So you want to volunteer with your dog?

So you have the best dog that's ever been created and you want to share him with the world! Good for you! Here's how to do it:
First, therapy vs. service dogs, what’s the diff? Let's get this straight: a therapy dog, sometimes known as an activity dog, is a dog that is taken to visit patients in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, classrooms, all kinds of places, in order to spread joy and happiness and diversion to an otherwise mundane day. A therapy dog’s job is to send his energies outward, to make friends, to provide some kind of therapy for those in need. These dogs do not enjoy protection under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). In other words, once your dog is registered as a therapy dog, you are not automatically allowed to take him to stores and other public places. That protection applies only to service dogs.
Service dogs are those dogs who perform a service to one individual. This dog’s energies are not directed outward, but only to one person, the person holding the end of the leash. They are specifically trained NOT to “make friends” because they have to help someone navigate about their day. These dogs cannot be making friends with the people they meet because they have to be someone’s ears, or eyes, or emotional support. Sometimes, the disability is not apparent, as some dogs are able to alert when their person is about to have a heart attack, or epileptic seizure. So they cannot be distracted.
What we are talking about here is a therapy dog. And here are the steps:
1. You must have a dog with a great temperament. That means, he loves people, loves to go places and engage with a host of different personalities. He should be friendly towards kids, cats, older people and other dogs. A good temperament is a must.
2. Your dog needs to have basic obedience skills. He should be able to: sit, stay, down, come and, most importantly, heel very nicely. He cannot pull on the lead, there must be a nice “u” between you and the dog, showing that there is “slack” in the leash.
3. He must be in good health. He must be well-groomed, with bright, shiny eyes and coat, clean ears, free of fleas, ticks and internal parasites. He should be emotionally stable, with no signs of depression, anxiety or aggression.
4. You will need a certification from your veterinarian attesting that your dog is up to date on all vaccines and that the veterinarian agrees that the dog, whom should be a well-known patient to the vet, is a good candidate.
There are several agencies that presently register dogs, and in some case, all kinds of pets, to become therapy dogs. Since I am an evaluator with The Delta Society, I can speak a little more authoritatively on their programs and procedures. The best way to get started is to visit DeltaSociety.Org and explore their volunteer opportunities. You will find a list of Delta Society volunteers in your area. Some of these volunteers are licensed by Delta to teach a training class, others are licensed to evaluate your pet and determine if he is, indeed, a good fit for Delta. If there are no trainers in your area, you will be encouraged to purchase the Home Study Guide. In it, you will find all the things you need to do with your dog in order to pass the evaluation. You will learn about Delta’s policies and procedures, and rules and regulations. You will learn how to conduct yourself in a variety of settings and the expectations for you and your dog.
Once you have finished the Home Study Guide, you will call a local evaluator in your area, and set up a time and date for the evaluation.
On the day of the evaluation, wear whatever clothing you would normally wear as a therapy-pet escort. Your dog should be well-groomed and clean. There is a specific list of things you must bring with you, as well as items that are not allowed. There may be a small charge ($20-$35) for the evaluation. Know that the evaluation begins from the moment you step out of the car. The evaluators are observing: did you arrive on time? Did the dog chase a squirrel when he exited the car? Are you yelling at the dog for any reason? If the dog sees another dog in passing, does he act aggressively?
The evaluation should take approximately 30 minutes, but can be stopped at any time that he evaluator feels that the dog is not doing well. You will be counseled on the dogs’ progress and given advice on how to improve your dogs’ skills. If your dog is not a candidate for this kind of activity, you will be given a written evaluation as to why.
Once you have passed the evaluation and sent in the required forms, you will be given a photo I.D. with a photo of you and your dog. You will then be eligible to purchase a green vest which will proudly announce to the world that your dog is a member of a very special team of animals.
Working with your companion animal in a variety of settings can be a rewarding experience and I encourage you to try out for it.
For full information, visit www.DeltaSociety.org.

What's in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

Are you a “bunny hugger”, or an “animal lover” Or maybe you are a “radical liberationist”! What’s in a label, after all?

