Updates, and My New Career

It's been a while since I've had time to post, and I know my fans are interested to know what's been going on in my life for the past three months!

As some of you know, my trainer Mary Cortani was named a Top 10 CNN Hero for 2012. (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/2012.heroes/mary.cortani.html)

For all of us dogs, this meant the month of November was a whirlwind of visitors and photographers in our classes. It was very exciting! In early December, Janet went to Los Angeles to attend the awards ceremony. She did not take me. Mr. Bill went, too. I was very disappointed not to go, but while I stayed home I got visited by a new friend David until Auntie Trudi came home from LA. Then Auntie Trudi took me out for pack romps with dogs and cattle in open fields, and let me eat my dinner inside the patio because she felt sorry for me having to eat outside in the cold rain (even though my nice kennel has a roof that keeps the whole center of it dry.) When Janet got home, I had taken the stuffing out of two of my three pillows, and I no longer wanted to eat dinner outside. I heard some talk about Trudi "spoiling" me. As if this were a bad thing!

After Janet and Mr. Bill came home, Janet got sick. She stayed sick for a whole month. I was sorry she didn't feel well, but it was very fun for me. I got to lay on my warm re-stuffed pillow in the family room, and sometimes Janet would get on the floor with me and let me snuggle with her and her furry purple blanket. I would like that blanket for myself, but Janet says I have plenty of blankets and she only has one. AND????? She made me eat dinner in my outside kennel again, in spite of the fact that she would have been much more comfortable feeding me inside the patio. She said "rules are rules", whatever that means. I guess it means that the next time Auntie Trudi comes I will have to work harder to con her into feeding me inside.

There was "Christmas", a thing that I didn't have last year because I hadn't learned to be good in the house yet. Mr. Bill put a train under a tree, and I tried to follow it into a tunnel. I didn't fit. So I had to wait for it to come out again. I didn't like that it stopped and started on its own. I had to bark at it and watch closely. Last week all the sparkly things and the Christmas tree and the train disappeared and the furniture got moved back. I feel safer without that train!

Also last week we started going back to classes again. I was really happy to see all my dog and human friends, but less happy to have to work hard in the cold weather. I was very out of practice on all my commands. But I fell back into a good routine, and now Janet says I'm behaving very well again. Scott and Megan got a new puppy Oreo, and they have joined classes, too. They brought Khepri along for a refresher. I like Oreo very much, but Khepri and I still do not get along. Mary will need to give us some counseling one of these days....

I now do EXTRA training work in class---it is my New Career---being a Peanut Detector to protect Janet from her allergy. I don't know what an "allergy" looks like, but it will not sneak up on her while I'm around!  Mary has been hiding two plastic boxes of peanuts in the training facility, and Janet gives me a very loose leash and we GO FIND them. I always find them and get excited and scratch with both paws at where they are. Then I am invited to jump up on her and she gives me a treat. This is VERY fun...just about the best fun I've ever had!! Last week I scratched at the cabinet where the dog treats are stored. Janet opened it to tell me the peanuts weren't there, but she saw a jar of PEANUT BUTTER on the shelf that I had found! It had never been opened yet, but I found it anyway because I have such an amazing nose! Bosco's mom Bernie gave Janet a tin of Christmas cookies, and Janet got mad at me because I was telling her to check out the tin (and she thought I was just liking the food smell.) But Bernie had forgotten about Janet's allergy, and there were peanut butter cookies inside. So I got rewarded! I am liking very much being a Peanut Detector! I also alerted on a person the other day who had eaten a peanut candy bar---I could smell it on his breath! After I jumped on him and he confessed, I got rewarded!

Technically I'm only supposed to jump on Janet, unless I'm invited up, and I'm only even supposed to jump on HER unless I find peanuts or am invited up. This is difficult, as I love to hug and kiss people....sigh....but Janet is making me wait while she counts to 10 before I am even allowed to greet anyone to help keep me from getting over-excited. This is a challenge. But I'm good at challenges. I am determined to be the Number One Peanut Detector dog in Operation Freedom Paws!

