working dogs – Page 6

“Take a Deep Breath… and Trust Your Dog”

Published on November 15, 2008November 15, 2008 by hearingelmo4 Comments

Thursday was a particularly nasty, rainy day, and I dreaded “the walk down the stairs” more than usual. Funny thing about Meniere’s disease – rain and other types of weather systems can really make a difference in how steady I walk. I finally remembered my camera too, and I can’t tell you how many tries it took me to STAND AT THE TOP OF THESE STAIRS, on a RAINY DAY and TAKE A PICTURE! Grin!

The school I teach at is on the campus of a beautiful Nazarene church. It’s a “new campus” for us this year. I remember at the first teacher’s meeting hearing everyone laugh and remark on “Moses and the Red Sea” on the stairs. Me? I’m thinkin’, “You can look at a MURAL while going down the STAIRS?”

When I arrived at school on Thursday, I stuck my head in the door of the director’s office to grab some paper for the copier. She grimaced slightly and said, “Oh boy, is this rain affecting you today?” Actually, I made light of it and explained to her that really… this is just sort of a new kind of “normal” for me. I don’t really get up in the morning and think, “wow I’m really wobbly today”. This is my “normal”!

Meniere’s disease symptoms that fluctuate with weather systems, also usually produce worsened tinnitus. Meniere’s disease folks always have a hearing loss, but when tinnitus really kicks into “high gear”, those who are simply “hard of hearing” often hear very little when the tinnitus is in a full-out ROAR. I’m actually very blessed, because I hear through the miracle of a cochlear implant. My cochlear implant masks tinnitus, and so even on days my vertigo is worse, I hear just fine!

I showed my husband this picture of “the dreaded staircase”, and we laughed about how some of my “fears” have certainly morphed through the years. When we first got married 22 years ago, I had a very irrational fear of spiders (even little ones). Now I fear staircases, but I argue it’s completely rational! Smile!

I have to tell you though, it’s a very powerful emotion that burns through me when I take that first step down this flight of stairs. On “good days” it takes me about 2 minutes. On “bad days” it takes me about 5 minutes. Chloe is very intuitive. I don’t think she walks outside and sees the rain and puts that together with … “oh my we are going to be taking the stairs slowly today”. However, on “bad days” she patiently takes me all the way to the bottom, even if I have to stop and wait for the stairwell to stop spinning. (I even had to sit rather suddenly once, and she just sat there next to me looking around as if this was perfectly acceptable to her!)

I’ll never forget when we were first matched, I spent a great deal of one-on-one time with my trainer. Admitting to her that I was scared of stairs, insured that we spent some time at a local mall at the foot of a very tall flight of stairs! I remember turning to her with Chloe in “heel”, admitting with a quivering smile, “I’m going to have to do this slow!”

My trainer is a runner. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Denise, this isn’t a sprint. If you need to take it slow, then take it slow.” So I did… and on that staircase came the realization that I really could trust my dog. If I were going slow, she would too. My trainer had me take the stairs at the mall, in the closed stairwell at the training center, and in her home. She never helped me look for a way around those stairs. Because of her, I go down stairs. I take a deep breath… and I go… down… the stairs. Why?

Because I can.

Chloe? Well she’s not real happy when the rain interferes with her “W – A – L – K ” at lunch hour. The van is boring.

Denise Portis

Harpers Ferry Sees a lot of US

Published on November 4, 2008November 4, 2008 by hearingelmoLeave a comment

Denise and Chloe at Jefferson Rock in Harpers Ferry State Park, October 2008

We go to Harpers Ferry a great deal. For one thing it is within “spittin’ distance” of our home. Secondly, the view and park is simply breath-taking. No matter what time of year we go, it’s beautiful. I keep telling Terry that when we retire one day, I want to live in the historic section of Harpers Ferry. (I think he thinks I’m teasing!)

Going to Harpers Ferry is much more fun than it use to be. For one thing, I love hearing the trains thanks to the miracle of “hearing again“. For another, I don’t have near the number of falling or stumbling accidents that I use too “pre – Chloe”. Having a hearing assistance dog who also helps with a great number of balance related tasks makes me much more independent. There is one flight of stone steps that I literally CRAWLED up prior to having her counter-balance on the left! I “see more” of Harpers Ferry than I use too! Grin!

