“Smart Paws brought a warm feeling, gentleness and love, [and] knowledge of animal/bird life. There is pain, but also hope and humor. Importantly, [there is] encouragement for others to follow, without fear.”
Helga Milberg
Dog trainer and board member of Tucson-based Handi-Dogs

.A good dog will change your life. When Eloise met Gamble, her first golden retriever, she befriended a gentle, generous soul who understood the art of being a healing presence. Years later, when overwhelming depression and debilitating physical challenges forever changed her lifestyle, outlook, and career, her life went to the dogs. Research about service dogs and the profound impact they can have on a life quickly became her one life-affirming activity. The partnership she envisioned would provide comfort and support by giving her new purpose, allowing her to conquer the many challenges her new life presented.

A mental health counselor, artist, and animal lover, Eloise emphasizes the miraculous competencies of dogs who literally and figuratively open new doors for countless people challenged by physical or mental health problems.

This is also a story about a very special dog named Rusty. Through Rusty, Eloise provides useful information for others interested in bringing a service animal into their lives. Eloise and Rusty explore how dogs have responded to our changing needs from prehistoric times to the present. Eloise’s lifelong experiences with animals and her study of the human-dog bond, including research into the evolution of the dog and their special intelligence, are candidly reflected in her tales about pets and partners.

Smart Paws

Ancient Partner to Service Dog TodayBy Elizabeth Victor

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Elizabeth Victor
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-0034-0

Contents

Preface..............................................................ixAbout This Book......................................................xi1. A Time Together...................................................32. Choosing Recovery.................................................63. Ah Ha.............................................................104. Expanding My World................................................125. A Creative Childhood..............................................146. Anthropomorphism..................................................177. Animals in Cultures...............................................198. Moving to Arizona.................................................219. Shama.............................................................2410. Back to School...................................................2611. A Job............................................................2812. School Again.....................................................3013. Art, History and Therapy.........................................3214. Growing Up With Dogs.............................................3415. Learning Map.....................................................3616. Gamble Before Rusty..............................................3817. Raccoons and Friends.............................................4018. Campus Pals......................................................4219. Cats and a Monkey................................................4420. Search and Find..................................................4921. Utah.............................................................5222. Keeping Rusty....................................................5523. Along Came Camping...............................................5724. Initiated Camper.................................................6025. Beluga Butt......................................................6226. Bonding..........................................................6427. Velcro Dog.......................................................6628. Improvement......................................................6829. Discovery........................................................7130. Certification....................................................7431. Making It My Space...............................................7832. Sonoran Desert...................................................8033. Disappearing Act.................................................8234. Dancing in Mexico................................................8435. Birds at the Beach...............................................8636. Getting Comfortable..............................................8837. Outings..........................................................9038. Frightening Moment...............................................9239. Crowds...........................................................9440. Pals.............................................................9641. Adora............................................................9842. Lyric............................................................10143. Katie Now and Bella..............................................10344. Happy Home Until.................................................10545. The Girls and Lisa...............................................10846. Ozzie............................................................11147. Charlie..........................................................11448. Smokey Bear......................................................11749. Making Friends...................................................12050. Sashay and Boots.................................................12251. Squawking Parrot, Belly Dancer and Orangutan.....................12552. Dogs in Unique Places............................................12953. Beauty and the Bees..............................................13154. The Ferry Ride...................................................13455. Travels East.....................................................13656. The Comfort Toy..................................................13857. What's To Like About Grooming....................................14058. Family Member....................................................14559. The Nose Knows...................................................14860. Long Ago Lessons.................................................15061. From Wolves and Art..............................................15362. Tea Cup to Giant Mastiff.........................................15763. Traditional Dogs of Asia.........................................15964. Doggie Intelligence..............................................16165. Marvelous Dog Brains.............................................16566. Privileges.......................................................16867. Our Best Friends.................................................17068. Stop That Critter................................................17269. Nutrition Sense..................................................17470. Health Care Advances.............................................17671. Animal Protection................................................17972. Clever Ones......................................................18173. Adaptability.....................................................18574. Partnerships.....................................................18775. New Dimensions...................................................19076. Picking Your Pooch...............................................19277. Family Values....................................................19778. Natural Wisdom...................................................20079. What It Takes to be a Service Dog................................20380. Helper Paws......................................................20681. Our Impact on Others.............................................20982. Thoughtless Treatment............................................21183. My Partner, My Friend............................................21384. Understanding....................................................21685. Playful Learning.................................................22086. Why a Rusty......................................................22487. The Right Partnership............................................22788. Rescue Me........................................................23089. Well Behaved Partners............................................23390. Some Little Facts to Plan By.....................................23591. A Successful Training Model......................................23792. Training Challenges..............................................23993. Treats and Training..............................................24194. Doggies' Special Needs...........................................24395. Life Lessons.....................................................246Post Script..........................................................249A Dog's Creed........................................................251About the Authors....................................................252Acknowledgements.....................................................253Bibliography.........................................................254Endnotes.............................................................256

Chapter One

A Time Together

"God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need." Unknown

The country has gone to the dogs according to some observers. It is not an epithet. It is a delightful fact. Over the past thirty years the dog population in the U.S. has grown in numbers and social stature. The intelligence and willingness of man's best friend has been recognized and tapped for a multitude of tasks.

