This is Why I Don't Tell People at the Dog Park He is a Service Dog

Isaac got to play with a 9-month-old black lab puppy named Cricket today as well as with a German shepherd-lab mix named King. We went to a new dog park because it is near my doctor's office and I had an appointment and wanted to give Isaac time to run around and get tired before the appointment.

No one was there when we arrived but Isaac was happy to sniff all the new smells and pee on all the new places. Then Cricket arrived and they had fun chasing each other. Then King came and they are regulars are our regular dog park so it was a nice surprise to see them today. King and Isaac wrestled and Isaac made a few attempts to hump him but King refused to cooperate.

I was explaining to King's mom why Isaac and I were at this park instead of our regular park and she said "Oh, he goes to your appointment with you?" And I explained he is a service dog so he goes pretty much everywhere with me.

Then I followed her gaze over to where Isaac was attempting to hump her dog. When King refused to be humped, Isaac sat down and began licking himself. This is why I usually do not tell people at the dog park that Isaac is a service dog.

Get It

Isaac and I were at the dog park and were getting ready to leave. His friend Clyde was leaving at the same time. 

 

Now, Isaac acts like such a labradork at the dog park, I usually do not tell people he is a service dog. I told his friend Iris's dad and he looked at me like he did not believe me. Probably because I'd just gotten done yelling at my dog to come back as he swam around the divider into the other section of the dog beach. Or maybe he because he still thinks Isaac does not know "drop" since he won't drop a ball so you can throw it for him.

Anyway. I pulled my car keys out of my pocket and my glove fell out.

 

Clyde's dad said, "I think you dropped a glove." 

 

I looked down at it on the ground, pointed at it, and told Isaac, "Get it."

Clyde's dad kind of chuckled, like he thought I was joking. 

 

"No," I told him, "He'll get it." 

 

Meanwhile, Isaac was trying to sniff Clyde's butt. I got his attention, pointed again, and said, "Get it for me." And he did!

Clyde's dad was suitably impressed.

Tales from the Dog Park

When we got to the dog park today, no one was there. It was very cloudy and foggy and damp. However, there was a squirrel running along the top of the fence and Isaac was very excited to see him and chased him a bit. Then Iris arrived, so we all headed down to the lake together.

Isaac and Iris did a lot of fetching and Isaac shared one of his purple squeaky balls with her. Then other dogs started to arrive. Isaac got to play with a six-month-old Newfoundland puppy named Rosie that is already bigger than he is, who also really really liked his purple balls. I think we gotta buy some more of those! A Golden named Milo showed up and he grabbed one of the purple balls and did not put it down until we were ready to leave, at which time his dad made him.

Candy and Wilbur came with their remote controlled boat, and Milo swam after the boat with the purple ball in his mouth. Rosie and Isaac took turns fetching the other purple ball, when Rosie wasn't trying to figure out what that boat was. Iris had no interest in the boat and just wanted to fetch.

Then Jamie arrived and Isaac was very excited to see him because he'd tried to play keep away and wrestle with Rosie but she didn't quite get what he was doing. However, just like last Sunday, Jamie ignored Isaac in favor of chasing the boat. Isaac swam along side him, barking loudly in his ear, and when that did not get his attention, Isaac decided to hump him.

Now, Isaac tries that occasionally and Jamie says no way. Jamie also tries to hump Isaac occasionally and Isaac says no way. They don't try it very often because they are pretty equally matched and neither are willing to be the humpee. Both prefer to be the humper.

But today Jamie really, really wanted to go after that boat. So he ignored Isaac on his back. It did slow him down some, but he just did his best to go after the boat, with Isaac riding on his back. Pretty soon all the other dog owners were all yelling "Isaac! Leave it!" And of course, Isaac was not leaving it.

So I caught my dog, took back my purple balls, and we went home.

A Little Game of Tug

Isaac and his friend Quinn playing tug at the dog park.

