Category Archives: service dogs

Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.

Here’s the diet books, Mom.

A whiskery old quote by the cynical Groucho Marx. And the segue to telling you about our visit to Books and Co. at The Greene.

A review of Katrina’s new book by Booklist tells us that “with subtle yet shimmering insight, Kittle explores the resilience of human nature and the indelible role animals play in healing shattered emotions.”  An affirming story of the healing power of animals? Sounds like something worth sharing to me. Time to put the cape on the dog and make a road trip to The Greene.

Micron and I made it in time to get a front row seat. Enough space to put his 72 lb. incredible hulk body and still have some leg room. And as it turned out, a fine place for a 10 month old puppy to act out. In my infinite wisdom, I decided he would get fed after this event, so we could sit through the reading without worrying about a potty alert. Right. So, no potty alerts but the furball knew it was getting past dinnertime and felt I needed a reminder.

Katrina Kittle and her admirer, Micron

It started with a soliciting paw on my leg. Ignore, ignore . . . I don’t answer to begging dogs. Then it was the laser eye; I could see him staring at me with an intensity that was admittedly a little disconcerting.

In the end, I’m all oh-my-god-I-can’t believe-you-barked-in-public, while several people came up afterward to say how wonderful he was and oh so well-behaved. The dog finds some redemption in just being stinkin’ adorable.

There’s a book event later this month that sounds interesting. We’ll give Micron another shot at Books and Co. for this.

But this time I’m packing a lunch for him.

Scoping for cute chicks at The Greene

As a postscript to our Katrina meeting, I also wanted to share her blog. Before the release of The Blessings of the Animals, she held a contest asking for essays on animals that have blessed our lives. I sent in some thoughts I had about the turn-in of our first CCI puppy, Inga. And was totally jazzed to get an honorable mention as recognition for my short essay.  A win for CCI as well; another way to raise awareness of this incredible organization and the work they do. The runner-ups for the dog essays are on her Canine Contenders post. Some touching stories out there for you dog lovers. Grab a hankie first.

Four Dog Night

Cute photo, right? This was an evening of dog sitting at my place. Not dogs sitting, dog sitting. Like baby sitting, but with more slobber. It’s funny, I shared this pic on my Facebook and found the different reactions interesting. My non-CCI friends were all “how did you get them to sit at the same time? And stay in one spot long enough for a picture?” 
Taken from another perspective, fellow CCI puppy raisers were thinking “only four?”
I know where they’re coming from on that. I’ve seen the photos of seasoned puppy raisers. There will be somewhere between five to eight dogs of various ages sitting side by side. In order of height.
And all wearing birthday party hats.
It brings a sense of awe and wonder to a novice like me. Someday that will be me. Because it’s important to have big goals in life.
So how to get four dogs to sit nice and calm? It’s not so hard, you know. You just start with about 75% of them as CCI dogs; one outlier is ok to add to the mix. See the body language there?  If you always keep your treats in the right front pocket, just moving your hand anywhere in that general area will get the dog’s attention.  The spotted one on the far right is not looking at the camera; he’s locked onto that front pocket using his Jedi mind tricks to get a dog biscuit to levitate out. And see the yellow guy on the right leaning ever so slightly? Because he has faith in the Force.

Parting shot is Micron showing his love of the USA on the Fourth of July. I tried taking a picture with him sitting proudly while holding the flag in his mouth. Yeah, that didn’t work out. Instead this is him being distracted from chewing on the flag.