towel and initially hid quite a few kibbles in one place under the towel. This new idea seemed to work great. Not only did Hermione start sniffing, but because the search area was so tiny I knew when she hit the hidden kibbles and I could click to mark her behavior. As the days went on, I made the hide and seek game under the towel more challenging. I'd hide less kibbles; I'd put one kibble under each corner of the towel so she would have to keep searching; I'd fold the towel in half so it was harder to smell. Hermione loved it. She'd circle around her fan tail waving, her little sniffer working over time. I could actually hear her sniffing which she had never done before. She was learning to sniff and I think it was turning on her hunting drive as well.
Once we had been using the towel for a while and she seemed to understand that she should search an area and not just check one spot, I thought I'd try building on her problem solving skills. Again, we started off slowly. I started placing a kibble on top of the towel and one under a distance aways to get her used to the idea that what she was searching for wasn't going to be where she assumed it to be. I was also worried that she would only search with that particular towel, so I got a second one that was a different size and material. At first I placed kibble under the original towel and with every search moved them closer to the new towel which was laid out on the floor as well. Eventually, I was hiding kibble only under the new towel and then both. She needed a little encouragement at first, but she soon realized that she was supposed to search both areas.
For more problem solving I placed some kibble in her bowl and covered it with the towel so that she would have to figure out how to get to the food. I added new hiding places too like a small cardboard box, a few food storage containers and even my slippers. The key was for me to remember where I had put the kibble and praise her whenever she searched and found the hidden treasures. Today I saw some great improvement in her problem solving skills that she did all on her own.
As usual we started off with our towel search area. I placed just two or three kibbles under the towel to warm her up. I've noticed that she searches for longer now and so sometimes while she is searching I'll drop a kibble or two when her back is to me into the towel or under it. That way, she is rewarded for her continued searching. She seemed a bit fidgety this morning. She was breaking her sit stay which has been improving with this new exercise as well. She wouldn't wait for me to hide her kibble and I'd have to put her back in a sit and try again. She was just too excited. A definite thought didn't exactly cross my mind, but I remember half thinking that she may be ready to try something a bit harder. I wasn't sure what, so at first I just would put out one random kibble for her to find nowhere near the towel. Well, I say nowhere near, but the area really isn't that big yet. I don't think she's ready for a five foot radius or anything. As I randomly placed kibble I noticed an over turned dust pan. Kira must have knocked it down. Not sure if Hermione would get it, I put a little pile of kibble just at the edge of the dust pan. When I told her to "find" she searched her towel first, but quickly moved away; her nose working. She found the kibble and was so excited. I brought her back to sit and decided to up the stakes again.
This time I put a pile of kibble underneath the over turned dust pan. I also placed some kibble in the same spot as before to help her be successful. She searched her towel again, sniffed around me and then moved away. She found the first pile of kibble too quickly for me to say anything and the next thing I knew, she was in army crawl position, front paws and head thrust under the dust pan digging out her prize.
We had a party. Honestly though, I think the find is enough of a reward for her. She loves it. In fact, if I love on her too long and don't hide things fast enough she starts yelling at me.
I did it again without her hint pile and she searched and searched. She eventually followed her nose back to the dust pan and was on her belly head and paws thrust under the pan again. At this point, there weren't very many kibble left so I decided to do something a bit easier to make sure we finished on a successful note.
I had her sit and hid a few kibble in and around the towel. She began searching and as she searched I would sneak kibble into her search area to keep her searching. The funny thing is she showed me up when she followed her nose to my closed fist at my side and whacked me with her paw.
She had nose worked her way to my hand full of kibble. That wasn't my plan, but I guess she's no dummy.
Wondering if it was a fluke or if she had seen me grabbing the kibble, I tried again. This time I hid a few kibble in the towel and purposefully held on to the rest of the food in my closed fist. She searched her kibble out on and under the towel and sniffed a circle around me. Just as before she sniffed her way to my fist and hit my hand.
I think my dog is smarter than me, or maybe she's just smarter than I give her credit for. It's so exciting to see her work and see her figure things out. I have to be careful that I don't move too quickly in my excitement. For example, even though today was so successful, tomorrow I shouldn't expect her to search the whole living room for one kibble hidden under a couch cushion. Tomorrow we'll probably just work with the towel and maybe the dust pan, but we won't do anything new until she shows me she's ready. I think I'm beginning to understand her needs and in that way I will be a better trainer for her. In the long run, she will be more successful and hopefully continue to love the "find it" game.
Friday, January 09, 2015
Hit the Ground Running
Literally and figuratively.
My treadmill arrived and Mr. K and I put it together in less than half an hour. I've been running between 3 and 4 times a week so far and I intend to increase that once I'm acclimatized to exercising, attending classes and going to placement. I usually have a tendency to jump in full force, but then have to take a break because I've burnt myself out. So, I am trying very hard to be a little more balanced.
2015 is off to a fast and strong start. I can't believe that we're already a week and a half in. I'm not entirely sure where the time has gone.
First, I'd like to wish my furry princess a very happy third birthday. Her Royal Highness, Princess Hermione Sophia turned three on January seventh. Again, where has the time gone? It was a low key day, but we did play our new "find it" breakfast game for an extended period of time and all of the dogs got to chew on some yummy bones.
This week also marked the beginning of my placement. Monday was a work from home day. I read tons of articles, watched videos and generally acquainted myself with my agency. I also had to enroll in and start an online course that teaches service providers about the ADA. I'm glad we started that way because I felt like I eased in a bit and was really ready and excited for my first full day at the agency.
Tuesday was that day. My yellow beast and I headed out at about 8:30. We took a cab because the weather was supposed to be terrible. We arrived on time and from the moment we walked through the door, we didn't stop.
We first met with my supervisor and she gave me a brief welcome. She then walked us around the entire building, stopping to introduce me to every staff member. Some people were not in their offices, so I didn't meet everyone that works there yet, but I have a feeling it won't be long before I've met all staff members.
I have to say the people are fantastic. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. And, in a genuine sense. The CEO of the company even stopped in to meet me as well and told my supervisor to schedule him and I a meeting some time soon. A lot of the staff who have their MSWs are interested in how the USC virtual academic center works. I had told my supervisor during my initial interview that I wanted to be better at giving presentations. So, as we wandered about and people expressed an interest in the ins and outs of the program, she came to the conclusion that we will have a working lunch where I will present the intricacies of the virtual academic center; not to mention the accessibility and inaccessibility of the thing.
After my tour I met with another staff member who runs a women's with disabilities support group. The group is peer led, but she acts as a facilitator. I've been assigned to shadow her every Tuesday. We did go over to the little community building that is located right outside of the office building and I was introduced to the women's group. (I told you I hit the ground running).
After the group it was lunch, a very quick lunch, and it was off to talk with the volunteer coordinator. Somewhere in there I was signed up to take part in a two day workshop on Motivational Interviewing. It is a technique we learned last semester, but the more practice I get, the better. She explained her job(s) and told me about presentations she would like me to accompany her on. After her it was time to talk to the guy who is in charge of the data base and quality assurance. He is also their unofficial Tech dude. Not only did he explain his job(s) to me, but he also got my company email address and such set up. By the time we were finished chatting, it was almost home time.