[NOTE from Janet: Clover will most likely be the ONLY peanut detector dog in Operation Freedom Paws, but we want to encourage this enthusiasm. If she thinks there will be a competition, it will help keep her on her toes.]

Demo Dog

I've been making public appearances lately. Mary says "every day's a training opportunity" so I'm taking advantage of each and every chance I get. On Sunday four of us OFP dogs took our people to San Francisco to do a K9 presentation at Pier 80 for Fleet Week. Mary did some demonstrations with her hunky Golden Retriever (and my pal) C.J. while she talked about Operation Freedom Paws. She talked about what the dogs do for the veterans, what we dogs learn to do, and how people shouldn't judge folks with a service dog just because they don't have a visible injury. (And we pit bulls know all about that sort of prejudice.)

There was a guy there who took this MOST EXCELLENT photo of me and Janet. I'm the very attentive one on the right.

Other dogs demonstrated suitcase-sniffing (BOring), searching for a person with a hot dog in her pocket (yawn) and then bite work. This involved military dogs being TOLD to jump on a man in a padded suit and bite his arms!!! That is not something Janet would ever allow me to do, for sure. Mary was concerned that I might get over-excited and bark, since I'd never seen bite work before or been around attack dogs (at least not as far as we know). I didn't bark, but C.J. did....lol! I just sat up and watched closely, mostly because I didn't want those dogs coming anywhere near us.

Here I am listening to Mary's demo, and watching Janet's back. She was a little annoyed and thought I was misbehaving because I wouldn't do a proper heel next to her knee. Even though she doesn't need her back watched because she doesn't have PTSD, I know other service dogs do that for their veterans in class. So I figured I should do it for her, too. That photographer wasn't going to sneak up on Janet while I was around! This is what Mary calls "obedient disobedience" from a service dog----the dog does what the person needs, even if s/he doesn't know it's needed. Janet didn't even figure it out until she downloaded the photo today!

Mary's was the final presentation. Afterwards everyone wanted to pet us four dogs. HAH!! No one asked to pet the hot dog finders or the suitcase-sniffers----or especially the bite dogs! The man with the microphone said they had promised The City there wouldn't be any contact at the K9 event between The Public and The Dogs. So Janet whispered, "But if we happen to encounter people in the parking lot, they could pet the dogs??" and the man said into the microphone, "But if you happen to encounter these people in the parking lot, you could pet their dogs!" so after pictures were taken, Janet and I headed for the door. The other groups' demo dogs got loaded into trucks like the one I got put into on my way to the shelter. I felt a little sorry for them.

Janet and I spent quite a while standing outside the building afterwards, talking about Operation Freedom Paws and Bad Rap and BACS and rescuing and training a shelter dog. And Janet let a LOT of folks pet me. Then we OFP dogs worked the crowd with our people while they handed out "Vote for Mary Cortani for CNN Hero" flyers. Sailors and Marines and Canadian sailors petted me and said what a wonderful dog I am.

It was a good day to be a Demo-Dog!

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

I've been experiencing SOOO many fun and exciting adventures that I haven't had time to blog! It's fall already, and I need to get you caught up all all my summer activities.

I learned that I look very snazzy in my blue service dog vest! I am now an official Operation Freedoms Paws service-dog-in-training! Auntie Mary and Auntie Trudi are going to help Janet teach me how to sniff out peanuts for her so she doesn't get sick, and can keep on being my mom. I guess she's really allergic, whatever that means.

I learned that I really REALLY like sleeping late in the morning. Sometimes Janet opens my crate door and after I stretch (and get the world's best earball rub from Mr. Bill) I go back to bed.

I learned that I like Search and Rescue training. I went once and found men hiding in the woods. They had hot dogs in their pockets that they shared with me!

