We are devastated. On October 25th, Fergus passed on and we are still wracked with grief. Initially Ebony kept searching all over for her favorite chew toy. When she couldn’t find him, she would crawl into a dark corner into a tiny ball. She goes back and forth from being clingy to ignoring me to the point that she no longer comes running when I fall and I have to call her to me to help me get back up. She has been acting up in public, refusing to stay in a park position and begging for attention from the speech therapist. The vet says it will take her 2-4 weeks to grieve and I am to expect erratic behavior in the mean time. She is needy but seems to get little comfort from me. Its like she blames me. We left her in the car that final trip to the vet with Fergus. We never leave her in the car. We carried Fergus away from her and didn’t bring him back. The vet says it will pass but it is a cruel blow that we can’t seem to comfort each other in our grief.  Fergus was so incredibly devoted to me, that I purposely picked out a puppy that wasn’t so needy. I knew Fergus couldn’t have handled that level of competition. It makes her a great service dog, Ebony can stand down while doctors and ambulance crews do what they have to do. Fergus was way too protective and had to be locked up the last time the ambulance came to the house. Fergus would give Ebony the bed, the toys and the treats but never the prime next to mom spot.

Fergus became ill suddenly and we had some real roller coaster days. One day he would collapse on the stairs and pee on himself in embarassment. The next day he would be wrestling with Ebony on the kitchen floor. One his last night, Ebony and I wouldn’t leave his side. We all laid on the living room floor in one huge puppy pile. Fergus was too scared to sleep and he would nudge me if he thought I was drifting off. Ebony was the only one that slept and she crawled on top of him to do so. When he would try to drag himself after me and collapse, we knew it was time. I couldn’t even leave him long enough to go to the bathroom. At 4am, my house mate joined the puppy pile in the living room where we cuddled with Fergus until the vet opened,The vet said his muscles had atrophied in just a weeks time and the blood work indicated a lymphoma with CNS involvement. She gave him a prognosis of a few days but seeing his fear, she recommended euthanasia. I knew he would be miserable not being able to get around and collapsing so I agreed. He was 13 and half years old and he has my handsome boy! I miss him so.

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Heel is considered one of the basic dog commands. In a heel, your dog keeps your pace, close to your leg and attention straight ahead. Ebony is not good at the classic heel. Ebony’s main job to date has been to protect my left side.  I call her my fuzzy left bumper as she protects me from running into the things that I can’t see on my left side.  She is very skilled with helping me navigate with the shopping cart but she does that by walking about 1-2 feet ahead of me. She helps pull the cart and nudges it with her nose as needed to avoid obstacles.  Unfortunately, that is not heeling and I am working with her to pull/nudge with the cart but otherwise stay at my side while walking. 

Through a lot of snafus we missed the dog training Sunday and I was angry, sick and frustrated. When I got back home, my assistant came over and decided to try something new.  She worked with Ebony, my service dog, off-leash and Ebony did great. Without the distraction of the leash, Ebony stayed on her pace, keeping her eye on Eileen.  I have been practicing heel off leash with my service dog to do little things like taking out the garbage, getting something out of the car etc and she has been spot on.  But if I say “heel” with the leash on, she wants to be about a foot ahead. I think this is going to be another slow lesson in relearning, just like we had to relearn “in”.  For a long time “in” meant sit by the open car door and wait for someone to boost her in. That worked when she was 12 pounds but when she hit 50 pounds it was vital that “in” meant hop into the car and settle into her spot in the backseat. Unfortunately, that took about two months before she was consistently hopping in the car as soon as she heard “in”.  Hopefully “heel” won’t take as long (crosses fingers)!

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Well, I did it. With much trepidation, I took Ebony in for her first real haircut. The new tangle comb was great at removing the mats but unfortunately it did nothing to prevent them. It was taking me an hour a day to comb through her beautiful long wavy Goldendoodle hair.  It was so silky smooth and long that it easily matted.  I was nervous, because sorry Poodle lovers, but I have never really liked the way poodles looked. When they are all poufed and primped out they just looked too prissy to me.  I am not one of those spiffed and polished gals, think more of an earth momma so my shaggy companion suited my style.

