Helping with Household Chores

Last Friday, as I was working around the house, in an effort to get things organized for the long weekend, I found myself a bit of a 'butter fingers', dropping things on the floor or simply needing things out of reach.

Kodi stayed close to me all day, as I moved through the house from room to room.

I started in the bedroom, where I set about folding clothes, as I haven't been able to get my power chair in that room since I got it 2 and 1/2 years ago. (We just had the doorway widened.) I was folding clothes, laying them out on the bed, as Kodi lay on the bed watching me.

When I went around the bed to fix the quilt, I found my husband's dirty clothes on the floor around his hamper, so I asked Kodi to jump down and pick them up for me. He licked my face, then jumped down and picked up two socks, a pair of underwear, a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, one at a time, and handed them to me.

When I went out to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher, I fumbled a small bowl and dropped it on the floor. Kodi came out and hesitated for a moment, not having picked up dishware for me before and carefully picked it up and put it in my hand.

I gathered the febreze and carpet freshener and headed for the living room, where I set about straightening the slip covers on the sofa and loveseat. As I was doing so, the bottle of febreze fell on the floor. Kodi came over and picked it up, handing it to me carefully, so as not to spray it.

When I put the cleaners and things away, I moved to the desk in the kitchen and straightened there a bit. As I was rearranging things on our 'media center' some business cards fell on the floor. Kodi picked them up and placed them in my hand.

I rewarded him for a day's hard work with a long walk and a romp through the yard to play with his tennis ball.

Yesterday, as I was sitting in the living room relaxing, crocheting, my scissors fell on the floor. Kodi was at my feet, laying down, but he stood, used his paw to move the scissors from the rug onto the floor and picked them up, placing them into my hand. He was rewarded for a job well done.

Later, as I was crocheting away, oblivious to much around me, besides counting stitches, Kodi got up and came over by the far side of my chair, between my chair and the decorative table and proceeded to pick up a skein of my yard that had fallen, unbeknownst to me. He put it on my lap.

Later, when I had placed my things on the arm of the loveseat beside my chair, our oldest cat started pulling apart my yarn, chewing on it. Kodi stood up and watched for a moment, then I said, "take it away from him Kodi" and he DID! He gently reached up and took one end of the skein in his mouth and pulled it away from the cat, handing it to me.

Last night, when readying for bed, I tried adding something new to our routine. I asked Kodi to 'tug blankets' and he turned down the quilt and sheet for me, taking it in his mouth and backing across the bed until he'd turned down the corner making enough room for me to sit down so I wouldn't sit on the quilt.

With some consistent practice, I'm convinced there isn't much Kodi couldn't do to help me.

How Does He Know?

Lately I'm simply astounded by what Kodi does, how he seems to know things, without a word from me or any previous source of reference.

We were walking to the park earlier this week and just before crossing a parking lot to the park, I was forced to take my power chair over an area covered by fallen limbs and sticks.

The clearance on my chair is only 2 inches, so things easily can get stuck, hung up on the under carriage of the chair, caught in the tires. Sure enough, a branch got caught under my chair. I tried to back up, thinking if I did, it would untangle is, push it back out the front of the chair, but it didn't work, I tried to turn, thinking that might break it and free it, but that didn't help.

I stopped for a few moments, trying to figure out how I might free the limb, when Kodi stepped in between the leg rests of my chair and took the stick in his mouth, pulling on it. I moved the chair backwards and the limb was free.

How did he know to take the stick in his mouth and hold on to it like that? How did he understand what I was trying to do was to free the stick? I gave no command and we had no previous source of reference for him to pull from.

Just two nights ago my husband was in bed, I was in the bathroom and Kodi was bringing his toys into bed. My husband kept putting the toys on the floor and he kept retrieving them.

Kodi jumped off the bed and disappeared into the living room, returning with one of my sneakers. He brought it into bed and my husband put it on the floor. Kodi got down and picked it up again and brought it back into bed. My husband put it out of bed again. I asked him to be patient a moment as I asked Kodi to 'go into the living room and get my other sneaker from next to my chair.' He looked at me as I repeated my request, then jumped down off the bed and went into the living room.

He promptly came back with my sneaker in his mouth and jumped back up on the bed.

I had never asked him to go into another room and retrieve something for me before. I didn't even hold the other sneaker in my hand as an example of what I wanted him to get.

How does he know what I need or want from him without even saying a word, giving him a command, providing an example or working on a particular skill?

I have to believe our bond grows ever stronger, connected on a spiritual level.

Practical Training Part 2

Today I needed to go to the local pharmacy to pick up my son's prescription. My husband had my car, so I thought, if the weather was good, I would take Kodi and we would walk.

I called the pharmacy and asked if since Kodi is a Service Dog in training, would they still allow entrance. They told me yes, in training or not, if he's a service dog, he can come in.

