A Day of Thankfulness

This year I have so much to be thankful for and there is a fullness in my life and heart.

Over the last few days I have taken some time to think and reflect on the past year. There seems to be more different in the past 12 months than at any other time in my life.

Embracing TTouch, its philosophies, and all it has to offer has changed me in ways I never imagined. What started out as a way to help our precious Sammi walk again without surgery has fully integrated itself into every aspect of my entire being.

This past year I set out to become a TTouch Practitioner. I have a vision of teaching workshops in shelters and to individuals that want a kinder and more loving way to work with their pets. In the beginning I had doubts that I could do this. What do I know about dogs other than our own 3 French Bulldogs? How will we fund this undertaking? How am I going to leave my family for 6-7 days at a time and go all alone to places I've never been? And, again, I would ask.....what am I thinking???

One by one I discovered that the funds will find me, I can rent a car and find my way around a place I've never been, and I can LEARN what I need to know. A very important thought hit me one day. Maybe lacking a strong history with animals just might be more to my benefit than to my detriment. I've not had time to develop bad habits. I didn't have to go through the times when rough treatment of animals was the norm to get them to "do what they are told". I came in as a clean slate with a desire to learn.

The only time I had been in a shelter was when we took Pierre, now 6 years old, to his puppy class. I now spend 5-6 hours a week helping shelter animals while they help me learn to read them, to listen to what they are telling me. I've learned that Pit Bulls are just a dog, just like any other dog....only more misunderstood. I've worked with tiny baby Chihuahuas and a big beautiful English Mastiff, and I think just about everything in between.

So here we are 8 months after my first class. In March, 2010 I plan on taking the magical session 4 in Portland, Oregon (again) with Kathy Cascade (again) and become certified as a Practitioner in Training just one year after I set foot on my new path. Who would have thought?

Steve has been fantastic all along the way. I couldn't do this without his encouragement and support. He is so good to sacrifice so we have the money for classes, travel and equipment. He minds the home front while I train, work in the shelter and take on private case studies. I couldn't ask for a better partner and friend in life.

I'm in awe of the gift that Linda Tellington-Jones has given the world. Linda has truly taught us that we CAN talk to the animals and they CAN talk to us.

Photos of Iggy!

A special Thank You goes out to Iggy's foster mom, Nicole. I really wanted everyone to see what an adorable boy Iggy is and asked if she had any pics of him I could post....and here he is!!

This is how happy Iggy is in the comfort of his home, his yard and with his people. I really hope we can get him to look this happy most, if not all, of the time. This little boy is inside of the frightened boy I met Friday night.

Together, Nicole and I are going to encourage him to come out and play with us more and more.

Here is what Iggy looked like when he was released from his bondage in the woods of Michael Vick's fighting compound in Virginia. He was over a year old but not yet 2. He had been tied up in the woods where he could hear all the fighting, possibly see the executions and had no socialization.

Looks like he is just wishing everyone would go away!

I hope you will keep Nicole, Iggy and I in your thoughts and prayers as we teach him that life...and NEW things and people...can be very good!

My Ultimate Challenge

Iggy is a dog with a sorted past - through no fault of his own. Iggy is one of the many Pit Bulls that suffered abuse and violence at Michael Vicks dog fighting compound - all in the name of "sport".

I prepared by watching a video of him and talking with Kathy who worked on Alf, who had similar fear issues as Iggy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bxdg2RPdgQ

I double dog dare ya to watch this video with dry eyes. Kathy is a hero in every sense of the word and I'm blessed that she was my first TTouch Instructor in Portland, Or (March, 2009). What an inspiration her work with Alf is to me. Not only is it an inspiration but she is such a valuable resource for me as I move forward with Iggy.

Back to Iggy......

Knowing he is VERY fearful I armed myself with a ton of tuna fudge, loaded my TTouch suit case with my typical stuff all the while not expecting to use any of it....and my new client folder. My plan was to ignore Iggy and talk with his foster Mom who runs a Pit Bull rescue in San Diego called "just a dog".

