Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[fairbourne]

I can't believe he doesn't like carrots. All I have to do is take the bag of carrots out of the fridge and I have 3 furry faces looking at me. :D

 

Well DKD, having read your post, I tried again and again and again! Neither of them would take them. I did the "throw them a normal treat and then quickly followed by a small cube of carrot" trick (washed and peeled! ;):D). And still not fooling these guys ... They will take it and then if you watch their faces, they are priceless! "Who does she think she's kidding with this orange stuff!" Spit!

 

Anyway, new exercise routine is in place.

 

Cindy, he is on Loxicom for dogs and that seems to be working really well.

 

Nancy - your reference to dog cookies reminded me that I did buy a dog cookbook some time ago, I think it was either from the US or Australia, but I think it is buried in a pile of cookery books stored in the spare room waiting to go back on shelves, which in turn are waiting to be put up in the kitchen by my darling husband! So, may take some time!!! Hee hee!

He is 7 years old.

Edited March 4, 2014 by fairbourne

[fairbourne]

Trudy - how was your cruise?

 

Please tell us some happy stories! :)

[fairbourne]

Roz - you OK??? :)

[cjborne2]

Ollie hates carrots too. (He is a Seeing Eye Dog) My husband hates carrots too. He says they are good for the eyes

[trudle]

Hi Everyone, hope you are having a great day.

Back from our cruise and we had a great time. Lots of laughing with 10 of us. Didn't do good in the casino but we did have fun.

We didn't really have anything funny happen unless you count getting locked out of our room. Not once but twice. First it was me----coming back to the room at 1am and key not working. Go down to the desk, they make another key for me and said------if it doesn't work just give us a call and we will send someone up to fix it. Well------------------after five calls to the desk, knocking on the room door and ringing our room phone-------to no answers, to any of these. So, down I go to the front desk again and tell them, still can't get into my room. They ask "did you try ringing your husband"----I said yes but no answer. Now, they are going to send someone up to open my door. I go up to the room again and wait, not long. But in the mean time I try knocking on the door again, NOT thinking of what time it is " now about 1:30am, and I woke up the neighbor :eek: Now the neighbor is going out on his balcony to see if, maybe, my DH is out on our balcony-----no answer from my DH----so the neighbor comes out and tells me----he didn't get any answer from anyone on our balcony. I thanked the man and told him " I am so sorry for waking him up and thank you for checking" :mad: Well here comes the repair man and tries his key in the lock----nothing ! So he tinkers a little more, and my DH opens the door. He thought I was too DRUNK to get our door open-----I guess he thought I was partying without him.:p I usually only will drink 1 or 2 drinks. I guess when the neighbor checked the patio----Ed came inside, so he didn't hear a thing. OK door fixed and now we can go to bed. Thank goodness.

 

Ok -----------next night---------same thing happens to Ed. But all he had to do was call the front desk and the repairman came up-----but the repairman couldn't get the door open this time. They had to then call security-----they have some other way of opening the door. I don't know how long all this took but Ed cant stand for long-----so------he told the repair man-----I am going to fall down, if I cant sit. So now they knock on someone elses door to get a seat for him to sit on. Ok door fixed and now Ed is afraid to go to sleep until I come in======Maybe I will not be able to open the door again. So, again at 1am I stroll in-----key worked and we could go to bed.

 

Hope you enjoyed our story. Last cruise we got locked on our Balcony twice------maybe I shouldn't cruise. LOL We had a great cruise and I am looking forward to my next in April-----it is a cousins cruise-----girls only.

 

Have a great week and hope this funny story gave you a good laugh.

[wizard-of-roz]

Please say a prayer for a little 10year old boy from Johns class who lost his life to a brain tumor on Friday. John and Wexler visited him in the hospital a few months ago. Wexler made his day.

 

Cindy, I just saw this. It's so sad. I'm very sorry for his family. He must have truly enjoyed meeting Wex. May he rest in peace and may his life be for a blessing.

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi, everybody! I've just read through a week's worth of posts - good to catch up.

