Jessica writes:
One
thing I can tell you is that Toby [her first hearing dog] was a sensitive soul and had some separation
anxiety issues; she really pushed herself through situations that made her
uncomfortable in order to be with me. Perhaps in part due to her separation anxiety,
Toby could walk off leash with me. . . . We'd walk the trails and empty athletic fields on
campus at all hours. The winter before I lost her, we went to a nearby
county hiking area nearly every day of winter break and walked the
snow-covered, mostly-deserted trails. Toby's favorite alert was a 2-way
seek in which someone in my house would call her, send her for me, and then
lead me to whoever sent her (even if that person had moved in the interim).
She just loved bringing everyone together!
[Jessica
trained Toby when she was 2 1/2 years old to be her "hearing
assistant." And Toby worked very well for her. Her second assistance dog
is Willa.]
A
friend and I have since pieced
together that I "read" Toby's sound sensitivity for hearing-related
information. In contrast,Willa is very confident and alerts out of
awareness and
pleasure, not anxiety.
One of my biggest accomplishments with Willa has been raising a dog who is
completely bonded with me but doesn't suffer from separation anxiety.
Frankly, I'm the one that struggles with that. I made the decision
with Willa that we were a package deal and that anything that she wasn't
invited to, I wouldn't attend. I've had no regrets. She's my family.
Whenever I do have someone hold Willa, the person always says, "She wasn't upset.
She didn't whine or try to get to you. But her eyes never left the
door." Even in some photos that a professional photographer took
when we finished our Rally Excellent title, you can see the way her ears follow
me every step of the way during the exercises that require walking around the
dog. Here's a funny story: We were at a conformation show, and a Willa's breeder said,
"Let me have Willa for a minute." She took Willa about 10 feet
away to help perk up another dog. Willa just looked at me the entire time. And she adores my friend, and she goes
nuts every time she sees her. Afterwards, my friend said, "I had
no business playing with a working dog like that."
Willa is the reason I can sleep at night. When I was between dogs (for 6
months), I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I was hearing
sirens (not as weird as it sounds--you are more likely to hallucinate in a
sense you don't have, kind of like phantom limb pain). I had recently
seen a special on TV where they talked about teaching a dog to perform hearing
alerts for a woman with normal hearing but had schizophrenia. If the dog
alerted, she knew the sound was real; otherwise, it was in her head. Now when I wake up at night, I just look at Willa.
If she's resting comfortably, it is safe for me to go back to sleep.
I kept a journal of Willa's first year with me and an entry for Week 7 (when Willa was
only 15 weeks old) reads: "I’ve already made the transition from
protecting her to looking to her for information—she’s so confident!"
Willa started learning formal alerts around 6 months, but almost from the
time I got her, she was helping me be safe, happy, and secure in our world.
She's really special.
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