End of the Show Season

Well it is nearing the end of the year. For most people that means holidays, shopping, festival music and tv specials. Not for me, oh no. this time of year is the end of my dog show season.

Rolo had his debut just a few weeks ago. He did what I didn't even think he would do, his first time out he won a Reserve Best in Show. I guess he wants to live up to his housemate's reputation. Alice's first time out just won a Reserve Best in Show as well. Alice then beat him in the breed ring in the second show, which is fine with me.

We are now perparing for the last set of shows in Courtland, Va. Rolo will be entered in all 6 shows but Alice will only be shown twice then do two runs of lure coursing. Our goal is to have Rolo finish his title and to have Alice finish her lure coursing title and finish the year as the top Hamilton in the country.

In terms of my feet, shows are hard on my feet. I am glad that the formality of what I have to wear only applies to everything but my shoes. If I couldn't wear my shoes and my insoles then I probably wouldn't still be showing. So we are all prepping with training, packing and getting everything ready for next weekend.

The excitement between Michael and I is almost tangible and it makes the dogs quite hyper. So if the plan works then we might just have the first two Hamiltons invited to the UKC Premier show and Top Ten competition.

So I need to find my newest thing to help with my feet, the kitten likes to steal them. My mother bought me an ankle brace. I already had one so now I have one for each foot. Clubbies need to have a lot of ankle support as our ligaments and tendons are weaker than most people. My biggest issue in grinding ankle pain. Thankfully the braces worked quite well which is a godsend.

In regards to the previous post about the store involved, the issue is still ongoing and has not been dealt with. So I hope to deal with it soon.

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.

SHOPPING and politics

First I wish those affected by Hurricane Sandy all the best in their recovery. We had a lucky run in with Hurricane Sandy. We got a lot of much needed rain, hardly any wind and a very brief power outage (it did have terrible timing as I was in the shower) but other than that everything was business as usual.

As America nears a big presidential election next week I do wish to mention politics briefly. I am a democrat and will be voting a completely democratic ticket, with that said, if you do not wish to read about my political beliefs please skip to the next paragraph. The reason for that decision is I truly believe that regulated healthcare is the way to go. As someone with a preexisting condition, I am very grateful for the fact that I do not have to worry about not being eligible for coverage if I have to resort to health insurance outside of my employer. No law is perfect, and it does not stop the health insurance companies from jacking up the premiums for your preexisting condition. Is that right? No but health insurance is a business. If somebody has type 2 diabetes then it will cost the insurance company much more than somebody without. I get it, but for certain cases I do wish that was not the case. I wish that is was illegal for insurance companies to jack up premiums for congenital conditions no matter what the age of the insured. I am also voting democrat because I truly believe that no government has the right to take away anybody's basic rights for any reason. I firmly believe in a separation of church and state. Religion has no place in politics or government, if your faith dictates your social beliefs, that's fine but do not assume that those beliefs are best for everybody in a country. When the founding fathers created the United States they wished for it to be a country of enlightenment that promotes education, equality, and progression. They created a government that would not be like England in the 1700's where the church was controlled by the state, where there was taxation without representation, and where it seemed like small minded people were dragging the country down. Thankfully, modern England is not like that. The United States currently may try and turn toward 1700's England if they aren't careful. I also am a fan of a socialist democracy, it works, it really does. Look at Germany, yes they have high taxes but it is a fair tax rate where you get health care, higher education, wonderful infrastructure, amazing unemployment and medical leave (including 3 year maternity leave and 1 year paternity leave) all paid for with those taxes. I think that people truly concerned about having a free and enlightened society only have one choice in this election and it is a straight democratic ticket the whole way.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program, I hope everybody had a great Halloween and if you have children that they didn't drive you too crazy with sugar highs and such. Last night we ventured to our local dog friendly mall, Stony Point Fashion Park, both Alice and Rolo loved their Halloween treats at Three Dog Bakery. Rolo is slowly but surely learning how to behave. Every so often I see the potential there to be a good service dog for me when Alice retires. I do have a little story to tell about a visit just the day before at a very un-dog friendly mall, Chesterfield Towne Center. It is a strict service dog only mall, which is fine. Alice was in full harness and ready for anything. We went into one of my favorite stores first, and what a nightmare. We were followed by an associate (turned out to be the General Manager), then were whispered about and gawked at by the same associate and another associate (turns out to be the Assistant Manager). Then when I called the store to complain, the manager denied the whole thing, did not apologize or anything. I am not saying the store as there is currently a pending issue going on with their corporate office. So it is being dealt with. On a much brighter note we went to numerous other stores where Alice and I were welcomed with open arms, which was wonderful.

To all store owners, managers, associates, etc here is what you should do with a service dog team in your store:
1. Ignore them and treat them like any other customer
2. If you are curious, ask questions to the service dog team
3. Ask to pet
4. Allow us to continue on our way

Here is what you should not do and why:
1. NEVER follow us unless we give you a reason to suspect anything suspicious
- following is very distracting to some dogs and especially the handler
2. Don't stare
- some dogs think it is a threat and may become cautious thus effecting their job
3. Don't whisper
- some ESA (Emotional Support Animal) teams could react badly, especially PTSD
4. Ask as little medical questions as possible
- you wouldn't want people asking about your personal medical information so don't ask us, some service dogs have a specific ID that gives all the information you need, ask for that instead

For those of you who have already donated to the HCA Service Dog Fundraiser, I thank you. If you have not, please do. The HCA is dedicated to helping service dog teams with training and all costs of obtaining a service dog, so every little bit helps. Thanks,