I put Kodi's Service Dog Vest on and we walked along the bike path. We took a side street and crossed the main road. When we got to the pharmacy, I stopped near the building, in the shade, and offered Kodi a drink of water, hoping doing so might calm him a bit.

After putting his dish away, I took his lead in hand and we went to the doors. They were automatic, so I gave him the command to go 'behind my chair' and he went there, following me inside.

Once inside, he was curious at all the smells. He sniffed the floor as we went back an aisle, passing a customer who was shopping. We turned and approached the pharmacy counter where two elderly customers were waiting. We stopped to wait our turn.

Kodi sat or stood next to my chair within arm's reach quietly, as the other customers were being waited on. He only made one little sound, one time, otherwise he was a good boy.

When we were waited on, I signed that I picked up the prescription and as I took the bag from the pharmacist Kodi stood up and tried to take the package for me. I reassured him that I had it and we went down an aisle toward the front of the store. We passed another customer and stopped in an open area where I could put the bag into my side pouch.

We started toward the exit. I gave him the command to go 'behind my chair' which he did, as we went back outside.

When we reached the outside of the building, I took him off to the side and gave him a lot of praise, pet him and told him he was a good boy. He rubbed his face against my thigh and hand, licking me.

On the walk home, he had his head up, loping along, enjoying the fresh air, obviously proud of himself.

It felt wonderful to be a successful team!

Practical Training

Recently, I needed to stop at the bank, while I was out with Kodi. I asked my husband to walk with us, so he could stand outside with Kodi while I went into the bank.

It was the first time I would try to take my power chair into the accessible entrance of the bank. They have two sets of doors with a foyer in between. The doors don’t have an automatic opener, so they present a challenge to a person in a wheelchair.

Service Dogs have to be able to enter a business or public area appropriately. They have to walk through the doors, staying out of the way of other patrons and maintain spacial awareness of the power chair. They have to be quiet, refrain from seeking attention and remain within 24 inches of the chair.

I can train Kodi to complete a number of skills at home, but wasn’t sure how I would work on training him in a public setting, as most businesses don’t fully understand the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in regard to Service Dog access, illegally disallowing professionally trained Service Dogs, let alone owner trained dogs.

As I approached the teller in the bank, another employee came out of a nearby office saying to the teller, “There’s a dog outside you would absolutely love.” The teller looked at me and said “I see you going by with your dog all the time. Why didn’t you bring him in?” I explained that he wasn’t adequately trained to behave properly and I didn’t want to make it more difficult for other Service Dog teams in the future. She asked me to bring him inside, so I called out to my husband and he brought Kodi in.

Once inside, they fawned over him, petting him, giving him 6 dog biscuit. I explained that I’m training him to be my Service Dog and anticipate not being able to take him into businesses with me until he’s at least 3 years old, much less a ‘puppy’ than he is now.

The woman offered for us to stop in, any time we walk by the bank, practicing going in and out of the doors, practicing proper behavior indoors, in close quarters with strangers.

The next time we went to the bank, I took Kodi inside. I didn’t have his backpack with his service patches on, but knew the employees were familiar with him, so I didn’t anticipate any problems. An employee from another office came out asking “What’s that dog doing in here? Only Service Dogs are allowed.” A teller spoke up for us saying he is being trained.
To protect Kodi and myself, I ordered a mesh Service Dog vest from a Service Dog Supply Co. They affixed patches to either side of the vest that say “IN TRAINING”. I attached one of his “Please don’t pet me I’m working” patches.

Today, with his vest on, the first time we’ve really been able to go out, as it’s been raining for days, we went to the bank to withdraw some money for Sidney. We were alone, so we had to maneuver the doors ourselves.

Kodi went through the first door ahead of me. He stepped to the side and waited for me, then I opened the second door and he went in ahead of me, stepping to one side. After I was inside, we went to the first teller. He tried to put his paws up on the counter, but I told him paws off and he got down. He did this a couple of times, looking for a treat, before he sat down next to my chair and quietly waited.

He whined once, knowing he would get a dog biscuit, but sat still waiting patiently, even after another customer came in behind him and walked around us.

They gave him a biscuit, which he ate, as I put my things away in my side pouch. We went out the doors in the same way we came in, with him going through first and stepping to one side, waiting on me.

I was so proud of him. He seems to always know when his vest (or backpack) is on, he’s working. He doesn’t pull, is less distracted, more attentive of me – stopping to put his paws up on my lap, kiss me, sniff me, checking on me.

We are well on our way to eventually getting ‘certified’. It’s not required by the ADA, but it helps eliminate any concerns a business establishment might have.

He continues to amaze me with his ability to learn, to serve and to care for me and my needs.