Category Archives: Tracking

July 9, 2012

Cabin Fever

By Bobbie

My mother’s side of the family has a cabin in the Uinta mountains.  My great grandparents started building it in the 1950′s.  The past couple of years my parents have been going up every weekend during the summers and fixing it up for all the generations of the family to be able to enjoy it again.  The past couple weekends I went up with the kids and Magpie to help out and this weekend we even got to take Deeds cousin from Houston with us.

Deeds and his “best girl buddy” Magpie the miracle service dog.

We have never taken Deeds up before because I was terrified.  Loosing him in a public place is frightening but you can usually enlist a lot of help to look for him.  Loosing him where there is nothing but vast wilderness and no cell phone coverage to call for help was something that I wasn’t willing to risk.  Now that we have Magpie and Deeds is getting older we decided it was time.  We even did a practice track while we were there to make sure Maggie could still find her boy out in the woods.

Deeds was so excited that he finished this puzzle all by himself!

Little sister painting and being a goof.

He calls this his “Spelling learning game”

The kids had a lot of fun playing games, doing puzzles and watching Disney movies while we were inside.  We would go for walks outside and it became quickly apparent that Deeds is not a huge fan of the great outdoors.  He never wanted to go for walks but once we got down to the water he would always have a lot of fun with Magpie playing fetch or throwing rocks into the creek.

Little sister LOVES being outside.

Deeds laughing as Magpie sticks her entire head under the water.

 

One day another family was also down by the creek and Magpie thought it was Christmas since they had two dogs and she got to play with them for a while.  She hasn’t been able to run and play that much since we were at training at 4 Paws.  Every once in a while I would randomly call out a command to make sure she was still aware we were still there and she would come bounding back with her tail wagging.  I’d praise her, Deeds would giggle and give her a treat and then we would let her jump back into the cold water to play some more.  It was a really great weekend.

Rock throwing, look at that form!

Beware the flying dogs!

You do NOT want to be standing next to Magpie when she is shaking off the water.

Deeds showed his cousin his favorite “biggest rock”

On the way home we took a little stop by the Provo River Falls.  They are beautiful and I promised Deeds cousin she could get some pictures by them.  About a half an hour later in the car as we were driving Deeds started to scream that he couldn’t find his blankie.  My heart sank and I pulled over to look around the car.  Sure enough it wasn’t there.  I could flip through the pictures on my phone and see exactly where he had it one second and not the next.  We turned around to drive back and prayed it would still be there.  My little guy was beyond upset and I was dealing with a great deal of anxiety about it myself.  Lucky for us someone had found it on the trail, folded it up and placed it on a rock.  I’ve never seen such a look of relief on Deeds face.  There is a new rule that the blankie doesn’t come out of the car unless mommy or daddy has it.  Since it’s what he hides under when he is overstimulated it’s more than just a comfort thing for him.  I’m so thankful that someone was nice enough to pick it up for us and set it somewhere we would see it.

All the cousins on the trail right before we lost blankie.

Provo River Falls

Deeds and Magpie checking out the falls. It was a beautiful day.

 

2 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Autism, Family, Fun, Magpie, Service Dog, Tracking, Travel

February 22, 2012

Survival Mode and Field Trips

By Bobbie

Usually the last four-six weeks of a semester I go into survival mode.  I’m constantly stressed and studying on top of “normal” life and sadly things fall through the cracks.  I forget appointments, dinner is whatever is fastest or what daddy makes and the house turns into an utter disaster zone.  This semester survival mode started in the first six weeks and I am struggling to keep up with everything.  I’m normally a fantastic student but this time around I’m already sure I’m going to have to retake one of my classes.  I’ll pass, but not with a high enough grade to be considered for the nursing program I’m trying to get into.  I’m telling you all this so that you aren’t shocked if there aren’t a lot of posts from us in the following weeks/months.  The semester isn’t over till April 26th so we have a way to go.  Maybe it’s time to recruit daddy to write some more posts.

