Traveling With Your Pets

One of the reasons I don’t travel much is I hate leaving my dogs. Not a day away from home and I’m missing them.

My first dog, Jitterbug, entered my life at the perfect time.With my ailing mother on the East Coast, I had to fly to New Jersey a lot. Because Jitterbug was a terrific traveling companion, I wasn’t quite as homesick for my dogs, because I got to take one of them with me.

Will travel with your family pet be as easy? Before deciding to bring your pet on your next family trip, give the idea some serious thought. Remember when your kids were tiny, and travel meant careful planning to ensure that nothing went wrong? It’s like that.

We’ll focus on dogs, because they’re the most likely pets to accompany us on our journeys. But keep in mind that many aspects involving travel with dogs also apply to other animals.

Preparation

Travel with a pet means bringing food, sleeping material and maybe toys or other things to keep your buddy amused. Do you have room to bring along what’s needed?

What kind of traveler is your pet? Does Fido get sick in the car? Can he ride quietly for hours on end? Will he bark at every person, building or vehicle you pass? How long can he go without a potty break?

What’s your pet’s personality like? Is she outgoing? Does she enjoy discovering new places and people? How does she feel about other animals?

If your reaction to these questions is negative, you might consider other options. But if you know your animal will enjoy the outing, read on.

How will you travel?

If by auto, do you have a way to safely contain your pet? A sudden stop can turn even the smallest unrestrained dog into a projectile. A crate or some type of restraining system is best for everyone in the vehicle. Don’t forget fresh water and to factor potty breaks into your driving time.

Taking a plane? Dogs in the cabin must ride in a carrier that fits under the seat in front of you. The only dogs that can ride unrestrained in the cabin are service dogs, and don’t get the idea that you can quickly label your pet as such so he can roam about the cabin. The Transportation Department in January proposed a rule cracking down on airline passengers labeling their pets as emotional support animals.

Bigger dogs must ride in a specific kind of crate in cargo. Are you comfortable with that? Dogs have been lost and transported to the wrong airport when transported in cargo.

Buses and trains generally don’t allow dogs on board.

Playtime

What are your plans once you arrive at your destination? If they don’t include lots of things you can do with your dog, you might reconsider bringing her along. Many hotels either don’t allow pets to stay in rooms unaccompanied – meaning someone in your party will have to miss out on the fun if that’s what you were planning – or charge for day care services. If your idea is to put your pet in day care, reconsideration is again in order. It likely will be stressful to be in a strange place far from home, surrounded by strangers.

If you’d like to adventure with your pet, options are plenty. But check them out before you hit the road. Some places require reservations; others limit the number of pets allowed at any given time, require that they be leashed or in carriers, or limit the size and type of animal.

When all is said and done, if you decide to bring Fido along, pack up and have a great time. And take lots of pictures.

Therapy Dogs Missing Human Interaction

Just like many humans are missing social-interaction right now, therapy dogs are also feeling a little lonely. Some local hospitals have had visitor restrictions in-place since mid-March, unfortunately, it’s times like these where furry friends are particularly needed.

“If I take him for a ride and we drive by a hospital, he gets all squirmy and he thinks we’re going to the hospital and we’re not and he really feels bad when we pass the hospital. You can tell how he acts,” said Bob Feuer, owner of a therapy dog named Teddy. Teddy has been a therapy dog for at least 10 years.

Social-distancing laws are taking a toll on everyone but for therapy dogs like Teddy, interacting with others to brighten someone’s day is all he knows.

“Currently we’re not allowed to go into any facility, whether it be a nursing home, hospital, anything,” said Feuer. “It’s just too much of a chance of one of us catching it and they’re not sure if the dogs can transmit it.”

Teddy would visit hospitals every Monday through Friday before the pandemic. IU Health Nurse Stefanie Ridoutt, who’s currently working the COVID-19 floor, said many hospital workers are feeling the difference of not having these dogs around.

