November, 2009

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Nice and Clean

Monday, November 9th, 2009

 

Jingle had her first bath (the first one with us)last night. She heard the word “bath” and went straight to her crate to hide. 

She reluctantly got into the tub, and trembled the whole time. Obedient girl that she is, she didn’t try to make a break for it, but she did not enjoy it.

We bought her this amazing smelling papaya dog shampoo. It was great going on, but after the bath, instead of smelling like papaya, she merely smelled of “wet dog.”

The rest of the evening, she lay curled up in a ball. Insulted.

Seth put a blanket around her to keep her warm. Seth loves putting blankets on Jingle. It’s one of his favorite things to do. She keeps them on too. She’ll walk around all day with Seth’s little comfy cozy baby blanket hanging around her back like a loose, stinky saddle.

Jingle may not smell like papaya, but trust me when I tell you this, she smells better than Seth’s blanket.

We Found the Right Vet

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Jingle went to the vet today and the vet said Jingle is the cutest most bestest dog she’s ever met in her whole entire life!

Well, not in so many words, but it was heavily implied.  

She actually got down on the floor and laid with Jingle, nuzzling her face, cooing at her.

She didn’t charge us for the visit.

Jingle has a way of bringing out the best in people. She’s such a joyful spirit.

Jingle Bell.

Jingle all the way!

Jingle, Jingle, Jingle, we can hear your collar ring!  

And yes, “I got a little change in my pocket going Jingle-ingle-laaang.”

You can’t help but love her.

Jingle snuggle*Our camera is on its last legs. There is a very seventies feel to this photo, right? We’ll pretend I meant to do that. Meanwhile, any recommendations on blog worthy digital cameras, would be greatly appreciated!

Jingle and Purr Balls

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Last night Jingle went with Riley to martial arts for the first time. I wasn’t sure how it would go, because there is a lot of yelling, etc. A lot for her to get used to.  She is trained, trained, trained,but she’s still a dog. She has fears and feelings. 

Jingle did very well. She held her “down” the whole time. She startled a few times over the noise, but she was more surprised than anything. She didn’t bark. You could tell she wished she could run along and play with the kids, but she stayed put. I fed her treats sporadically to give her incentive.  

The incredible thing for me wasn’t about Riley. This is “therapeutic” martial arts, and there is an older boy in the class who has autism(more than one actually but for this post we’re focusing on one in particular). He appears to be more severely affected, at least socially, than Riley. He lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw Jingle. He carried on a lengthy conversation, telling us all about his own pets. His blue eyes twinkled as he talked of his cats, he called them his “Purr balls.”  He was animated. He made eye contact. He was really sweet and funny. They’ve been in the same martial arts school for over a year but last night was the first Riley and Seth got to know this boy. He’d never even acklnowedged their presence before. None of us had ever seen him smile. 

Way to go Jingle!   

And power to the purr balls!

We’re All Afraid of Something

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Jingle is afraid of stairs. Part of it is her body. She’s very deer like. All legs. When she goes down stairs too quicky, her long front legs splay out in front of her like Bambi on ice. She’s cautious going up as well. 

While Jingle isn’t in school at this point, (she and Riley need time to solidify their bond before approaching that step) she comes with me to pick up the kids. The other day I was greeted outside by an aide who said,

“You probably want to go upstairs to the sensory room. Riley is in the middle of a meltdown.”

So up we went. Jingle did the army crawl half way up the big flight of stairs. As we turned on the landing to face the next set, the bell rang (loud) and then a million kids burst forth. Jingle was terrified, but she kept it together. She ”jingled” into the sensory room and found Riley crying on a beanbag chair, a teacher attempting to comfort her by talking through a puppet. Jingle’s tail wagged furiously as she ran up and greeted her girl. Riley smiled through her tears.

We moved Riley to sit on the floor and showed the teacher Jingle’s “over” command. Jingle laid her body over Riley’s lap, and Riley stroked Jingle’s head.  

The teacher and I talked about what was going on with her. She’s had an awful week. Missing two weeks of school for the service dog training has taken a bigger toll on her than I anticipated. She kept up with her assignments and finished all her work, but while we were away, they started a big new art project and she is behind. She’s behind in cello. She’s behind in gym class.

As we were talking, Riley continued to stroke Jingle, and the tears finally stopped.

Jingle was afraid again on the stairs as we left. Riley told her softly, “It’s okay, Jingle. It’s okay.”

Jingle is afraid of stairs. Riley is afraid of falling behind.

They’re working through it, together.