Vulnerabilities

The past week has been super busy.  I recently became a new employee at a before/after school program for youth.  I see it as a throwback to my younger self just starting out in my career field.  The differences being, then, I graduated with my BSW  and wanted exposure in the social work profession and in a sense, get my hands dirty. Now, I’m looking for avenues in jump starting my dog training business.  I believe people talk about things going on in their lives and often times its sharing things which causes stress and many times those stressors are family and pet related.  Then, I was looking for the high profile populations and the high level of intensity of the workload and the massive critical thinking skills necessary for assessing special needs cases.  Now, I still enjoy the assessment process, but I find working for myself and being creative within my own business will be just as rewarding.  I just need some revenue coming in and meet people in a structured way, therefore I’m going backwards a bit.  I also think I can connect my social work background with dog training and teaching youth.  I have some ideas up my sleeves, but now its just a matter of getting through orientation, getting known at the center and building relationships.

The orientation this past week touched on many things children and immediately my mind started making comparisons with children and dogs.  Yes, I know comparing children and dogs is not really looked at with smiling eyes, but I often go against the grain.  To me the comparison makes sense and it makes me also pause.  If I offend anyone, I apologize, but I’m sharing some anecdotes which came to my mind this week.

First, children and pets dogs or dogs, in general are vulnerable populations.  Both groups are often without a voice and we as caregivers, parents, pet guardians are the responsible party charged with overseeing the care of both children and if you have pets, those too. Both children and dogs see the parent and owner, respectively, as the leader.  Children and dogs depend on us for food, shelter, love and companionship.  Children require way more hands on in feeding, changing, mirroring and basic human touch for survival very early in life and our dogs also desire human interaction throughout life.  I’ve seen first hand of situations where children go without these necessities and it resulted in children becoming displaced in society.  They grow up feeling as though no one cares and they are forgotten.  In one particular situation, there was a child I worked with whose parent never came to see them or have any sort of interaction with her at the shelter.  She was remarkable.  She graduated from high school.  Sadly, her parents were divorced and her mother didn’t make it to graduation.  She didn’t even think her dad would show up and told the shelter her situation.  The director had a staff member attend her graduation so at least she had one familiar face in the crowd.  Wouldn’t you know, before she finished walking down the aisle after receiving her diploma, her dad handed her a bus ticket to go live with her mother.

This broke my heart.  Similar situations exist with adoptable pets.  People who are often ill equipped in caring for an animal are the ones handing over the adoption papers or worse, trolling through craigslist and finding those classifieds advertising “free dogs to a good home”.  I heard about a recent case of a puppy dropped off at Animal Services where the owner cropped the dog’s ears him/herself.  The picture of the dog was horrifying.  Almost 3/4 of the ear was cut off with what could have been scissors or a box cutter.  I can only imagine the owners reaction when cropping the ears on their own, they probably didn’t use anesthetics or have a way in stopping the bleeding.  The screams from the dog and the realization they completely messed up resulted in the owner dropping off the dog at Animal Services.  The dog was traumatized and now needs rehabilitation.

In my mind, many people don’t recognize the level of care and immense responsibility in having children or owning a pet.  Both children and dogs require time and attention and dedication from their parent or leader.  Without this level of care and guidance and education and training, the children and dogs suffer.  Without the guidance, children and dogs become unruly and are seen as bad.  Without love and relationship, children learn making bad decisions results in negative attention, maybe the only attention they ever see. The same goes with dogs.  If all we do is come home and reprimand the dog for jumping on us or guests or peeing where they shouldn’t, they will continue doing these behaviors since these behaviors solicit the attention from their owner.

I’ve also seen the positives.  I’ve seen children grow into young men and women and look back at their parents with adoration.  They articulate the role modeling done by their mom or dad and the teenager understands this is the successful path.  They see their mom or dad as compassionate, understanding and overall someone they’ve grown to trust and show the utmost respect which translates to others outside of their immediate family.  I’ve also seen how loving and involved dog owners transformed a beaten down and shy dog into a dog who demonstrates confidence and a curiosity for her environment.  Love can transform lives and I truly hope more hearts are opened by it.

A Look Back

Boxes unpacked, mostly; The Bears settled, somewhat; Me and Eddie in a new routine, this will ALWAYS be in flux.  I’m grateful we are moved into our new home and I’m happy we received our belongings and have tucked them in their new nooks and crannies.  Now, its a time a reflection for me, a bit of a debriefing to assess what worked and what can be improved upon for next time, as you know, there will be a next time, the military will be doing this to us again!

