Two head shaking stories -Michael Vick "Say No to Subway" and service dogs owners refused service in Dedham Ma

I got two computer alerts  back to back last night at just about the same time. Both had me shaking my head fairly equally in disbelief.

Have you heard that Michael Vick got a BET Award as Subway Sportsman of the year?!?!  Within minutes my  computer screen was filed with emails, forwards, tweets, Face Book links,  and lots and lots of outrage.

I already filled out Subway's on line tell us what you think form.  Oh I told them what I thought.  

No better time to buy local I say.  Within a 2 mile stretch from Subway in either direction, I can choose  local wonderful shops such as  Hoggie's, Full Belly Deli, and  Rosemont, all  on Brighton Ave.  Even if they take the award away, Subway--- I quit you. Done . Finito. You are dead to me.  

What a PR nightmare.  Don't bother  commenting to tell us that Michael Vick did his time.  We are not listening to you. Never have, and never will. 

And no . He. Did. Not. 

Everything you need to know about the boycott can be found on this Facebook Page
Say no to Subway.



The other  story also has me shaking my head takes place in Dedham MA where a dozen people went to a restaurant and were denied service.  They had a reservations and 6 of them  had service dogs. The group was refused service because  of the dogs, which is a clear violation of the American with Disabilities Act and MA law.   They were not denied service because  the dogs were not trained or acting right. They were denied service just because they had service dogs.  I was 80 degrees out and it was even suggested to them that they leave the dogs in the  car.  WTH!!


The Dedham police (illegally!!!)  sided with the restaurant owner.  There are several violations here and it may carry  a jail sentence.  The police and restaurant owner were not within their rights to ask the people for their  dog's paperwork.  The dogs had every right to be there. They were accused of being confrontational .They were hungry!   

You can follow the Twitter Chirp story here,  Very interesting.

I have  been to many  Portland area eateries with  service dogs in training and with a  number of people and their service dogs. One memorable time we were 10 people and 6 dogs without reservations. People welcomed us, our dogs and  our money! Service dogs in training are afforded the same protection under the law in the state of Maine when they are with a trainer.  

The one thing both of the these stories have in common ---  PR nightmare.

Ask me if I care about that in the least?

For me this is not just a case of boycott untill it is made right. This is the stuff of life time bans for me. Plenty of other places to eat. 

update.  CBS Boston picked up the story

That sound you just heard was Quizno's stock going up.

Bromancing my Beck

After back to back posts whining about Beck, I feel I need to set the record straight a bit. He is an awesome dog and I don't regret adopting him, even during his trying times. As a commenter pointed out, dogs who are sweet and cuddly and give us the time of day, are easy to bond with, and to forgive them their trespasses.

Except  for the times when Beck is stalking the not really evil Daisy, or barking, or acting a young fool, he is a blast to work with. I saw a lot of potential in him (*obviously*) when he was my foster dog, but I also saw a lot of potential for a disastrous placement. Between his brain power, high energy needs, and his mild separation anxiety I knew he was not the dog for the average pet owner. Honestly, aside from basics that he would need for adoption, (stop jumping on top of people!), I didn't spend much time at all working with Beck until after March 4th when we adopted him.

Since I made a list of his issues, it is only fair that I write the behaviors that Beck has learned in 5 weeks. This is a dog who did not even know how to sit.

Beck has learned his name and to pay attention and watch me, sit, down, paw, paw an object, leave it, hit an easy button, howl on cue, sit stay, down stay, heel on and off leash on both right and left side, auto sit, come!, target my hand, an object, and a  target stick, boing with 4 feet off the ground, get in, sit front, finish right and left, say his prayers, jump up on something with 4 feet, paws up ( 2 feet) , crawl, play dead, roll over, spin, twirl, put his head all the way to the ground front and side (settle), go through my legs, back up fast, back up on both right and left side, jump 20 inches, send to a jump, bounce jump, down on a table, off, default down, 101 things to do with a box, go out around an object, go to his mat, target a mat with his hind feet, bow, sit up pretty, dance on hind feet forward and backwards and in a circle,. Whew! I am sure there is more, but well you get the idea. Only a few of these are proofed, but that is a lot of new info in just over a month. Yea!

The dog has excellent retention and it is mind boggling to me what a sponge he is. Hard to imagine such a great and needy dog in a shelter  for more than half of his life. I spend lots of time day dreaming and trying to figure out what is important and what in what order I want to teach him new behaviors. I have worked a lot on back, since it is a key behavior in Freestyle and my last 3 dogs have kind of sucked at it. Every night at dinner time, he backs up to his mat. Very enthusiastically I might add.

Today is not his day Beck's day for training. As I mentioned the other day Poppy is here for a service dog tune up, and she will be coming with me every where I go today. Poppy got a play pass yesterday because she looked like this pretty much most of the day. 

Service dogs should never be taken out in public access dirty, and when I tried to rinse her off, she stuck her whole head in the hose with such joy, that I just gave in and let her have a party. She took forever to dry, and by then it was too late and I was toast. So this morning,  she was not allowed access to my swamp yard. The yard  is a major loosing battle right now with all the rain we have had. Poppy came out with me most of Saturday and she did long downs yesterday while I was working with Beck. That was hard work for her and then she got lots of ball time and lots more mud. Poppy  will need a good grooming before I can take her any where today.

We are also watching a friend's Aussie and well, it is total spring break mayhem over here! I can tell you what, this never would happen  if Charlee was still here.  That dog knew how to keep order.

I told Beck to just say no, but he led Scout on. and on. and on.

As you can see, the pups are pooped at the end of the day. 

It's all good.  

Today is also Valli's first day of school.  Wish her well in class tonight.  She has her first meet and greet on Friday and she has to cram.

_________________________________

Trainer's note. Scout's humping is not sexual.  It is a displacement behavior brought on by being a herding dog with lots going on around him that he cannot control.

. When in doubt. some dogs hump. 

Chunks! More reasons to be cheerful

Don't know how I left out Golden Retriever puppy Chunks in my last reasons to be cheerful even though February is a dark, dreary, depressing, cold month post. Chunks is being trained by his owner to hopefully be an Autism Assist service dog for her young son. His owner Chris contacted me a ways back and we discussed various organizations that place service dogs in homes with kids. After much thought, and for various reasons, they decided they wanted a puppy.



For many families looking to add a service dog, the deal breaker is the time that is needed to stay over at the facility at the end stages of training. Some organizations require a 1 week stay and others several weeks. For other families, it is the long wait. While I have helped many people train their own service dogs, training your own puppy for special needs kids is high on the level of difficulty. The main reason I have found is that parents are busy with the kids which often gives pups time to practice unwanted behaviors, or parents just don't have enough hours in a day to train.

It takes a lot of time to train a service dog, usually much more than people realize going in.

Time will tell if Chunks will be a full fledged service dog and gain public access, but I do know that he is cute, and smart and adorable and on the right track. As a huge believer and supporter in human-canine bonds, I have given the family a deep "frequent flyer discount."

Whether Chunks makes it to a full fledged service dog or not, he is still a loved family member and either way, Chunks can help to contribute to his kid's therapies and over all well being.

I heart Chunks!