My supervisor came back to get me and walked me down to the little space that will be my office. I think she may be playing tour guide for a few more days because the building is laid out in such a way that there is absolutely no geometric pattern to it at all. It's a really old building which really cool, but it's like they smushed two or three half buildings together to create one building. Thankfully I've got my beastie because, as always, she was a super star. She never ceases to impress me, but we got what I consider to be one of the highest compliments a working team can get.
When we came back from our women's group, the other staff member was walking in front of us. She is low vision, but doesn't use a cane or a guide dog. We were going to head to lunch, but needed to go upstairs to the staff break room.
"Do you think she will find the stairs?" She asked me as we passed through a doorway into a wide open room.
"Probably." I said. I wasn't entirely sure where the stairs were because of how open the room was and because I had only been in there once before. I kind of lifted my hand and waved it in what I thought was the general direction of the stairs and told my little worker bee to "find the stairs." She took off like a shot, stopping confidently with her front paws planted on the bottom step. Good girl! The staff member was impressed.
"I don't like dogs," she said "but you are changing my mind."
This final demonstration of beastie's skills had come on the heels of her showing me chairs, doors, bathrooms and more chairs and stairs; all in places where she had never been.
Of course we made little mistakes: like I told her to turn left too early and she did, so we ended up not getting to our office. However, those are the navigator's mistakes. One office was even so small that when I said "find the chair" she curved herself in such a way that she was touching both as if to say "which one? This is confusing!"
We both slept well Tuesday night. It wasn't really all that physically demanding, but mentally I think we were both exhausted. We were supposed to have a half day at placement today, but everyone is snowed in. So, I'll work from home again. I'm sure though that Miss Yellow would prefer to go to work.
We're back at placement Monday, weather providing, and we already have a full schedule. We'll be starting our day with a phone conference about transportation accessibility and then who knows what else. Sky's the limit with this placement I think.
PS: As you have probably noticed I haven't said my working beast's name and it's because my computer keeps auto-correcting it to something else. So, until I figure out how to shut that function off, she will be referred to in a myriad of ways.
My treadmill arrived and Mr. K and I put it together in less than half an hour. I've been running between 3 and 4 times a week so far and I intend to increase that once I'm acclimatized to exercising, attending classes and going to placement. I usually have a tendency to jump in full force, but then have to take a break because I've burnt myself out. So, I am trying very hard to be a little more balanced.
2015 is off to a fast and strong start. I can't believe that we're already a week and a half in. I'm not entirely sure where the time has gone.
First, I'd like to wish my furry princess a very happy third birthday. Her Royal Highness, Princess Hermione Sophia turned three on January seventh. Again, where has the time gone? It was a low key day, but we did play our new "find it" breakfast game for an extended period of time and all of the dogs got to chew on some yummy bones.
This week also marked the beginning of my placement. Monday was a work from home day. I read tons of articles, watched videos and generally acquainted myself with my agency. I also had to enroll in and start an online course that teaches service providers about the ADA. I'm glad we started that way because I felt like I eased in a bit and was really ready and excited for my first full day at the agency.
Tuesday was that day. My yellow beast and I headed out at about 8:30. We took a cab because the weather was supposed to be terrible. We arrived on time and from the moment we walked through the door, we didn't stop.
We first met with my supervisor and she gave me a brief welcome. She then walked us around the entire building, stopping to introduce me to every staff member. Some people were not in their offices, so I didn't meet everyone that works there yet, but I have a feeling it won't be long before I've met all staff members.
I have to say the people are fantastic. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. And, in a genuine sense. The CEO of the company even stopped in to meet me as well and told my supervisor to schedule him and I a meeting some time soon. A lot of the staff who have their MSWs are interested in how the USC virtual academic center works. I had told my supervisor during my initial interview that I wanted to be better at giving presentations. So, as we wandered about and people expressed an interest in the ins and outs of the program, she came to the conclusion that we will have a working lunch where I will present the intricacies of the virtual academic center; not to mention the accessibility and inaccessibility of the thing.
After my tour I met with another staff member who runs a women's with disabilities support group. The group is peer led, but she acts as a facilitator. I've been assigned to shadow her every Tuesday. We did go over to the little community building that is located right outside of the office building and I was introduced to the women's group. (I told you I hit the ground running).
After the group it was lunch, a very quick lunch, and it was off to talk with the volunteer coordinator. Somewhere in there I was signed up to take part in a two day workshop on Motivational Interviewing. It is a technique we learned last semester, but the more practice I get, the better. She explained her job(s) and told me about presentations she would like me to accompany her on. After her it was time to talk to the guy who is in charge of the data base and quality assurance. He is also their unofficial Tech dude. Not only did he explain his job(s) to me, but he also got my company email address and such set up. By the time we were finished chatting, it was almost home time.
My supervisor came back to get me and walked me down to the little space that will be my office. I think she may be playing tour guide for a few more days because the building is laid out in such a way that there is absolutely no geometric pattern to it at all. It's a really old building which really cool, but it's like they smushed two or three half buildings together to create one building. Thankfully I've got my beastie because, as always, she was a super star. She never ceases to impress me, but we got what I consider to be one of the highest compliments a working team can get.
When we came back from our women's group, the other staff member was walking in front of us. She is low vision, but doesn't use a cane or a guide dog. We were going to head to lunch, but needed to go upstairs to the staff break room.
"Do you think she will find the stairs?" She asked me as we passed through a doorway into a wide open room.
"Probably." I said. I wasn't entirely sure where the stairs were because of how open the room was and because I had only been in there once before. I kind of lifted my hand and waved it in what I thought was the general direction of the stairs and told my little worker bee to "find the stairs." She took off like a shot, stopping confidently with her front paws planted on the bottom step. Good girl! The staff member was impressed.
"I don't like dogs," she said "but you are changing my mind."
This final demonstration of beastie's skills had come on the heels of her showing me chairs, doors, bathrooms and more chairs and stairs; all in places where she had never been.
Of course we made little mistakes: like I told her to turn left too early and she did, so we ended up not getting to our office. However, those are the navigator's mistakes. One office was even so small that when I said "find the chair" she curved herself in such a way that she was touching both as if to say "which one? This is confusing!"
We both slept well Tuesday night. It wasn't really all that physically demanding, but mentally I think we were both exhausted. We were supposed to have a half day at placement today, but everyone is snowed in. So, I'll work from home again. I'm sure though that Miss Yellow would prefer to go to work.
We're back at placement Monday, weather providing, and we already have a full schedule. We'll be starting our day with a phone conference about transportation accessibility and then who knows what else. Sky's the limit with this placement I think.
PS: As you have probably noticed I haven't said my working beast's name and it's because my computer keeps auto-correcting it to something else. So, until I figure out how to shut that function off, she will be referred to in a myriad of ways.
Saturday, January 03, 2015
Reflections: 2014
First, let me wish you and your families a very Happy New year! Hoping that 2015 brings you all you hope and dream.
