Black Friday Adventure

I guess I should begin by confessing that, for as long as I can remember, I have been very uncomfortable in crowds.  I have never been officially diagnosed, but I figure I have some form or combination of demophobia/agoraphobia/claustrophobia because my anxiety tends to flare when I am feeling physically constrained, either by people or space.  For example, I can be in a very large room with few people in it, but if they are all clustered by the only door in such a way that I would be unable to exit easily, my anxiety increases.  Elevators themselves are not really a problem -- but, if given the chance I will never enter a crowded elevator and I have been known to exit one if it got too full, especially if I got stuck in the back away from the door and had several floors to travel.  When my medical issues required that I have an MRI, not only was Valium required to get me into the darn machine, but I also needed a person to stay with me just outside, touching me and speaking to me to get me through the whole process without flipping out.  Even then, it was a pretty close call.  All of the above described situations were before I had spent any time as a person with a physical disability.  Things only got worse when I was injured.

Now, fortunately, I never got to the point where I never left the house, but I have had periods where my anxiety levels (read panic attacks) were unmanageable for periods of time.  Even when my anxiety was not unmanageable, for years now I have tended not to go out much unless absolutely necessary and usually not unless I was with another person, meeting another person, or had some kind meeting/class/job to go to.  At some points, I did my best to insure that I limited such "commitments" so that I did not have to go out on my own.

So, with that (very) cursory background information, you will hopefully understand the significance of my Black Friday Adventure.  I imagine the only reason I actually stepped up and did it AND got through the whole thing relatively unscathed is because it was "training for Cura."  Yeah, right -- more like therapy for me!  Funny how so much of Cura's training is actually addressing my personal challenges . . .

Originally, the plan was to go shopping with Nonna Ear Rubs with the intention of scoping out a Christmas present for Fuzzy Face.  But, due to scheduling issues, Nonna Ear Rubs couldn't go.  YIKES!!  Well, let me tell you, that was almost the end of the Black Friday Adventure right there!  At the very least, the adventure was going to be postponed until Sunday when Nonna Ear Rubs could make it.  No way in ____ was I going to face the insane post-Thanksgiving crowds on my own . . . oh, wait . . . I would not BE on my own.  Cura would be with me . . .

So, we went -- though I managed to accumulate several errands in addition to "Mall Cruising."  For some reason, this helped me to prepare for tackling the insanity of the Mall.  Maybe because we were able to do some "normal, everyday" things first . . . who knows!  All I know is that it helped me get into a good state of mind before actually stepping foot in the Mall.

For the most part, we did great!  Cura was not overly thrilled with the crowds (especially the free-range, loud, rambunctious children that were naturally attracted to her lovely -- frequently curved -- tail . . . a part of me thinks this attraction may sometimes play a part in her lowering her tail when in stressful situations -- maybe not every time, but sometimes) but she stuck close and did everything that I asked her too.  Besides, it isn't as if I was thrilled about the crowds, either!  I did a bit of shopping for myself and scoped out some things to purchase later for Christmas gifts.

We used the escalators (up and down), wandered in crowded, tight spaces where Cura had to follow me rather than be beside me, stood in lines, and browsed the various counters.  With the volume of people, we still managed to either get jostled or "trapped."  Still, the jostling I received was drastically reduced -- hardly a brush -- AND I got an apology rather than the person(s) pretending that it didn't happen!  As far as getting boxed in . . . it did happen several times -- and I did start to get anxious every time.  When I did . . . Cura became VERY deliberate in her motion and, while slowly moving forward, also leaned against me slightly (just brushing my leg).  In hindsight, it was as if she was reminding me that she was there with me.  Regardless of her intention, the result was that my anxiety remained at manageable levels and we were able to spend a little over an hour in the Mall on Black Friday!

Was there room for improvement . . . of course!  But we managed to tackle a difficult situation together -- at the very least it strengthened our bond even more.  In reality, Cura managed to help me through a situation that would have been virtually impossible for me (especially in the past seven-plus years) before she came into my life.  I would have never contemplated attempting it.  Instead, I would have found a perfectly logical and acceptable reason for avoiding it completely.  Progress . . . I LOVE it!