We agreed to have Iggy in the back yard where he is most comfortable and able to have lots a room to be as far away from me as he wanted. Nicole and I sat on towels on the grass and reviewed all the info in the folder. Iggy would come close to me an look. I'd ignore him and continue talking with Nicole and toss a treat his direction without looking at him. Within 2-3 minutes he came and sat by me but I still didn't look. He was taking treats from my hand and then would run away.

It wasn't long before I could look at him with soft eyes, offer calming signals and talk to him a little. He would run away and sit under a tree and gather his wits enough to come back. Never making a big deal of him either leaving or joining me. LOTS of treats.

Eventually I decided to teach him "Touch". If he touched my left hand with his nose he got treats out of my right. He thought this was a fun game. During this time Nicole and I talked about my background, her background...her visit to Virginia to help with the Vick dogs...best friends...You name it and we talked about it. Treating Iggy from time to time and him getting braver and braver with me.

Nicole also runs a Pit Bull socialization class and she was asking how to dogs off a prong collar. So we talked about the options for that and decided my next visit I'll demo how I would approach that with the participation and permission of one of her other Pits. We will let Iggy watch and see nothing bad happens. Maybe it will have a positive impact on him.

Eventually Iggy allowed me to do TTouch on his face, ears, head and slowly over his body using the back of my hand. I wondered if he was standing still cuz he liked it or because he was afraid and thought he couldn't leave. So I stopped and talked to Nicole more. Iggy moved in closer to me. I did more touches letting him process from time to time. I was able to do Python Lifts on his legs and little Raccoons on his foot and the bottom of his foot. With that I ended the session with some fun and light Zig Zag touches on his body....I left him while he still wanted more.

Nicole is totally excited about my reaching him and we will get together again next Friday. I have the day off so I'll go over early in the morning so we can take as long as we want and work with all her dogs.

I was amazed that she was as excited about the session as I was and just as excited to be working with me as I was her.

Nope, I didn't get any pictures of him. It wasn't the right thing to do since he is so fearful. It will be a happy day when I can post a few pictures of him because that means he isn't terrified of a camera! Iggy is so fearful that he ran and hid when when Nicole went outside and had a pen in her hand....it was different and different terrifies him. It would have been totally disrespectful to whip out my camera and start shooting pictures.

We will get there.....we will take it very slow and let him watch while we do more advance things with some of his doggie buddies.

The growl that almost killed....

Wow, there is a lot to be said about Zorro and the love of a few good women that stood by his side and fought for his life! I'm honored to have the opportunity to work with him.

Talk about a misunderstood boy! Zorro could be the poster child for misunderstood boys. Not only was he misunderstood but he was also a victim of both people and circumstances.

Someone cut off his ears right before he arrived at the shelter! Can you imagine! More than likely he was being prepared for a career in fighting. This tactic is used so other dogs can't grab the ears. Can't grab and bite what isn't there! Ugh. People like this destroy my faith in mankind...they really aren't that "kind" sometimes.

After he arrived at the shelter he was neutered and it didn't go well. Burst stitches and infection were next to plague Zorro. Long story short Zorro growled at the wrong person one day and was removed from public view. A well fought battle saved Zorro from being euthanized but he was no longer welcome to stay where he was.

Does this look like a bad boy to you???

I'm amazed that anyone had to fight for this dog's right to live a happy life.
All because he vocalized that he was uncomfortable with a situation.

I'm gonna hop up on a soap box now and say my peace about growling.
FOLKS please don't forbid or condemn a dog for growling!! Think about it for a moment...how else can a dog tell us he isn't happy? Sure there are facial expressions and body language they try to tell us with...but if we aren't "listening" and we don't get it....they need to growl. If that is taken away from them then they have lost a valuable communication tool and they have no choice other than to bite. If we teach a dog not to growl we are, in effect, teaching them to bite.
Okay, getting down from my box now...

