One thing I've been hoping for a long time is to train a signal dog, or a service dog that will alert me to fire alarms. I may add other things, but my hearing is so much better that I hear the phone ringing and would probably hear someone knocking on the door, except when I'm listening to music through my head phones. It is at night where I don't have anything hooked up to a lamp to wake me up if a fire occured.
I've been watching the classifieds and stopping by the Humane Society dog pound, hoping for just the right dog to come along. Even with years of experience with animals, it is hard to determine a dog's behavior at a kennel, but two things became clear, he didn't whine (hey I can hear those now) and didn't bark all the time. Kiko is the name they gave him, but its going to be changed to Keiko, the name of the whale in the movie "Free Willy." Well I'm freeing Keiko!
He's a Jack Russell mixture, and my main fear is housebreaking an older dog. That's where crate training comes in, and hopefully he will see his kennel as a refuge rather than punishment. I'm awaiting his arrival from the vet tomorrow, where he's gone for his neutering operation.
So why get a dog now? It is for many reasons other than just the hope he'll alert me to certain noises at night. There's companionship, there's the potiential of relating with more people as I'm out exercising him, and hey I'll get some exercise too.
I've just found out that the condo association does have exceptions for signal dogs in their rules, so there's no need to educate them about the laws about service dogs. I'll have to pick up the poop until the day I can afford a bigger place...
I'm excited and know there's a ton of work ahead of me. There's a trainer in Hawi, an hour north of me that knows how to train hearing dogs. I'll have to get in touch with her and see what can be worked out.
My hope is to journal the joys and frustrations of training a rescue dog. He's a confirmed outdoor dog, so I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but his personality makes me think there's hope.
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