Kona & I want you to see a very special young lady and her strength which she is sharing with the rest of the world please show her your support and keep Jessica in your prayers. Please check out her site and click like....she will inspire you to NEGU just like she does!!!
4/23/11
1/27/11
PLEASE BE PATIENT
Please be patient while we sort out some technical difficulties we have somehow lost MANY posts and will have to repost them all over the next week or two that is months of posts,updates, photo's etc. We hope to have this go as smoothly and expediently as possible
5/27/10
Sasquatch, Nessie and other Oddities
OK, so when I was young I was sure that I was going to be the first to discover The Sasquatch (of course I also thought I would marry my Cousin Aubrey too and that never happened either, but I was only 4 years old then so my judgment could be brought into question over that decision), as time went by I had to admit to myself that there was likely no such thing as the big hairy, up right walking, digit possessing Ape-Man critter hanging out in the forest just waiting for me to discover him.
Later in life being of Scottish decent I became more and more interested in my heritage and what would Scotland be without our beloved Nessie. Aye the mythical (or not so mythical as I prefer to believe) Water Horse. With her giant serpentine form she rises up from the depths of the Loch through the fog of the crisp early Scottish Highlands morning; leaving tourists and locals alike tantalizing fodder to ponder, argue and dream about. I know one day I will be seeing eye to eye with the great gal.
Well here in Penetanguishene, Ontario it would seem we have our own creatures of mystery and low and behold I live each day with one of them. Yes, here in good old Penetanguishene, Ontario, we have discovered the once mythical Hair Ball Yacking Dog!
Oh yes, in all my years in the animal industry , with all the dogs I have trained, owned, cared for never have I seen or even heard of a dog which has hairballs. Cats yes, all the time cats are famous for lumbering up to their owners (preferably while company is present) giving them that sour look which says something is brewing and promptly (after emitting grotesque audio track for effect) YACK up a nasty foul smelling hairball hot dog. If you have experienced this you know exactly of what I speak....if not count yourself one of the lucky ones. Cats by nature of their grooming technique are affected greatly by this, room clearing condition, however never until Kona came into my life had I ever heard of this in dogs.
Oh dear Kona she does love to "shock and awe" me into a stupor, however, usually this is done by how fast she picks up a task or a new remarkable action that makes me flash back to her Grandmother. Apparently my dear girl has decided that I am just not easily shocked to her liking so she felt the need to "up her game".
About a month ago we were awakened at about 4:30 am to the tell tale sounds of retching, the kind that tells you get the dog off the carpet NOW or you will not like the results. We immediately think this is Radar, he tends to like to visit the cottagers next door after they have had a campfire and scavenge through the ashes for any over looked tid-bits. He has not yet put together, that this, then causes him great discomfort and an upset tummy followed closely by the retching up of his treasured bounty. I truly hope none of you are having a snack while reading this and my sincere apologies to those folks with less than an iron clad constitution.
Now, back to my tale of rare and unusual beasties.To say the least both human parties leaped out of bed from a lovely slumber and into action, Poor Radar was shocked to find himself hustled into a more vomit safe zone, while Bern went for the cleaning supplies(should have been a nose plug in the clean up kit).
I get back to the bedroom again in time for the unveiling! Yep! Right on time and I swear on cue out hurls this horrendous, massive, sopping wet projectile which lands on the floor at my feet! No bounce just a dull wet thud...then the smell hit me; I really must pat myself on the back at this point for not passing out from the odour alone, but I'm made of sterner stuff and managed to stay on my feet.
My first thought was she got a mouse, a large mouse, and ate it whole, my second was this was a stuffie of some kind she swallowed whole then I suddenly realized that this was a wad of hair! Not mine, Not Bern's but a massive rolled up hair ball not even one clump of hair it was a perfectly formed hairball of various types (in itself not surprising since we run a grooming shop).
This time the hair ball seemed to be mainly her hair and she does clean her self all the time she is always licking her coat. I am beginning to wonder if she didn't imprint on the kittens at the breeders home because she does clean her self like a cat. Either way we now know that dogs get hairballs however unusual and we now know we need to figure out a solution to this issue before we have a situation where it is not coming up.
I now have renewed hope that I will someday find The Sasquatch after all, I did find this elusive mythic Hair Ball Yacking Dog...As to Cousin Aubrey
Lisa & Hairball Kona
5/25/10
Kona's Buddy Sarge
Kona had a lovely surprise at work today when "Sarge" a hearing dog St. Poodle from Canine Vision placed with his partner Lou-Anne Desroches, came in for grooming. "Sarge" was a perfect gentleman and I think Kona has a little bit of a crush on him...