I learned how to go to restaurants and curl up under tables and not sniff at the lovely-smelling food on top of the table.

I learned that I liked sleeping on the bottom bunk with Janet when we did some "glamping" Labor Day weekend at Tuolumne Trails with my friends from Operation Freedoms Paws. At home the cat has seniority, and I'm not allowed up on any furniture. But on this trip the cat stayed home. Because my routine got changed I didn't eat much, but I really liked the sleeping arrangements!

I learned how to do a sit-stay and a down-stay for a LOOOOOOONG time, and then come when I'm recalled....well, most of the time anyway.

I learned how to do "high-five" (although when I was learning that, Janet realized she had to change her hand sign for "stay" because I was getting REALLY confused!) Then I learned a new sign for "stay".

I learned that it's super-important to me to sniff shoes when I meet new humans. After I check out their shoes, I learned they think I'm wonderful when I sit and give my paw to them when I'm told to say hello. Then they give me good scritches and Janet gives me treats. YESSSS!

I learned that I don't like riding in buses, but I do like riding in a boat on a smooth lake.

I learned that it's important for me to let other dogs sniff my butt. I still don't like letting them do that sometimes, but it seems to make them calmer and they aren't nervous around me in class. And I already knew I liked sniffing other dogs' butts, so I guess it's a reasonable trade-off. In this picture, I'm riding on a boat AND sniffing Reba's butt at the same time----I like to multi-task.

I learned how to find my breakfast treats in the garden, and under orange cones, and wherever else Janet hides them.

I learned that eating chicken gives me smelly farts, which make everyone avoid me and open windows.

These are two of my best friends, C.J. and R.J.

Here I am with my pals Murdock, C.J. and R.J. and my teacher Mary (she's in the middle).

 I learned that I like being a film star, too!

 I'll keep you posted when I have more information about my world premiere!!



Me and CNN

I know it's not all about me (not all the time, anyway) but if you look closely, you can see my gleaming black coat in these CNN video clips. How, you ask, did I come to be on national television and internet videos? It's all because of the work my wonderful trainer, Mary Cortani, has done to match rescue and shelter dogs with military veterans.

In 2010 Mary started an organization called Operation Freedoms Paws. Her idea was to match up dogs to military veterans with visible and invisible combat wounds, then teach them to work as a team and eventually pass the service dog test. The Saturday morning classes I attend are geared toward these service-dogs-in-training, so I've been doing extra lessons with them. They work hard! They have to be extra-focused on their people so they know when to help and what to do without even being told.

At Saturday class a few weeks ago, there was a man with a camera even bigger than Janet's, and a lady talking to the people. They came all the way to Gilroy to visit because Mary was being given a "CNN Heroes" Award.

Pretty exciting stuff for a stray pibble from Berkeley, right?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/us/cnnheroes-cortani-veterans-dogs/index.html

Presents!

I love tennis balls. I love to roll them around and throw them and chew them up. Today there was a person at the door with a big box, and Janet said it was for me. She asked Bill to take pictures of me when I saw what was in the box. WOWEEE!!!! 110 used tennis balls ALL FOR ME!

I took several out for tests, and put each one back before taking a different one. When I had chosen the one I wanted to play with, Janet put the box away.

Life has been pretty good for me lately. I've been to Berkeley the past two weekends and had a chance to visit with my shelter friends Tim, Thomas, Patsy and Auntie Ferne. I got to see her husband Sterling, too, who walked me a few times when I lived at the shelter. When I got close enough to sniff him properly, I remembered him right away! One of the Berkeley trips, Janet and I rode up with my Auntie Toni from Gilroy class, and I got to sniff and lick her all the way up, and all the way back---it was WONDERFUL having her captive, strapped in the front seat and unable to escape my kisses!