Denise Portis

A Night in the Life of Our Family

Published on October 25, 2008October 26, 2008 by hearingelmo5 Comments

Kyersten is a guest writer on Hearing Elmo and does a fantastic job (in THIS mom’s opinion) of relating what it is like being a CODA (child of deaf adult) or as she prefers it: KODA (Kid of deaf adult). I think it’s important that readers “hear” the OTHER opinions and thoughts about how deafness affects a family. Sometimes those thoughts are sad. Sometimes those thoughts are angry. And sometimes? Sometimes it’s just really funny…

It was very impressive.

We watched as mom sailed over the gate. She flew gracefully in the air and landed rather ungracefully on the ground.

It’s not the fall that hurts, it’s the landing.

There was silence.

This is what she looked like:

Chloe, half asleep, sat up on the couch and peered down at Mom. This is what Chloe looked like:

(… well what she’d look like if she were a cat)

Mom said “ow”.

Chris stifled a laugh, quickly changing his face to the look of a concerned son.

I expressed casual worry, “You okay, Mom?”

Dad asked what happened, unfortunately having missed the dramatic gliding over the gate.

While worried about her, we were starting to get used to her lying on the floor, embarrassed and dazed.

Dad went to help her up. They looked for serious injuries. He helped her back to the couch.

And so we resumed our evening.

Kyersten is eighteen years old and lives with her dad, late-deafened mom, and 6’3″ “baby” brother in Maryland. To leave out mention of the menagerie of animals living there as well would be… wise – as she wanted this short.

Denise Portis

“Cane” Shopping

Published on October 24, 2008 by hearingelmo3 Comments

I’ve been a little depressed the past week or so. I took a pretty bad fall a “rainy weekend” ago, and had to follow-up with my doctor to make sure I hadn’t broken a leg, arm or rib. I was covered in bruises for a couple of weeks. I mentioned to my husband, that I noticed that if I use my umbrella on the right side (with Chloe in heel on the left), then I do much better on rainy days.

Falling doesn’t make me depressed. Bruises don’t make me depressed. Mentioning “it may be time for me to get a cane for rainy days”, and darling hubby jumping all over it? That made me depressed. I said it half in jest, but he was completely serious.

I’ve been falling all my life. I was one of those “accident prone” kids. I even remember one time in college, my RA told me, “Denise, you fall and run into stuff more than anyone I know!” What is interesting to note, is that I didn’t have a significant hearing loss in college. I only had a moderate unilateral loss due to a pedestrian vs. vehicle accident at the age of six. (The car won)

I didn’t begin losing my hearing (sensorineural hearing loss) until I had a couple of babies at the age of twenty-five. The hearing loss continued in both my ears for over a decade before I did anything about it. All the while, I continued to “fall and run into stuff” a great deal. It’s never been strange for me to be sporting bruises. (The “ATTIC STORY” has become rather infamous!)

Somewhere along the way I developed a mild form of Meniere’s disease. Without my cochlear implant and/or hearing aid, I have constant tinnitus. But it is “manageable”, and I’m quite accustomed to the constant ringing when I’m not utilizing technology and bionics to hear. I sleep very soundly “in spite of”. Along with the tinnitus, however, I began to have vertigo and other balance problems. It is worse when it’s a rainy day, so I know the weather affects it. There is very little one can do for Meniere’s. I cut down on salt, take Manganese tablets, and try to get a lot of rest.

Regardless, on rainy days I have to move carefully and methodically. Chloe acts as a great counter-balance on stairs, ramps, inclines, slopes, etc. However ceiling fans, fast moving bodies (like students running), or loud noises make the dizziness worse. I face a flight of stairs “round trip, each school day. I would think the stairwell is about 8 feet wide, but it is DEEP and STEEP. Just standing at the top of the stairs and preparing to descend, the whole stairwell starts to spin, and I lose a great deal of my peripheral vision due to the vertigo. It can be terrifying, but I’m confident for the most part and Chloe certainly adds stability. On rainy days, however, you can multiply that terror times TEN.

If I happened to fall down THOSE stairs, there is no doubt I would break something. It’s not that I’ve never broken a bone before! My word, I’ve broken a femur, toes, fingers, my sternum, and cracked multiple bones as well. But I’m rather terrified of that stairwell. Perhaps it’s because I’m afraid I’ll hurt Chloe. Perhaps it’s because I know how it would completely freak out the director of my school! (grin)

To humor hubby, I’ve done a little “cane shopping” online. At least some of them are pretty.

But darn… I’m depressed! I find myself asking, “Has it come to this?”