Last week I did get the chance to chaperone a field trip with Deeds class.  He was so excited because I was able to bring Magpie.  Let me give you a little back story about training really fast:

When we went through training Magpie had an issue with a large stuffed tiger at the mall.  She planted her paws and let out a huge bark (the first we’d heard from her) and caught us off guard.  The lead trainer from 4 Paws saw it and was fantastic and showed us how to help her past it and she was fine around the stuffed tiger the rest of the time.  He told us that Magpie didn’t know it was stuffed and with the tiger not blinking and in the stance it was in Mag’s felt threatened.  He warned us to beware of any kind of large animal that doesn’t blink, that she might get defensive around it.

Flash forward to the field-trip….

We went to the huge Cabela’s store that is in our area.  It’s huge and inside has massive fish tanks, almost like a mini aquarium.  What I forgot was inside is a 2 story “mountain” covered in all different kinds of real taxidermy animals.  Some, like the bears, are in aggressive stances.  Not to mention all the deer, moose, etc… I had good treats with me just in case all the kids started to cause her any issues and I’m glad I did.  I kept waiting for her to react but she was so focused on the fact that I actually had treats that when she finally noticed the animals I guess she didn’t care.  Looked over at the bear, sniffed the air, and then sat down and looked at me for a treat.  It was awesome.  She also helped calm one down one little girl who was struggling during the time there (that’s a girl Magpie!).

Deeds and Magpie checking out the fish

I joked with a teacher that I was glad she wouldn’t have to do a track in there because it smelled so much in the store with all the outdoors equipment and animals she was constantly sniffing around (I should know better than to joke like that).   There were a lot of parents there with the 6 teachers so the ratio was actually pretty close to one on one.  Until it was time to leave.  We drove our own car so Deeds got to just come home with us.  On our way out the door we got stopped once from someone who recognized Magpie from the news when she was so sick, and then again right after by two men asking a TON of questions about Magpie and service dogs in general.  Normally I would sit and chat for a second happy to educate but by this point all the other adults and kids were outside loading up and it was just me with Deeds and his 2-year-old little sister.  I turned around and the kids were gone so I took off after where I saw them last (hearing a rude comment from one of the guys, clueless apparently that I was alone with kids and one of them obviously had special needs).  Sadly we haven’t practiced tracking much so I didn’t even think to hype Magpie up or anything, I just started to get a little frantic in my own search and then I noticed she started to pull me.  She picked up that she needed to find her boy and she lead me right to him!  YAY…. Finding 2-year-old little sister took the aid of 2 employees since Magpie isn’t trained to track her.  At least when she heard the employee call her name she yelled back “I just here mommy!”

Gwen, pre-escape

Magpie just did amazing! First with all the fish and the animals everywhere, then with the track.   Note to self however, keep the tether with me so once we get separated from the rest of the class I can hook up Deeds, I left it in the car.

 

 

2 comments | posted in In Public, Magpie, School, Service Dog, Tracking

December 20, 2011

Lost in Ikea

By Bobbie

Yesterday we made a trip to Ikea with some family.  This is one of the stores that used to cause huge meltdowns with Deeds.  Let’s face it, Ikea can be overestimating for most adults.

When we stopped for some lunch at their restaurant my mom and sister-in-law started to talk about how easy the store had been so far with Deeds.  When we first walked in he was attached to Magpie but he wanted to be able to play with his cousins so I unhooked him.  There were three adults so we kept a close eye on him and he loved being able to walk with the big kids. 

Fifteen minutes later as we were walking through the last half of the store I turned around and Deeds was gone.  We called for him and got no response so we split up to find him.  I took Magpie to the last place we saw him.  We haven’t had to do a real track with her, just practice and we haven’t even practiced since she came home from the animal hospital.  I was nervous and didn’t start the track properly so she was confused at first.  I started to walk back the way we came and she picked up a scent and started to pull me.  My heart sank when she tracked back to a hair bow that fell out of Gwen’s hair and sat down.  I had lead her the wrong way instead of paying attention to her at the beginning.  I rushed back the other direction and looking back now I realize she started to pull me but I was so panicked at this point I didn’t pay attention.

When we caught up to him he was just coloring on some paper with an employee next to him on the phone.  Calling his name had no effect on him.  It wasn’t until I snapped his harness onto Magpie that he even realized I was there.

