Remebering Shiloh 2005-2021

 Dear SDAWL readers,

Today Shiloh crossed the rainbow bridge accompanied by myself, my mom, and her aunty Leslie. I hope you enjoy these memories. You can enjoy all 104 adventures of Shiloh here https://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/search/label/Shiloh%202005-2021.

New video Featuring Tanner and Me

I thought you, my dear readers, would this video featuring Tanner and I.
 

Tanner and I made the newspaper

This article about Tanner and I in the Whidbey News Times today! We are about a month into our partnership.

Example of the of the Rigors of public access work

Shiloh surround by people and lying down calmly

Shiloh being pet by children

Shiloh being pet and surrounded while calmly holding a down

15 Months since Shiloh Retired

It has been fifteen months since Shiloh retired.I was focused on adjusting to life without a service dog again, and was so busy and tired I did not have it in me to write. I had to hire a human personal assistant again and cut things out of my schedule simply because there wasn't energy for it. It has been a long 15 months full of change.Leslie and Gwen started a new job and moved to Washington. Ten months after she retired I received a call from Summit for an assessment day which is something they do when the trainers need more information about you and your disability or they think they may have a dog somewhere in the ranks for you. 13 months after Shiloh retired I decided to take a new job and move to back Washington.   

Five Years Together and The Process Begins Again

October marked Shilo's and my fifth anniversary as a team. As many of my loyal readers may remember Shilo was taken into training as an adult dog estimated at 2 years old, so that made her three-ish at placement. I believe in retiring my dogs before some age-related health concern makes it an urgent necessity on both parts;  therefore, at the end of September I emailed Summit to begin the process of a successor placement.  Many of you may be asking yourself why I am going through a school when I am capable of training a dog myself to meet my needs in a service dog. The answer is simple.
1.Finding a suitable potential candidate is a crap shoot in the best of times even when one knows what they are looking for and what they need.
2. Anything can happen during the training and maturation process to turn a once promising candidate into a washout; leaving the person needing a service back at the beginning maybe a little richer in experience but more poor in time, emotional fortitude, energy, and money.
3. A service dog partner must look at the successor process as it will fit into their life as a multiple year process. The age old where do you want to be in 3 years question. Do you want to be just starting a full time working partnership or do you want to have been in a well established partnership for a year or more?
With my life including full time work with adult with developmental disabilities, dating, family, advocacy, and more I know I can have nothing less than a finished, mature service dog who is ready to join my life full time right out of the gate.

My Favorite Harness is Back!

My absolute favorite multi-functional service dog harness is back on the market! I bought this harness for my first service dog, Bastien, used it until he retired then transferred it to Shilo and used it until it literally died from use. I was saddened to discover the woman who made each harness by hand had passed away and the harness it seemed would not be made anymore. I decided to see if I could find someone to fix or re-create my harness to no avail. Non of the fixes or remakes would as well as the original. The Freedom Design harness is designed with service dog partners using wheelchairs in mind, but I have seen this versatile harness used for partners needing guiding, and light counter balance as well. I cannot say enough good things about this harness! If you are looking for a haness that is:

• Multi-funtional
• designed for use by people with extremely limited hand function
• designed to allow the dog freedom of movement
• designed to allow for a flexible and angle variable connection between dog and partner ( this is how I was able to have a wheelchair pulling dog who did not have to lean sideways to pull from along side the wheelchair)
• attractive
• light weight
• machine washable
• durable (at least I hope it still) I had mine for 12 years before it died.
• Reasonably priced at $85

This post is peppered with pictures of both my dogs in the same Freedom Design harness (that's right, the one I bough and used for 12 years)! Before you ask, none is paying me for this post. I just like to sing the praises of a quality product when I find one!

Big Changes & Excitement Ahead!

Today is Shilo and my last day working for the University of Oregon supporting the Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities and the Youth Enrichment and Talented and Gifted program; we are proud to announce that we will be working for Albertina Kerr as the Program Manager for their Community Inclusion program! This is a big change on many levels as we have spent the last four and a half years surviving the economy by working no less the two part-time jobs at once going up to as many as four trying to make ends meet.  We will be working full-time! Shilo will have a four-legged co-worker as well here, a black lab male from Guiding Eyes for the Blind!

 We are also going to two conferences:
The Abilities Expo in L.A. March 15-17, 2013
CELA-National CRT Leadership and Advocacy Conference in D.C. April 9-11, 2013

Furry Valentines- Four legged love!

Labrador Love!