“They’re just as helpful to the staff as they are to the patients,” said Ridoutt. “There’s a lot of sadness that can happen between these walls you know, they just brighten everyone’s day.”

Caroline Hanson’s therapy dog Henry has been visiting local hospitals for four years. But as her dog is feeling these social distancing effects, so is she.

“I really miss it,” said Hanson. “The interactions with people and watching my dog bring smiles to people’s faces is really amazing.”

Feuer is worried about the long-term effects this distancing could have on therapy dogs. Right now he’s looking into temporary solutions.

“Maybe even get the dogs in our cars with the windows up and maybe drive around the hospital so maybe nurses and all can see the dogs, that might help a little bit,” said Feuer. “It’s not the same thing as being able to give a pet and everything but if there’s something we could do in the meantime we’d love to do it.”

Service Dog In Yearbook

Service dogs play a big part in people’s lives, and a Kentucky school wanted to pay tribute to a special canine.

Hadley Jo, 7 was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 16 months old, according to The Record. Ariel, her chocolate labradoodle service dog, was bred and trained to be a seizure dog for Hadley Jo, the newspaper reported. The dog was bought for $20,000, funded by parishioners of St. Patrick Church, which counts the Lange family as members, The Record reported.

Doctors at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center discovered that “abnormal brain waves” were causing Hadley Jo to have seizures.

“My heart froze,” Lange told The Record. “What can we do about it?”

The family had a revelation when Hadley Jo was at her babysitter’s home. A German shepherd was trying to pull the child to the floor, Lange said. The dog apparently detected the onset of a seizure and was trying to get the child safely onto the floor before a convulsion could knock her down and cause an injury.

“That was a turning point,” Lange told The Record.

Lange began researching service dogs and settled upon Ariel. Seeing the dog honored in Hadley Jo’s yearbook was a happy moment, she said.

“We are beyond blessed to attend a school that is truly inclusive and accepting of others that may not look like everyone else. It means the world to see your child’s happiness and acceptance, Lange wrote on Facebook. “It means the world to see your child have a home and ‘a family’ at her school that love her like we do.”

Paws Giving Independence

Paws Giving Independence is a service dog program based in Peoria that trains dogs to help people with various disabilities.

During the pandemic, training looks different and PGI is finding new ways for trainers to teach important skills.

“There’s still people out there that have disabilities and need these dogs,” said Michelle Yuen, director of animal intake and training.

Soon, the service dogs will help people in wheelchairs and alert owners to medical issues like seizures.

“These dogs really are essential workers,” said Yuen. And training is key.

“Sometimes it can be the difference between life and death,” said Donna Kosner, director of community outreach, education, and applications.

So, Paws Giving Independence is getting creative.

“Our training has changed a bit with social distancing and just with the changing of the standards of groups,” said Yuen.

Virtual training sessions are helping dogs learn and practice skills during quarantine.

“A lot of our dogs have been training mainly at home, so the skills carry over at home is similar to in public but again it’s definitely not the same,” said Yuen.

Training in public is a huge part of working on service dog’s skills.

To help, Northwoods Mall is stepping up.

“We trained regularly at Northwoods Mall before all this happened, so the fact that they’re inviting us back here is really great,” said Kosner.

In small groups, trainers are now able to work with dogs, giving them real life experience.

“The dogs can practice still one on one with some of the skills that they need to learn,” said Yuen.

The trainers and dogs are making the current circumstances work in an effort to serve people with disabilities in the area.

“We’re really trying to find creative ways to get our dogs safely and keep the community safe,” said Yuen.

Leaders say they hope to continue training at Northwoods Mall while it’s closed to the public.

During this time, Paws Giving Independence is still taking applications and conducting interviews virtually.

Angus The Dog

In August 2018 a rescue dog named Angus arrived at Gatwick Airport.

Abandoned on the streets of Cyprus, Angus had been left starving and unloved before being rescued and flown over to the UK.

Collected at the airport by Adam Dunn, a canine behaviourist and psychologist living in Tean,  Angus now has a new lease of life visiting local schools and training establishments in North Staffordshire.