Roz, I'm glad you and Horty are working through this sad time together. The poem was special. I'm going to copy and save it for someday.

 

What a week I just experienced!! Life-changing experience, that's for sure! Hearing Dog Raylene arrived last week with her Dogs for the Deaf trainer Carrie. After five incredibly busy, intense days working together, Carrie wrapped up yesterday, and now we are a team, on our own.

 

It would take pages to tell of all our experiences already. Suffice it to say that Dogs for the Deaf is magnificent. The training was so well-thought out and executed, with a great understanding of how human and Canine learning takes place. We passed our tests yesterday - yippee! Carrie is superb at her job, and in fact she will soon begin her new senior role as the trainer of trainers for DFD's dogs certified for public access.

 

Raylene is spectacular. I feel like a kid with a learner's permit who was just handed the keys to a Ferrari. She is amazingly smart and well trained. We were in the grocery store the other day doing our public work for the first time (she was perfect - me, not so much), and Carrie heard many comments from shoppers, "What a beautiful dog!" I'm already in love of course with her brains, beauty and winsome personality. How fortunate I am. And how thankful.

 

We had a press interview, and so an article and photo of Raylene, Carrie and me was on the front page of yesterday's paper! She's on her way to becoming a local superstar.

 

Raylene was two in December and was a puppy with Guide Dogs for the Blind on the west coast. She had a minor cataract (no treatment needed, does not affect her) so of course, did not make the cut. DFD often receives such dogs, though most of theirs are shelter rescues. She was slated to be a DFD Program Assistance Dog working with a teacher, but the woman's job changed. So suddenly she was available to be retrained as a Hearing Dog. My gain! I am a travel writer, and the trainers saw Raylene and I as a good match. And she handled her very long, three-flight trip with Carrie from coast to coast very well.

 

Today is going to be a little hard for her with Carrie NOT arriving at our door step at 8:30 a.m, to begin work. She loves Carrie so much and vice versa. So we will plan some good things to keep her spirits up.

 

I'll soon post a photo of the beautiful, shiny black Lab Raylene - the new Queen of my heart!

 

Congratulations to you and Raylene on many, many years ahead of fun, love and great traveling experiences. You'll make so many new friends and will find that your life is truly fulfilled with Raylene in it.

 

The completeness that these dogs bring to our lives is immeasurable and so rewarding.

[wizard-of-roz]

Well I have some news of my own .... Boy dog has been diagnosed with hip dysphasia - and arthritis in the same knee as the affected hip. It would appear it's been there for a while, but came to light when he fell into a ditch about a month ago. He was taken to the vet at the time, who prescribed rest, gentle excercise and a painkiller.

 

So couple of weeks ago, after we had reduced the painkiller gradually, he was still labouring his hip - not all the time, but you just notice the way your dog walks, and it just wasn't right. Anyway, he had x-rays last week and the wear and tear is quite bad, so he has to lose weight - 10 kilos minimum - and is on a strict diet, special dry food (which thankfully both dogs are eating with no complaints) and 3 x 20 minute walks a day. So we are now all on a healthy eating plan. And No treats!:( I could do with losing a bit, so we will see how we get on!

 

The vet recommended carrots instead of doggy biscuits etc., well, you can guess how that went!!! LOL! So we are cutting down the treats to start, broken in half instead of a whole gravy bone, that sort of thing.

 

Any tips for other healthy treats that we could use - I don't like using their food (kibble) as treats - so any suggestions welcome. Thanks! :)

 

Sorry to hear about the hip problem on your boy dog.

 

After we brought Horton home from Team Training he gained about 12 pounds and when we went back for our re-certification, they were pretty upset. So, we went home and I knew that Horty had to lose the weight. I bought Rice Cakes [lightly salted] and gave him those for snacks along with cutting his meals in half. Well, it really worked. It took about 9 months and he's down the 12 pounds.

 

I give him one between lunch and dinner and two in the evening. He loves them. I also break them up and put them inside his Kong for a change....it keeps him busy trying to lick the pieces out.

[wizard-of-roz]

It is indeed RayLEEN, and she is so pretty. Her shiny black Lab coat draws a lot of admirers!