True comfort with everything that come from being with me!

Bastien

Shilo

What, it's cozy!?

The girls, Cammy and Shilo

Together!

The girls working

Happy 4th Anniversary Shilo!

Today Makes 4 years to the day that Shilo and I became partners though Summit Assistance Dogs.
In the past four years Shilo and I have:

• Lived in 2 apartments
• Worked three jobs
• Taken dozens of Road trips
• Gone on 8 first dates
• Had a hand in raising 13 puppies
• Dated and broken up with one boyfriend
• Experience Survived a the  of my first SD together death together
• Flown together
• Traveled to DC and advocated on Capital Hill together taking 10 meeting with representatives and Senators
• Gone Sailing for the first time together

I'm sure there's more but those are the highlights standing out right now! Stay tuned for a picture slide show!
Yours in Canine Partnership,
Melissa and SD Shilo, Summit Assistance Dog

Today is Our 3rd Anniversary!

Today is Shilo's and my third anniversary! That's right, it has been three years since Shilo and I came into each others' lives, and what a three years it has been! Shilo continues to amaze me everyday with her sweet demeanor, creativity and willingness to work. Since being placed Shilo has learned to:

• Work next to a power chair and manual chair
• Wheelchair pull
• work light switches, cabinets, and doors in the order I pass them
• Work odd hours
• Work random and sometimes long hours
• Show off her skills in demonstrations- she's a shepherd mix so this was a challenge

From T-Mobile Pictures

Vote for Summit Assistance Dogs to receive a Toyota Car for Good

Summit is an amazing Assistance Dog organization that does whatever it takes to support their teams including coming all the way to Eugene, OR from Anacortes, WA to follow up on Shilo and my progress six months after placement - that's a distance of 728 mile round trip at a cost of $114 (and rising every day)!

Anniversary: Two Year Follow-Up

Shiloh and I have been a team for two years now and as a part of maintaining the health, safety, and working standards that I agreed to when Summit matched Shiloh and I I traveled to Anacortes, WA to complete a two year follow up and Public Access Test. Having owner trained Bastien, my first service dog, I wasn't sure what  to expect and I tend to be overly perfectionist about things really important to me with my dogs being beyond description a lot of the time with concern to their importance in my life. Also, since it is my job to maintain Shiloh in every manner at least to the level she was when Summit agreed that we were a team, if not better in my view; so I was very nervous to see what questions they would have and what they would think of us 18 months after they last saw us!
Wendy asked question about Shiloh health, responsiveness, what I thought of her training, if she had any behavior or training problem I was concerned about/needed help with, and anything I thought Summit could do to improve the training of future dogs based on my experiences with Shiloh. Then we were of to town to strut our stuff in the public access test. Besides the general test Shiloh also demonstrated two of her tasks wheelchair pulling and retrieving dropped items. We passed with flying colors!

Anniversary: Two Years, A Wonderous Journey

This October 17th marks two years that Shiloh and I have been a team living life and all its surprises together! In the last two years we have gone from complete strangers to each others rocks of Gibraltar. Shiloh and I have done so many things together that it is hard for me to list them all on the greatest hits parade we have:

• Moved twice
• Attended weddings, birthdays and baby showers
• Interviewed for and gotten jobs
• Survived my wisdom teeth getting pulled
• Met Galaxy from Greatest American dog (I have picture here somewhere...)

Shiloh continues to amazed me with her steady, sweet countenance and her drive to work. She recently showed me that she finally has made sense of what I have been trying in my completely inept, bungling human way to show her how she can help with my balance issues during a recent return trip to Newport (read about our fun at the beach in the past) where she would place herself either beside, in front, or behind depending on what point in the stairs I was at and how she understood she could best assist me. With her beside me I could have one hand pulling myself up with the railing and the other holding onto Shiloh's backpack handle for a little forward momentum (I tend to fall backward when I fall, but it really does take much to keep me on my feet and balanced).




