Ivan does the Woodford Wag

In order to get your therapy dog certified as such, you have to do a certain number of hours of therapy work at lots of different places.  As previously mentioned, Ivan has a regular gig at Lord's Legacy Life Ministries and we pick up reading time with kids whenever we can.  But sometimes you need a change of pace, and the notice we got about the Woodford Wag sounded like fun.

The Wag is a fundraiser for the Woodford Humane Society, an organization I support, since Ivan's brother Texas and sister Lucy were adopted there several years ago.  You can run the 5K or you can do the dog walk.  I had not had an opportunity to do this race before, so I had no idea what to expect.

The race is an early morning one, and they suggest that the dog walkers get there early for a "meet and greet" (which is basically a butt sniffing extravaganza.  I have never seen so many dogs in one place EVER.

photos courtesy of Jim Wilkins, Alison Salyer, Marty Vaughn and Beth Oleson

Ivan suited up in his official therapy dog vest and proceeded to meet and greet every dog between the parking lot and the start line.  He was in heaven.  There were big dogs and little dogs and every size and shape in between.  There was even a poodle with pink and purple pom poms.  Ivan was very well behaved and even listened and followed most of my commands.

I miscalculated a bit when I angled for the front of the pack.  When the start gun went off, most of the people around and behind us started running.  Ivan thought we were being stampeded and started to scoot around but I just kept walking and eventually the pack thinned.

photos courtesy of Jim Wilkins, Alison Salyer, Marty Vaughn and Beth Oleson

We finished well in the middle of the pack and got ourselves some water and some doggy frozen yogurt, which Ivan like very much.  Then the real festivities began.  There was a dog show where the Humane Society showed off their adoptable canines.  Then came Ivan's moment, the Woodford Wag logt look-a-like contest.  Ivan got up on that stage like he was born to it.  He was up against some real competition, including one beagle that really looked like that mascot. Luckily, the award is determined by audience applause.  Ivan can work a crowd better than any other pup I know.  We won the second round and Ivan pranced off the stage.

I would recommend the Wag as a fun, family oriented race with lots of opportunities for dog socialization.

photos courtesy of Jim Wilkins, Alison Salyer, Marty Vaughn and Beth Oleson

Ivan helps destress the Brandeis Law School at U of L

Yes, that is "destress" not "distress" in case you were wondering.  Another email call out brought Ivan to Louisville for the day where we helped stressed out law students cope with the last day of classes.  

I wish they had done these when I was a student.  How can you possibly remain anxious and frantic about your upcoming exams when you can snuggle with puppies large and small?  Ivan was probably the smallest by far but the largest overall was a Newfoundland with a heart of gold.  What a sweetie!  Ivan was smitten.

I think the event was a success and we will definitely be back for more!

Ivan's First Real Gig: Lord's Legacy Life Ministries

Shortly after we dipped our toe in the water on this whole Therapy Dog thing, an email came out asking teams to volunteer at Lord's Legacy Life, an organization based in Nicholasville, Ky. that provides services to developmentally disabled adults.  I called the contact number and set up an appointment for them to look Ivan over and they, of course, loved him. 

We go about twice a month.  This is Ivan's show, I am just the chauffeur.  I lead him in and hold his leash while he works the room from one end to the other handing out kisses and tail wags and adoring glances.  Everyone needs some unconditional love in their lives and van is there to provide it.  

Sometimes the group wants to tell him about their weekend exploits.  Some share life's little victories like swimming trophies or learner's permits.  Ivan is thrilled to hear all these stories and to shake hands with anyone who wants to.

Sometimes the group wants to hear about Ivan's exploits.  They like that he gets into trouble sometimes and that he is always trying to learn new things.  We have all agreed that it will never be too late to teach all of us new tricks.

All that obedience training put to good use

When you first go to puppy training class, the instructor focuses on the basics: sit, down, stand, come, watch.  As you get better at these, they add in wait, go place, relax, heel.  If you are lucky, your instructor will spend some time telling you real life scenarios in which each of these commands can be used and why you really need to be able to get and keep your dog's attention.

So you go home each week and practice in your house, in your yard, on your daily walks.  Or do you?  Well, I don't know how it works for others but this is how it appears to be working out for me.

Ivan is a small dog, incredibly cute, yes, but small.  And we all know a small dog somewhere that yaps, or pees inappropriately, or chews on peoples heels, or what ever.  I even know some big ones that do that but that is a different matter.  I did not want to own "that dog."  You know the one I mean.

So Ivan and I did practice our obedience class lessons every day.  And I thought we were making progress. At home I could get Ivan to sit, stand, down, wait to go through doors, wait to get in and out of the car.  On and off the leash.  That is progress, right?  And even if we left home, we still had a pretty high correct rate.  Then came a series of moments of truth.  First, Ivan ignored my sit, wait and come commands to run across the street to greet my neighbor.  Luckily, there were no cars coming but still:  nightmare images of squashed puppy still haunt my dreams.

Later that week, Ivan ignored my command to wait and bounced out of the car behind me right into the street and this time there was traffic.  i just about swallowed my heart.  Was this a stage in Ivan's development?  Was this teenage rebellion?  Well, no.  I thought about it long and hard and went over all the class materials and decided it was my fault.  The key to good behavior is consistency.  Consistent expectations with consistent responses will result in consistent behavior.  I was letting things slip.  I was not asking for the same behavior each time we got out of the car, therefore, I did not get the same behavior.

The good news is that I did not slip far and Ivan and I are back on the program.  Safety first, squirrels second. 

Our first Therapy Dog visit

So in order to get serious about therapy work, you need to have ten hours of supervised therapy work with other teams who know what they are doing.  This will help you learn all the rules, both written and unwritten, but it will also help you understand that your cute little dog needs lots of obedience training.

I got an invite to a reading program at an elementary school in Shelby County, and as it seemed pretty low key, I thought it would be a good start for Ivan.  We were asked to get there 15 minutes early so that the dogs could "meet and greet."  If you have ever visited a dog park you will understand that this means "sniff butts and other smelly parts so we understand who is in our pack."  Lesson learned?  Get your dog, service or family, out into the world and introduce them to as many other dogs as possible.  Working dogs need to be CALM when they are working.  Your working dog needs to be able to concentrate on the task at hand without trying to flirt, play, chat or wrestle with all the other dogs at the event.  Ivan thought the meet and greet part of the event was the best fun he had had in ages.  We clearly needed to get out more.

The school was doing a program for parents of 2nd graders that evening, with the parents off in the library learning about what it means to be a 2nd grader and the kids were being edutained at various stations throughout the huge entry area.  Reading to the dogs was one of the stations.  The kids got to choose a book and then choose which dog they wanted to read to.  Ivan was pretty small compared to most of the other dogs there so we tried to find a spot on the floor where we would be seen.  I laid out Ivan's "go place" mat and settled in.

We had five different kids come up over the next hour.  Ivan greeted each with dignity and joy.  Then the kids opened their books and started to read.  They were focused and serious and just about as cute as a kid reading can be.  Ivan was stunned.  They were ignoring him!  This was extremely confusing for Ivan, as he is usually the main event.  He sat looking on sadly as each child read their book to us.  Lesson learned:  Puppy needs to be ignored more often.

I really like the idea of these types of reading programs.  The kids happily read aloud to the dogs, who just as happily listen to whatever the kids have to say.  It is very non-threatening and you can very subtly help the kids with pronunciation and understanding content in a very conversational matter.  Lots of fun.  However, I needed to learn to leave Ivan alone once the kids sat down and my "take-away" was that I micro-manage my dog.  

So first time out of the gate?  Successful event with a list of things to work on at home.