 

To keep that coat shiny use Salmon Oil in her food. It's also good for their hearts and skin. I use the liquid and buy it from Entirely Pets dot com [online.]

[wizard-of-roz]

Ollie hates carrots too. (He is a Seeing Eye Dog) My husband hates carrots too. He says they are good for the eyes

 

Brenda hated carrots and Horton will take one in his mouth and then spits it out as he's walking away from me......I'm quite sure while he's cussing under his breath! :o

[wizard-of-roz]

Roz - you OK??? :)

 

I'm okay, thanks for asking. I'm finally able to walk into my front door with out breaking down and sobbing. I actually find myself thinking of Brenny and "smiling!" That sure feels good!!!!

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi Everyone, hope you are having a great day.

Back from our cruise and we had a great time. Lots of laughing with 10 of us. Didn't do good in the casino but we did have fun.

We didn't really have anything funny happen unless you count getting locked out of our room. Not once but twice. First it was me----coming back to the room at 1am and key not working. Go down to the desk, they make another key for me and said------if it doesn't work just give us a call and we will send someone up to fix it. Well------------------after five calls to the desk, knocking on the room door and ringing our room phone-------to no answers, to any of these. So, down I go to the front desk again and tell them, still can't get into my room. They ask "did you try ringing your husband"----I said yes but no answer. Now, they are going to send someone up to open my door. I go up to the room again and wait, not long. But in the mean time I try knocking on the door again, NOT thinking of what time it is " now about 1:30am, and I woke up the neighbor :eek: Now the neighbor is going out on his balcony to see if, maybe, my DH is out on our balcony-----no answer from my DH----so the neighbor comes out and tells me----he didn't get any answer from anyone on our balcony. I thanked the man and told him " I am so sorry for waking him up and thank you for checking" :mad: Well here comes the repair man and tries his key in the lock----nothing ! So he tinkers a little more, and my DH opens the door. He thought I was too DRUNK to get our door open-----I guess he thought I was partying without him.:p I usually only will drink 1 or 2 drinks. I guess when the neighbor checked the patio----Ed came inside, so he didn't hear a thing. OK door fixed and now we can go to bed. Thank goodness.

 

Ok -----------next night---------same thing happens to Ed. But all he had to do was call the front desk and the repairman came up-----but the repairman couldn't get the door open this time. They had to then call security-----they have some other way of opening the door. I don't know how long all this took but Ed cant stand for long-----so------he told the repair man-----I am going to fall down, if I cant sit. So now they knock on someone elses door to get a seat for him to sit on. Ok door fixed and now Ed is afraid to go to sleep until I come in======Maybe I will not be able to open the door again. So, again at 1am I stroll in-----key worked and we could go to bed.

 

Hope you enjoyed our story. Last cruise we got locked on our Balcony twice------maybe I shouldn't cruise. LOL We had a great cruise and I am looking forward to my next in April-----it is a cousins cruise-----girls only.

 

Have a great week and hope this funny story gave you a good laugh.

 

Welcome home! I'm sure at the time it wasn't so funny. But, it definitely made me laugh!!!!

[fairbourne]

Sorry to hear about the hip problem on your boy dog.

 

After we brought Horton home from Team Training he gained about 12 pounds and when we went back for our re-certification, they were pretty upset. So, we went home and I knew that Horty had to lose the weight. I bought Rice Cakes [lightly salted] and gave him those for snacks along with cutting his meals in half. Well, it really worked. It took about 9 months and he's down the 12 pounds.

 

I give him one between lunch and dinner and two in the evening. He loves them. I also break them up and put them inside his Kong for a change....it keeps him busy trying to lick the pieces out.

 

 

Good to hear from you .... I just worried as it's very unusual not to hear from you! Of course, you could have just sneaked off on a cruise ship! ;):p:D

 

I'm going to get some of these rice cakes and try that, as I get the same look of disgust from these two that I'm sure Mr H has on his face when he spits out the carrot! They are so loyal they take the carrot and the spit out is so subtle, it's like they don't want to offend us!