Angus provides emotional support for students with attachment disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), autism and a range of other conditions.

Adam said:  “I am often asked what special training Angus has had to fulfil his role as school dog and emotional support dog, and how he got into that line of work. It’s fair to say that Angus does indeed earn his own bone money.

“You could say that we are a natural partnership who are both sensitive to the emotional needs of others. Angus is my canine emotional regulatory partner and provides a natural ability to regulate the emotions of those he comes into contact with, and I am his human counterpart.

“Angus has the most amazing eyes which people are drawn to and one of the natural consequences of that is an increase in oxytocin levels, which make us feel all soft and warm.”

In 2018 Angus and Adam visited a local care home to provide emotional support for the residents and staff.

Adam recalled:  “This was something that we had never done before and I must admit I found my own emotions needed constant regulation.

“The joy of bringing a smile to a face was jolted by discovering that a resident we had befriended last week had sadly passed away.

“The staff that work at this home and all others are very special people who I developed a huge admiration and respect for, and we are forever thankful for being given this opportunity.”

The pair were invited to work with a learner at Landau Training and Enterprise Centre – with Adam describing this ‘beginning of Angus’s journey working with vulnerable young adults and children and one which really influenced my decision to focus our work in this area’.

Adam said:  “I am often asked if Angus is a PAT [Pets as Therapy] dog and although Angus of course does love cuddles, he is not a PAT dog. Angus provides bespoke emotional support and training for individual learners.

“Some of the key areas that Angus works in are developing social and cognitive skills, developing positive social cohesion, and developing emotional crisis intervention strategies for individual learners.

“I am a strong advocate of PAT dogs and they provide an amazing service to many vulnerable children and adults within our communities, many of the schools that I work in with Angus also have a PAT dog and this combination of PAT dog and Angus works very well.”

He added: “The Landau centre is an amazing place to visit and the staff and learners are all so positive and Angus really looks forward to his visits. Angus has made such an impact with our key learners self confidence that they have now gone onto work with two of my other dogs, a truly wonderful achievement.

“The development of the learner has been a privilege to observe and be part of and we are now looking to arrange work experience working alongside Angus and me in other schools.”

Adam said one of the key aspects of the work he and Angus did was to develop people’s self-confidence – which they did by developing people’s ability to influence others through their own behaviour.

He said:  “Sometimes the act of talking in front of others can be intimidating particularly if you have low self confidence. I often consider that to much talk can be confusing even if we share the same language so, imagine how confusing it can be for a dog.

“You don’t need to talk to influence others including your dog, vocalization is a very small part of our communication repertoire.

“I will never forget the look on one of my learners faces when by changing their own behaviour they influenced Angus to sit without saying a word.

“These moments are life changing for the individual learner and are the first step to developing their own self-confidence and esteem.”

Many of the people the pair work with have autism, PTSD or are disengaged – with Adam saying many of them found it ‘extremely challenging’ to meet new people.

He added:  “This is where Angus really does make a difference, dogs have the ability to break down social barriers and in Angus’s case he has a fantastic ability to connect with the learners.

“Meeting me on my own may not have been possible, but having Angus with me enables the learners to connect with another sentient being, to care and love without the fear of being rejected or judged.”

He added that many of the students they worked with empathised with story of how Angus was abandoned.

Adam said:  “The students that I work with understand and connect with Angus’s story and this is what makes a very special bond between them, unconditional love and the ability to begin to develop relationships with another sentient being without the risk of many of the difficulties of forming relationships with humans.

“One of the key success for Angus is his ability to work with students who have attachment disorders or are completely disengaged in the school environment.

“A continued inspiration for me is the joy and happiness of a student who was disengaged within the school environment, when he has a session with Angus.

“It’s amazing to observe how the student responds to Angus and how through bespoke exercises, engagement, confidence, happiness and joy develop.