The past year was an interesting one for me, as most of them are. I'm not sure I know how to go through life without creating some kind of chaos in my wake; whether positive or negative. :)
There were some really amazing experiences and a few really sad ones. My family lost my cousin in early 2014 just weeks before his 27th birthday to a massive heart attack. It was completely unexpected and tragic. I think that was the saddest event of 2014. There were so many good things as well, but I did not want to look back on the year without honoring his memory...
2014 was the year that I skied in my first cross country nationals. It will probably be the only time since nordic skiing where we are now isn't really going to happen, but it was still an amazing and exciting experience. I had the privilege of experiencing the Leader Dog puppy prison program. I learned a lot from that program. Unrelated to that, I made some new and wonderful friendships and got to nurture some older ones since I got to live close to my best friend for a year. Aside from some happy moments I had some very exciting and certainly life changing ones as well.
I was accepted into two masters of social work programs and although I would have loved to move back to where I had completed my under Grad degree, I chose to go through the University of Southern California's online program which has proven to be incredibly challenging as well as exciting and fulfilling.
Mr. K and I moved again and he was accepted into his masters program which he will start in just over two weeks. I am so happy and excited for him.
We lost our beautiful Siberian Forest cat Rufio to renal disease, but before that, Kira our little rescue kitty joined our family. So, our furry family also saw some changes in 2014.
In moving to our new location, we started and continue to create new friendships. We both like the city we are living in as it is very accessible and forward thinking.
2015 is already off to a running start with my classes starting back up again in just two days. I have already begun to work on class work. It really wasn't a very long break, but I think I'm ready to get back at it. I also will be starting my field placement on Tuesday and I am completely and utterly excited and terrified. I asked for and got a treadmill for Christmas and yesterday saw my first day of training for a half marathon. I don't have a guide yet and have no idea where I will find one, but I'm hoping that if I put it out there into the universe, I will find someone. :)
I'm not sure what 2015 has in store for us, but I hope that it is as much of an adventure as 2014.
The past year was an interesting one for me, as most of them are. I'm not sure I know how to go through life without creating some kind of chaos in my wake; whether positive or negative. :)
There were some really amazing experiences and a few really sad ones. My family lost my cousin in early 2014 just weeks before his 27th birthday to a massive heart attack. It was completely unexpected and tragic. I think that was the saddest event of 2014. There were so many good things as well, but I did not want to look back on the year without honoring his memory...
2014 was the year that I skied in my first cross country nationals. It will probably be the only time since nordic skiing where we are now isn't really going to happen, but it was still an amazing and exciting experience. I had the privilege of experiencing the Leader Dog puppy prison program. I learned a lot from that program. Unrelated to that, I made some new and wonderful friendships and got to nurture some older ones since I got to live close to my best friend for a year. Aside from some happy moments I had some very exciting and certainly life changing ones as well.
I was accepted into two masters of social work programs and although I would have loved to move back to where I had completed my under Grad degree, I chose to go through the University of Southern California's online program which has proven to be incredibly challenging as well as exciting and fulfilling.
Mr. K and I moved again and he was accepted into his masters program which he will start in just over two weeks. I am so happy and excited for him.
We lost our beautiful Siberian Forest cat Rufio to renal disease, but before that, Kira our little rescue kitty joined our family. So, our furry family also saw some changes in 2014.
In moving to our new location, we started and continue to create new friendships. We both like the city we are living in as it is very accessible and forward thinking.
2015 is already off to a running start with my classes starting back up again in just two days. I have already begun to work on class work. It really wasn't a very long break, but I think I'm ready to get back at it. I also will be starting my field placement on Tuesday and I am completely and utterly excited and terrified. I asked for and got a treadmill for Christmas and yesterday saw my first day of training for a half marathon. I don't have a guide yet and have no idea where I will find one, but I'm hoping that if I put it out there into the universe, I will find someone. :)
I'm not sure what 2015 has in store for us, but I hope that it is as much of an adventure as 2014.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Belated Christmas
This year Mr. K and I were to spend Christmas with his family. We haven't probably since the first Christmas we were married and so it was long over due. As per my earlier post, things didn't go quite as planned, but we still got to spend some Christmas time with his mom, one sister and her two girls. Since my parents are only about six hours North of us, they drove down to visit on Saturday.
They arrived around supper time and Mr. K had some chicken chilly made. One of our friends was also over visiting with her black Lab guide dog named Schacka who is one of the tiniest Labs I've ever seen. She's even smaller than Jetta. We have a great evening eating and chatting and then the next day Mom, Dad, Mr. K and I went to the newly built Cosco to get a membership and check it out. We then went to a local theatre to see the third Hobbit movie. I liked it, but it was a bit too visual. The fight scenes were a bit drawn out for me because after ten minutes of yelling, crashing and more yelling, it kind of gets boring. However, I'm glad we saw it. We finished the day off with a tasty steak supper.
The next day we went to one of mine and Mr. K's favorite breakfast spots. The restaurant used to be a Big Boy that the owner has converted into a very busy place. The food is excellent and you get a lot for your money. I always go home with leftovers. We did a bit more shopping, finding me an outfit for my placement that starts in January; no more jeans for me.
We then went back to our place and picked up Roscoe, Hermione and Otis and met our friend, her son and their two dogs for an off leash run which our dogs desperately needed. Just past their apartment complex there is a wooded area that people go to and let their dogs off leash. We saw a few other groups of people with their dogs, but everyone is really respectful and the dogs were all friendly.
The sun was shining and although it was just below freezing, it was really pleasant in the sun. We played fetch with the dogs at first-something that not all guide dog schools allow-then began walking the parameter of the field. Shaka was the fastest out of the dogs, she was like a little bullet Nala did her best to keep up and made sure that she was always the one to find the Kong that we had thrown. Mr. K didn't come because he was needing a nap so I hesitated to let Otis off leash. He does come back to the whistle, but he seems to just listen better to Mr. K. However, we moved away from the edge of the wooded area and he was able to run too. Hermione was right on the heels of the big dogs and running circles around me. Our friend's son has a little mixed breed of some sort named Bella who only weighs 5.2 pounds, so she stayed on an extend leash to ensure she didn't run off. She wasn't to be left out though. She raced back and forth on the leash, barking at all of the other dogs. Once she realized they weren't even remotely interested in eating her, she happily trotted along, every once in a while racing to the end of her leash and back.
We were out for probably an hour and it was so nice just to be outside in the fresh air. After our play date everyone headed home for supper-two Leggers and four alike.
My parents are leaving this morning and are just stopping in to say good-bye. It was really nice having them here and having a belated Christmas celebration.
They arrived around supper time and Mr. K had some chicken chilly made. One of our friends was also over visiting with her black Lab guide dog named Schacka who is one of the tiniest Labs I've ever seen. She's even smaller than Jetta. We have a great evening eating and chatting and then the next day Mom, Dad, Mr. K and I went to the newly built Cosco to get a membership and check it out. We then went to a local theatre to see the third Hobbit movie. I liked it, but it was a bit too visual. The fight scenes were a bit drawn out for me because after ten minutes of yelling, crashing and more yelling, it kind of gets boring. However, I'm glad we saw it. We finished the day off with a tasty steak supper.