 

Smiling is good .... :). Big hugs!

[fairbourne]

Hi Everyone, hope you are having a great day.

Back from our cruise and we had a great time. Lots of laughing with 10 of us. Didn't do good in the casino but we did have fun.

We didn't really have anything funny happen unless you count getting locked out of our room. Not once but twice. First it was me----coming back to the room at 1am and key not working. Go down to the desk, they make another key for me and said------if it doesn't work just give us a call and we will send someone up to fix it. Well------------------after five calls to the desk, knocking on the room door and ringing our room phone-------to no answers, to any of these. So, down I go to the front desk again and tell them, still can't get into my room. They ask "did you try ringing your husband"----I said yes but no answer. Now, they are going to send someone up to open my door. I go up to the room again and wait, not long. But in the mean time I try knocking on the door again, NOT thinking of what time it is " now about 1:30am, and I woke up the neighbor :eek: Now the neighbor is going out on his balcony to see if, maybe, my DH is out on our balcony-----no answer from my DH----so the neighbor comes out and tells me----he didn't get any answer from anyone on our balcony. I thanked the man and told him " I am so sorry for waking him up and thank you for checking" :mad: Well here comes the repair man and tries his key in the lock----nothing ! So he tinkers a little more, and my DH opens the door. He thought I was too DRUNK to get our door open-----I guess he thought I was partying without him.:p I usually only will drink 1 or 2 drinks. I guess when the neighbor checked the patio----Ed came inside, so he didn't hear a thing. OK door fixed and now we can go to bed. Thank goodness.

 

Ok -----------next night---------same thing happens to Ed. But all he had to do was call the front desk and the repairman came up-----but the repairman couldn't get the door open this time. They had to then call security-----they have some other way of opening the door. I don't know how long all this took but Ed cant stand for long-----so------he told the repair man-----I am going to fall down, if I cant sit. So now they knock on someone elses door to get a seat for him to sit on. Ok door fixed and now Ed is afraid to go to sleep until I come in======Maybe I will not be able to open the door again. So, again at 1am I stroll in-----key worked and we could go to bed.

 

Hope you enjoyed our story. Last cruise we got locked on our Balcony twice------maybe I shouldn't cruise. LOL We had a great cruise and I am looking forward to my next in April-----it is a cousins cruise-----girls only.

 

Have a great week and hope this funny story gave you a good laugh.

 

That's funny .... It did make me laugh .... You party girl you! hee hee! But I'm glad you had a lovely time. :D. Maybe on your girls cruise, you should have a cabin near reception, so not so far to run for a new key!!! LOL!!!

Edited March 5, 2014 by fairbourne

[S.S. Cruisers]

Trudy, It must be our magnetic personality! I have never had it happen on a cruise ship, but several times in hotels. It is always the card I get? The front desk has told me it has been de-magnetized. I dunno, my skin breaks out if I wear real gold. When I got my ears pierced, it was a disaster. I could only find one brand of earrings that did not make my ears "prickle". I truly believe it is something in our make-up. Although you did say it happened to your husband, also. A mystery at sea. Glad you had a laugh about it now!

 

[S.S. Cruisers]

Roz: Glad you can :). I see you changed your Avatar. I also smile when I see Ms. Brenny and her daddy's sign-in. I miss them, I can only imagine how you feel.

[trudle]

Hi, everybody! I've just read through a week's worth of posts - good to catch up.

Roz, I'm glad you and Horty are working through this sad time together. The poem was special. I'm going to copy and save it for someday.

 

What a week I just experienced!! Life-changing experience, that's for sure! Hearing Dog Raylene arrived last week with her Dogs for the Deaf trainer Carrie. After five incredibly busy, intense days working together, Carrie wrapped up yesterday, and now we are a team, on our own.

 

It would take pages to tell of all our experiences already. Suffice it to say that Dogs for the Deaf is magnificent. The training was so well-thought out and executed, with a great understanding of how human and Canine learning takes place. We passed our tests yesterday - yippee! Carrie is superb at her job, and in fact she will soon begin her new senior role as the trainer of trainers for DFD's dogs certified for public access.