“These are priceless moments, the first steps to help shape the students future, give them hope that they are indeed special and can achieve their own goals.”

Angus and Adam then went on to work with students at Ormiston Meridian Academy in Meir – starting on a one-to-one basis.

Adam said:  “Ormiston Meridian Academy is an amazing school and the dedication of the teachers and staff is for me always inspiring. One to one training sessions went very well with similar results to my other students. Engagement, self- confidence, self- belief, social skills and communication were all areas that we worked together with the students.

“I really enjoyed the one to one sessions and it gives the students the opportunity to develop a relationship with Angus, who would soon be supporting them in the classrooms.

“Being part of this journey is such a privilege for me and I have never felt such euphoria as I do when Angus and a student make a connection for the first time.

“One of my new students told me recently that he had never cuddled a dog before and I have to admit this made me quite sad. The student is a kind and polite young man with low self confidence and it took a lot of courage for him to say that to me.

“Watching the student cuddle Angus was a moment that for me embodies what life is all about, respecting all life, empathy, understanding, sharing and recognising and embracing our emotions.”

A Helping Paw

K9s for Camo Inc. is in the business of giving rescue dogs a new purpose in life.

Dozens of canines had been headed toward euthanasia before John Lopez claims them for training at his Rogersville nonprofit. The mission is to turn them into service dogs for military veterans.

“Getting started, I thought it was going to be all about the veterans,” says Lopez, a former U.S. Army specialist, “but starting to work with some of these rescue dogs, they are so thankful.”

Lopez started the organization in 2013 – while running his core business, Howliday Inn Pet Resort in Rogersville. The for-profit work in dog training, boarding and grooming led to his nonprofit idea.

He’s since sold Howliday Inn, striking a deal last year with longtime K9s for Camo volunteers, Brandon and Summer Gerhardt. The husband and wife bought the pet resort for an undisclosed price. Lopez had owned it since 2013.

“When I did own it, it just worked hand-in-hand because I could have the dogs boarding there at no cost and do everything to help the nonprofit out with the business,” Lopez says.

The K9s for Camo training varies based on challenges facing the veterans, with the dogs instructed to provide diabetic and narcolepsy alerts, as well as help with issues involving mobility, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

Training camp
A connection remains between K9s for Camo and Howliday Inn.

“We always have at least one to two. Sometimes we have five or six,” Summer Gerhardt says of Lopez’s canines in training.

Every rescue dog is first evaluated at Howliday Inn, Lopez says, with seven to 10 brought in every week. The dogs are rescued by numerous animal rescue groups, including Valley Hills Animal Rescue, Humane Society of Southwest Missouri and Rescue One.

“Usually, one out of every 20-30 is what we take,” he says. “We really just look at energy and temperament. We don’t care what breed it is.”

If they pass, the dogs head off to “boot camp” for two to three months at Ozark Correctional Center in Fordland. Prisoners at the minimum-security state facility learn new life skills by training the dogs, who stay with the inmates during that time, he says.

Upon finishing at OCC, the dogs return to Howliday Inn for additional task training in public before connecting with their veteran for the first time. A trial period then determines if the two click as a team, Lopez says.

“If it does, they start coming back to classes. If it does not, we find a different dog for that veteran,” he says, noting an additional 18 weeks of training follows at no cost to the veterans or rescue groups.

Gerhardt says Howliday Inn gives K9s for Camos a discounted boarding and food rate that tops out at roughly $3,000 per month for all dogs.

Valley Hills Animal Rescue owner Mary Gillam says she’s been supplying dogs for K9s for Camo since it started. She estimates 95% of her organization’s canines come from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department’s animal control unit and many of those are “death row dogs,” meaning they are in jeopardy of being euthanized.

“We look for that behavior that John likes,” she says, estimating she’s supplied 40-50 dogs that have been selected. “You can’t just send any dog to test for that. They need to have a nice calmness about them.”

Goal setting
The annual goal over the past few years is connecting around 22 dogs to veterans, Lopez says.