When I first picked her up, I have to admit my heart sunk a bit. There was no denying that she was a poodle! It could have been much worse. I told the groomer to leave her beard  and not make any poofs on her and he paid attention to my requests. Unfortunately, she tended to matt up worst around her neck and her abdomen so those areas needed to be trimmed the closest. He did a good job blending in the really short neck hair into the longer hair on her face and chest. Well, I figured that this haircut would greatly cut down on the “what kind of dog is that?” question.  Too me, she looked all poodle. I was wrong, we hadn’t been in the grocery store five minutes when someone came up and asked me if she was a Bouvier Des Flandres.

Ebony isn’t looking all that happy with her new haircut either. There is no way that she was going to smile for these pictures! I, on, the other hand was quite pleased when I got a good look at her from the side and I saw some of that loveable goofy, albeit intelligent, shaggy dog. I just think we are more the au naturale kind of girls.

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Ebony is a big ol’ floppy mop of hair these days, and unfortunately has a LOT of mats.  We are frequently stopped in public so people can tell us how beautiful she is and her long wavy black hair is gorgeous. I tend to be on the wavy long haired side myself and I was hoping to be able to keep her Goldendoodle hair long until the weather warms. It wasn’t difficult to stay on top of the mats when I was feeling well, but it has been a real challenge this winter and spring, even with my neighbor’s help.  The mats are the worst around her neck where her collar hits her, and on her chest and belly where the straps on her service vest lie.  I broke down yesterday and scheduled her for a haircut on Monday, which I am really nervous about. I trust the groomer, its just that I just love the shaggy  Goldendoodle girl look and I hate a really formal traditional poodle look. I want to keep as much as the gorgeous hair as I can until the hot weather comes.

I was stroking her neck, as we were standing in a line, and got despondent about another mat that I  found.  I tried some other pet stores in search of something that would help me with these gosh darn mats in her hair. I purchased a Instant Mat & Tangle Remover and I have to say “WOW”. It has a two rows of 1″ bristles in a ‘V’ formation.  I was surprised at how it gently worked out her mats.  In about 10 minutes, I had two large handfuls of mats and hair from using the brush and Ebony was still sitting very patiently while I worked on the mats around her neck.  While grooming her chest, she started to get a bit antsy. It could have been that it was more tender there, her patience was starting to wear thin or my hands were getting fatigued and not as careful.  After about an hour break, we resumed her grooming and were able to get another large handful of mats out. Now if you don’t have a Goldendoodle, you might be thinking three handfuls?!?! That poor dog must be a wreck!  Well none of the mats were big enough to be visible, all were less than an inch in size.  Her hair is 3-6″ long and since she doesn’t really shed, Ebony can fill up a brush when combed, just like her owner!  We still have more to do but I was delighted by the grip on this brush. Usually my hands wear out after a few minutes but I could hold this one much longer. As long as I was careful with the brush, making sure to hold her hair next to skin and start on the far side of the mat and work my way towards my hand next to her skin, she had no discomfort.  I am so pleased that I was able to comb out so many mats instead of just cutting them out.

We will be keeping her grooming appointment on Monday to trim the areas where her vest straps and collar are.  But with the Instant mat and tangle remover, I feel much more confident that I will be able to keep at least some of her hair length.  Let’s hear it for long haired ladies!

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When I picked out Ebony, I didn’t really understand that I was doing something to reverse Black dog discrimination. I picked her for several reasons, and one of the important reasons was the fact that she was black.  Being disabled, price was a factor and the black goldendoodles were less expensive. MaryAnn at Starview Kennels explained that the demand wasn’t as high, so she discounted the black puppies. The black goldendoodles were hundreds of dollars cheaper than the golden ones.  Didn’t make sense to me, she was cute as a button and I wanted black to contrast with my golden guy at home.

Part of the reason that I named her Ebony was the whole play on a black Goldendoodle. Ebony is constantly being misidentified as a Portuguese Water Dog or a Labradoodle. When I correct people and say that she is a GOLDENdoodle, they are surprised. One customer in Home Depot even argued with me and told me it was impossible to have a black Goldendoodle and that if I was too stupid to know what kind of dog I really had, that I had no business owning her! Although not as rude as that one customer, I have had many strangers question me as to why in the world would I want a black goldendoodle.  I have been shrugging it off but today I came across a couple of articles on black dog discrimination that really opened my eyes to the severity of this problem.