But you know what? I can’t sit around feeling sorry for myself very long. I was taught to “belly-ache if you must”, but then recall how blessed you are! And truly… I am very blessed. With my cochlear implant I hear better than I had ever hoped to “this side of Heaven”. I have a wonderful and supportive family, and a super assistance dog who loves to work. The blessings FAR outweigh my little problems with balance.

I have learned to poke fun at myself when needed, and it has certainly made others more comfortable around my implant, assistance dog, and even dizziness. But I really hate falling…

For now I’m “in shopping mode”. At least they aren’t very expensive! At least I’d only need one when the weather is bad. At least some are pretty! I could add a whole list of “at leasts”! I suppose that’s a form of counting your blessings.

For now, I’ll just “window/monitor” shop. At least… until hubby brings it up again.

Denise Portis

Learning the HARD Way

Published on October 14, 2008October 14, 2008 by hearingelmo6 Comments

Don’t you hate “lessons learned the hard way”? I must be one of those stubborn “souls” that must learn things by bearing the consequences of unheeded warnings. As a child, I’m sure my mother probably warned, “Clean your room or no watching Sesame Street and ELMO”. Knowing ME, I likely closed that door on the messy room in hopes “out of sight, out of mind” worked with my Mom. (Does that EVER… work with MOM?)

Even as an adult, I can still be stubborn. I have a hearing loss, but “hear again” (in ideal situations) through the miracle of a cochlear implant. I have balance problems due to a mild form of Meniere’s disease. But every “lesson” I’ve learned, I’ve learned the hard way. Anticipating possible consequences was never something I sat around contemplating. For me… it had to “happen” before I learned to make necessary changes.

These lessons include:

My Hearing and Hearing Assistance Dog

1. Have Size 675 batteries EVERYWHERE. In the car and van, in Chloe’s vest, in my purse, in my training bag, in my Bible, in my jewelry box, on my dresser, and in Chloe’s treat bag. Failure to not have them EVERYWHERE, results in my being caught “deaf” when my cochlear implant dies.

2. When I get my “20 minute Beep” from my CI, start digging for batteries right away. Otherwise, when those 20 minutes are up, I’m left having a conversation with someone with my mouth dropped open in surprise at the sudden silence.

3. Have “clean up” bags everywhere for Chloe. I even carry them in her vest pocket, that way they are always handy. Just because she goes “potty” like clockwork at the SAME time, every day, does NOT mean that she will never “up and decide” she needs to go at some random location! Failure to carry them with me all the time, means that I have to come back to that place to “pick up” after running home for the bags!

4. Tell Chloe a basic obedience command once. If I say it four or five times, she will learn to ignore me. Or worse yet, she “counts” and waits until I’ve said “Chloe sit” 5 times before doing it! Give the command after her name ONE TIME, and then correct with an immediate correction should she fail to follow through.

5. If I don’t hear what someone says… even simply PART of what someone says… do not pretend I completely understand. Failure to clarify means I will likely say “that’s nice” when someone tells me their aunt passed away, when I thought they said “My aunt’s pants are gray”.

6. Follow up important meetings with an email. This insures I have received all the information correctly, and will even remind the other person about deadlines and issues we discussed. Failure to follow-up will likely result in my forgetting something important as I did not hear clearly.

My Balance and Assistance Dog

1. I wear bangs so that I don’t have to deal with the peripheral of ceiling fans. Those suckers are EVERYWHERE! My bangs keep me from easily seeing the rotation, resulting in fewer “tumbles”. If I wear my hair without bangs because of fashion, I’m usually “in style” but looking up at the concerned faces of people standing over my prone body.

2. Stay away from caffeine during the day. Morning coffee is fine. Soft drinks all day only insure that I am banging into everything by bedtime.

3. If asking Chloe to brace, check our immediate surroundings first. If she sees a family member nearby, she may “wiggle” in a brace causing me to fall.

4. Do not allow anyone to pet Chloe in vest EVER. If I break my own rule, Chloe will never understand not to “visit” when in vest. Her moving suddenly or reaching for an outstretched hand means that I will fall. I will fuss at friends and family members should they think “Do not Pet” does not mean them.

5. If Manganese is suppose to help the tinnitus and balance problems, then for Heaven’s sake TAKE THE MANGANESE. It takes a good 3 weeks for enough to be built up in my system to work. Pretend the Manganese is something important… like birth control or something! If I don’t take it regularly, then I continue to have frequent symptoms.