Our next private training session is scheduled to take place in the Mall -- a wonderful opportunity for fine tuning!  I can't wait!

A Party!

Yes, this is an 'off-schedule' post.  I know I usually only post once a week -- mainly because of time rather than lack of material, but this week is special.  Skye became a part of our family last year on the day after Thanksgiving, so this year we had a little adoption day celebration.  We even baked a doggie cake.
I found the recipe here.
There are several to choose from, but Skye LOVES Peanut Butter and Carrots, so that was the one we picked.

Peanut Butter Carrot Cake

Naturally sweet, colorful and flavorful, this cake is simple and easy to make. Great for Fall.
1 cup flour                                 
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter                 
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded carrots              
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup honey                            
1 egg

Mix flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 8" round cake pan and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Let cool. Puree cottage cheese in blender for icing. Decorate with more peanut butter and carrots.

 As you can see . . . the cake was appreciated by all . . . including the kitties!



Only Bear was missing -- he and Skye are still defining their relationship -- most of the time, that means they are not in the same room.  But they tolerate each other more than they used to!

One Pooped Pup!

I mentioned in the last post that Cura's next training session was going to take place on Rick and Heather's property and we were going to be putting her no-jump harness to a serious test by letting her frolic, 'be a dog', and do some off-lead work. With play-dates suspended until warmer weather prevails, it had been awhile since Cura had been given the opportunity to have some free-play.  She gets physical and mental exercise almost daily, but it is structured and controlled rather than time that she can just do what she wants.  Now, because of her weather reactions and jumping ability, she had only had short periods of time off-lead during play-dates in the past, but at least she was spending time outside.  Even though she was on an extend-a-lead, she was the one who got to decide what she did -- if she wanted to dig . . . she could dig, if she wanted to sniff . . . she could sniff.  On top of that, she got to interact with other dogs in a safe environment.

Having said all that, last Thursday was the first REAL play session she has had since coming home.  For all but the introduction/reunion period in the beginning of the session and the refocusing period at the end, Cura was off-lead.  The no-jump harness worked well -- though she never even made a move to jump the fence.  It is possible that she just didn't have any desire to jump, but until I see otherwise, I am content that the harness is doing its job.  For almost two hours, Cura had the run of the arena.  Of course, she did A LOT of sniffing!  She also dug for China!  I wish I had brought my camera!  There were some pretty hilarious moments when all you saw was Cura's backside sticking up from the hole with dirt being flung out behind her -- tail wagging.  A couple of Rick and Heather's dogs ended up getting dirt showers courtesy of Cura's enthusiastic excavation.  Next time I will bring my camera even if I DO think we will be working.  If nothing else, maybe I can get Rick or Heather to take some pics/video of us working as a team.

My 'job' during the training session this last time was to get more comfortable having Cura off-lead (building on the whole 'trust' thing with positive experiences), keeping track of her while carrying on a lively conversation, and working on her recall when she was either out of my sight or messing about in an area that was not a doggie free-play area, like the wood or compost piles.  For the most part, I did pretty well.  I really enjoyed seeing Cura having fun -- she obviously needed it.

When we got home Cura crashed!  Zonked out immediately . . . we had to really work to get her to rouse long enough to eat her dinner -- after which she went right back to sleep.  Once we headed off to bed that night, I don't think she moved at all until the morning.  When I got up on Friday, I got this bleary eyed look before she dropped back off to sleep.  Seriously, the only things that moved were her eyelids!  We did go for a run, but she was not as enthusiastic about it as she normally is and had slowed down and was ready to come home much earlier than normal.  When we got home, she went straight upstairs to lay on her soft cushy bed -- didn't even wait for breakfast!  After calling her back down several times, I finally brought her bed downstairs so that she wouldn't have to lay on the (carpeted) floor, since she obviously wanted some comfort.  She ended up sleeping most of the day!  I don't mean dozing . . . I mean hard core, snoring, dead to the world, sleeping.

I think she used muscles she didn't know she had!  Even with all the exercise she gets, Thursday was not only a day of fun and freedom, it was a great workout!  Here is hoping we can do it again when time permits.