What's not to love like her mom she thinks a man in uniform is pretty cute and he is very fit, handsome, charming and smart hmmm sounds a little like her dad come to think about it ;). Lou-Anne is a lovely woman and we enjoyed chatting about our working dogs which led me to think, maybe we should be starting a service, hearing, guide, special skills dog handler support group...so here we go I am officially kicking off our support group and will be doing a face book group and actual get together as well monthly. This will be a great way for people who are partnered with these special dogs to talk over challenges, similarities and laugh about life with one of these amazing dogs. If you happen to know someone who has a working dog for disabilities (many programs have different titles so this is the easiest way for me to describe the general group, please do not be offended if your dog has a different title than one shown as there is no offense intended please feel free to email me to let me know what that title is for you) Please let them know about us and that we would welcome their participation and friendship. I will post the FB group once i have it set up.
Thank You Lou-Anne and Sarge for such a nice visit today and for the inspiration which led me to think of starting this.
Cheers everyone & Remember if your hot out there your fur-friend is far hotter so take care and don't forget side walks and asphalt get very hot in this heat and we humans have a hard time realizing this with our shoes on. Take a moment and put your hand on the ground every once in a while to see how hot it is on your buddy's feet, they sure will appreciate the extra effort and you will save them a lot of pain and potential injury.
Lisa & Kona
5/20/10
Kona 4 months old now opening drawers
I took a while to convince Kona to open drawers and doors, we have not yet graduated to doors but it will be fast coming once she gets a task it snowballs. She watched he cousin doing this and finally realized that there was a treat in the drawer every time Raven opened it. Kona's big issue with this task is that she is not a dominant dog so tug is not really a game she plays, she prefers to stick things in the other dogs mouths; her stuffies, the ball, tug rope and of course this is not limited to the other dogs when she wants to play she will try and stuff these toys in our mouths to...that is Kona's version of playing she is a big sharer. So tug was not something she really aspired to and that is the basis for this task, you want a puppy to tug first on a tug rope or other such toy and most dogs love to tug but not our Kona. She is great at sorting the laundry and even taking it out of the dryer and putting it in both machines, awesome at retrieving ANY item dropped and auto door buttons are a breeze. We all have our challenges and for Kona her challenge was the tug on doors and drawers, but a little inspiration and help from a relative and support from friends and that was all she needed to get over this hurdle...much like most of us facing hurdles in our lives. :)
4/13/10
Kona Videos
I am having trouble posting a video people so I am just going to add the links to You-Tube where Konas videos are posted. Please remember to make a comment it is appreciated
4 months old Kona Automatic Door Button
4 months old Kona Small Automatic Door button
3.5 months old Kona Retrieving Pen from Floor for Bernie
3.5 months old Kona Picking up Credit Card type ID Card from floor
3.5 months old Kona picking up loonie (one dollar coin for non Canadians) off floor
4 months old Kona Automatic Door Button
4 months old Kona Small Automatic Door button
3.5 months old Kona Retrieving Pen from Floor for Bernie
3.5 months old Kona Picking up Credit Card type ID Card from floor
3.5 months old Kona picking up loonie (one dollar coin for non Canadians) off floor
Kona Update!
Well it has been a while since my last post things have been crazy busy here in the Cullen family. We have had some illnesses, some visitors, big and small events, milestones in Kona's training and activities....OH boy I am tired just thinking about it all again.
On an amazing note however, Kona has been the most spectacular little girl. She learns so fast, so fast in fact that it seems like she has her grandmothers DNA linked right into her memory. We have had so many adventures and had some great outings which I will post photo's and details in some future posts. Kona has also alerted and responded to thee seizures now and it is a pretty great feeling thinking that as she matures we will have some peace of mind knowing that Bern will not have to worry so much when he needs to be somewhere else. Kona has been actively working with me now at work. If I drop something no matter what she is doing, sleeping, getting a hello pat from clients, eating her lunch; she stops and comes to assist me and picks whatever I dropped up and returns it to me.