The other dog is named Charlie.  She kept distracting Quinn, which allowed Isaac to get the rope away from him temporarily.

Someone Will Be Getting Some Remedial Training on "Drop It"

Isaac was a real butt at the dog park today. He embarrassed me. There were a couple other dogs, including his friend Josie, playing fetch at the lake. They were nice enough to share their balls with Isaac. Only Isaac would fetch the ball and then refuse to give it to a person to throw it again. He wanted to play tug with the ball, which does not work very well. He knows the commands "give" and "drop it" and simply refused. Usually if I refuse to play tug when he does this, he quickly loses interest or his attention is caught by something else and he drops the toy. But not today. He kept bumping the ball against my legs and hips, trying to get my attention.

As if that was not bad enough, one of the dogs had this fabric toy that floats that you can fetch and Isaac talked his friend Quinn into playing tug with that. Well, you can guess what happened. It started to rip. Quinn's dad told him to drop it and he did. But not my dog. Instead, he kept shaking it in Quinn's face, trying to get him to tug some more. And then he put the toy on the ground, stood on it, and pulled on one end with his teeth, ripping it good.

I apologized and asked the owner of the toy if I could replace it for him. He said that was OK but I don't feel OK about it. I came home and found it on Amazon and ordered one, along with some balls to take to the lake with us. The toy Isaac ripped belongs to a black lab named Iris and we see her at the dog park almost every morning, so we will give her the toy when we see her again.

Things like this are why I do not tell most people at the dog park that my dog is a service dog.

Rough Day at the Dog Park

Isaac had a rough day today at the dog park.

First, he got into an argument with his buddy Clyde. They normally get along well, and Clyde was in a great mood when he arrived at the dog park this morning. Clyde's owner was sitting on a stump in the sun while Clyde was strolling around sniffing things, so Isaac decided it was a good time to go get some loving from Clyde's owner. Isaac ended up practically in the guy's lap, kissing him, which is not unusual for Isaac. However, Clyde took exception to that and gave Isaac quite a stern talking to about it. Isaac looked rather intimidated, but they later made up.

Then this guy came with two dogs I'd never seen before. Isaac expressed an interest in humping one of the dogs and the dog did not wish to be humped. Isaac backs off as soon as a dog tells him to, but this dog went after Isaac ever after Isaac had backed off. The owner had to grab the dog and pull him off Isaac. Isaac was not hurt at all, just had some slobber on his face from the dog, but he was pretty shaken up.

The owner then took his two dogs down to the lake - where his dog promptly attacked another dog! I don't know what is wrong with some people. If your dog is aggressive, he should not be at the dog park!

Isaac is feeling better now. He had half a hot dog in his Kong.

Isaac's Dog Park Song

I often make up little songs to sing to my animals. They do not care that i cannot carry a tune in a bucket.

Well, Isaac's latest song is sung as we approach the dog park. It is set to the tune of "All the Gold in California." If you don't know the song, have a listen.

Isaac's dog park song goes like this:

"If you're gonna play with doggies
don't hump 'em because they don't like that
and then you won't get to play"

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Pees on the Toy

When Isaac and I arrived at the dog park this morning, we were both pleased to see two of his good friends were already there, Toby and Clyde. Toby is a labradoodle who loves to play chase and wrestles with Isaac. Clyde is a Saint Bernard/Rottie mix who is a bit older and doesn't like the hot weather, so he often prefers to lie in the shade and watch instead of playing. I'm not sure why Isaac likes him so much when he doesn't play much, but he does.

Also, Clyde does not like all dogs, only certain dogs, so when some dogs come to the park, his owner takes him to another area. However, Clyde and Isaac get along great.

Well, Clyde's owner told me that he likes to play tug so I have been driving around with Isaac's rope toy in my van for a week now, hoping we'd see Clyde at the dog park and they could have a game of tug. So I brought the rope in with us today. Isaac Clyde decided they were not interested in playing tug today for some reason, but Toby really really liked the rope and ran around with it for a while, then played tug and keep away with another dog named Wilbur.