The next day we went to one of mine and Mr. K's favorite breakfast spots. The restaurant used to be a Big Boy that the owner has converted into a very busy place. The food is excellent and you get a lot for your money. I always go home with leftovers. We did a bit more shopping, finding me an outfit for my placement that starts in January; no more jeans for me.
We then went back to our place and picked up Roscoe, Hermione and Otis and met our friend, her son and their two dogs for an off leash run which our dogs desperately needed. Just past their apartment complex there is a wooded area that people go to and let their dogs off leash. We saw a few other groups of people with their dogs, but everyone is really respectful and the dogs were all friendly.
The sun was shining and although it was just below freezing, it was really pleasant in the sun. We played fetch with the dogs at first-something that not all guide dog schools allow-then began walking the parameter of the field. Shaka was the fastest out of the dogs, she was like a little bullet Nala did her best to keep up and made sure that she was always the one to find the Kong that we had thrown. Mr. K didn't come because he was needing a nap so I hesitated to let Otis off leash. He does come back to the whistle, but he seems to just listen better to Mr. K. However, we moved away from the edge of the wooded area and he was able to run too. Hermione was right on the heels of the big dogs and running circles around me. Our friend's son has a little mixed breed of some sort named Bella who only weighs 5.2 pounds, so she stayed on an extend leash to ensure she didn't run off. She wasn't to be left out though. She raced back and forth on the leash, barking at all of the other dogs. Once she realized they weren't even remotely interested in eating her, she happily trotted along, every once in a while racing to the end of her leash and back.
We were out for probably an hour and it was so nice just to be outside in the fresh air. After our play date everyone headed home for supper-two Leggers and four alike.
My parents are leaving this morning and are just stopping in to say good-bye. It was really nice having them here and having a belated Christmas celebration.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
My iPhone Experience: Tracking On or Off?
For those of you with working eyeballs, this post may be a bit boring for you, but if you are someone who uses Voice Over on your phone, this post may be interesting to you; unless you are a Tech genius...then this post will be equally as boring.
As I mentioned before, probably a million times, I am one of the least technologically advanced person in the world. Most everything I know is self taught an although this is probably a slower process, I think it means that the information that I do figure out sticks better than if I had someone show or teach me. That said, sometimes I wish I could find tutorials or "how to" articles that were aimed at the average tech person like me. When I decided that I wanted to use my phone's map functions, I spent literally hours scouring the internet for material that would help me, but all I could find were websites designed to tell non-Voice Over users how to use the map and GPS functions )which is not the same) or tell Tech savvy people who use Voice Over how to program stuff. I'm neither of these and I refuse to think that I'm the only blind or visually impaired person in the world who doesn't fit into these categories.
So, in light of this, and because someone in the comments pointed out to me that I should write this, I'm going to try to the best of my ability to explain how a non-tech user works the map with Voice Over.
I've decided to break these posts into separate posts otherwise it would be so long that people would stop reading. Consequently, I'm going to address the "tracking" feature of the phone first; since that was the feature I was having the hardest time finding information for.
I will first start out by saying that I love and hate this feature. Basically, the feature is great and does its job which I love, but I couldn't figure out a way to shut it off once I arrived at my destination. But, let me start from the beginning and I'll get back to this.
From what I can figure, the tracking feature does exactly that, tracks where you are. It seems to be pretty accurate as well. It kept telling me I would arrive at my destination in 200 feet when I was already standing in my home, but all GPS systems have a small discrepancy when it comes to being spot on. Apparently, it's a security thing.
The nice thing is that tracking is not a difficult feature to find either. It is on the first screen you come to when you open up the map. It is a button that you will run into if you move through the entire screen. However, do not turn it on unless you really really want it or need it or have someone with working eyeballs around to shut it off because once it's on it's difficult to shut it off. I won't say impossible because I'm sure some tech genius could figure it out, but I even shut the phone down and when I turned it back on the tracking was still running. The problem with this is that once it's running it's impossible to get the phone, when you are in the maps, to do anything else. You can message, answer the phone, make a call, but if you go back into the maps screen you are stuck in this never ending list of streets and places around you. Great if you are trying to see what's around you, but not so great when you need the map to go back to its starting screen so you can put in a new address. Also, this revolving screen of streets/places is really vague. I think it's an interactive map that is probably great for sighted people, but it is a pain for us blind folk. I had to walk around my condo for two hours with the my phone announcing that I would arrive in 400 feet until someone could shut tracking off for me. It eats up your battery and it's kind of annoying.
However, if you are out walking and you think you may be lost, go to Maps and on the first screen where you can enter an address and the "directions" button is, there will be a button that says "tracking" when you move over it. It will also announce if the tracking is on or off. Switch it on, probably by just double tapping, and you will be relieved when the phone tells you what street you are standing on. You may have to hit "directions" once tracking is switched on for the map to tell you where you are. I can't remember what I did-I think that is what I did-but I am not going to risk turning the tracking on right now because it, as I've been saying, won't shut off. I could see this being a good tool to get to know an area you are unfamiliar with. You could walk around with tracking set to "on" and every time you turned on to a new street the phone would tell you what the street was called. It also announces what address you are standing near to. That said, remember that the GPS is slightly off so if it tells you you are standing at 200 Blah Blah street and that is where you want to go, don't be surprised if you go in and it's not 200 Blah Blah street. You may have to go a few doors down. You can also turn on the phone's voice navigation to verbally announce directions as you move about. You can do that by the phone's
1. settings (Not the map's settings. Go to your phone's settings).
2. maps
3. and scroll until you hear "navigation's voice volume." (On my phone model I just had to flick to the right twice).
Under the heading "navigation's voice volume" you will have four options.
1. no voice
2. low volume
3. normal volume
4. loud volume.
These are technically buttons, but the phone probably won't tell you that. Mine didn't. If you double tap the option you want, "normal volume" for example, that will be selected. Your phone should announce the next time you move over the option that it is selected. This is especially important if you want to make sure your navigation voice is on. If the "no voice" option is elected, you obviously will not have the navigation voice turned on. This is still a viable option as Voice Over will still talk to you. At least, mine did.
The navigation voice acted more as alerts, kind of the way a GPS system does when driving, whereas you can use Voice Over to navigate the map's options as well as direction steps. I honestly used the Voice Over more than the navigation voice since I had to double check directions a few times. Not to mention, I could feel my phone vibrate when the navigation voice made an announcement, but I often couldn't hear it if I was on a busier and hence louder street.
So, there you have it. My not so brief description of my experience with the tracking feature on the Imaps on my phone as well as the navigation voice. I'm not sure that my explanation was very clear or succinct, but hopefully someone finds some value in it.
As I mentioned before, probably a million times, I am one of the least technologically advanced person in the world. Most everything I know is self taught an although this is probably a slower process, I think it means that the information that I do figure out sticks better than if I had someone show or teach me. That said, sometimes I wish I could find tutorials or "how to" articles that were aimed at the average tech person like me. When I decided that I wanted to use my phone's map functions, I spent literally hours scouring the internet for material that would help me, but all I could find were websites designed to tell non-Voice Over users how to use the map and GPS functions )which is not the same) or tell Tech savvy people who use Voice Over how to program stuff. I'm neither of these and I refuse to think that I'm the only blind or visually impaired person in the world who doesn't fit into these categories.