Do you give your money to the Humane Society or Peta? How do you know what organizations are using your money in a way you think is right and good? What’s the difference between all those organizations out there helping animals? Here’s a lesson on who does what.
Those who believe in “animal rights” (animal rights activists or ARA’s) subscribe to the philosophy that animals are here for their own purposes. They are not here for us to experiment on, slaughter for food, use for entertainment purposes, or otherwise exploit. Prize-winning author Alice Walker summed up this philosophy best when she said: “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.”

Examples of an animal-rights organization would be People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), a hard-working organization of activists who have brought about many important changes in legislation that makes life better for animals worldwide. In the Sunshine State, we have the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, (ARFF). ARA’s are necessarily vegetarian or vegan, eschewing animal products for ethical reasons; if one believes in animal rights, one cannot eat animals or wear them since they believe that animals have the right not to be eaten or worn.

“Animal welfare” organizations are mostly concerned with companion animal issues such as spay/neuter initiatives, animal cruelty and rescue/adoption. Those who subscribe to an animal welfare viewpoint believe that it’s acceptable for people to exploit animals for food, entertainment and experimentation as long as it is done humanely. (ARA’s will argue that it’s impossible to be humane while slaughtering food animals, that vivisection is cruel because anesthesia is usually not employed during certain procedures; and rodeos, greyhound racing, circuses, horse-drawn carriages and other forms of animal exploitation are by their very nature inhumane). Examples of animal-welfare organizations would include The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), American Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Animal control, if you pardon the pun, is a different animal altogether. Where animal welfare and animal rights organizations exist to protect animals from people, animal control exists to protect people from animals. As a function of the Public Safety Department, their main goal is to keep the public safe from stray animals that may bite or spread diseases. However, they are involved in rescuing animals, providing adoption services and veterinary care, so animal control has a dual focus. Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control is our animal control agency.

“Animal ethics” is that area of animal rights that is concerned with scientific evidence that animals have the right to be treated with respect and reverence. Animal ethicists are scientists, philosophers, lawyers and professors, who argue a better world for animals based on scientific evidence that animals have the capacity to feel emotional and physical pain and are possessed of a self awareness; all of which conveys upon us, as compassionate human beings, a requirement to treat animals with value. Animal ethicists argue that animals should be celebrated for their unique gifts and talents. George Bernard Shaw put it this way: “The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity.”

“Animal liberation” is what is usually referred to as the most radical wing of the animal rights movement. Those brave (some would call criminal) souls who don black masks and break into animal-testing labs to free dogs used in experiments, or liberate minks at a fur farm, or cause financial damage to a whaling vessel, are called The Animal Liberation Front, or ALF. ALF is at the helm of the animal liberation movement, and is sometimes referred to as “domestic terrorists” for their bold and illegal actions. Their contribution to the movement includes undercover video of abhorrent practices and untold cruelty to animals in industrial settings that have brought about many changes that stop animal suffering in its tracks.

Hopefully, with this explanation, you will find yourself and your strongly-held beliefs somewhere among the hundreds of animal advocacy organizations that can be found on the internet. Sometimes, to the benefit of all concerned, they work together to effect changes for animals. Pro-hunting groups have been seen working hand in hand with anti-hunting groups such as Defenders of Wildlife because both believe the practice of canned hunting (shooting elderly so-called trophy animals as they come out of a crate) is cruel and unsportsmanlike. At a recent conference, Peta and the HSUS hosted several farmers who do indeed raise animals for food, but they do so humanely and have an interest in stopping the horrendous practices of factory farming. Strange bedfellows indeed.

February 18, 2009 write about Blue, the color or the emotion

Blue. I like the color blue because it comes in so many shades. I guess all colors come in lots of shades, but blue is in so many colors of nature, unlike, say, brown, which is in dirt and tree trunks and some animals and insects. Gray isn't found much in nature either, unless it's something that is not good, like a dying thing. Or poi.