6. If someone close to me (KYERSTEN) begs me to ride a roller coaster, or other amusement park ride that actually MOVES in more than one direction, insist on watching from the sidelines. It’s not like Chloe would enjoy it either! Caving in to begging daredevils (KYERSTEN), simply means I’ll be sniffing smelling salts later.

7. When taking a bath, do not lock the door. Chloe can do a lot of things, but she can’t unlock a door should I fall. (Like last night… behind a locked door… with a concerned assistance dog looking at all the bubbles thrown everywhere and unable to go get help!) Leave the door unlocked. You can always throw a bar of soap should someone come in without permission. (Not that the AIM of someone with balance problems is that great… but I can SCREAM).

Denise Portis

I May be NAKED, but I HEAR Well!

Published on October 7, 2008October 7, 2008 by hearingelmoLeave a comment

Gingery’s Baby Pegasus (Owner: Kyersten Portis, one of the writers of Hearing Elmo)

Pegasus may be naked as a jay-bird, but he has excellent ears. (Side note: Exactly HOW naked is a “Jay Bird”? Has anyone ever really looked that up? Food for thought… )

As a matter of fact, Fidos For Freedom, Inc., the organization from which my hearing assistance/balance dog Chloe comes, also trains Chinese Crested as hearing dogs. It doesn’t matter if you have very little hair. You can not only be a great pet or show dog, but you can actually be trained to assist someone with a disability. (What a PLUS to be hypo-allergenic as well! Chinese Crested have HAIR, not FUR).

Working dogs come in all shapes and sizes. It reminded me of what “hearing loss” looks like as well. “Hearing loss” doesn’t “look like” any one thing. Its causes are as varied as a dog’s “looks” or “degree of hair”. Fever, ototoxic drugs, accidents, genetics and “cause unknown” are all reasons a person may have a hearing loss.

Different ages of people can develop hearing loss. Some children are born with hearing loss, and thanks to infant hearing screening, many are discovered at a very early age. This helps in the long-run with speech development and language skills.

Some women develop hearing loss after having children. The link has yet to be clearly defined by doctors. (My own progressive hearing loss began after having children).

Some people do not develop hearing loss until they have worked a long period of time at a particular “noisy” job. (My father-in-law worked as a printer for decades. All that time around noisy machinery has taken it’s toll).

Some people have SHL, or “sudden” sensorineural hearing loss. Many of our soldiers are coming home with significant hearing loss due to road-side bombs and other “war noises” they are exposed to each day.

Some people have “age-related” hearing loss. How many of you have grandparents who now wear hearing aids? (or should – grin)

Hearing loss is not a “respecter of persons”. It can affect every age, gender, race, or religion. Economics, education, nor “looks” prevent someone from having a hearing loss. Hearing loss is wide-spread. (In the U.S., alone there are over 36 million people with hearing loss!)

Particular personality types are not exempt from hearing loss. If you are sanguine and outgoing, hearing loss is just as devastating to you as it is to a quiet melancholy.

Hearing loss and personality types? Sounds like the title of a blog post. (I’ll get started on that and ask my psychologist hubby to write!)

Denise Portis

The “Folly” of Allowing “Deaf” to Define You

Published on September 19, 2008September 19, 2008 by hearingelmo3 Comments

Simba (My parent’s pooch! He’s the smartest little thing and has made a great addition to their retired life in Florida! He’s a Cock-a-Poo, and doesn’t look like ANY canine movie star!)

The Folly of Hollywood’s Influence

I love my mother. Mom is one of my best friends. But being a mom myself now, I can clearly see that my mother was extremely influenced by the canine stars she saw on television as she was growing up. I can make this assumption with a great deal of confidence, based on the fact that she has had two “look-alike” dogs of her own through the years. Prior to retiring to Florida, she talked my Dad into buying a boxer that bore an resemblance to “Pete” on “Little Rascals“. I don’t see the resemblance. After all, it is fairly obvious the circle around his eye was PAINTED on, and Mom’s boxer had no make-up whatsoever! But “Pete” was in black & white! So… who knows?

“Jingles” did not last very long as she was not a well-trained, super-star dog. On the contrary, she was a rather destructive and ill-mannered dog. She found a new home on a new farm with a family who had a little more patience.