Kona's new array of skills include:Retrieving dropped items: pens, scissors, coins, credit cards, bottles of medication, even the occasional treat which she reluctantly gives to me only to get it right back again LOL)
Opening Automatic Doors: Kona does this by pushing the automatic door button with her paws occasionally her nose but her preferred method is paws as she so rarely gets to use them
Go To *****: This is command given by either Bernie or I at this point to direct Kona to go to one of us i.e. "Go to Lisa" to "Go to Bernie" At some point this will be expanded to other people she will have frequent contact with like the girls at work. We will use this to bring items back and forth like medication pouch or water bottle, memo's you name it; also for locating help if I were unable to get up or was in a serious situation and later on it will be able to be used to find me if this is needed
Seizure Work: Kona has been taught to lay across my chest (if I am laying) or get onto my lap and press against my chest(if I am sitting) if I seizure, this does several things from preventing me crashing forward when in a sitting position and going into a seizure, preventing anyone form interfering if I am down with a seizure. Injuries can happen with good Samaritans who have the best of intentions but may not be well versed in seizure first aid, also people have robbed persons when in a seizure this is a discouragement, though the dog will not attack she will not move, she even pushes Bernie out of the way now...he is getting used to the idea realizing it is not to cut him out of my care but to make sure when he is not there I am safe. This also prevents me from getting up from a seizure in a post-ictal state, this is the state after a seizure but before clear conciseness or awareness, some of my seizures I appear aware and even will say yes, when asked if I am ok but I could walk into traffic, Kona will be able to prevent this or prevent me from thrashing about hurting myself. This is one of the most important reasons a seizure dog will make my life more normal you can see why I can't be left alone with out a way to prevent serious or life threatening injury as I am not aware of my surroundings when these seizures hit.
Licks: Yes, licks (though she comes by this one easily) Kona has now been encouraged to lick my cheek when I start to come out of a seizure, this is a consistent action when done repeatedly after a seizure helps the brain ground to something familiar and repetitive, even if I am not fully aware the brain recognizes the action and this seems to help ease stress when coming out of a seizure. (I am not sure of the science or action behind this or if any data has been done, however this has been relayed to me by many people who have SD's that re trained in this manner as well Bernie tells me there is a significant difference in my anxiety/panic/stress when coming out I seem more confused than stressed in these instances, I know I was told the same thing with Java once I had her also, I would love to see a study done on the affects of brain waves with this stimulus and without....anyone from Harvard Neurological or St Mike's out there reading??? )
Laundry Skills: YES LADIES laundry, you may not be able to get your teens to do their own wash or your hubby or hubbette (have to be fair to both sexes since mine does do laundry) to sort the whites for the darks but KONA is learning to do this. Her grandmother was a wiz at laundry eventually even learning to help me fold items like towels and sheets (I swear it is true! She was even featured on the television show "Healing With Animals" and shown doing the laundry. Any way once again I digress a common theme with me when talking about my dogs....who am I kidding when talking writing or thinking of just about everything. So, Kona is right now learning to pick up laundry and place it in a laundry basket as directed this is step one and she quite likes it....so much so that she gets excited about getting another item and forgets to open her mouth to drop the first item sometimes....the look on her face is a riot when she tried to discern why this piece of laundry is following her back to the pile...she soon gets it and all goes smoothly for about four or five pieces and then again a rogue sock or face cloth follows her back again and she whirls around to see if the others are also breaking loose from their confinement. I can hardly wait till she tried to figure out how to get the clothes out of the dryer or washer LOL!
All in all it has been an eventful few months. think with time constraints and such Kona and i will reserve our blog post of a once a week highlight reel! Though we have lots of catching up to do to show you some of Kona's adventures over the last couple of months and lots of video and pictures to add to the site. Here is where it really gets interesting as Kona is just a little sponge right now and loving learning every new thing we show her.
Kona making friends with the goats at the Midland Winter Fair in February 2010. She was fascinated with the
goats no idea what it was about them but she sure did like them, even when one tried to head butt her to play she seemed to want to hang with them. She was not however as trilled with the llama (at least I think it was a llama may have been one of the other similar critters but you get the idea). Kona was 4 feet from the big draft horses as they pulled wagons of people and she never even cared even though one of their hooves were bigger than her whole body at the time you would have thought she saw them every day. The funny thing is we just found out a few weeks ago that the man leading those teams of horses was the father of one of the clinic staff Candace, he recognized Kona one day at the clinic when they picked up their dog we groomed.....small town living gotta love it
On an amazing note however, Kona has been the most spectacular little girl. She learns so fast, so fast in fact that it seems like she has her grandmothers DNA linked right into her memory. We have had so many adventures and had some great outings which I will post photo's and details in some future posts. Kona has also alerted and responded to thee seizures now and it is a pretty great feeling thinking that as she matures we will have some peace of mind knowing that Bern will not have to worry so much when he needs to be somewhere else. Kona has been actively working with me now at work. If I drop something no matter what she is doing, sleeping, getting a hello pat from clients, eating her lunch; she stops and comes to assist me and picks whatever I dropped up and returns it to me.