Finally, I wish to thank everyone who made Shiloh and I possible:
-The Staff and Volunteers of Summit Assistance Dogs
-Shiloh's Trainer Sue Meinzinger (known affectionately around here as Aunty Sue)
-My cousin April for her $100 Donation
-My longtime friend Wayne Terry for his donation of a Large Dog Crate ($100 value)
-Shelley Maynard,Owner of Pewter Rabbit Antiques for her $25 Donation
-Kathleen Ison for her $10 donation
-Olivia Emilia and Rob Harden for their $50 donation
-My longtime friend Anne Hensley for her $50 donation in memeroy of her first SD Andrew
-My longtime friends Pam and Loc Reader for their $100 donation
-My former co-workers at Pierce County Deparment of Emergency Management for their $155 donation.
-My Aunt and Uncle, Steven and Marie McDonald for their $100
-My college internship supervisor Mr. Jim Stevenson and family for their $100
-My Unce Dale McDonald for his $300 donation
-My Grandmother Mary Ellen for her $200
-My parents for their $600 donation to Summit and their love and support through out the entire process
-My best friends Leslie Weilbacher and Katie Berger for all their love, support and perspective!

Life: What's that Noise?

As I was hard at work on an enormous Excel spreadsheet listening to U2 on Pandora a strange, soft tapping noise coming from under the desk caught my ear. I turn to see what could possibly be responsible for such an odd sound. A smile spread across my face as I saw Shiloh sleeping at my feet with head head resting on her paws. As I watched her ears twitching and her toes tapping the plastic desk chair runner, I could help but smile.

Shiloh Comes Through When it Really Counts!

This morning I woke up with severe pain in my neck and right shoulder(again). At first I wasn't even sure I could get out out of bed, but with a little persistence I managed to make it out of bed. As I tried to transfer into my chair my shoulder gave way and I ended up on the floor! I tried a few times to get up, but quickly realized my right shoulder was not going to weight bare at all, so even using Shiloh to brace a bit was out.I tried Plan B yell, for my roommate Leslie, no dice, since she sleeps like the dead.
Time for plan C, get Shiloh to roust my still sleeping roommate from her bed. My roommates and I have been working on getting Shiloh to find them by name and Shiloh loves my roommate's room, so time to put it to the test. I asked Shiloh "Where's Leslie? Go Get Leslie!" She went to my roommate's door and found it closed ( I could see her and the door from where I was on the floor), so I cue her to touch the door with her paw again and again. She would come back every few times, and I would send her back again. After, a few minutes Shiloh finally succeeded in waking my roommate's Guide Dog, Cammy, who I heard come over to the door and sniff. Shiloh continued to paw the door, while Cammy (deciding that it was time to be up) went over and stuck her nose in Leslie's face, finally waking her! She then heard Shiloh pawing away at the door. Disoriented, and still half asleep, I see her come out of the room saying "What the hell?!" Now I tell her I need help I can't get off the floor! She being the wonderful friend and good roommate comes in immediately to fish me off the floor.
Even if my roommate had not been there and I would have had to wait for someone to come help me, or until I felt it might be safe to attempt to get myself of the the floor having Shiloh there, knowing the that I was not alone she could get the phone and show the people who came to my calls where I was kept me from slipping in to that fear that I could be here on the floor until God knows when! Not falling into that fear left me able to more logically process the situation and stay calm. Shiloh is my constant companion and between the two of us we can figure out a lot of really difficult predicaments! Even it the best thing to do is wait, I am not so vulnerable with Shiloh around she will patiently wait with me.

Anniversary: Celebrating One Year as a Team

Today Shiloh and I are celebrating one year as a partnered service dog team! We have come a long way in that year. I must admit this year has been one wrought with change, learning, fun, change, and frustration on both ends from time to time.

It really has taken Shiloh and I this entire time to really develop a shared languages and a set of share experiences that we can use to communicate with and understand one and other.
"I met this sweet girl for the first time while I was attending the Puget Sound Assistance Dog Club's Second Annual Conference. Sue was presenting a seminar of temperament testing and service dog candidate select and had chosen to bring along this little shepherd mix as an example of all the things they look for in a service dog candidate. From the minute I saw her I was impressed with this dog's calm, quiet, sweet, yet attentive nature. I even volunteered to be a part of the demonstration, just so I could have a chance to interact with her one on one. She never once showed me anything but what a lovely, soft girl she was." Read more from this post http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-dog-news.html.

"Our relationship is still very new and a shepherd's loyalties run deep. If Sue has been working with her or leaves and comes back Shiloh still only has eyes for Sue at this point, but there is a glimmer of a relationship already. She is happy to see me, works willingly, and after a bit of time can focus completely on me." Read more from this post http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/2008/09/round-oneteam-training.html

"Almost once a day I ask her to do something with a leftover cue from my first service dog, Bastien. She looks at me like "I have no idea what you want" and sometimes takes a guess." Read more from this post http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/2008/11/shilo-and-melissa-our-first-month.html.