“We were on track to probably do 28-30 this year,” he says, noting the number will likely be around 20, as the coronavirus halted training for several weeks. “We’ve probably helped close to 100 total over the years.”

Operating income reached a record-high $155,000 in 2019, an 82% increase from 2018, aided in large part by fundraising efforts at the organization’s second annual Camo-lot Ball. The gala, held at The Old Glass Place, generates about 80% of K9s for Camo’s yearly funds, he says. The third-annual event is still on track for September, but Lopez says he’s uncertain of fundraising prospects in the current COVID-19 environment.

Until this month, Lopez had been the sole employee of K9s for Camo, which became a 501(c)(3) in 2017. Steven Doty was recently hired as director of operations, thanks to a $50,000 grant through the Cook Family Foundation. Lopez also relies on a board of directors and around 20 volunteers for the nonprofit, which has a general coverage area within a two-hour radius of Springfield.

As K9s for Camo is largely focused on southwest Missouri, Lopez wants to eventually spread out to St. Louis and Kansas City before scaling outside the state. He’s setting a five-year goal to expand in Missouri and 10 years for points beyond.

“We want to be the standard for training and have great dogs,” he says. “It’s super impactful seeing it in person.”

Help Prevent Attacks

The United States Postal Service (USPS) continues to fulfill its mission to provide essential services that process and deliver information, communications and goods vital to residents.

To ensure the safety of delivery personnel, the postal service is asking dog owners to keep their animals secured when deliveries are being made.

The postal service offers the following tips for dog owners:

When a carrier delivers mail or packages to the front door, place the dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate glass windows to attack visitors.

Parents should remind children and other family members not to take mail directly from carriers in the presence of the family pet. The dog may view the carrier handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.

If the dog is roaming the neighborhood, the pet owner’s neighbors also may be asked to pick up their mail at the post office.

For more information, visit usps.com.

Veteran Receives Service Dog

When Master Sergeant Steven Doty, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Webster University graduate who is now the executive director at Webster’s Hill Air Force Base campus in Utah, arrives at work, his co-workers often make comments such as “he’s a good boy” and “he’s so cute!”

But those comments aren’t aimed at Doty, rather, they are reserved for his service dog Filos, which accompanies him to help him cope with his PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Doty, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Media Communications and Rhetoric in 2016 through the School of Communications, was paired with his dog, Filos, a few months ago through the program K9’s for Warriors, a non-profit organization that provides service dogs to disabled American veterans.

According to Doty, K9’s for Warriors pairs veterans with dogs based on medical submissions, personality profiles, interview questions, the temperament of the dogs, and the advice of the dog trainers. “They offer you about four solid days of bonding with your dog,” he said. “The intent is to strictly develop a strong bond with your animal and develop a respect and mutual connection before pursuing any further through the training course.”

Doty said he had many doubts—not so much about the science behind the program, but about whether he was ready to have his condition made public by a vest-wearing dog, along with the attention that would come with it. “Filos would sense this emotional adversity and conduct small gestures of his acknowledgement and calm me down. It was as if he was attempting to communicate trust and affection,” he said.

“It is very hard to explain, and it nearly sounds mythical, but in all honesty, had it not been for his loyal companionship and earnest and instinctual affection, I very-well would have chosen to remove myself from the program and attempt to pursue this recovery in continual solitude,” Doty continued. “He certainly chose me before I chose him.”

Although he wasn’t medically discharged from the service until 2019, Doty said he’d been diagnosed with PTSD long before that, in 2010. “I didn’t truly acknowledge the severity or validity of the diagnosis until much later in mid-2012,” he said. “I believe the catalyst came when I acknowledged a serious chronic pain from a back and leg injury in Afghanistan, and my career and life were slowed as a result or frequent medical procedures, including serious surgery.”