Thankfully there are groups like "just a dog" rescue. They specialize in boys like him and he was whisked away to private foster care where he is learning what toys and chewies are for. He has a pretty good appreciation for a tennis ball and a wading pool.

Zorro is getting training and socialization at school on Saturdays and I hear he is a fast learner. But his Foster family wondered if there was something more that TTouch could give him.

Today we had our first session. Zorro is quite the high energy boy! We improvised some course work and weaved in and around plants and navigated stairs and had all sorts of fun. I found out first hand what a quick learner Zorro is! Talk about some serious leash manners. I was impressed.

Our plan for Zorro is to teach him to slow down and smell the flowers...and to enjoy belly rubs . Soon we will set up a full size course and watch him really come into his own!

He is such a lovable boy and he is really making the most of his 2nd chance. People that fight for dogs like Zorro - and rescue groups like "just a dog" that welcome them with open arms - restore my faith in mankind.

What a difference a week makes!

I'm really happy to say the last of the Chihuahua puppies was adopted at an event today. That is a good thing for lots of reasons....not the least of which is I had really gotten attached to the little guy and Steve didn't like the fact that everyone except him had been adopted! Just what we need is another male dog, lol.

Chachi

And Spunky was adopted last Sunday. Maybe his time spent in the Labyrinth and in the Confidence Course the day before helped with that...only Spunky knows for sure and he isn't telling. :-)

Today was a big one. I got to the shelter about 7:30 am and got all set up and worked with the dogs for 4 horus. I worked with Amanda, Lola, Jerry, and Jewel.

I've already introduced Lola and Amanda but here are Jerry & Jewel. Such sweet hearts.

Jerry came in with a friend named Ben. Ben was adopted and now Jerry is very sad.

Jewel...and she is, too!

After working them in the confidence course I spent some time with Sarah. Isn't her new haircut pretty? Poor thing has the worst ears I've ever seen. They are fused shut. NO holes at all. I'm sure she will feel much better when she gets to have her surgery. Her fund is growing. The volunteers have raised about $1,500 with another $1,000 to go. We'll get there.

One of my friends asked me to work with one of his fave dogs named Milo. He is set to go to Rescue as he has been determined to be unadoptable for some reason I was unable to recognize. I found him to be a darling boy but a tad mouthy. That is easily fixed and I showed his fave volunteer some nice calming strokes and mouth work that can be done on him. We also worked on "Stay on the Ground"....thanks Edie Jane. I like that so much better than "OFF!"




What I did next deserves its own page.....stay tuned!

Ear Surgery Needed for Sarah

Let me start by apologizing. I never ask for anything like this but Sarah needs help.

This is Sarah and she is at the Escondido Humane Society. She came into the shelter as a stray on September 18th. Sarah is 7 years old and she is battling a chronic ear condition since the moment she got there. Sarah must have come from a place where no one cared for her. She probably has had ear problems her whole life and it has never been taken care of.

She needs expensive surgery on both her ears. There is a surgery that can be done that will allow her to enjoy her life pain free. Problem is the quote from the Vet is $2,500. The shelter cannot afford this amount for one animal and the volunteers are trying their very best to raise the funds to give Sarah a new lease on life. She is such a sweet and loving girl in spite of her pain.

I have created a "Chip-In" site to benefit her. Through my friends at work and online I'd like to raise $1,000 toward her surgery. Once she has her surgery I can help her recouperate using TTouch!

http://painfreesarah.chipin.com/sarahs-ear-surgery Sorry the page isn't pretty but I don't know how to do that and I just wanted to get the word out about Sarah. BTW, Paypal won't let me donate to the site I created. Rest assured my check is in a pile of those I've collected from my office friends!

Please feel free to cross post with other groups that might be willing to help Sarah.

Thanks and I promise not to make a habit of doing this!