Hearing Ear Dog

I've heard that good things come in small packages. I think that Judy Springborn would probably agree, at least in the case of her hearing ear dog.

Apple Pie, a chihuahua mix, was living in an animal shelter, slated to be euthanized when someone noticed she had the great qualities like good social skills and confidence.

The little dog was teamed up with a "hearing ear dog" trainer and a few months later Ms. Springborn was matched up with her.

Photo from L.A. Times

The purpose of a hearing ear dog is to alert their owner when the doorbell or the phone rings, when an alarm is going off, when a timer rings; really the list is endless. The dogs are beneficial because as the owner tunes into their dog, they are becoming aware of their surroundings. They see when something draws the dog's attention and they can follow the dog's gaze to locate the source.

Dogs for the Deaf is one group that trains hearing dogs. There's a application form available on their webpage as well as a list of things to consider before getting a hearing dog. I appreciate how "real" they are with their points to consider. They remind you that the dogs will leave hair everywhere, poop in your yard and can be destructive if you don't give them attention. You will also have to continue to train the dog for at least a year.

If you want to know what it's like to have a hearing ear dog, here's a blog post written by an owner of one.

or

If you'd rather watch a movie about it, check out Sunny's Ears.

The bottom line is that a hearing ear dog provides the owner with greater independence and self confidence to go out and live a "normal" life.

Care Farming

My friend posted a really cool infographic about how much land you would need to be able to support your family.

If you choose, you can use that same amount of land to not only support your family but also help others heal along the way.

In the UK, they call this "care farming".

Basically it involves using your farm to "provide health, social, or educational care services" to people.

I love that the UK has a website devoted to it. Even more exciting is that Prince Charles held a recognition luncheon for National Care Farming Initiative's 5 year anniversary. Having that kind of support probably helps farmers find funding, which makes the choice to become a care farm a little easier.

Here's a video from one care farm called Highfields Happy Hens that works with kids involved in the court system.

I wish that we had some kind of directory of care farms here in the US.  The ones that I am aware of are:

Green Chimneys (I've posted about them before here)
http://greenchimneys.org/

Tranquility Farm
http://www.tranquilityfarmequestrian.com/

Forget Me Not Farm
http://forgetmenotfarm.org/index.html

McKenna Farms
http://www.mckennafarmstherapy.org/

Sanctuary One
http://www.sanctuaryone.org/about.html

Gentle Barn (I've posted about them before here)
http://www.gentlebarn.org/

Please feel free to add any that you know to the list. Maybe we can create our own care farming webpage for the US and then eventually around the world!

Abilities Through Agility

Earlier this year, TheBark wrote an article about a group of therapists, (physical, occupational, and speech-language) that partner their patients with dogs.

The patients' goals are met as they train the dogs to run an agility course.

Photo found at Paws & Effect's blog

What an awesome idea!

The kids use gross motor skills to set up the agility course, and the kids follow the dogs as they go through the course. The physical therapists can integrate things that they need to focus on during this time. Maybe having the kids make sure that as they  walk, their heels touch the ground, stretching out the calf muscles of "toe-walkers" in a fun way.

Occupational therapists focus on the fine motor skills, like taking off the leash and collar and brushing the dog. These movements require great finger dexterity, and can normally seem frustrating, but when you are doing it for your furry friend it becomes less of a chore.

As the dogs are learning to go through the course, the children need to direct the dogs. Speech language pathologists can have the cues involve certain word sounds that the child is working on.

Photo found at Paws & Effect's blog

I think this whole thing is brilliant and would love to get in contact with the physical therapists involved. Maybe I could do a clinical rotation with them.

You should definitely read the article to learn more about the Abilities Through Agility program. It's a pdf so it takes a little while to load, but it's worth the few extra second wait.

Haiku

The theme for today is "Haiku" in the 2012 Wordcount Blogathon that I'm participating in this month. Here's my contribution:

Hope, Encouragement,

Motivation, Comfort, Peace:

Animals Help Heal

Porter, our male California Sea Lion
giving me a kiss for my birthday.

Recovering

It's been a long busy weekend for me. 

Luckily, my pets have reminded me about the perfect antidote.

Napping!

I hope you get a chance to rest today.

Seeing Eye... Horse?

Most people have heard of seeing eye dogs, but what about a seeing eye horse?

For some, having a dog is not an option because of a fear, allergies, or even because they are considered unclean. But that doesn't mean that they have to miss out on the independence and comfort that a service animal provides.

The ADA revised the provisions on service animals to include the use of miniature horses. This is a victory for people that can't use dogs for whatever reason.

Horses are good choice for a service animal for several reasons. The average working life for a service dog is 6-8 years. Since horses in general have a longer life span than dogs, the same is true of their working lives, 25-30 years.

The sound of the horse's hooves also do a better job alerting someone of the changing ground cover than a dog's paws. Hooves echo differently on tile, wood, and carpet.

Another plus to miniature horses is that they don't get fleas.

I'm not suggesting that miniature horses are overall superior to dogs as service animals.

The horses require enough space for outdoor living when they aren't working. (Otherwise they can get health problems from being inside all the time.)

They also don't look for companionship in the same way that dogs do normally. And they aren't as playful as dogs.

Dogs have been trained to be service animals for people who are blind, deaf, diabetic, prone to seizures and the list goes on. Currently miniature horses have only been trained as guide animals for people who are blind.

I was able to get a lot of information from The Guide Horse Foundation who actually supply guide horses free of charge after the person complete the training course. Unfortunately, they aren't taking any new applications right now because they are overwhelmed with requests.

But you can watch this video of Panda a miniature horse that was clicker trained as a guide horse and see how this works.

Remembering "Rex"

Today's Endangered Species Day so I thought it would be appropriate to share some pictures of one of our leucistic (white) Bengal tigers that passed away two weeks ago.

He was known as "Rex", and he lived with his brother "King Zulu" at the Audubon Zoo for the past 13 years.

Photo by: Maria DiFulco

Rex, unfortunately lost his battle to cancer at the ripe old age of 16. In the wild their life span is 8-10 years.

These two tigers had a special bond, which is unusual for their species.

Photo by: Sarah Rosedahl

Normally tigers are known to be very territorial and solitary animals, but these brothers seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

Photo by: Emily Esposito

They acted as great ambassadors of their species to teach people about the declining number of tigers. Bengal tigers are the subspecies with the most representatives in the wild, but even they are running into hunters that see them as trophies or ingredients in medicine.

Visitors and Keepers alike will surely miss Rex, but I wonder if Zulu will miss him even more.

Photo by: Terri Casso-Witt

Huge thank you for all of the wonderful photos taken by vistors/adoring fans! You can see more on the Audubon Zoo's facebook page.