Prior to “Jingles”, while I was still living at home on the ranch in Colorado, Mom talked Dad into buying a collie. I guess Mom had a thing for “Lassie“. I didn’t mind at all, as I thoroughly enjoyed watching not only the current “Lassie” series, but never missed a black and white re-run of the episodes Mom watched as a child. Mom may have insisted on a pedigreed collie, but Dad insisted on the name. “Jean’s Folly” was our … erm… COLLIE! We called her “Folly” for short. I wish I had a picture of Folly. She was actually much prettier than Lassie! She was the most beautiful collie I have EVER seen.

Living up to a Name

It turns out that Folly was aptly named. It seemed she was incredibly stupid. At least that is what we thought in the beginning…

In 1982, Folly was accidentally left outside when there were some stray dogs from neighboring ranches running around. These dogs thought Folly was really beautiful too… at least that’s what I told myself because she ended up pregnant. Folly was an outside dog; a different type of working dog than the one I have now. Folly’s job was to keep the on-site livestock safe, keep coyotes from killing our cats, and made sure that snakes stayed out of the yard. We didn’t interact with Folly as much as we should have. Had we done so, we would have noticed that she was pregnant PRIOR to her having puppies. It was at the birth of her puppies that I first began to suspect that Folly wasn’t as dumb as we first thought. It was October, and we had our first snowfall on the ground.

Folly went under our picnic table which was next to the house, pulled out most of her own hair, and had puppies on the cold, hard ground. (Pretty pitiful, huh?) On the insistence of my three siblings and myself, we brought poor Folly and her puppies inside. Their new make-shift quarters were under the rarely-used pool table downstairs in the game room. Folly and the puppies did really well for a couple of weeks.

During those weeks, I had the opportunity to really get to know Folly better. She would look at me with bright, inquisitive eyes, and watched everything I did with intelligence and attentiveness. She loved for me to “visit” her under the table with she and her puppies. (It’s fairly difficult for a teenage girl to fit under a pool table with a large collie and a litter of pups! But I’m talented!) I dutifully took her outside “when nature called”, and brought her back inside so that she could be with her puppies. However, the cold snap lifted and the weather warmed up enough, that my Dad said Folly and her pups had to be moved to the barn.

I fixed one of the rooms in the barn up with plywood and bales of hay. It was cozy and warm. The first couple of days I locked Folly into the barn with the pups. I think part of me was beginning to suspect something about Folly. I started doing “tests” of my own to see if my “feeling” could produce enough evidence to allow me to verbalize my fears.

Not Dumb… Just Deaf

I would sneak up on Folly when she was asleep, and as long as I took the time to move slowly enough that no vibrations were caused by my boots on the ground, I was able to “scare the daylights out of her” 9 out of 10 times! I would watch her looking out over the alfalfa field directly south of our home. She seemed eager to continue her vigilance in keeping the coyotes away. When I was ready to lock her back into the barn, I would call her… nearly screaming her name and she would continue her guard of the yard. I found, however, that if I walked into her line of sight and called her name with a smile and a pat on my thigh… she would come running with the unadulterated joy of a dog when seeing someone in their family.

My conclusion? Folly was deaf. I mentioned it to my dad. Dad is a quiet man who is at first pessimistic of others viewpoints until he acquires enough evidence to conclude that they may be right. He would have made a great debater. At supper several nights later, he announced in a matter-of-fact way that he thought Folly was deaf too. To this day, I have no idea what kinds of “tests” he ran himself to come to that conclusion.

As we felt Folly was now comfortable in the barn with her puppies, we left the door open for her so that she could come and go as she pleased. The puppies’ eyes were just beginning to open, and I couldn’t wait to get home from school each day to go visit them in the barn. It’s a shame we didn’t leave that door open for the first time over a weekend. I’m certain I would have noticed that the puppies were failing had I been able to spend more time with them. But as it was, one evening a few days later, I went to visit them and found them all dead. Every single one of them. My parents were at work, so I called my grandfather on the phone in near hysterics. He and my grandmother lived on the ranch a couple of miles east of us. I don’t know that he completely understood what was wrong, but he certainly arrived quickly!

He determined that the puppies had not been fed. He could tell that they hadn’t been cared for in a couple of days. He asked me questions about what kind of mom Folly had been. I explained to him how great she was with the puppies when inside the house, and that everything was fine when she was locked up in the barn with them.