Kona's new array of skills include:Retrieving dropped items: pens, scissors, coins, credit cards, bottles of medication, even the occasional treat which she reluctantly gives to me only to get it right back again LOL)
Opening Automatic Doors: Kona does this by pushing the automatic door button with her paws occasionally her nose but her preferred method is paws as she so rarely gets to use them
Go To *****: This is command given by either Bernie or I at this point to direct Kona to go to one of us i.e. "Go to Lisa" to "Go to Bernie" At some point this will be expanded to other people she will have frequent contact with like the girls at work. We will use this to bring items back and forth like medication pouch or water bottle, memo's you name it; also for locating help if I were unable to get up or was in a serious situation and later on it will be able to be used to find me if this is needed
Seizure Work: Kona has been taught to lay across my chest (if I am laying) or get onto my lap and press against my chest(if I am sitting) if I seizure, this does several things from preventing me crashing forward when in a sitting position and going into a seizure, preventing anyone form interfering if I am down with a seizure. Injuries can happen with good Samaritans who have the best of intentions but may not be well versed in seizure first aid, also people have robbed persons when in a seizure this is a discouragement, though the dog will not attack she will not move, she even pushes Bernie out of the way now...he is getting used to the idea realizing it is not to cut him out of my care but to make sure when he is not there I am safe. This also prevents me from getting up from a seizure in a post-ictal state, this is the state after a seizure but before clear conciseness or awareness, some of my seizures I appear aware and even will say yes, when asked if I am ok but I could walk into traffic, Kona will be able to prevent this or prevent me from thrashing about hurting myself. This is one of the most important reasons a seizure dog will make my life more normal you can see why I can't be left alone with out a way to prevent serious or life threatening injury as I am not aware of my surroundings when these seizures hit.
Licks: Yes, licks (though she comes by this one easily) Kona has now been encouraged to lick my cheek when I start to come out of a seizure, this is a consistent action when done repeatedly after a seizure helps the brain ground to something familiar and repetitive, even if I am not fully aware the brain recognizes the action and this seems to help ease stress when coming out of a seizure. (I am not sure of the science or action behind this or if any data has been done, however this has been relayed to me by many people who have SD's that re trained in this manner as well Bernie tells me there is a significant difference in my anxiety/panic/stress when coming out I seem more confused than stressed in these instances, I know I was told the same thing with Java once I had her also, I would love to see a study done on the affects of brain waves with this stimulus and without....anyone from Harvard Neurological or St Mike's out there reading??? )
Laundry Skills: YES LADIES laundry, you may not be able to get your teens to do their own wash or your hubby or hubbette (have to be fair to both sexes since mine does do laundry) to sort the whites for the darks but KONA is learning to do this. Her grandmother was a wiz at laundry eventually even learning to help me fold items like towels and sheets (I swear it is true! She was even featured on the television show "Healing With Animals" and shown doing the laundry. Any way once again I digress a common theme with me when talking about my dogs....who am I kidding when talking writing or thinking of just about everything. So, Kona is right now learning to pick up laundry and place it in a laundry basket as directed this is step one and she quite likes it....so much so that she gets excited about getting another item and forgets to open her mouth to drop the first item sometimes....the look on her face is a riot when she tried to discern why this piece of laundry is following her back to the pile...she soon gets it and all goes smoothly for about four or five pieces and then again a rogue sock or face cloth follows her back again and she whirls around to see if the others are also breaking loose from their confinement. I can hardly wait till she tried to figure out how to get the clothes out of the dryer or washer LOL!
All in all it has been an eventful few months. think with time constraints and such Kona and i will reserve our blog post of a once a week highlight reel! Though we have lots of catching up to do to show you some of Kona's adventures over the last couple of months and lots of video and pictures to add to the site. Here is where it really gets interesting as Kona is just a little sponge right now and loving learning every new thing we show her.
Kona making friends with the goats at the Midland Winter Fair in February 2010. She was fascinated with the
goats no idea what it was about them but she sure did like them, even when one tried to head butt her to play she seemed to want to hang with them. She was not however as trilled with the llama (at least I think it was a llama may have been one of the other similar critters but you get the idea). Kona was 4 feet from the big draft horses as they pulled wagons of people and she never even cared even though one of their hooves were bigger than her whole body at the time you would have thought she saw them every day. The funny thing is we just found out a few weeks ago that the man leading those teams of horses was the father of one of the clinic staff Candace, he recognized Kona one day at the clinic when they picked up their dog we groomed.....small town living gotta love it
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