The employee was so amazing.  Once when we were there they wouldn’t let us leave because a child Deeds age was missing, once they found the child we could go so I knew they handed these situations well.  Even knowing how well they train their employees I was terrified.  This is the first wandering incident we have had since we have been home and I was really hoping he was outgrowing it. 

I learned a lot of things.  I need to not panic and trust Magpie.  She would have found him much faster if I would have remembered our training.   I also know now she is ready to get back into full practice sessions.

Deeds was not happy to be hooked back to Magpie.  I tried to explain that he can not wander off but he still doesn’t understand why it’s a problem.  My sweet nephews heard Deeds screaming because I hooked him back up and they came to my rescue.  We pulled out every extra lead and teather we had and the boys all walked with Magpie so Deeds would stop screaming.  It was quite the sight.

When we we’re all getting in the car my seven year old nephew told his mom “I’m so glad we found JD.  That really sucked.”

It scared us all, and I was so thankful for our miracle Magpie!

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4 comments | posted in Autism, In Public, Magpie, Tracking

November 7, 2011

Welcome to Utah Magpie

By Bobbie

Today we have been trying to acquaint Maggie with Utah.  We have a list of errands a mile long to do thanks to being out-of-state so long.  We didn’t get it all done but Magpie did get a trip to our local Wal-Mart, getting the car inspected, getting her local dog license, meeting Deeds cousins, and having lunch out.  We didn’t run into any issues with the exception of her wanting to smell everything.  It’s all new to her and she is so excited about it.  Once she gets into work mode she is fantastic.

We practiced a track in the house tonight.  It was too cold to do one outside with Deeds still being a bit under the weather.  She did well and as always loved having Deeds feed her some hot dog at the end.

After the indoor track it was time for bed and Deeds and Magpie decided it would be a better time to play under the bed.  Jeremy couldn’t stop laughing and snapped some pictures of them, they were to fun not to share.  A lot of the pictures we’ve put of them bonding we have had to initiate the interactions but this evening was all them.  So fun.

Playtime!

Heads....

...or tails?

 

2 comments | posted in In Public, Magpie, Tracking

November 2, 2011

Day 9: There is a test?

By Bobbie

Deeds feeling a bit better today, love the grin.

Only one full day of training left.  Can this be?  It has flown by so quickly.  We graduate Friday afternoon!

This morning we started to go over what we will need to do for the public access test.  My mother looked at me panicked and said “THERE IS A TEST!  No one told me there was a test.”

Just one of us has to pass the test so the dog can be certified to be a public access service dog with Deeds.  Jeremy nobly volunteered me, so he and mom are off the hook.  (Thanks again babe.  ha ha)

Jeremy has been handling Magpie a lot more since she has bonded well with me but wasn’t listening to him as much.  She was fostered by a female so they just thought maybe she wasn’t used to a male, and poor Jer is pretty quiet.  After spending a lot of time together they are doing much better and I’m excited about how she will fit into our family.

This afternoon we did tracking and Deeds was feeling well enough to do it with us.  There is no way to describe how awesome it is when you can tell Magpie is on Deeds scent and tracking him.  Tracking has a lot to do with how well the handler can read the dog and help them find the correct scent.  It’s been a spectacular thing to learn and we are excited to keep practicing with Magpie so if she ever does have to track Deeds she will be prepared with his scent memorized.

 

We did some more mall practice this afternoon as well.  It makes sweet Magpie tired to tether right now because Deeds leans against the tether because he likes the way it feels when she drags him a little.  We are working on getting him adapted to being connected with her and she is doing fantastic with the learning curve.

Jeremy and Magpie watching the kids play, look at that tail wag!

While at the mall we decided to treat little sister to a Build a Bear stuffed animal.  She’s been fantastic while we have been here and her old bunny stuffy is getting pretty tattered.  We got her a new one and after we were done and checking out Deeds pipped up that he wanted one too.  Ten minutes later we left the store with Xenia, sisters stuffed bunny, and Dayton, Deeds new Monkey.  We thought the names were fitting for remembering our trip here.  He and Gwen played with the new animals at the play area.

Deeds and Dayton

Gwen and Xenia

When we got back to the hotel Deeds showed Sock Monkey his new pal Dayton and then we caught this pic of Dayton resting on Magpie.

