Week 37 of 51… Kona has spend thirty seven weeks of his life here with us. He is nearly one year old and will soon tranisition to adult puppy-hood. I sometimes wonder at how good is while hoping I did not mess his training up too much.

One Sunday in May Kona had a very bad crate day. We left him in a stranger’s garage in his crate only to have him “freak out!” Because that said stranger came back but did not take any care for him before we could get bacck to him. Well, the stress made him do his worst crate small puppy syndrome ever. What a mess. And it was a situation that I felt so helpless in as my eyesight hindered me from doing any clean up help. At that very moment in time, I was ready to just give the dog-gone dog away. Then…

We took him to a graduation party where there were lots of people. He had already had his freak out insecure neurotic experience for the day, so the grad party was pretty calm. He spent most of the time on my lap. During the party, he had a chance to light up someone’s life. Kona got to sit in Ernie’s lap for about fifteen minutes.

Ernie is my cousin’s son. He suffered a massive stroke about seven months ago. Unfortunately, this left his abilities diminished and his emotional scarring is fairly unknown. Stroke victims often express the over riding “sadness” that they feel as a result of the injuries. Ernie has spent much of the last five months in physical therapy. One of the things that lit up his face was the presence of a visiting therapy dog.

Kona’s visit with Ernie that day also made him really smile.

Over six weeks have passed by since Kona saw Ernie. But they say once a dog “licks” someone he will always know that person. So this Saturday when Ernie arrived at the family gathering, I was not surprised to see Kona perk up immediately when the wheelchair entered the room.

The attraction for Kona and Ernie is evidently mutual. Kona’s little body went directly into a pointer position and his tail was wagging excitedly. And when the little fourteen pound fur ball was placed on Ernie’s lap he curled right up for his petting session.

Thus began the discussion once again about a dog for Ernie. My cousin and I have talked on the phone a couple of times about “trial” runs with Kona. This trial run looks a little different that actually getting a dog. First of all, there are no strings attached. Except of course Kona’s leash and harness. It’s a great option to discover if having a dog even works into their busy learning life anew pace. Ernie’s care is pretty full time. So adding a dog to care for might just put stress over the edge.

Then again… Having pet therapy for a child that is so “sad” because of this life change, could just add the happy back to their home. Ernie has such a vibrant, comical, jovial spirit, that perhaps a dog could mirror that “feeling” and help him find some happiness again.

My study this past year over “dog mirror” reflection has led me to so many conclusions. There are three types of dogs really. Front, middle, and back of the pack dogs all have a role to play once trained. But trying to train the high energy or low energy dog out of themselves is not possible. A high energy dog even if it is back of the pack will push the pack to high anxious energy. I have no desire to ever have a high energy dog agin no matter what part of the pack he or she comes from.

Kona was the “middle” of the pack in his puppy life. Three puppies were born, two brown and one black. He was the last of the pups to leave and that makes him the back of the pack. But he is considered a low energy dog even though he is fairly high maintenance.

On the reflection nature…. I have watched him get amped up from children that are easily excitable. I have also watched him just sit on an elderly person’s lap for nearly an hour, just watching the world happen. Kona does not have to be in the center of all of the activity. We have worked hard at training him to “place” out of the way during high activity times. Like supper preparation, gathering items for leaving, and even outside when children are navigating stairways.

Code words for Kona. Come. Sit. Stay. Shake. Paw. Place. Up. Down. On. Off. Load up. Potty. Go Pee. Wait. Leave it. Okay. Heel. Be Still. Roll Over. Get a Toy. Brush your teeth. Go to bed. Buckle up. Get a drink. Be careful. Gentle. Enough.

Kona’s schedule. 8 am Awake Buckle up Heel Outside Go Potty. Go pee. Good Boy! (That’s Me). 8:30 am wipe your paws, Unbuckle. Breakfast *sit, stay, wait, shake, spin, leave it, (fill water) okay (Now I can eat). Brush your teeth in place (Chew on my bone) while we eat. Get a toy, play fetch for fifteen minutes or so. 9 am settles for rest. 10:30 or 11 go out, buckle up, go pee, heel back inside. Repeats at 12:30 or one. Again at 2:30 or 3. Also at about five pm before supper prep hour. He gets his scoop of food on the maize bowl when we eat supper, so that he is busy in his place while we supper. During training period we tied him up to his place. Buckle up again at 7 pm or so for his evening lighten up. He goes pee again at 8:30 or so depending on how much frenzy and play and drink, he may need to go twice before bed. Snuggle before bed.

Kona is on his first over night therapy visit. I still can’t believe the puppy that use to loose his bladder on Gavin last November has arrived at a therapy moment. And he is such a good boy. It just makes me well up with tears when I think of the mutual attraction that he has with Ernie.

I am a little delayed on his weekend review. Kona decided that “dad” in the house was not his friend. So he barked at him all the time. He also cleaned house for them, and picked up a lot of little things. Thus the constant attention device and trade busy day. Night time sleep is not a real constant thing with much upset through the night, Kona did not sleep very well either. And when they left him for a short outing, he did his ususal anxiety dump on the kitchen floor. Other than that they found out Mom was not ready for the work of a doggie in their home yet. She has too many other people to care for to take on an attention device like Kona. Good to know. We will continue to take Kona for visits to Ernie and Millie so that they can get their puppy cuddles and giggles out!