 

Raylene is spectacular. I feel like a kid with a learner's permit who was just handed the keys to a Ferrari. She is amazingly smart and well trained. We were in the grocery store the other day doing our public work for the first time (she was perfect - me, not so much), and Carrie heard many comments from shoppers, "What a beautiful dog!" I'm already in love of course with her brains, beauty and winsome personality. How fortunate I am. And how thankful.

 

We had a press interview, and so an article and photo of Raylene, Carrie and me was on the front page of yesterday's paper! She's on her way to becoming a local superstar.

 

Raylene was two in December and was a puppy with Guide Dogs for the Blind on the west coast. She had a minor cataract (no treatment needed, does not affect her) so of course, did not make the cut. DFD often receives such dogs, though most of theirs are shelter rescues. She was slated to be a DFD Program Assistance Dog working with a teacher, but the woman's job changed. So suddenly she was available to be retrained as a Hearing Dog. My gain! I am a travel writer, and the trainers saw Raylene and I as a good match. And she handled her very long, three-flight trip with Carrie from coast to coast very well.

 

Today is going to be a little hard for her with Carrie NOT arriving at our door step at 8:30 a.m, to begin work. She loves Carrie so much and vice versa. So we will plan some good things to keep her spirits up.

 

I'll soon post a photo of the beautiful, shiny black Lab Raylene - the new Queen of my heart!

 

So happy to hear that Raylene is now part of your life. Many happy days and travels with her.

[rangeley]

Hi Everyone, hope you are having a great day.

Back from our cruise and we had a great time. Lots of laughing with 10 of us. Didn't do good in the casino but we did have fun.

We didn't really have anything funny happen unless you count getting locked out of our room. Not once but twice. First it was me----coming back to the room at 1am and key not working. Go down to the desk, they make another key for me and said------if it doesn't work just give us a call and we will send someone up to fix it. Well------------------after five calls to the desk, knocking on the room door and ringing our room phone-------to no answers, to any of these. So, down I go to the front desk again and tell them, still can't get into my room. They ask "did you try ringing your husband"----I said yes but no answer. Now, they are going to send someone up to open my door. I go up to the room again and wait, not long. But in the mean time I try knocking on the door again, NOT thinking of what time it is " now about 1:30am, and I woke up the neighbor :eek: Now the neighbor is going out on his balcony to see if, maybe, my DH is out on our balcony-----no answer from my DH----so the neighbor comes out and tells me----he didn't get any answer from anyone on our balcony. I thanked the man and told him " I am so sorry for waking him up and thank you for checking" :mad: Well here comes the repair man and tries his key in the lock----nothing ! So he tinkers a little more, and my DH opens the door. He thought I was too DRUNK to get our door open-----I guess he thought I was partying without him.:p I usually only will drink 1 or 2 drinks. I guess when the neighbor checked the patio----Ed came inside, so he didn't hear a thing. OK door fixed and now we can go to bed. Thank goodness.

 

Ok -----------next night---------same thing happens to Ed. But all he had to do was call the front desk and the repairman came up-----but the repairman couldn't get the door open this time. They had to then call security-----they have some other way of opening the door. I don't know how long all this took but Ed cant stand for long-----so------he told the repair man-----I am going to fall down, if I cant sit. So now they knock on someone elses door to get a seat for him to sit on. Ok door fixed and now Ed is afraid to go to sleep until I come in======Maybe I will not be able to open the door again. So, again at 1am I stroll in-----key worked and we could go to bed.

 

Hope you enjoyed our story. Last cruise we got locked on our Balcony twice------maybe I shouldn't cruise. LOL We had a great cruise and I am looking forward to my next in April-----it is a cousins cruise-----girls only.

 

Have a great week and hope this funny story gave you a good laugh.

 

OMG Trudy!!! I'm glad we weren't in the cabin next to you!!! Too funny.

[wizard-of-roz]

Roz: Glad you can :). I see you changed your Avatar. I also smile when I see Ms. Brenny and her daddy's sign-in. I miss them, I can only imagine how you feel.

