The Dogs

Main

Those of you who know us know we have two dogs.      We originally bought the dogs as pups and had big expections of training them for the German Based Shutzhund trials. It was during this training that I was diagnosed with ALS.       Knowing the hardships that ALS can cause, we thought briefly of selling or giving away one, or both of the pups. We went to the point of asking family if they would want one of them, if we did give them away.       We decided in the end to keep them, but not as regular pets. Since I am needing, and going to need, a lot more assistance as time goes on, we decided to train them as service dogs.       Many professional dog trainers advise against training your own service dog and they have very valid reasons. Some of them are:     1. The inability of the owner to establish and maintain a rigorous training schedule.     2. The inexperience of the owner to teach the animals in an acceptable and humane manner.     3. The willingness of many owners to let the dog do what it wants to do.     4. Owners who are unwilling to accept advice or to adhere to the strict guidelines required by law.     5. Owners who are not considerate of other people and who will let their animal annoy other people and animals.     6. Owners who are unwilling to recognize that their cute little "snowball, buffy or spike, will not make a good service dog no matter how much training they have. Some dogs have and some dogs don't. That is not a cut or slight, that is a fact.         If your dog can do everything you want, but can't get along with other dogs, it won't work.         If your dog can do everything you want, but can't get along with children, it won't work.         If your dog can do everything you want, but can't get along with other people, it won't work. This list goes on and on.        Joan and I have worked with animals for years and felt we could train both of our dogs. To date the training has gone well. We have had a lot of advise and have the dogs judged by professionals who understand what it takes to make a good service dog.        I hope you enjoy the pups as much as we have.

Let me intoduce you to Silka (right) and Kelsie (left).     Both are register German Shepherds from top Shutzhund grandparents. They are not the size of many of the           German Shepherds you see. They were bred specifically for intellegence and health.

Due to the movies and the wide use of German Sherherd in police and military work there is a misconception that the breed is violent by nature.     Nothing is further from the truth. The dogs you see on the movies are highly trained, intellegent actors playing a part.     The German Shepherds used by the military and police are not born with the desire to attack, hold or destroy. They are highly trained animals who have enough intellegence to perform a very dangerous and badly needed service.

Kelsie and I were wore out after a day in Washington DC when I went for my diagnosis at John Hopkins.

Silka abandons me when the grandchildren come to visit.    When one of the children is sick, Kelsie will take over and stay close to the sick child like a mother watching her pups.

Joan will kill me for this pic. It was really windy.  LOL We are in West Virginia at a rest stop. If you notice, you will see there are no leashes on the pups. They have been trained to work entirely off leash as I cannot hold a leash in my hands due to als.

This is Silka on the move. She loves to play during the time she is not working.

My neice Kirsten is one of the few people either dog will respond to besides Joan and myself. They took to her and bonded almost on sight.

Silka (right) and Kelsie (left) in work mode. When working they see and observe everything around us.

Kelsie working. She is to listen and know what I need when I give her a command verbally or by hand signal.

Kelsie "heeling" beside my wheelchair. I take the dogs out daily for a one to five mile "walk."

Kelsie in "down and stay" position. This comes in very handy when the going is tight and there isn't enough room for her and the wheelchair. She will "stay" until I give the release command.

Two times already the dogs have saved me from certain pain or possible death.      The first, I choked and they went and got Joan to come and help me. She ended up doing the heimlick manuever before I could breath.      The second time I was taking Silka for one of our daily walks. A man was walking his dog and coming towards us. I pulled to the side and put Silka in the down position beside my chair.       The dog the man was walking was an Irish Wolfhound and, as is the breed, it was huge.       When the man was around thirty feet from me, his dog broke the retractable leashe it was held with and came at me at a run. It's manner was highly suggestive that it didn't like me and it was going to bring down this strange being in a rolling chair.       The man screamed and came after the dog but it was to late. He couldn't catch it.       The next thing I saw was Silka jumping my chair from the side and standing between me and the wolfhound. She didn't bark or growl but every hair from her head to tail stood straight out.       The wolf hound slid to a stop then started backing away. Silka just stood there until the owner caught the dog and put his belt around the wolfhounds neck to hold it. When he did that, Silka just sat down and stayed between me and the man until he had passed. And  yes, the man apologized about fifty times. His face was white as a sheet and I think it scared him almost as much as me.       I haven't trained my dogs to fight but she showed me she was willing to put herself between me and danger. Thank God above I didn't give her away when I found out I had als.      We passed the man again about a week later. He had a huge heavy duty collar and leash on his dog. Guess what else. This time his dog didn't even look at me. I had Silka sitting in front of my wheelchair, just in case.