First, the things that worked and I will be doing again in our next move.  I will be boarding Jack and Bernie or utilizing daycare when movers are packing and loading the truck.  I know the act of putting our stuff in boxes and moving them out of our old home by strange people, caused a good deal of stress on them, especially Bernie.  We were fortunate we had two days of packing and boxes left in our home.  I boarded them for those two days.  When Jack and Bernie returned home, they maybe took about 5 minutes in sniffing all the  boxes and doing their own survey of what just happened.  They settled down pretty quickly.  Our furniture was still set up, so I guess it wasn’t a total and complete change for them.

The loading of the moving truck was more of a shock for the Bears.  We were scheduled for one day of loading, so I utilized daycare for them which was necessary.  I waited until all was done and picked them up.  When we arrived back home and they both saw everything was taken out of our home, this shocked them.  They spent about several hours just going around and investigating and they couldn’t settle down.  We kept their crates and I placed extra pillows down on the floor so they could snuggle on them since their usual resting place was taken away without their knowledge.  Jack eventually accepted the reality and found his bed and chilled.  Bernie on the other hand, was sitting looking all uncomfortable and confused.  We refrained from giving any additional attention we carried on as though nothing changed, but Bernie was on to us.  The next day, Eddie and I ran some errands and left them behind.  We left them stuffed kongs and other chewies.  When we returned home, Bernie was whining, pacing and needing more attention.  He began sitting by the front door indicating to us he needed to go out.  So, we obliged him.  When we would come back, he was right back at the door wanting another walk.  He continued doing this for the next couple of days.  The frequency increased of going by the door and he would eliminate every time.  His behavior made me think of people who get anxious before a speaking engagement or a big event and the sudden urge to go to the bathroom.  Bernie was anxious and since I couldn’t explain in verbal language we’re moving, Eddie and I really tried keeping the same routine.  We did our daily runs and walks.  We kept the rules in place and for the most part, both Bears coped.  Bernie only displayed the need for frequent bathroom breaks between 6-9pm each evening.  He would sleep through the night and the day time was easy for him.

Eddie and I made the decision in boarding Jack and Bernie while we left El Paso and went to OK to look for a house.  We were lucky this time around that our new destination was only 9 hours away.  We could return to El Paso after finding a new home and save Jack and Bernie the stress of living in a hotel for an undetermined amount of time.  Let me just say, this little decision granted huge rewards for both us and the Bears.  Eddie and I were more relaxed in going about our busied days setting up our new life in OK.  We had appointments which we attended with ease and I know Jack and Bernie were loving life while they were vacationing at Howl A Day Inn.  Since Melina does a great job of establishing play groups at HADI and having all the dogs out playing all day, I knew the Bears would be sufficiently tired in our final drive out of El Paso to our new home. This is exactly what happened.

Now for a bit of reflection on what didn’t work.  Well, the only thing which I wish I could have avoided was human error.  In an effort in keeping things low key while we are out and the Bears are left at home, we Bear proof.  We ensure tid bits which we think could be enticing to them aren’t left out.  I put stuff up high or in rooms where I shut the door, so I can manage their environment when we’re away grocery shopping or doing whatever.  Well, this time, I didn’t double check myself.  I discovered when we returned home, my office door was open and I knew I shut the door when I left.  I found that one or both of the bears pushed the door open and tore into Christmas candy.  Let me just say, I called a vet to see if this was an emergency situation.  It wasn’t and Eddie and I are both relieved.

Happy New Year!

Happiest of New Year to you all!  This post will be a bit brief, since we are still trying to get our bearings in our new home, which we have that includes a backyard!  No real mishaps on our way from Texas to Oklahoma except for my prized possession, my Scott bike left on the side of I10.  That story is for another day.

Let me just say, Bernie Werns LOVES it.  After we picked them up from Howl A Day Inn, we arrived  several hours later at our home.  We came home to a light dusting of snow.  It was beautiful.  Bernie went out to the backyard and was galloping all around it.  I felt his happiness and his release of energy.  I’m happy he’s happy and I enjoy watching him explore.  Jack, on the other hand, he’s a bit more people oriented and enjoys being outside, if we’re outside.  This is something we are currently working on, so he’s not sitting by the door if we go inside, waiting to be let back in.

We’re still waiting on our furniture and other household essentials, but we picked up a few things for our new home and Eddie, Jack and Bernie just love it 🙂

I’m in the process of setting up my own dog training business here in OK.  I look forward to sharing this process and the experience with you all!

Again, Happy New Year!  May 2015 bring peace and new beginnings to you all!