My dad must have shared with him that she was deaf. He concluded that if she couldn’t hear them she didn’t know they were hungry. I was furious and shouted at both my grandfather and Folly. How could she not know they needed fed? How could something so IMPORTANT escape her notice? Did hearing the pups trigger true maternal love? She couldn’t be deaf AND care for the puppies? My grandfather insisted I was trying to make her out to be more than a dog. Instincts only went so far. Sometimes competing instincts were even more dangerous. Folly’s instinct to be on guard of our yard and farm overrode her maternal instincts. She was conditioned to SEE what needed done, not HEAR what needed done. None of this made sense to me. I’m ashamed to admit that all I felt for Folly after the day her puppies died was HATE.

To me, Folly was back to being “dumb”. I looked at everything she did after that with the irrational thinking that mistakes she made were just plain stupid. I conveniently seemed to forget that she was deaf – that she had a disability that for a DOG was almost catastrophic! I ignored the impact her deafness would mean on how she was measured in value as a working dog on a ranch. I ignored it all the way up until the day she walked right out in front of a pick-up truck she couldn’t hear, driven by a distraught neighbor who had no chance of stopping in time.

I grieved for Folly for a very long time. Quiet, yet bitter tears drenched my pillow at night for several weeks. I remember thinking, that of every bad thing that could possibly happen to someone or something, deafness had to be the equivalent to a death sentence. It was for Folly’s puppies. It was for Folly.

Life’s Little Ironies

My husband and I first began to realize I was losing my hearing when I was twenty-five years old. My… ermm… puppies, were 2 months old and 13 months old. I have probably thought about Folly every week since that first audiological appointment in 1991.

For me, my deafness does not define me. It is simply who I am. A cochlear implant does not negate my deafness. Certainly, I am indeed “hearing again”, but it is not perfect hearing. I will never have perfect hearing again this side of Heaven.

To “hear” and communicate well, I take advantage of the latest technology. I try to eat right and get plenty of sleep. I attend support groups with other late-deafened individuals. When I can, I go to workshops and conferences for people with hearing loss in order to educate myself. Folks? I try really hard. But at the end of the day, I’m still a deaf person! Actually… at the end of the day when I take my cochlear implant off, I am literally a deaf person! Smile!

And yet, I’m OK with that. Learning to communicate differently has made communication BETTER for me. I drop EVERYTHING to talk to people. I look them in the eye; I process what they are saying. I acknowledge when I’m not hearing well, nor understanding well. There is nothing else on my mind when I talk to someone, other than what it is they are saying. If anything else is on my mind, I immediately stop understanding. I truly give people my undivided attention!

I realize that Folly was just a dog. But I recognize the difference having a loving supportive family has meant. I recognize that God has brought specific individuals, message boards, writers and speakers into my life to “grow me”. I wish I had thought of ways that Folly could have lived her life in safety. I wish I had not equated her disability with her intelligence. It’s actually a surprise she lived as long as she did, when one considers the enormous number of dangerous possibilities for her demise on a working ranch.

I have thought of Folly more than I have any other dog I have ever owned. It will likely surprise my family to even read this, for my thoughts were private up until now. Perhaps I am finally coming to terms with what it means to have a disability and still have a productive and meaningful life.

I raised “puppies”, I teach wonderful, eager students, I have friends who are hearing and friends who are culturally Deaf. I work hard to minister to a group of peers that are late-deafened. My deafness does not “define” me. My deafness is a blessing, and enriches my life. I didn’t discover this quickly. I had to become an “old dog” first!

Denise Portis

A Number of “Firsts”

Published on July 14, 2008July 14, 2008 by hearingelmo1 Comment

Kyersten (my 18-year-old daughter) and I went to Florida last week to stay with my parents. It was a “senior” trip of sorts. We didn’t really DO anything, but both of us needed a week of “not doing anything”. Mom and Dad had company the week before we came, so I think they were perfectly fine with Kyersten and I coming to read, walk, “hang-out” and practice laziness.

Chloe didn’t do well on the plane trip there. She has flown a great number of times with trainers, but this was only the third time with me. We only travel by plane about 2 times a year now. That’s infrequent enough that she is still nervous. At least on the plane ride home, she did better thanks to some homeopathic, herbal help from Rescue Remedy.

Chloe is trained to do a “stand/stay” while being searched for security purposes. We even practiced this at Fidos For Freedom the Saturday before we left for our trip. Chloe has so much metal on her due to 6 tags, collar, vest, etc., that she always sets the security bells and whistles off. (I find it amusing that my cochlear implant, hearing aid, etc., all allow me through without problem!) The security lady asked me prior to searching Chloe… “Does she bite?” I assured her with a grin that “she doesn’t bite, but she may KISS you!”.