So, in light of this, and because someone in the comments pointed out to me that I should write this, I'm going to try to the best of my ability to explain how a non-tech user works the map with Voice Over.
I've decided to break these posts into separate posts otherwise it would be so long that people would stop reading. Consequently, I'm going to address the "tracking" feature of the phone first; since that was the feature I was having the hardest time finding information for.
I will first start out by saying that I love and hate this feature. Basically, the feature is great and does its job which I love, but I couldn't figure out a way to shut it off once I arrived at my destination. But, let me start from the beginning and I'll get back to this.
From what I can figure, the tracking feature does exactly that, tracks where you are. It seems to be pretty accurate as well. It kept telling me I would arrive at my destination in 200 feet when I was already standing in my home, but all GPS systems have a small discrepancy when it comes to being spot on. Apparently, it's a security thing.
The nice thing is that tracking is not a difficult feature to find either. It is on the first screen you come to when you open up the map. It is a button that you will run into if you move through the entire screen. However, do not turn it on unless you really really want it or need it or have someone with working eyeballs around to shut it off because once it's on it's difficult to shut it off. I won't say impossible because I'm sure some tech genius could figure it out, but I even shut the phone down and when I turned it back on the tracking was still running. The problem with this is that once it's running it's impossible to get the phone, when you are in the maps, to do anything else. You can message, answer the phone, make a call, but if you go back into the maps screen you are stuck in this never ending list of streets and places around you. Great if you are trying to see what's around you, but not so great when you need the map to go back to its starting screen so you can put in a new address. Also, this revolving screen of streets/places is really vague. I think it's an interactive map that is probably great for sighted people, but it is a pain for us blind folk. I had to walk around my condo for two hours with the my phone announcing that I would arrive in 400 feet until someone could shut tracking off for me. It eats up your battery and it's kind of annoying.
However, if you are out walking and you think you may be lost, go to Maps and on the first screen where you can enter an address and the "directions" button is, there will be a button that says "tracking" when you move over it. It will also announce if the tracking is on or off. Switch it on, probably by just double tapping, and you will be relieved when the phone tells you what street you are standing on. You may have to hit "directions" once tracking is switched on for the map to tell you where you are. I can't remember what I did-I think that is what I did-but I am not going to risk turning the tracking on right now because it, as I've been saying, won't shut off. I could see this being a good tool to get to know an area you are unfamiliar with. You could walk around with tracking set to "on" and every time you turned on to a new street the phone would tell you what the street was called. It also announces what address you are standing near to. That said, remember that the GPS is slightly off so if it tells you you are standing at 200 Blah Blah street and that is where you want to go, don't be surprised if you go in and it's not 200 Blah Blah street. You may have to go a few doors down. You can also turn on the phone's voice navigation to verbally announce directions as you move about. You can do that by the phone's
1. settings (Not the map's settings. Go to your phone's settings).
2. maps
3. and scroll until you hear "navigation's voice volume." (On my phone model I just had to flick to the right twice).
Under the heading "navigation's voice volume" you will have four options.
1. no voice
2. low volume
3. normal volume
4. loud volume.
These are technically buttons, but the phone probably won't tell you that. Mine didn't. If you double tap the option you want, "normal volume" for example, that will be selected. Your phone should announce the next time you move over the option that it is selected. This is especially important if you want to make sure your navigation voice is on. If the "no voice" option is elected, you obviously will not have the navigation voice turned on. This is still a viable option as Voice Over will still talk to you. At least, mine did.
The navigation voice acted more as alerts, kind of the way a GPS system does when driving, whereas you can use Voice Over to navigate the map's options as well as direction steps. I honestly used the Voice Over more than the navigation voice since I had to double check directions a few times. Not to mention, I could feel my phone vibrate when the navigation voice made an announcement, but I often couldn't hear it if I was on a busier and hence louder street.
So, there you have it. My not so brief description of my experience with the tracking feature on the Imaps on my phone as well as the navigation voice. I'm not sure that my explanation was very clear or succinct, but hopefully someone finds some value in it.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Naughty or Nice?
From this title this post could really be about a few of my creatures: Hermione mostly, but today it's about Kira. She is just as much of a character as any of the dogs. Let me tell you about what she's been up to and you can decide for yourself if Kira has been naughty or nice.
First, let's start with the decorating of our Christmas tree.
As I mentioned before, we were late in getting our tree up this year, but nevertheless, it went up. It's one of those pre-lit trees that already had one row of busted branches on the bottom from Rufio making himself at home there last year. Considering how playful and interactive Kira is, I had a sneaking suspicion that our tree may fall victim to her antics and so opted to leave the breakable ornaments off of the tree this year. It's a good thing I did because our tree has received a royal thrashing.
The night that we decorated all of the animals, including our little black bandet (Kira), were all milling about, trying to figure out what was going on. I think Otis was the first to steal one of the shatter proof Christmas balls off of a bottom branch and chase it around the living room, but that was the only thieving the dogs did. Kira, on the other paw, just couldn't stay away from or out of the tree. She was whacking ornaments off just as quickly as I put them on. I finally figured out that if I bent the branch a bit and pushed the ball further back, she had a harder time making off with the decorations. When she realized that her ground efforts had been thwarted, she kicked her assault up a notch.
She climbed into the tree. I mean, in to it.
There she was, half way up, tucked smack in the center attacking shiny lights and ornaments alike from the inside. And, that was just the beginning.
There hasn't been a morning that I haven't come down to let the dogs out and haven't found rogue Christmas ornaments scattered around the living room floor. She even made off with the star from the top of the tree which I found tucked in the back corner of the living room. How on earth did she get the star?
Aside from her Christmas tree murder, she also stole a credit card off of Mr. K's desk and has added it to the items that have disappeared. Maybe she's holding it for safe keeping? Or until we promise to buy her more toys?
If the Christmas tree wasn't enough, she hopped up on top of the hope chest where our TV is and was deciding whether or not those ornaments were worth her time. either the little village was boring or she realized I was paying attention because after I said
"Kira? What are you doing?"" She meowed at me and jumped down, leaving the village undisturbed.
We're not sure what was up with her last night, but at about 2 in the morning she started racing around the house, carrying the little bear in her mouth that she stole from me, meowing at the top of her lungs. How she managed to carry the bear and yell at the same time, we're not sure, but she did it. Mr. K was privy to her little performance because he happened to get up to use the bathroom and there she was, running and yelling.
Maybe she heard Santa Paws and she was telling him where to drop off the big present?
She is still none too happy with us when we go to bed at night. Putting the scratching post by the bedroom door has helped to keep her from tearing up the carpet too badly, but if it gets shifted at all, she will go back to scratching up the carpet. It's the only spot she digs at and only when we go to bed. She also likes to hook her paw under the door and pull as hard as she can to try to get in.
We let her in last night, seeing how it was Christmas Eve. She burrowed under the covers for a few minutes, purred her little head off and then started hopping about. So, I let her out. I thought she may have ben worn out since she and Otis chased each other around the house for like 45 minutes, but not so much.