Kim Intino, the director of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States states that black dogs stay the longest in shelters and are the hardest to adopt out. Madeline Bernstein, the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles agrees. “They’re the hardest to adopt out, they’re in the shelters the longest and therefore, they’re most likely to be euthanized if nothing happens.” There can be a number of factors contributing to Black Dog Syndrome, including superstition, visibility, folklore and the stigma attached to some breeds like Rottweillers.

Black Pearls of the Dog World is a web site devoted to black dogs, promoting their rescue and adoption. This web site addresses some of the misconceptions about black dogs, highlights black dogs awaiting adoption and shares success stories. If you are considering adopting a dog to train as your service dog, I know lots of people do, please consider checking out Black Pearls. Also check out Homeward Bound, a rescue organization for Golden retrievers AND Black golden retriever mixes.

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The American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) is sponsoring the National Service Eye Exam Day on 5/12/08.  Inspired by a smaller successful event in Tennessee last year, the ACVO is pairing up with Pet Health Systems to offer free eye exams as well as biochemical screening.  Eligible service dogs need to be certified to participate and interested service dog owners will need to sign up on their website after 4/1/08.

This free screening is available to guide dogs, handicapped assistance dogs, detection dogs, and search and rescue dogs. Dogs must be certified by one of the national organizations to qualify”.  Members of the Yahoo Assistance Dogs Group contacted ACOV and confirmed that  “IAADP membership will be accepted - they want to be sure that the
dog is in fact a SERVICE DOG - not a Therapy Dog and or companion animal”.

Ebony will qualify for IAADP membership next month, I am hoping that the turn around time will be quick enough that she will be able to participate. Although I am delighted with the excellent care that she is receiving at Woodinville Animal Hospital, I want her to have the opportunity to get the eye exam by an opthalmologist. Her eyes are so important to the both of us.

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Thank you for those of you who have expressed your concern. Ebony is doing great but I have had a series of health concerns that prevented me from blogging. I am grateful to my beautiful niece who continues to assist me in training, exercising and entertaining the talented Ebony. I will post as I can and I will publish my snippets of training notes and significant stepping stones that I think are of interest in the whole big picture of living with and training a service dog.

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Ebony’s Puppy Kindergarten Graduation picture. She wasn’t wild about wearing that graduation cap but she did great with her Sit-Stay to get the picture.

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Now that my Goldendoodle puppy has her service dog in training vest, I thought it was time to start taking her out.  Since I have to go to the doctor’s office regularly and I want the office to really support this partnership, I decided to take her.  She got pretty antsy when I was checking in at the counter.  She needed a couple of corrections to sit at my side.  Once we were sitting in the waiting room, she sat in front of me. She would turn her head if the kids squealed but she would immediately respond to Watch me.  I didn’t let anyone but the office receptionist pet her.

We were in the waiting room for almost 40 minutes but she only got up a couple of times and always sat right back down. When they called me, Ebony dug her heels in.  I had to drag her the first eight feet before she finally starting walking next to me.  She was confused with my climbing on the scale to get weighed and it took me awhile to get her to sit out of the medical assistant’s way.  She was good in the exam room until they pricked my finger for a blood test.  I don’t think that I flinched but she definitely reacted to it. She stood up and got really close to me but she did not try to interfere.

By the time the doctor came in, she was pretty tired. She just kind of splatted on the floor.  Very impressive! hehe Overall, the trip was a success.  Primarily, it gave me a good idea on what we need to work on. 

• Distractions
• Down-Stay
• Visit
• Positioning of sit

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After much saving of pennies and waiting in anticipation, my Goldendoodle’s first service vest arrived late yesterday! Although it is an extra small, it is still a little loose on her. I was worried that it wouldn’t fit for long but I think we have some growing room on this one! I purchased the vest from Sit and Stay.  They seemed to have the cheapest ones there with zippered pockets. 

I also purchased three patches: “Ask to Pet Me, I am Friendly”, “Service Dog”, “In Training”.  Although the patches are designed to fit together, the vest was too small.  I had to put the pet me patch on the back and then the other patches on each side.  They recommend gluing the patches and of course sell the glue.  The patches were not cheap though and I wanted to be able to remove them from this vest and put them on her next one. I used to be a seamstress so I figured no problem.  Well an hour and half later I was strongly reconsidering!  The vest is well made with thick water resistant fabric and hand sewing the patches with MS fingers was a REAL challenge.

She has only worn the vest for a couple of minutes at a time so far but she seems to like it just fine.

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