Wouldn’t you know that Chloe would go all a-wiggle with the search, kissing the agent to the point that it plopped her on her behind? She was laughing so hard she could hardly “search” Chloe correctly. The laughter only made Chloe more excited. Chloe can be SO professional when needed! (eye roll)

We had a series of “firsts” that I thought I’d post through picture/caption. They may not have been complete “firsts” for her as Chloe was raised by a puppy raiser, and then trained in a couple different trainer’s homes. But they were FIRSTS for “us”.

FIRST! Florida heat and humidity!

FIRST! Florida sunset!

FIRST! Florida thunderstorm! (And I could “hear” it! Was I thrilled or what?)

FIRST! Learning hardwood floors are cooler!

FIRST! Indoor pond in a “birdcage”

FIRST! Pond goldfish IN the indoor pond!

FIRST! Porch swing… and Grandma’s Cockapoo, Simba!

FIRST! Sandhill Cranes! Kyersten told me they sounded like “Velocoraptors” from Jurassic Park. They certainly weren’t scared of Chloe. They were aggressive!

FIRST! Olympic size swimming pool

FIRST! Helping Denise up WIDE, steps with open rails on each side!

FIRST! Watching Denise’s “puppy” do weird things with something called a “noodle”!

FIRST! Riding a golf cart!

FIRST! Walk with Denise in Florida’s heat. (Never did see any alligators in the ponds!)

Denise Portis

Vets and our …

Published on June 20, 2008 by hearingelmo1 Comment

Pets! WORKING DOGS!

CHLOE FEELING VERY PLAYFUL AFTER A TRIP TO THE VET THAT INCLUDED A MASSAGE!

My probationary year through Fidos For Freedom, Inc., was over on May 11th. Chloe was “officially” turned over to me! As we have been working together 24/7 since April 11, 2007, I have thought of her as “fully mine” for quite awhile. So really the only thing that changed on May 11th, was that I began paying for all her bills. Food, supplies, vet visits, etc., were all paid for by her sponsor prior to this date.

As the vet I had been taking her to was almost an hour away, I decided to have all of her records transfered to our family vet and begin taking her there. Bert S. (with service dog Judge) works with Client Services at Fidos. She gave me some great advice that I wanted to pass on to others. Ask your vet if there is a discount for a service, assistance or working dog. Turns out that my vet has a greater discount for a working dog than the one Chloe was going too! (20% off of everything except food, and certain other things “free”… they were thrilled to have Chloe join their “family”!)

We went for the 1st time yesterday as Chloe was due for her Bordetella (intranasal) vaccine, a fecal check w/ Giardia testing (oooo… gross but necessary), and she needed a health certificate as she is flying with me on July 5th and July 12th “intra-state”. I was so thankful she didn’t need a urinalysis this time! (She gets it once a year and needs it done in January). Have you ever tried to “catch” a dog’s urine first thing in the morning? A “girl” dog? I’ll have to blog about the joys of that in January!

My vet told me that they recommend that Bordetella be given with a shot. Yes, the vaccine does wonders to have that concentrated anti-bodies sprayed right in the mucus membrane. Problem is that most dogs sneeze immediately and “blow” it everywhere… including on the vet and owner! It doesn’t do much good when most is “blown” out. He explained that many vaccinated dogs who had the intranasal vaccine, were catching kennel cough when boarded, etc., anyway. Made sense enough to me that Chloe received hers through injection.

The vet tech was a man. And Chloe? Well Chloe was in love! (The vet was a man too, but hey! He gave her a shot! Did he expect kisses?) The vet tech also was a massage specialist. So guess what Chloe received FREE while we waited for Ebony to come back from getting her blood drawn? Chloe stood perfectly still and if she’d been a cat… she’d have PURRED. Of course, this then cemented her undying love for this perfect stranger. When he finished she went “belly up” and showed off her tattoo while asking for a belly rub through the excellent usage of “body language”. He was all for it… and I allowed it because I had removed her vest.

I have a feeling if Chloe will get a free massage every time she is there, she won’t mind the vet so much now! (Recommendations are that working dogs go to the vet every 6 months for “well checks”, shots, boosters, titers, etc).

Taken By Surprise!