She really is quite an animated and affectionate cat, who may have a bit of an identity crisis from living with so many dogs. She's also certainly been a naughty kitty, but she must have been more nice than naughty because Santa Paws dropped off a box for her that she gets to open when her grandparents come to visit this weekend.
First, let's start with the decorating of our Christmas tree.
As I mentioned before, we were late in getting our tree up this year, but nevertheless, it went up. It's one of those pre-lit trees that already had one row of busted branches on the bottom from Rufio making himself at home there last year. Considering how playful and interactive Kira is, I had a sneaking suspicion that our tree may fall victim to her antics and so opted to leave the breakable ornaments off of the tree this year. It's a good thing I did because our tree has received a royal thrashing.
The night that we decorated all of the animals, including our little black bandet (Kira), were all milling about, trying to figure out what was going on. I think Otis was the first to steal one of the shatter proof Christmas balls off of a bottom branch and chase it around the living room, but that was the only thieving the dogs did. Kira, on the other paw, just couldn't stay away from or out of the tree. She was whacking ornaments off just as quickly as I put them on. I finally figured out that if I bent the branch a bit and pushed the ball further back, she had a harder time making off with the decorations. When she realized that her ground efforts had been thwarted, she kicked her assault up a notch.
She climbed into the tree. I mean, in to it.
There she was, half way up, tucked smack in the center attacking shiny lights and ornaments alike from the inside. And, that was just the beginning.
There hasn't been a morning that I haven't come down to let the dogs out and haven't found rogue Christmas ornaments scattered around the living room floor. She even made off with the star from the top of the tree which I found tucked in the back corner of the living room. How on earth did she get the star?
Aside from her Christmas tree murder, she also stole a credit card off of Mr. K's desk and has added it to the items that have disappeared. Maybe she's holding it for safe keeping? Or until we promise to buy her more toys?
If the Christmas tree wasn't enough, she hopped up on top of the hope chest where our TV is and was deciding whether or not those ornaments were worth her time. either the little village was boring or she realized I was paying attention because after I said
"Kira? What are you doing?"" She meowed at me and jumped down, leaving the village undisturbed.
We're not sure what was up with her last night, but at about 2 in the morning she started racing around the house, carrying the little bear in her mouth that she stole from me, meowing at the top of her lungs. How she managed to carry the bear and yell at the same time, we're not sure, but she did it. Mr. K was privy to her little performance because he happened to get up to use the bathroom and there she was, running and yelling.
Maybe she heard Santa Paws and she was telling him where to drop off the big present?
She is still none too happy with us when we go to bed at night. Putting the scratching post by the bedroom door has helped to keep her from tearing up the carpet too badly, but if it gets shifted at all, she will go back to scratching up the carpet. It's the only spot she digs at and only when we go to bed. She also likes to hook her paw under the door and pull as hard as she can to try to get in.
We let her in last night, seeing how it was Christmas Eve. She burrowed under the covers for a few minutes, purred her little head off and then started hopping about. So, I let her out. I thought she may have ben worn out since she and Otis chased each other around the house for like 45 minutes, but not so much.
She really is quite an animated and affectionate cat, who may have a bit of an identity crisis from living with so many dogs. She's also certainly been a naughty kitty, but she must have been more nice than naughty because Santa Paws dropped off a box for her that she gets to open when her grandparents come to visit this weekend.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Merry Christmas: 2014
Christmas has gone a little wonky over here just as I sat down to type this post. Originally, we were supposed to go to Mr. K's sister's house for the night this afternoon, but the stomach flu is running rampant through their house. So, we won't be going. Mr. K's mom is still going to come see us and we'll send presents back with her for our nieces and nephews, but the stomach flu can stay far far away.
Mr. K and I are going to spend the evening watching Christmas movies and eating our own little turkey. It's not quite the same, but life happens.
My parents will be here on Saturday for a few days and we'll do Christmas with them then.
So from our furry family to yours-non-furry or furry-Merry Christmas!
Mr. K and I are going to spend the evening watching Christmas movies and eating our own little turkey. It's not quite the same, but life happens.
My parents will be here on Saturday for a few days and we'll do Christmas with them then.
So from our furry family to yours-non-furry or furry-Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Hermione: A Champion Sniffer Dog?
I've always thought that Hermione has the aptitude for working. In fact, I have always thought that if I could figure out some way to channel her boundless amounts of energy she'd appreciate it. I think I'd appreciate it. I'm probably emoting on to her, but whenever we've done basic obedience stuff she's seemed bored and if I'm being completely honest, I am too. Maybe she's bored because I'm bored or maybe I just think she is because I am. Again, in all honesty, basic obedience is really something I should work on with her, but that's for another post. Because of her boundless energy I had thought of getting her into some classes, but I just couldn't figure out what. Once upon a time I had contemplated Rally O, but I just think she needs a quicker paced activity. Agility would be perfect for her, but I've yet to figure out how I would do that with her as a blind person and I've also yet to find a trainer willing to take us on. I haven't completely given up on the idea, but that may be a challenge I tackle later on.
I then turned my attention to fly ball, but getting on a team has proven difficult. She does have a prey drive and will chase thrown objects, but her return with sed object would be something we'd have to work on. Not completely out of the question, but an activity where I'd have to find a team willing to let us join.
That brings me to my next idea: nose work.
Nose work was something I had started with her a while back, but felt like I was hitting a wall. I know how to teach a dog how to sit/stay/down Etc, but teaching a dog to sniff? All of my dog experience has been to teach a dog not to sniff. So, although she seemed to like it, I sort of gave up because I didn't know how to progress through the training. Again, it was something I had sort of put on the back burner, at least until today. I think Hermione has decided for herself what she wants to do.
A few nights ago Mr. K and I finally managed to put our tree up and get the rest of the decorations out. It was a really nice evening and although it was delayed due to my crazy class schedule, I am tickled that we did decorate. Along with decorating comes boxes and containers that house decorations. We don't have a basement in this place, but do have a storage unit in a shared basement and that is where we had our Christmas stuff stored. Since our decorations are going to be up for such a short time we left the big rubber made bin tucked away in the living room until the time when we will re-fill it and bring it back down.
This morning I made my coffee and decided to sit in the living room a while to drink it. As I sat there Hermione was doing her "I'm excited about something and you better come see" dance. She squawks and prances about until I finally get off my butt to go and investigate what is so exciting. At first I thought she was wanting a rogue Christmas ornament that Kira had knocked off of the tree. (More about Kira the Christmas Kitty in another post). I found the ornament and put it back on the tree. However, the dancing did not stop.
I went over to where Hermione was carrying on and told her to "show me." She went to the bin and did a little squeak. I couldn't understand what she could possibly want out of there. The only things left in there were empty boxes and some glass ornaments we had opted not to hang on the tree to ensure they did not get broken from Kira flinging them off of the tree. I lifted the lid of the bin to show Hermione that there wasn't anything interesting in there. She nearly leapt into the bin she was so excited. With her front paws hooked over the edge and her back paws scrabbling on the floor, trying to give her more leverage to get into the box, she insisted by squawking again that something was in there.
So, I stuck my hand in and searched about, thoroughly convinced that she was being ridiculous.
As I fished around in the bin, my hand struck something soft and plush feeling. definitely not an empty ornament box. I seized the object and yanked it out, much to Hermione's delight.
