Archive | Special Needs

RSS feed for this section

Q104 PET RESCUE RADIOTHON 2013

Participating in Q104′s annual Cleveland Animal Protective League (APL) Fundraiser is a no brainer. My recent trio of rescue kittens have passed their first medical check with flying colors and two of them, Calliope & Boz, leave tomorrow. Dill is auditioning for an office manager opening at A Better Pet but he too might be [...]

Kitten Season Is Here.

Kitten season has begun.  For A Better Pet anyway.  Being in the field of training and behavior, primarily for dogs but admittedly for any creature with a brain stem, there are ancillaries that include rescue. And while I don’t trumpet such services, people find me. My phone rings, I look at caller ID, I contemplate [...]

Tommy Starts Year 3 here

Rescue Matchmaking

I often counsel those who seek out the service of matchmaking how to find the right “make and model” of dog regardless of goals. Companion animal, best bud, therapy adjunct, service dog, sports colleague or something not yet imagined in their thinking. My own dogs have come into my life over my lifetime from various [...]

Har-Vest Yields 12/12/12

Har-Vest: 3-in-1 Backpack for Dogs was born out of inspiration and need and gave birth to my inventive entrepreneurial spirit within the dog world. It was simple. Merge a no-pull harness with a functional, durable and attractive vest/backpack. Minimize the amount of equipment a developing puppy would need to endure and yet enhance training, socialization [...]

Polish Tatra Rescue Saga

rescue |ˈreskyoō| verb ( -cues , -cued, -cuing ) [ trans. ] save (someone) from a dangerous or distressing situation : I’ve written in the past about my work in the world of rescue. That is, of unwanted animals needing a new home. I consider it a non denominational tithing portion of the work I [...]

PTSD Revisted

Three weeks ago I wrote about the interesting case of Stoli the Rottie rescue who I diagnosed with a case of PTSD. You can read about her background and earlier experience HERE. Now, as promised, an update. Stoli came for a second  DIP session on August 9, directly after which her owner and family went [...]

Labor Day to Earth Day

When you live day to day with young children, especially a child with special needs, just getting through the day can often be daunting.  Unless you are especially good at paying attention or you’ve instituted specific (usually with professional help) interventions, recognizing significant changes in your child is hard. When your contact is less regular [...]

Hippotherapy: Service Dog, Boy + Equine Assistance – Four Paws Up

Today’s outing with Bubbles involved a new species of animal — for Sam and for Bubbles! We decided to try an evaluative session on horseback to see if Sam could benefit from equine therapy. Many researchers have noted that often, when autistic children are first introduced to hippotherapy, the new environment may prompt crying, screaming, [...]

So ya wanna be a dog trainer?

I have had the pleasure of working with hundreds of people and thousands of dogs over the past 13 years as a licensed independent social worker passing herself off as a professional dog trainer. Privately, in group classes or both, I work on helping teach people — of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities –  the [...]

Bubbles: A Year in the Life of An Autism Service Dog

Kudos to my honorary 4th daughter, Chelsea Cross. Very soon to become my indentured film documentarian, I mean Independent Project Advisee from Oberlin College.  Please enjoy her audition video challenge — Meet and take footage of Bubbles and her family and friends in celebration of Bubbles 1st birthday, and in between final exams and holiday [...]