As we approach the tail end of our stay here and training I just have to say how amazing this has been.  Ohio is beautiful (I had no idea) and being here in the fall made it spectacular.  Everyone at 4 Paws is truly wonderful and interested in helping.  I have loved spending 2 weeks with these 9 other families and their amazing children.  Watching our kids interact and seeing the progress each one has made is spectacular.  The first time we tried tethering one of the mothers was so excited because it was the first time her son has ever been able to walk in a store and actually look through a rack or clothes.  It was like seeing a new child emerge from his shell.  This process has been much harder than I anticipated but I would do it a million times over for my boy.  Thank you 4 Paws for making Magpie a possibility for us.  We are eternally thankful.

1 comment | posted in In Public, Magpie, Service Dog, Testing, Tracking, Training

October 31, 2011

Day 7: Happy Halloween Ohio

By Bobbie

This morning started out rainy and cold but things cleared up and by this evening.  We did our first track in the woods today and Magpie was a champ at it.  Jeremy was shocked when Magpie and I came around the corner because he and Deeds hadn’t been sitting there that long.  I can’t wait to take her up the canyon in Utah and practice some more tracks with him.

Pawtners cuddling before class

This afternoon we all went to the mall to practice tethering and tracking indoors.  Deeds likes to lean on the tether and have her almost drag him around so we are working on that.  He also likes to grab her tail while he is behind her.  She is such an amazing girl and never even flinched but we are really trying to get him to stop.  It’s all still so new.

Practicing tethering in the mall and look what Deeds found!

One of the families in our class are actually local so we went to their house for hotdogs and burgers then some trick-or-treating.  All the dogs went to town playing in their backyard.  When Magpie is playing nothing else matters, but we are working on gaining back her focus when it is needed.  A dog still needs to be a dog so I’m glad she got to burn off some energy.

Magpie is the one without her harness on.

Deeds playing ball with all the dogs

We only went to a couple of houses.  With Deeds and I both being sick we didn’t want to stay out too late, not to mention we don’t need to haul a lot of candy back to Utah with us.  Magpie was still overstimulated when it was time for trick-or-treating that it took some work to get her focused, it didn’t help that her boy kept running from house to house to house.  She is such a sweet dog for him.  She really does fit in perfectly for the family and I couldn’t think of a better match with Deeds.  I know the longer she is with us and the more we bond with her and practice she will just get better and better.  She is so well trained, it’s just us getting used to the handling.

Some of the kids with Deeds and Gwen after trick-or-treating

I can’t believe we will be home already in less than a week.  I am worried about how she will be accepted in Utah when we go out in public.  I know just like with Deeds, the more we go out in public the more comfortable we will feel.

Happy Halloween from Deeds and Magpie.

Leave a comment | posted in In Public, Magpie, Service Dog, Tracking, Training

October 29, 2011

Day 5: Meltdowns

By Bobbie

Jer being superdad in the cubbie calming down his boy!

Today Deeds woke up at 4am.  I couldn’t get him to go back to sleep so when he spent the entire morning “hiding” with daddy in the cubby at 4 Paws I wasn’t surprised.  After tracking and lunch we decided it would be best for everyone except Magpie and I to go back to the hotel to rest.

Deeds hiding waiting for Magpie to find him

Magpie found him! See her tail behind him?

Deeds rewarding Magpie for an awesome tracking practice!

After I finished up with training this afternoon and got a ride back to the hotel mom and I took both kids to Chick-fil-a so they could play in the play area and Jeremy could work in peace at the hotel.

After we headed back to the hotel Deeds started to throw one of those fun epic meltdowns that we love so much.  At home it is one thing, in the elevator and all the way down the hallway of the hotel it is another.  We had people open the door because I’m sure they thought someone was being brutally murdered the way he was screaming.  After a few minutes of him freaking out in the hotel room I realized Magpie was trying to lick him and scoot next to him.  I was shocked she wasn’t running for her crate.  Finally I took her cue, got him on the floor and had her rest her head in his lap while I held on to him.  In less than a minute (literally) he was no longer screaming.  Mom and I were both in shock.  A meltdown that I would have guessed would have lasted at least another 30-45 minutes was halted in seconds! That alone was worth everything done to get Deeds his service dog.  EVERYTHING!