Blue is in the sky, it's in the ocean, it's in the birds, it's in some flowers, it's even in the eyes of some wild mammals. Blue comes in shades so light they look like a pale grey, or so dark they look like a shade of black. Blue can be for a baby's room, blue can be for the United States Navy, and blue can be the beauty of my Siamese cats eyes. I could look into those eyes forever. I don't know, for the life of me, how anyone could look into the eyes of a Siamese cat, or any animal for that matter, and see anything but a soul there. Of course they have souls, you can see it in their eyes. Does God love my Siamese cat as much as I do? All I need to do to find that answer is look into her eyes. Her trusting, loving eyes.

I could have chosen to write about the emotional blue. Feeling blue, singing the blues, having a blue day. But I prefer to think about the color blue, for that makes me happy. And that's always a good thing.

February 11, 2009

Today's assignment is to write about a time your heart was broken.


I faithfully recount here the post of June 26, 2008.

I suffered an intense loss a few weeks ago. Eighteen months ago I adopted a gentle-hearted Golden Retriever from a "service dog" organization. He was up for adoption because he had not fully made it through the training. I bonded with him, as did all the children we work with through our Reading Dog program, several of whom are autistic, their trust hard won. But suddenly, the organization decided they wanted him back. Without discussion, and without forewarning, they literally stole him away from me. “He’s still our PROPERTY,” they declared. They didn’t charge malfeasance, they simply wanted him back. It was a bizarre, incredibly cruel thing for them to do. And what do you do with that? How do you deal with evil when it presents itself in an otherwise gentle life? Well, this Florida girl took off for Montana for a week. In a peaceful valley close to the west Yellowstone entrance is a place of utter tranquility. "I feel something here, sacredness, a spirituality in the air," I remarked to my hostess, who lived on the other side of the ranch. "You should," she replied, "This is the place where all the Native American tribes would meet to have their peace conferences. It was safe, surrounded as it is by mountains. With the wide open fields, they could see enemies coming from far away. The Indians, they thought of this place as consecrated. It's a healing place." And indeed it was. It was quiet and tranquil and I faced my demons head-on there. I had to, there wasn't much else to do. Of course I thought of my beloved Murphy, to whom I had given all of my heart. Of course, I thought about all the ways I could have done better, tried harder, and fought tougher to keep him, but I was physically outnumbered, and they took him away. Oh that hindsight, it is an effective but brutal teacher. I tell you this because I want you to fully understand the pain and torture that was in my heart those days, and for many days. It is only through empathy that you can understand the grace the horses bestowed upon me. On the property where I was staying lived two lovely brown horses. I knew nothing about them: not their names, their gender, their breed, their purpose there on the ranch. I only knew they were there because I heard them whinnying from my bedroom window and went to investigate. Oh what beautiful animals! Such soulful eyes and handsome features they have. And so I went and stood with them, basking in their presence, feeling the mighty spirit that lives within the horse, and I was calmed. Up until that point, I had been lonely. This was a retreat for me, in every sense of the word. Like a soldier retreating from battle, I had withdrawn from the fight in Florida to seek solace in a new and unfamiliar state. But sometimes, loneliness envelopes one like a weighty velvet cloak. The deep “purple-ness” of it more a feeling than a color, its heaviness pushing down deeply into one’s body, making muscles ache and spirit weak. Being lonely is not the same as being alone, after all. To be lonely is to be fearful of one’s very own thoughts as they intrude and harass and, damn it, won’t take their leave. They strike fear simply because of their dreaded potential to do oh-so-much harm. In the dead of the night, when there is not so much as a moth to keep you company, not another beating heart, not another breathing soul, just you and the night, that’s when it happens. The anticipation of it is almost as bad as the terrible thoughts themselves. Have you ever feared your own thoughts with still ten hours of night to suffer through? No? Then count your blessing, friend, because to experience this kind of loneliness is to peak into a tiny corner of hell. Oh, but those beautiful horses. They were just there, outside my window, keeping watch. Saint Michael himself could have been astride one of these beautiful animals and maybe he was. Can he help me get my dog back? I don’t know a lot about horses. Naturally I Googled horses and spent most of the next day trying to understand them. I know that there are those who are fighting for them to be saved from slaughter; legislation is on the table which would save them from an inhumane and unnecessary death. I wrote my congressman about it a while back and forgot about it. But now, it was critical that I understood them. I wanted to learn more. I read articles, journal entries, stories, blogs and anything else I could about horses. I learned a great deal, and also felt a great shame at the way horses have always been treated by my kind. Just watch a Western movie, really watch it from a horses’ point of view, and you’ll understand my disgrace. These two horses were gentle souls, with eyes full of the wisdom of generations of beautiful brown horses who came before. They looked at me curiously, and allowed me to feed them carrots and pet their soft velveteen ears. I was grateful for their ministry, and spent hours sitting in the sun by their corral just to BE. And just to be with them. One day, I saw two young girls saddled them up and take them for a ride. As they were walking with them on lead, one horse stopped to graze from the fresh green grass just outside his pasture. How long had he been staring at that bright, wet grass that was, maddeningly, just out of reach? Now he had his chance. But the girl kicked at his nose and face with her boot to get him to stop, and so the moment was not so idyllic after all. The horse didn’t seem to mind. But who taught that girl that it’s ok to kick a horse in the face? And what else are they teaching her? And so I thought that maybe, if young girls like her are taught that horses are sentient beings deserving of our admiration and respect, they wouldn’t grow up to be the kind of woman who callously breaks two hearts: The canine heart that beats just under the bountiful mane of the chest of a Golden Retriever, and the human heart that is my own. Bye Ce