Then a new dog came and he went right to the rope and lifted his leg and peed on it. It's all fun and games until someone pees on the toy, you know. Not one to be outdone (or to lose in a pissing contest), Isaac promptly peed on the rope himself.

I considered gifting the peeing dog's owner with the rope.  I considered leaving it at the dog park for whomever to play with.  I ended up bringing it home, thinking I might soak it in bleach water.  But I might just toss it.

So He Gets in a Car with Strangers

We arrived at the dog park and just as I opened the back door of my van, two sopping wet golden retrievers ran up, one carrying a frisbee.

Isaac thought they looked like very nice dogs and wanted to play with them. They looked ready to jump in the van with him, but he thought it would be more fun to play outside the van, so he hopped out.

 Then the goldens' owner showed up to load them into the back of their SUV. He opened the back gate and they jumped in. Isaac still wanted to play with them, so he jumped in, too. 

I asked the owner if he wanted an extra dog but he did not, so Isaac had to get out of their SUV. The goldens thought it was unfair that Isaac got to get out but they didn't.

Isaac was momentarily disappointed at not getting to go home with them, but then he saw a labradoodle named Toby that he likes to play with, so he took off.

And Here He Demonstrates That He Has Not Yet Learned the Art of Sharing

Today at the dog park, another dog was playing fetch in the lake with a toy. The dog's owner threw the toy, and both Isaac and the other dog took off after it. The other dog got to it first, so Isaac snatched it right out of the poor dog's mouth.

I know, it's rude, right?

Isaac Demonstrates His Escape Artist Skills

Isaac is an escape artist.  When we go to the doggie beach, he amuses the other dog owners by demonstrating how he can swim around the barriers separating the small dog beach and the two big dog beaches.  He can then swim around the barrier at the end and be out of the fenced dog park.

After which he usually runs right up to the gate and waits impatiently for me to let him in.  Because he wants to be inside the fenced area with all the dogs and the people.  That's where the fun is.  It's just fun to escape.  Not to be outside the fenced area, just to escape from it.

Stinker. The other dog owners frequently comment on how smart he is.  And he is.  But still.

I've only seen two other dogs ever swim around the barriers of their own accord, although Isaac has shown a number of other dogs to do it and encouraged their bad behavior.  Other times, the dogs see him do it but still can't figure it out.  They just wonder how he suddenly got on the other side of the fence.  One dog owner told me, "Plato thinks Isaac is magical." 

Plato was her dog.  He and Isaac had a great time playing together.

So anyway, here is the magical Isaac, demonstrating his escape artist skills for the camera.

He's in Here

Today Isaac and I went to the dog park, the one with the doggie beach on the lake. There is the doggie beach and then there is a regular dog park very close by, with some trees in between.

So Isaac was playing with a bunch of other dogs in the regular dog park part, but he kept trying to hump a couple of them, so I told him he was done playing there. We went down to the doggie beach, where he played very nicely with two other dogs, but then they left and Isaac was the only dog there. I guess he didn't like playing by himself, so he swam around the divider thing, escaping from the doggie beach, and took off at top speed toward the regular dog park.

I followed behind him, not nearly as fast, but I figured it was OK because he would just be at the fence by the other dog park. But I got over there and did not see him anywhere. I looked around, but no Isaac. So I asked this guy if he'd seen a yellow lab running by and another guy, inside the dog park said, "Oh, he's in here. He came up the gate and wanted in, so I just let him in."

OK, so it's good he was in there. But what a stinker.

Bitten at a Dog Park

So Isaac was bitten by another dog last week at a dog park.