Doty continued, “I believe it was this sudden, nearly abrupt halt of a kinetic and active life which thrust my thoughts to more active, transitioned my subconscious to overly conscious, and cultivated my self-awareness – even doubt – to a keener state. Even then, I had a difficult time accepting that there was a cognitive problem, and while some of it had to do with stigma and social norms regarding mental health, much of it was fear of what it would do to my life, my career and to the relationships that were a significant part of my life at the time.”

Doty said that Webster University has been supportive throughout his entire journey. “As a student, faculty and student-support staff were understanding, personable and approachable,” he said. “If and when circumstances were overwhelming personally, medically or professionally, it was certainly easy to reach out and discuss the factors impacting my life with my superiors and resolve work-arounds, discuss alternative strategies, or simply to voice my troubles to a compassionate ear.”

“As an employee, I was offered reasonable accommodation after surgeries to sustain the workload required, and was fully endorsed when the discussion of a service dog arose as a part of my new lifestyle; there was excitement, elation and genuine interest in the promise they hoped it brought to my recovery. I sometimes question how an organization can be so understanding to a condition so many are fearful of, even hesitant to acknowledge.”

Doty noted that as a team member of the Military Campus Network, having co-workers familiar with the military life and the various stressors, cultural norms and emotions associated with post-military life were instrumental in this caring and compassionate spirit.

“My supervisor, Benjamin Brink [senior director Military Campus Operations], was a former Navy Commander and his ability to relate and connect with my background allowed me to have not only a mutual understanding of my circumstances, but an ‘offline’ mentor at any time, day or night,” he said.

Susan Schultz, Scott Air Force Base Campus Director, is another colleague Doty found extremely helpful. “Susan and I have always had a wonderful, professional connection, but in learning more about each other, we realized we had a great deal more to offer each other,” he stated. “When I was wrestling with stressors, magnified as the result of PTSD/TBI, she detected this and provided a safe, effective avenue for me to express my thoughts and feelings in an empathetic, healthy and productive manner.”Doty went on, “That’s the truest testament to Webster’s accommodations: the notion that they cared more about supporting whatever was necessary for me to get better, than caring about the background experiences or specific factors that arose for my need of such a visual and tangible resource like a service dog.”

Doty said that the best thing other people who are suffering from PTSD can do is acknowledge it. “If there was any headline to my prior management of a very present health condition, it was ‘avoidance,’” he said. “Whether PTSD, or any other medical condition, and no matter the person, keeping yourself locked-in with those adversities only serves to stifle growth. Acknowledgment of our adversities helps us to achieve even more than we first believed.”

Doty said it’s also important to seek help by any means necessary. “Open yourself up to someone, anyone you trust. That might very well be the conversation that transports you into the desired path to a better, more optimal life,” he said. “The road to healing and recovery is arduous, daunting and unfamiliar. The ‘new normal’ feels absent, even awkward. Yet, as time pushes forward, you’ll see more clearly what that toxicity was doing to your life and how you’re prouder and more relatable to the person you were without the negative impacts imparting your daily life. You’ll get better, but you’ll never be the same.”

“I hope that one day, there is no need for Filos to serve as my service dog, my ‘supplemental resource,’ Doty said. “That I can one day ‘de-vest’ and ‘break’ him for the last time, and introduce him simply as, ‘my dog, my best friend…my Filos.’”

Community Gets Service Dog

Husky Wins Best In Show

What a good boy! Nick the Siberian Husky won Best in Show at the 2020 Beverly Hills Dog Show Presented by Purina.

The show was held on February 29, 2020 at the Fairplex in Pomona and was hosted by John O’Hurley and David Frei. It was originally set to air April 5 but was postponed to May 17.

Nick traveled from Shanghai with his owner Michelle Scott for their first Beverly Hills Dog Show. It was quite a debut. Nick beat out hundreds of other dogs representing over 164 breeds and varieties recognized by the American Kennel Club, according to an NBC Sports news report. He won the Working Group (a category of dogs that perform jobs like service dogs, police and military dogs, and water rescue dogs) in a field of 27 breeds. He then competed against six group winners before winning top prize.