The object causing such a fuss was this little plush bone that I had been given at a Petsmart grand opening. It had been one of Hermione's favorites, but I assumed it had been thrown out when we moved because it wasn't really high quality and there was a tiny hole in the side of it where someone had started pulling the stuffing out.
How on earth did she know that this little stuffed toy was buried in the depths of a rubber made bin with empty cardboard boxes piled on top of it?
If she can sniff out a little stuffed toy, I'm thinking she can sniff out odors in a nose work trial.
Now that I know that she actually does use her sniffer, and quite effectively, I'm going to have to find a way to actually train her in nose work and not flake out this time.
Oh Hermione. She never ceases to surprise me.
I then turned my attention to fly ball, but getting on a team has proven difficult. She does have a prey drive and will chase thrown objects, but her return with sed object would be something we'd have to work on. Not completely out of the question, but an activity where I'd have to find a team willing to let us join.
That brings me to my next idea: nose work.
Nose work was something I had started with her a while back, but felt like I was hitting a wall. I know how to teach a dog how to sit/stay/down Etc, but teaching a dog to sniff? All of my dog experience has been to teach a dog not to sniff. So, although she seemed to like it, I sort of gave up because I didn't know how to progress through the training. Again, it was something I had sort of put on the back burner, at least until today. I think Hermione has decided for herself what she wants to do.
A few nights ago Mr. K and I finally managed to put our tree up and get the rest of the decorations out. It was a really nice evening and although it was delayed due to my crazy class schedule, I am tickled that we did decorate. Along with decorating comes boxes and containers that house decorations. We don't have a basement in this place, but do have a storage unit in a shared basement and that is where we had our Christmas stuff stored. Since our decorations are going to be up for such a short time we left the big rubber made bin tucked away in the living room until the time when we will re-fill it and bring it back down.
This morning I made my coffee and decided to sit in the living room a while to drink it. As I sat there Hermione was doing her "I'm excited about something and you better come see" dance. She squawks and prances about until I finally get off my butt to go and investigate what is so exciting. At first I thought she was wanting a rogue Christmas ornament that Kira had knocked off of the tree. (More about Kira the Christmas Kitty in another post). I found the ornament and put it back on the tree. However, the dancing did not stop.
I went over to where Hermione was carrying on and told her to "show me." She went to the bin and did a little squeak. I couldn't understand what she could possibly want out of there. The only things left in there were empty boxes and some glass ornaments we had opted not to hang on the tree to ensure they did not get broken from Kira flinging them off of the tree. I lifted the lid of the bin to show Hermione that there wasn't anything interesting in there. She nearly leapt into the bin she was so excited. With her front paws hooked over the edge and her back paws scrabbling on the floor, trying to give her more leverage to get into the box, she insisted by squawking again that something was in there.
So, I stuck my hand in and searched about, thoroughly convinced that she was being ridiculous.
As I fished around in the bin, my hand struck something soft and plush feeling. definitely not an empty ornament box. I seized the object and yanked it out, much to Hermione's delight.
The object causing such a fuss was this little plush bone that I had been given at a Petsmart grand opening. It had been one of Hermione's favorites, but I assumed it had been thrown out when we moved because it wasn't really high quality and there was a tiny hole in the side of it where someone had started pulling the stuffing out.
How on earth did she know that this little stuffed toy was buried in the depths of a rubber made bin with empty cardboard boxes piled on top of it?
If she can sniff out a little stuffed toy, I'm thinking she can sniff out odors in a nose work trial.
Now that I know that she actually does use her sniffer, and quite effectively, I'm going to have to find a way to actually train her in nose work and not flake out this time.
Oh Hermione. She never ceases to surprise me.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Nala and I Go Adventuring: Part 101
Okay, we haven't gone adventuring 101 times, or perhaps we have, but I'm assuming that I will be using this title a lot and not remember what number I'm on...so we're starting at 101, Okay?
The last couple of weeks have been a blur. A blur of school work, classes and tooth pain. I had an infected wisdom tooth for over a week and then it was pulled which resulted in more pain, albeit different, for another week. All of this on top of trying to complete final assignments, exams and presentations. I wasn't sure I'd make it, but with only one exam left and the pain pretty much gone, I think I'll be okay.
With the tooth problems and having so much work to do, I really haven't been very active. My mini exercise routine fell by the way side because I just couldn't do it due to both physical and time constraints and I found myself in the sitting on lying down position a lot. I've been getting antsy the last couple of days as the pain has subsided and the assignments were getting checked off of my "to do" list. Ever since finding out where my placement is going to be I've been devising plans on how I'm going to get there.
Initially, I thought I'd take the door to door service, but started thinking that I should look for other options for a few reasons. First, that option was going to cost me sixteen dollars a week which adds up. If I took public transit it would only cost three dollars a week. Second, that really doesn't give Nala and I a chance to work together. I enjoy walking and working with her. So, I scratched that option off of the list. I'm not saying it's completely out. If there's some terrible weather forecasted then I will probably opt for that option, but otherwise, we are going to take the bus; especially since it's only three miles away and I used to walk that to work in Scotland. Maybe when the weather turns nice, we'll walk.
When I first looked up the bus route I was concerned because it said that I needed to take two buses to my placement. I am not a huge fan of buses. The longer you are on them, the more likely you are to get lost somewhere. At least living here the majority of the buses talk. However, I really didn't want to take two buses. After examining the route further though, I realized that the second bus only went three stops before I would have to get off. It seemed silly so I decided that I would take one bus and walk from the terminal to the placement. Then, I started thinking "how am I going to do that? I don't know where I'm going."
I looked up the directions on Google walking directions, but I was still concerned about how I would know when to turn into the agency's parking lot. Mr. K had brought it to my attention that my iPhone would give me step by step directions. So, yesterday I spent some time researching how this function worked, but there really wasn't a lot of information. Most of the stuff I found applied to the phone when not using the screen reading software and the stuff I did find about the screen reader was all this advanced stuff that I had no idea what it meant. It certainly wasn't applicable to what I wanted to know. So, after getting completely frustrated, I grabbed a handful of treats, suited up Nala and set my phone's map to return to my home address. I didn't turn the map on until much later.
I started by patterning Nala to my front door. We live in condos which really look like townhouses to me and so finding the right door can be tricky. I wrapped a hair tie around the handle so that if she took me to the wrong door I would know instantly and wouldn't reward her for picking the wrong place. After I thought she had an idea of where we needed to end up at, we headed out.
We took a route we've walked before, but eventually turned down a street we've never walked before. Lala was excited, but I could tell she thought I was wrong in asking her to go this way. (My auto correct won't let me spell Nala's name properly). I wasn't though. I was trying to find a circular route that would land us back at our complex, but when I switched the map on, it told me to turn around and go back the way I came. I knew my street wasn't a dead end, but I couldn't figure out how far I needed to go to find the street that would meet up with my street. In order to not confuse Nala, I turned around and we walked back the way we came. We were out for about twenty minutes and I was really impressed by her skill.