Post meltdown cell phone pic

I’m really hoping tomorrow will be a bit better day for him.  I don’t blame him one bit.  He is a creature of habit and keeps asking when the school bus is coming or when he can go to Kids on the Move.  It will be nice to have Magpie home with us so he can really bond without the stress of traveling and being away from home.  We tried to make things in the hotel as “home” like as possible but we could only bring so much stuff.  Thank goodness for grandma being here to help daddy and I!

 

3 comments | posted in Autism, In Public, Magpie, Service Dog, Tracking

October 28, 2011

Day 4: Out on the Town

By Bobbie

Deeds and his new friend JP

This morning Magpie and I realized the honeymoon was over.  I was grumpy and wanted her to be on her A game and she wanted to play.  Poor little thing and I took a little while to get into the swing of things but once we headed out for tracking she was all business.  She once again found Deeds like a champion and then got fitted into her harness for our first group outing to the mall.

Deeds and Daddy heading out to do some tracking trails

Magpie getting ready to track her boy

My mom took both kids to the hotel for naps.  Deeds had a seizure last night and was SO grumpy and tired we decided our first public outing would be easier with just Jeremy and I.

Magpie ran into some of Deeds friends at the mall.

Training class at the mall

The only issue we had in the mall was when I tried to walk into a store with a large stuffed tiger guarding the door.  Magpie dug in all 4 paws and barked once.  We’ve never heard her bark so it was a bit of a shock to me but I didn’t even think about that large tiger.  The trainer came over and helped us handle it and we ended up having no more problems while we were walking around.

Once we finished we went back to the mall and grabbed my mom and the kids for some dinner.  Our first restaurant outing with Magpie.  It went fantastically.  She just laid under the table and we chuckled as people sitting around us would all of a sudden notice her after she’d been laying there for 20 minutes.  She never moved a muscle even with food falling around her.

Sister at dinner

Magpie at dinner under the table

The only tricky public outing we did today was the grocery store.  There was a lot of people there and having the food at shelf level she would stop to sniff a bit but once I corrected her and told her to heel she snapped back into Magpie the wonder dog.

Deeds and Magpie relaxing before bed

She is now snuggled as close to Deeds as he will let her while he plays with the iPad before bed.  We’ve worn her out today but she has proven her worth over and over again.  She is starting to feel like a real part of the family and I am so grateful to 4 Paws for having such an amazing organization and to all those who helped get us here!

3 comments | posted in In Public, Magpie, Seizures, Service Dog, Tracking, Training

October 27, 2011

Day 3: Tracking in the Rain

By Bobbie

Today we worked on a lot of things.  A couple of new commands for us and then after that it was time to track for the first time.  Cold rain showers made it more exciting than it might have been otherwise.  Magpie loved every wet second of it.  Once she caught the scent she was looking for she was off!  I was really thrilled the trainer was holding the leash this first time and I just had to jog to keep up.  Especially after Magpie wound around a playground and he had to go over and under things to follow her.

When she found the other trainer with Deeds it was so cute.  My little guy was jumping up and down squealing and had a bag of cut up hot dogs as a treat for Magpie.  He thought it was awesome, even in the freezing rain.

Gwen and Grandma

Today emotionally was a hard day for us.  Deeds has been off all day and sometimes that throws all of us off.  We had to leave the room multiple times to deal with him and so tonight after kids go to bed we will be chatting about all the things each of us might have missed.

Deeds and Magpie playing on the iPad

While we are there nap times are just not happening so both kids are pretty worn out by the time 3pm rolls around (we go till about 4:30pm).  Today after melting down a little Deeds hid under his blanket and then actually sat by magpie for a while.  It was great since he doesn’t always let her close.  I’m sure the bond will grow strong with them and it did calm him down a bit more to lean on her.  We learned the commands to let her put her head in his lap to help calm him down.  We haven’t used it with him yet but I hope it helps.

Deeds leaning on Magpie

Tomorrow is more tracking and then we are headed to the mall to get us used to having Magpie out in public.  I’ll try to get some pictures (I forgot during tracking today).

1 comment | posted in Magpie, Tracking, Training

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