You can read more about:

• The process of getting a service dog and my process with Shiloh here: http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/search/label/Summit

• My life with Shiloh here: http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/search/label/Shilo and here http://servicedogsawayoflife.blogspot.com/search/label/Shiloh.

Finally, I wish to thank everyone who made Shiloh and I possible:
-The Staff and Volunteers of Summit Assistance Dogs
-Shiloh's Trainer Sue Meinzinger (known affectionately around here as Aunty Sue)
-My cousin April for her $100 Donation
-My longtime friend Wayne Terry for his donation of a Large Dog Crate ($100 value)
-Shelley Maynard,Owner of Pewter Rabbit Antiques for her $25 Donation
-Kathleen Ison for her $10 donation
-Olivia Emilia and Rob Harden for their $50 donation
-My longtime friend Anne Hensley for her $50 donation in memeroy of her first SD Andrew
-My longtime friends Pam and Loc Reader for their $100 donation
-My former co-workers at Pierce County Deparment of Emergency Management for their $155 donation.
-My Aunt and Uncle, Steven and Marie McDonald for their $100
-My college internship supervisor Mr. Jim Stevenson and family for their $100
-My Unce Dale McDonald for his $300 donation
-My Grandmother Mary Ellen for her $200
-My parents for their $600 donation to Summit and their love and support through out the entire process
-My best friends Leslie Weilbacher and Katie Berger for all their love, support and perspective!

Anniversary: Team Training Starts

Today is October 11, 2009. A year ago, today, I awoke to begin seven days of training with a dog I hoped would become my next service dog. It was even more uncertain than these trips  usually areas the week before I had lost my job of four years. I needed to spend a week bonding and working with a new dog and I didn't even have financial stability. Stressful would be an extreme understatement. I felt I had to go, after all, who knew when they would have a dog they felt would be suitable for me again. So, despite all this uncertainty I packed my bags and head to the first day  of my team training with Shiloh. I had teats,my clicker, my laptop, my camera, and my leash. Come what may I had decided to put myself into the process full out. Read about this day:

Team Training: Round Two Day One

At the Library and More

Last week Shiloh and I accompanied our roommate on a few errands because her guide dog is healing from a mysterious allergic reaction and there where a couple of incidents in less than an hour that remind me why dressing/ marking your dog visibly as a service dog is so important( I discussed this early this summer).

The first encounter reminded me that I live in a town with a lot of puppy raisers for Guide Dogs for the Blind --This is not a negative commentary on GDB--only observation. Guide Dog puppies here all wear green puppy capes when really small, and green vests as the they get older. Summit Assistance Dogs chose green as their color and as such all Summit Teams graduate with a nice green vest.The vest is now Shiloh's light duty gear; I use it when we are going on quick outings where I will not need her to pull my chair. When Shiloh is wearing her Freedom Design Harness, which is red (soon to be purple though the red one belonged to Bastien), we never get asked if she's in training.

The second incident involved someone else who had a "service dog" in the public library. This was a large Black Labrador that was wearing both an Easy Walk Harness and a Gentle Leader but no vest or patches of any sort and the person's disability was not apparent in any way.She was complaining  because a library employee had come to question her and tell her her dog was in the way (he was laying down sprawled out). The person felt the library employees needed to be better educated and were being unfair to her.Mean while My roommate and I were inline waiting. We got up to the counter and when we were conduction our business the lab began whining loudly and pulling to get to Shiloh.
Lessons here: Chose  your gear carefully and if you Chose not to dress your dog don't be surprised when you get hassled.

Examples of How Shiloh Increases the Work Flow

Today I saw two great of examples of how Shiloh not only helps me, but allows others to continue their work when before Shiloh they would have had to stop what they were doing to help me (conversely, I would have also had to wait for someone to help me) causing both me and the person helping to slow down their work/activities.

Example One:
I was running down stairs to get the mail from another office. They had a child there who kept running in the hall, so they closed the doors to keep him in. Since the doors are glass the staff started to get up to open the door for me;however, it only took a second for the staff to see Shiloh was doing it and she could keep working with the client she had in front of her.

Example Two:
I dropped something while talking to a co-worker. The co-worker and I were able to continue working while I asked Shiloh to retrieve the dropped item.

The above example may seem insignificant, but the time Shiloh saves myself and those around me by picking up where my capabilities leave off, instead of always having to find someone to help and waiting until they have time to help me.

Can you think of examples like those above where your service dog (or seen a service dog) has saved time and energy as well as allowed activities to continue uninterrupted?