I am careful about dog parks.  I take Isaac to them, but we only go to those that are kept clean (which not only means fewer germs around from dog poop but owners actually pay attention to their dogs there), we only go when they aren't too crowded, and we leave if Isaac or another dog is not behaving appropriately.  That means if Isaac decides he wants to hump another dog and he won't knock it off, we leave.  Even if we've only been there 10 minutes.  Yes, that happeneds
But last week.  There were only two other dogs there, both huskies, with different owners.  One Isaac and I had seen there before.  He is older, I think eight years or maybe 10, and he likes to lie in the shade and watch the other dogs run around.  He will play some but he is pretty calm and laid back.  The other dog we had not seen before, but the two huskies appeared to be great friends.

All three were getting along nicely for about an hour.  Then Isaac and the husky we hadn't seen before had a disagreement about something.  I'm not sure what.  I am sure Isaac was not trying to hump the husky.  I don't think Isaac did anything to provoke the bite.  But all over a sudden, they were snarling and going at each other. It was over quickly. Isaac looked OK and we left.

I looked him over in the car before we drove away.  I didn't see any signs of injury.  His face was dirty from playing and I wiped it off carefully, and then looked at the towel to see if there was any blood.  There wasn't.  I decided he was not inured and we drove home.

And then when we were heading into our apartment, I saw a streak of blood on the side of his face.

I was more upset that Isaac was, I think.  It turned out he had three small puncture wounds on his face, one not too deep, the other two deeper.  I admit to panicking a bit.  I washed his face.  I cried.  I called the vet, only to find our vet had closed at noon that day.  I couldn't decide if it was an emergency or not, if I could call the emergency number or not. I thought about calling another nearby vet to see if I could get him in there that day, but felt overwhelmed at the prospect.  I ended up calling the emergency number at Isaac's regular vet.

The vet said he would need antibiotics and to bring him in the next day, so I did.  Isaac is fine with that, because the antibiotics are served with hotdogs.

Isaac has recovered well from his bite and I've recovered as well, though I am still rather shaky.

Tunnel Dog

I LOVE how this pic turned out!

Isaac got to play in an agility tunnel at the dog park a couple days ago. It was his first time with a tunnel and at first he was hesitant. I tossed a treat in and he went in to get the treat and came right back out. A short time later, he went in voluntarily and discovered the tunnel was full of interesting smells.

I love getting the opportunity to try new things with Isaac.

This Weekend's Pics

Looks like fall.  You know, I love fall, but I hate winter so I am not looking so forward to fall this year because it just means winter is getting closer.

Taking a break.  Because hunting up deer bones is hard work.  Yes, he found a deer leg bone today in the woods.

Well, That Scared Me

Saying it scared me is putting it mildly, really.

Yesterday I took Isaac to the park near my home, where we go all the time.  All summer long, I've been letting him run off leash there.

Please don't tell me that was unwise, because I realize that now.  I felt it was OK because A) the park sits way back from the road and the trails are away from any roads B) we are almost always the only ones at the park when we go during the week so there is no risk of him bothering anyone else or of encountering any aggressive dogs C) his recall is pretty good, though it is not perfect (and we ARE going to be working on it!). 

What Isaac usually does is run a short ways ahead of me, then run back to where I am, then head off the trail a short ways, then come back to where I am, etc.  He often seems to be checking in with me to make sure I don't get lost.  He rarely goes out of my sight and when he does, I can usually hear him because he likes to go crashing through the brush.  If I don't see or hear him, I call him and he comes back to me.  Not always instantly, but within a minute or two.  So we've been doing this all summer and it's been fine.

Today, we were going down this steep hill.  Isaac went ahead of me and reached the bottom first.  I saw him down there, rolling in some leaves.  Then I took my eyes off him so I could watch where I was putting my feet because it was very steep and I didn't want to fall.  When I got to the bottom of the hill, I did not see Isaac.  There was a little bend in the trail and I went around that bend, thinking I'd see him there.  There is a creek there that he likes to play in.  I did not see him, so I called him.  He did not come.

After about 20 minutes of calling, and still no Isaac, I was starting to panic.  I didn't know what to do because if I tried to go look for him, I wasn't sure which way to go.  The trail went in a couple different directions shortly after going around that bend, and I didn't know which why he'd gone, or if he was even on a trail, and I was afraid I'd pick the wrong direction and end up going further away from him.