She crossed all streets dead straight on, she found curbs and paused confidently which made me comfortable; especially on the streets we had never been down before. She walked across grassy boulevards when I asked her to and found the sidewalk on the other side. At one corner she was a bit confused because it is a corner we have gone many directions before. She found the curb straight ahead of us and when I asked her to go right she thought I wanted her to find the cross walk button. So, she found that instead. I praised her because I probably will want that pole one day. Then I tried to proceed and she found the other curb and the pole that allows me to push the button to cross that street. It would seem that Nala's theory is "safety first." I tried again, making smaller hand signals and she got it. We were off again.
Back on our street I was worried I wouldn't know when to tell her to turn into our driveway. As we walked along I heard a few cars up ahead turn right and I wondered if that was our parking lot. As we got closer a giant truck was backing down the driveway. I waited for it to go and then asked Nala to turn right. She hesitated, but a car that had turned in earlier had sounded like our neighbor's junker, or at least I told myself it did, and I insisted that she turn. She went, albeit slowly and I second guessed myself, but as we walked further into the driveway my phone made some kind of crazy alert noise. If the phone was accurate, I had [picked the right driveway. You never know how accurate these things are and so I encouraged Nala to "find home."
She took me to a curb and then a door. I checked and there wasn't a hair tie. Had we turned too soon? I turned us around and said gently "no, find home." She took off like a shot, took a hard right into the place next door and charged up to the door.
There was a hair tie.
Party and treat time.
Our little trip out was great for a few reasons. First, it accomplished my goal of figuring out how to work my phone's map function better. I still need some work, but I'm excited that I even tried. I hate technology and just a year ago I probably wouldn't have tried it. Second, it reminded me of just how well NNala and I work together. This dog can never retire. And, last but not least, it gave us some much needed leg stretching. We weren't out for long, but we walk fast and it felt really good to just "vrrrrrm" along with her. In fact, the speed in combination with my lack of exercise lately and some steep hills we climbed made my legs a wee bit sore this morning. (Must do this more often).
So, there you have it. Our adventure with a functional purpose..
Mission accomplished.
The last couple of weeks have been a blur. A blur of school work, classes and tooth pain. I had an infected wisdom tooth for over a week and then it was pulled which resulted in more pain, albeit different, for another week. All of this on top of trying to complete final assignments, exams and presentations. I wasn't sure I'd make it, but with only one exam left and the pain pretty much gone, I think I'll be okay.
With the tooth problems and having so much work to do, I really haven't been very active. My mini exercise routine fell by the way side because I just couldn't do it due to both physical and time constraints and I found myself in the sitting on lying down position a lot. I've been getting antsy the last couple of days as the pain has subsided and the assignments were getting checked off of my "to do" list. Ever since finding out where my placement is going to be I've been devising plans on how I'm going to get there.
Initially, I thought I'd take the door to door service, but started thinking that I should look for other options for a few reasons. First, that option was going to cost me sixteen dollars a week which adds up. If I took public transit it would only cost three dollars a week. Second, that really doesn't give Nala and I a chance to work together. I enjoy walking and working with her. So, I scratched that option off of the list. I'm not saying it's completely out. If there's some terrible weather forecasted then I will probably opt for that option, but otherwise, we are going to take the bus; especially since it's only three miles away and I used to walk that to work in Scotland. Maybe when the weather turns nice, we'll walk.
When I first looked up the bus route I was concerned because it said that I needed to take two buses to my placement. I am not a huge fan of buses. The longer you are on them, the more likely you are to get lost somewhere. At least living here the majority of the buses talk. However, I really didn't want to take two buses. After examining the route further though, I realized that the second bus only went three stops before I would have to get off. It seemed silly so I decided that I would take one bus and walk from the terminal to the placement. Then, I started thinking "how am I going to do that? I don't know where I'm going."
I looked up the directions on Google walking directions, but I was still concerned about how I would know when to turn into the agency's parking lot. Mr. K had brought it to my attention that my iPhone would give me step by step directions. So, yesterday I spent some time researching how this function worked, but there really wasn't a lot of information. Most of the stuff I found applied to the phone when not using the screen reading software and the stuff I did find about the screen reader was all this advanced stuff that I had no idea what it meant. It certainly wasn't applicable to what I wanted to know. So, after getting completely frustrated, I grabbed a handful of treats, suited up Nala and set my phone's map to return to my home address. I didn't turn the map on until much later.
I started by patterning Nala to my front door. We live in condos which really look like townhouses to me and so finding the right door can be tricky. I wrapped a hair tie around the handle so that if she took me to the wrong door I would know instantly and wouldn't reward her for picking the wrong place. After I thought she had an idea of where we needed to end up at, we headed out.
We took a route we've walked before, but eventually turned down a street we've never walked before. Lala was excited, but I could tell she thought I was wrong in asking her to go this way. (My auto correct won't let me spell Nala's name properly). I wasn't though. I was trying to find a circular route that would land us back at our complex, but when I switched the map on, it told me to turn around and go back the way I came. I knew my street wasn't a dead end, but I couldn't figure out how far I needed to go to find the street that would meet up with my street. In order to not confuse Nala, I turned around and we walked back the way we came. We were out for about twenty minutes and I was really impressed by her skill.
She crossed all streets dead straight on, she found curbs and paused confidently which made me comfortable; especially on the streets we had never been down before. She walked across grassy boulevards when I asked her to and found the sidewalk on the other side. At one corner she was a bit confused because it is a corner we have gone many directions before. She found the curb straight ahead of us and when I asked her to go right she thought I wanted her to find the cross walk button. So, she found that instead. I praised her because I probably will want that pole one day. Then I tried to proceed and she found the other curb and the pole that allows me to push the button to cross that street. It would seem that Nala's theory is "safety first." I tried again, making smaller hand signals and she got it. We were off again.
Back on our street I was worried I wouldn't know when to tell her to turn into our driveway. As we walked along I heard a few cars up ahead turn right and I wondered if that was our parking lot. As we got closer a giant truck was backing down the driveway. I waited for it to go and then asked Nala to turn right. She hesitated, but a car that had turned in earlier had sounded like our neighbor's junker, or at least I told myself it did, and I insisted that she turn. She went, albeit slowly and I second guessed myself, but as we walked further into the driveway my phone made some kind of crazy alert noise. If the phone was accurate, I had [picked the right driveway. You never know how accurate these things are and so I encouraged Nala to "find home."
She took me to a curb and then a door. I checked and there wasn't a hair tie. Had we turned too soon? I turned us around and said gently "no, find home." She took off like a shot, took a hard right into the place next door and charged up to the door.
There was a hair tie.
Party and treat time.
Our little trip out was great for a few reasons. First, it accomplished my goal of figuring out how to work my phone's map function better. I still need some work, but I'm excited that I even tried. I hate technology and just a year ago I probably wouldn't have tried it. Second, it reminded me of just how well NNala and I work together. This dog can never retire. And, last but not least, it gave us some much needed leg stretching. We weren't out for long, but we walk fast and it felt really good to just "vrrrrrm" along with her. In fact, the speed in combination with my lack of exercise lately and some steep hills we climbed made my legs a wee bit sore this morning. (Must do this more often).
So, there you have it. Our adventure with a functional purpose..
Mission accomplished.
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