Published on May 28, 2008May 28, 2008 by hearingelmo4 Comments

Discovering a large dog CAN be a lap dog! My 18-year-old with Chloe

My daughter, Kyersten, has developed an interest in hiking. Perhaps it is because her boyfriend is a “super hiker”, and she is learning to enjoy some of the things he does. Irregardless, on Memorial Day she took advantage of the fact that she had “mom and dad” all to herself, and drug us to Harper’s Ferry.

Harper’s Ferry is one of our favorite family “hang outs” and it takes less than 30 minutes to get there from our house. Kyersten recently went on a hike with Mark and his mother, discovering a trail we’ve never taken before as a family. She was anxious to show us the view, and so we were “game” to let her drag us up there.

Taken by surprise #1: As females are wise and practical, Kyersten and I took turns going to the bathroom so that we could watch each other’s dogs. She had her show dog, Pegasus, along for the hike and although Chloe can go to public bathrooms with ME, Peg cannot go to public bathrooms with Kyersten. (Besides, he’s a BOY dog – smile) Peg attracts a lot of attention. He’s umm… UNUSUAL looking.

Left alone as hubby was parking the van, Chloe, Peg and I made ourselves comfortable at a picnic table. It didn’t take long for a family to make a bee-line for me and started asking questions about Peg. (Chloe is quite use to this and normally rolls her eyes and lays down to wait while all the questions like “was he born that way?” are answered). The “mom” of the family was standing on my left, and pointed to my head and said, “Amy, come look at this!”

I was taken by surprise by the delight and attention that was now directed at ME. “Mom” explained that Amy was waiting to get her first hearing aid. She was born with a bi-lateral hearing loss and was waiting for the “pink swirly” ear mold to come in before going to her audiologist for her last fitting. Amy looked to be about 6 or 7 years old. They were very interested in my cochlear implant and “bling”, and I also showed her my orange/red ear mold on the hearing aid in my right ear. Amy seemed excited about the prospect of putting “bling” on her own hearing aid when she began wearing it.

I get a lot of “looks” in public, but rarely have the opportunity to discuss hearing loss as much as I did with Amy and her family. When they walked away, the mother mouthed, “thank you“. I was under the impression Amy hadn’t met a lot of people with hearing loss. I was glad to be an impromptu role model.

Taken by surprise #2:

Finally ready for the hike, my daughter led us across the road and up the path to the railroad bridge. It’s a good thing my 17-year-old son, Chris was NOT along. He has “acrophobia” and would have never made it across! Chloe was not in vest as it was a hot day, and our goal was the top of a mountain! She stayed in a proper heel all the way across the bridge. When we got to the other side, we were to take a metal, spiral-staircase down to the path next to the Potomac River. I stepped down and made it down 3 steps and realized something with sudden clarity. Chloe wasn’t moving and I was on the verge of losing my balance. I think I may have screeched! Terry took my bag for me, and I turned to look at Chloe while holding the staircase railing with a “death grip”.

She was quivering from head to tail, and although she made it to the 2nd stair, her toes were curled around the rungs on the iron steps and her eyes were as wide as saucers. She was scared “drool-less”. (Chloe, being a hound does not have “spit”, she has “drool”… one kiss from her and you’ll agree fairly quickly!)

Hubby said, “Uh… Denise! I don’t think we are going to be able to do this!”

Kyersten and I both swung our heads to look at him with consternation… “Honey! A working dog doesn’t “not” do something new just because they are scared! I can do this! SHE can do this!”

I began talking to Chloe non-stop and used her name over and over again. Kyersten told me later that people coming UP the stairs were murmuring, “Poor Chloe!” “You can do it, Chloe!”, etc. Slowly but surely, Chloe came down the stairs. I’m sure seeing the ground underneath her from THAT high up, totally rattled her. But with shaking paw after shaking paw, she made it all the way to the bottom. We all praised her like crazy, and her tail gave one or two VERY small wags! Peg, who was CARRIED DOWN, looked at her like “what did she do to deserve so much praise?”

All of us needed a “breather” after that scare, and I had to admit to my family that I was totally taken by surprise that those stairs scared her. I’m so accustomed to her being in public with confidence and just being happy to be by my side, I was not ready for her to be frightened by something! I learned a valuable lesson… new things should be approached with caution.

Taken by surprise #3: My third surprise was that my daughter’s idea of a flat, wide path with compact mulch through a shady forest, is REALLY a 6.3 mile hike that is labeled by the park service as “difficult”. She did get the “shady” forest part right. She was also right about the view at least!