I called a friend who works nearby and he came over to help me look for Isaac.  It was about 30 minutes before he could get there, though.  By then, I was hoarse from yelling for Isaac.  My throat hurt, I was thirsty, I was panicking.  My anxiety meds were back at the car but I was afraid to go back to the car because it was at least a mile from where I was and I was afraid to leave the area where I'd last seen Isaac.  I was terrified something had happened to him and thinking what a terrible dog owner I was.

I don't know how to convey the level of panic I was feeling.  I think the anxiety, the worry that something might have happened to him, was pretty reasonable, fairly rational.  But then my thinking started going really crazy.  Really illogical, irrational.  Which it does.  Which is one of the reasons it's so important to take my anxiety meds at the beginning of an anxiety attack, and which is why Isaac is trained to bring me those meds at the beginning of an anxiety attack.

But they were back at the car.  I have thought about that and decided I need to carry some with me on hikes from now on.

But anyway, my thinking was going in all sorts of crazy directions.  I was thinking that Isaac was hurt, that he would be dead, and that then I would have to kill myself.  I was thinking that I never should have gotten a dog because I should have known something bad would happen so it would be all my fault when it did.  Because I wasn't supposed to have anyone that loved me.  I was really thirsty and thought I was probably getting dehydrated (which was rational, because I'd been crying and yelling for Isaac for more than half an hour and we'd walked a ways before that so it had been a long time since I had anything to drink) and I knew I needed my meds but thought that I wasn't supposed to go back to the car to get them because I was supposed to suffer because I was being punished for being such a bad person.

Finally my friend got there.  He pulled into the little parking area and called me on my cell phone.  Isaac was lying there by my car.  He was by the back door on the side where he usually gets in.  He recognized my friend's car and got up and looked happy to see him.  My friend said he looked like he was fine.

I got back to the car as fast as I could.  Isaac did indeed seem fine.  I think that for some reason he got too far away from me and ended up just finding his way back to the car and waited for me there.  I think it was really smart of him to find the car and wait for me there.  But I was so, so scared when I couldn't find him.

It will be a while before Isaac gets to be off leash anywhere besides a fenced in dog park, I think.  I am going to hire a local trainer to help me work on his recall.  Like I said, I think his recall is pretty good but it is clearly not perfect and it is apparently not good enough to be off leash anywhere that is not fenced in.

Sometimes It's Hard to Wait

When I take Isaac to the park to run, I've been doing something new with him just recently.  He has to sit while I take off his leash and wait for the OK from me to take off running.  This is completely doable for him.  He has to wait like that for permission to start eating when I feed him.  But this is new for him and while he is happy to sit when told, it's hard to wait when he really really really wants to run.

A couple days ago was the first time I did this with him at the park and it was so funny.  I have a hand signal I use with Isaac that means stay.  I hold my hand up, palm out, like I am saying "stop."  So I had my hand about three inches in front of his nose and told him "stay" and took off his leash.

Well, he started to take off running.  And plowed right into my hand.  And came to a stop because how could he keep running with my hand smashed against his nose?  And he looked up at me like, "What the _______?"  He just seemed surprised and confused that my hand was in his way.

It was hilarious.

Diggity Dog

Yesterday I took Isaac to a dog park near our hotel so he could run around off leash for a while.  He was disappointed that there were no other dogs there.  He really wanted someone to play with.  He thinks it is a lot more fun to run around when there is someone to chase or someone to chase him.

However, there was one thing he liked a lot about this dog park.  Instead of grass, most of the park was covered with mulch.  Most dog parks have a no digging rule, but it was apparent that one or more dogs had been digging a lot here.  There were multiple holes and Isaac investigated them all.  He found two that he either really liked or that he thought were not adequately finished, I'm not sure which, but he felt he needed to improve upon them.

So he dug.  And dug.  And dug.