January 10 You Hear Church Bells in the Distance

Did you hear the bells? The beautiful pealing of church bells in the steeple of St Peters' Catholic Church down the street. They sound so idyllic and beautiful, and I wonder why they are ringing.

In the olden days, the church bells meant much more than they do today. Their chimes would ring out in the noonday sun, setting the musical score for the choreography that is life. The birds flying in the brilliantly blue sky, the clouds white and fluffy, the sun shining brightly, all of the life that is going on around us this very minute. How we are all connected, all of us, and the bells chiming at this hour is an experience we all share. Our ears are all attuned to the sound of church bells ringing their magnificant song.

Could it be that two people in love are getting married and the bells are ringing in celebration of their joyfulness! Or perhaps there has been a funeral, and the bells signal a departure from this life, someone is crossing over and the bells see them safely on their way....as when a ships' horn blows as it leaves the harbor. Or perhaps a local sailor has just returned from a war on foreign shores and the bells are ringing a welcoming home to our native son. Maybe someone's just been baptized, and the bells declare that a new soul has joined our community, and has been given a name...the bells call out that name with every "ding, dong, ding, dong."

Or perhaps, it's just noon, and we are being alerted to the idea that our day is almost half over, and what have you to show for it?

Will the bell ring for you and me one day? Is it ringing now? I think I hear the bells telling me to wake up, and be present in this moment, for this is the day that the Lord has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it.

February 6, 2009

I have skipped some, I know. I tried to stay on task but it's no use going backwards so I am moving forward. Today's exercise is Paul Simon's "Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance, everybody thinks it's true.."

Since I am a Paul Simon fan, I have heard these words over and over again. I often wondered at their meaning. For me the sound of a train in the distance means a lot of things. The sound evokes romanticized ideals of hopping a freight train and just leaving. In the night, the train slows down. It slows enough for you to actually jump onto a car, and just go, wherever you want to go. Where will it be?

The sound of a train in the distance can also mean travel of the highest order. One thinks of train travel of days long ago, when people would get all dressed up to go travelling on a train. There were sleeper cars, and dining cars and it was all so very elegant. Not so anymore, but isn't it nice to dream?

Fans of J.K. Rowling's work will think of a train in the distance and remember train station number 91/2. Fans of old westerns will think of train robberies and stories of when the train rails were being installed.

The sound of a train in the distance is true. It's real. It does seem odd that the line is that "everybody thinks it's true" instead of "..knows it's true" because it appears that maybe it isn't true. That it isn't what it is, which is, real.

We may never know what Mr. Simon meant when he wrote that line. Maybe I will someday have the honor of asking him. I'll put it out there like a train in the distance.

Sick leave

I'm on sick leave. See you when I feel better!