 

Morey's avatar has been Brenny for a long time and I hope mine has not changed. For now, I want to keep Brenny on both. I just changed my answering machine, at home, it used to say, "Hi, you've reached the home of Morey, Brenda, Horton and Roz", now it simply says, "leave your message at the tone, bye!"

 

Brenda will remain on my work voicemail, just because!

[rangeley]

I'm okay, thanks for asking. I'm finally able to walk into my front door with out breaking down and sobbing. I actually find myself thinking of Brenny and "smiling!" That sure feels good!!!!

 

 

Hey snap out of it!!! :( No sulking here. You've got the boy to worry about now. Don't forget that they feel what we feel so perk up! :D

 

About the rice cakes. When I first gave them to Wex you could tell he was saying "what is this crap" but he got used to them and now it's just like getting a cookie. I buy the plain, no salt ones and cut them into 6th's.

 

We also give him ginger bears from Petco. He loves them and the ginger helps his sensitive tummy. Now they don't have them! :mad: I spoke to the manager and she said they haven't got them in and they replaced them with some, and I quote "crap cookies". She said they were one of her best sellers. I told her I would write an email and if they don't bring them back I will be shopping somewhere else. So there!! :D

[rangeley]

I found the ginger bears online but it's for 16lbs!! :eek: Thats alotta bears!! They are also 65.00. I'll have to be desperate to buy those. Although I bought some diff ones and he got the poops. So I might have to give in.

 

I just wrote them a kind of nasty email.

Edited March 5, 2014 by rangeley

[wizard-of-roz]

There was a special on the news last night about Hospice care for dogs and cats. It talked about the many doctors who are doing this now, in our homes. It mentioned the various treatments our sick and soon to die pets can get in the comfort of their own bed, at home. It spoke to euthanasia and the gentle, easy and pain free way that we can allow our beloved dogs and cats to die with ease.

 

I will be forever grateful to the wonderful and gentle doctor who came to our home and the graceful and kind way that Brenda Elizabeth was allowed to take her journey from this life.

 

It eases my mind to know that she was laying watching PaPa's garden as she was allowed to finally go to sleep.

Edited March 5, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

There was a special on the news last night about Hospice care for dogs and cats. It talked about the many doctors who are doing this now, in our homes. It mentioned the various treatments our sick and soon to die pets can get in the comfort of their own bed, at home. It spoke to euthanasia and the gentle, easy and pain free way that we can allow our beloved dogs and cats to die with ease.

 

I will be forever grateful to the wonderful and gentle doctor who came to our home and the graceful and kind way that Brenda Elizabeth was allowed to take her journey from this life.

 

It eases my mind to know that she was laying watching PaPa's garden as she was allowed to finally go to sleep.

 

I know, I know, Cindy, I'm the slowest learner when it comes to the "snap out of it" thing!!!!!

 

I'm a long, protracted griever, so sorry! :rolleyes:

Edited March 5, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[BeagleOne]

Roz, I just now read that Brenda is gone. I'm very sorry for your loss. Grieve as long as you need to, and don't apologize. I still grieve for my dog Lindbergh, whom I had to have euthanized on April 3, 1995, when she was only about 18 months old. Her untimely, unnecessary death is the reason I became a vet.

 

I'm very sorry that Brenda is gone but glad she had such a wonderful life with you and a peaceful ending at home.

 

Robin

[wizard-of-roz]

Roz, I just now read that Brenda is gone. I'm very sorry for your loss. Grieve as long as you need to, and don't apologize. I still grieve for my dog Lindbergh, whom I had to have euthanized on April 3, 1995, when she was only about 18 months old. Her untimely, unnecessary death is the reason I became a vet.

 

I'm very sorry that Brenda is gone but glad she had such a wonderful life with you and a peaceful ending at home.

 

Robin

 

Robin, wow! What a wonderful ending to a very sad story. I don't know you but I'm very proud of what you did with your life in the memory of Lindbergh.

 

I don't think I will ever get over the loss of my Brenny. She sustained me through the darkest hours of my life. I am indebted to her and will love her forever and for always.