Here is the finished product.  He was quite satisfied with himself, the diggity dog.

Doggie Beach Video

This is Isaac at the doggie beach.  Not taken today, obviously, he is recovering from being sick.  It was taken a month or more ago.

Isaac is the one that runs out into the water, barks, and then swims after the dog with the frisbee.  He only wants the frisbee because that other dog has it.  I later bought him his very own frisbee and he totally ignored it.

Isn't he cute, though?

This was taken at Alum Creek dog beach, our favorite dog park.

A Really Good Day with My Service Dog

The weather is absolutely beautiful today.  Never mind that it's supposed to snow tomorrow night.  It's 76 degrees today, and sunny, with a pleasant breeze.  I decided to take Isaac to the doggie beach.

First, we met Mike and his mom for lunch.  Isaac and I got to the restaurant first, and I decided to sit on a bench outside to wait, since the weather was so nice. 

While we were waiting, a mom and her little girl, about two or three years old, I think, came outside.  The little girl was rather fussy, but she was excited to see Isaac.  Her mom told her she could look at the doggie but not pet him because he was a working dog, not a petting dog.  She was really interested in the doggie, though, and I asked her if she'd like to pet him.  Her mom asked if it was OK and I said yes.  The mom told me that the little girl was very good with dogs and would be gentle.  I told her Isaac loves kids. 

The little girl came over and petted Isaac on the face, very gently, and he kissed her very gently on the ear, which made her crack up laughing.  Mom told me the restaurant was very busy and they'd been waiting a long time and that the little girl was having a hard time being patient.  After a few minutes of visiting with Isaac, though, she was ready to go back in.

A few minutes later, Mike and his mom arrived.  I was a little worried that we'd have to wait a long time and that Isaac might get restless.  He's good in restaurants for about an hour, but sometimes he has a hard time doing a down-stay longer than that.  I also usually try to avoid restaurants that are busy, where we have to wait to be seated, so I wasn't sure how he'd do with that.

Well, he did just wonderfully.  We did have to wait to be seated, but it wasn't that long a wait.  Isaac lay down by my feet and looked around and wagged his tail happily while we waited.  None of the other customers tried to pet him or talk to him or anything, so I'm sure that helped.  I heard a few of them reading the patches on his vest out loud, "Please don't pet me, I'm working," so that was nice.

Most of the time when I've been out to eat with Isaac, it's been me and one other person.  The more people at the table, the less room there is under the table for Isaac to sprawl out under there.  But he did really well.  I made sure he was giving everyone enough room for their feet and he just lay down and had a nice nap.

After our meal, I decided to stop at the restroom before heading for the dog park.  It occurred to me then how difficult it was the first time I ever used a public restroom with my service dog.  That's the kind of thing I never thought about before I got a service dog, but the first time I used a public restroom with him was in a Cracker Barrel and the bathroom stalls were really small.  He didn't want to go in the stall and I had to lure him in with a treat.  When I finally got him in there (it took a while to convince him, even with a treat), there was no room for either of us to move.  I discovered it was quite a challenge to pull up my pants and button my jeans and stuff while also holding a leash, especially in such a small space.

The stall was bigger today, which was nice, but Isaac was also happy to go in with me.  He did want to peak under the stall to see who was in the stall next to us, but I managed to dissuade him from doing so.  We finished up and were on our way.

This was the first time Isaac and I went to the dog park since last fall but he remembered the way.  When we got close, he sat up on the backseat and started looking intently out the window.  Just before we turned into the parking lot, he started pacing back and forth on the backseat and whining.  By the time I was parking the car, he was yelping with excitement. 

He remembers the way to the doggie beach, but is surprised every time when we get home from the lake and he learns he has to get a bath. You'd think he'd remember the bath part, too, but apparently not.

He had a fantastic time running around, playing with some other dogs and swimming.  Then we came home and he was surprised and disappointed to find out he had to get a bath.  And now he's taking a nap.