Janet says I have calmed down a lot and I'm behaving really well. This means I get to be off-leash in the yard and in the house. This is a good thing. Sometimes Bill and Janet eat food in the same room with me, which she thinks is great progress and I think is rude. They should share, but I'm not allowed to ask or snitch anything. We have playtime after dinner in the family room with my FABulous Squeaky Snake. So far, I have only chewed the tail off. I would like to hide it in my crate and chew more pieces off, but Janet only lets me have it when we play together and I don't have enough time to chew much. Squeaky Snake makes a lot of noise!! He lives in my toybox in the bedroom closet. I know he's there, but I'm not supposed to get him myself. Other Dog guards my toybox. Other Dog lives behind the shiny closet door and looks EXACTLY like me, but doesn't smell like a dog at all. Very strange....

I still love my crate. When I decide it's time for bed at night, I go there by myself and wait for my biscuit. Janet brings it to me in pieces and hides them under my blankets. Finding things is FUN!! In the morning, Janet hides treats in the patio, and tells me "go find", and when I do I get to eat them up. My teacher Mary says she wants me to come to something called "search and rescue" training and see if I can find things outside. Will I get to eat whatever I find? I hope so; otherwise what's the point?

My schedule is quite busy. I try to walk with Bosco twice a week, and I go to three training classes a week. Janet says I need more training on new things, and to work on my "stay". Whenever I'm staying and she says my name, I want to run to her. Why is this bad? I don't understand. She says I need to stay until she says a different word, and also not jump up to greet people. After I have learned those things I can take my therapy dog test. Sounds like therapy dogs just don't love their moms or other people as much as I do.

As for dogs, I've learned they are all pretty much OK. There are sometimes people in the park who let their dogs walk right up to me while they're asking Janet if I'm friendly. Good thing I am now!!! Last Sunday I was in Berkeley to help Bad Rap celebrate their 13th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAD RAP!!!) and there were a whole bunch of dogs and people, and I just laid down in the sun and relaxed and let them all walk around me. Some people there were friends from the shelter who remembered when I was a barky fence-fighter, and they told me how wonderful my new calmness is. Janet is very proud of me! Maybe that's why I got that big box of tennis balls.....mmmm....where's my tennis ball???

My First "Clover" Birthday

Even though I'm now about five years old altogether, I've only been "Clover" for a year.  It was one year ago that I was picked up off the freeway.  Since then I've been escorted to the Berkeley shelter, taken for walks by staff and shelter volunteers, assigned to Janet for Bad Rap classes, gotten spayed, adopted by Janet and Bill, taken to MORE classes, introduced to Bosco and lots of other dogs, and earned my CGC.  A lot has happened in a short time!! 

Ever since I passed my CGC test, Janet says I've been a brat.  But my Gilroy trainer Mary Cortani says I'm a fast learner and that I have "potential".  She thinks I might even be a good therapy dog.  She works with lots of military veterans helping them train their dogs.  I've been joining her classes with them on Saturdays, as well as going to her Wednesday-night group classes.  All this extra training is giving me the opportunity to learn lots of new things---but it's really cutting into my blog-writing time. And sometimes a busy girl like me just wants to SLEEP IN!

Guess Who's a Canine Good Citizen????

When we got to my Gilroy class tonight (we missed last week) Janet had to fill out paperwork for me to take my CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test, which was being given to my whole class.  Janet said it was a good thing she didn't know in advance, or she would have been a nervous wreck.

We figured it would be a good opportunity for us to find out what we needed to focus on so we'd be ready the next time the test was given.  But guess what?  I PASSED FIRST TIME AROUND, AND WITH FLYING COLORS!

Janet's so proud of me that she won't shut up.  She's told Mr. Bill and called Scott on the phone.  Then she told me I had to update my blog and share.  Frankly, I'm just glad I have soft blankies in my crate in the house.  I've scooched and wadded and piled them up so I can sleep soundly and warm all night long.  AAAAhhhhhhhh.......nighty-night!