During my lifetime I have met many smart dogs. I grew up with bird dogs. Hunting was in my family's blood. The selection and training of fine dogs was the meat of endless conversations. I am setting out to tell you a dog story that is intertwined with other dog stories and facts about the status of dogs today. The hero of the basic tale is my service dog named Rusty.

A cold wet nose touching my hand has always meant comfort to me. This is a story about one particular cold nose and the everlasting impact he has had on my life. It is snatches of my life as a kid with a disability as well as embracing things I have studied along with tidbits learned from sharing my life with dogs, which are my building blocks. As I am counting my blessings I wish to take you through our adventures and share some lessons learned. This has been a journey from despair to empowerment.

One day, after I completed several fun paintings I felt a need to paint Rusty. I wanted to honor him and there are just so many yummy treats one can give a dog to say, "job well done". Painting a portrait of this wonder dog has revealed so much beyond a likeness. The painting reflects his joy in life that has revived my love of life. He taught me to remember to laugh and how laughter can heal. He can be a comedian or a serious observer at other times. Laughter with him has had great healing power that has restored my interest in life. Without any plan, my painting highlights this aspect of his personality. I'm no great painter but my heart seemed to lead my brush. We have no finished work of art here, but rather a snapshot of a moment in time. It really is a painted sketch that I am afraid to complete. It captures Rusty and makes me happy just as it is.

Rusty's and my time together has brought warmth to so many. Because I have been able to become less dependent upon him, we have made an effort to show the world around us what a marvel a well trained service dog can be out in public. Rusty is a pretty good judge of character and applies this skill in choosing to whom he responds. Only with permission will he approach someone. He seems to understand the importance of simple kindness. His tail will talk its happy talk for a child or individual he perceives as a good prospect as a friend. A friendship to Rusty is any amount of time from a moment to a lifetime. Rusty will sense a person who needs a hug and if permitted will provide his doggie version. There are always many smiles from folks saying "Rusty, you just made my day". He gets told how very handsome he is when out in public. But it is his spirit that I love so much. He's far from the most gorgeous Golden Retriever ever seen but he is handsome and his loving spirit radiates.

It is not just this recent liberty to socialize in our effort to help the public learn about service dogs that makes up our story. Life since July 3, 2001 has been a major learning experience for both of us. This journey has been our learning curve. We have had struggles to do the right thing for each other. The road to our partnership is rough and smooth, curved and wracked by blind spots. In other words just like life.

As a chronically ill child I was partially an outcast subject to the cruel teasing of some other children. I chose to spend my time in the company of friends. These friends mostly had four legs but a few were people. Being somewhat isolated I developed a perspective on an animal's capacity to think and communicate. I observed animals in everyday environments; I am not a scientist. What I am is a person blessed with great curiosity happy to have been in the company of animals my whole life.

Acute illness takes my spirit right back to the support of my four legged doggie friends.

Chapter Two

Choosing Recovery

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." James Dean

Choosing recovery filled me with an almost manic sense of urgency. Upon finding myself so extremely ill I felt like curling up and dying. Escape from pain and depression held out a magical lure. I just needed the right wizard to assist my escape. Physically I felt washed up but my mind screamed that I needed to get my priorities straight and take care of business. It was time to fight the odds as I had done before. Life was worth the fight. This was to be no different even though I felt ancient and worn out.

This time, however, some essential key to my spirit was missing. I felt cut off from my sense of oneness with the Earth and her creatures. Most of that first year I was lost in myself too ill to recognize the context of the void I felt in my spirit. It was clear to me I needed to be rescued from myself. The fear and anger that inhabited my mind were a consuming sickness apart from the disease and other physical complications.

An aerial view of an approaching dust storm is the closest way to describe the onset of my collapse. The cloud blotting out my ability to learn, to think and remember just grew denser as the time passed from late 1997 to July 2000. Though it took many months, I succumbed, to the loss of everything I fought so very hard to have and maintain. My sun was being blotted out ever so slowly. It is an insidious beast that creeps through the soul and steels the mind, even the will to live. That roiling cloud of mind dust blocked my ability to think or follow instructions. The psychic and physical pain grew worse as the cloud enveloped my very being.

This analogy of a dust storm comes from living in Arizona. A dust storm is a very personal assault as you can see it slowly approaching. That is if you are looking. Then, without warning it can be a battering crushing blow that chokes out your very life, if you ignore or miss the signs of its approach. My dust storm was a sneaky villain that hid in my liver for over twenty years.

There were symptoms like fatigue and constant body pain. However, I had a job and family I was responsible for keeping housed and fed. All the years of school and hard work to reach my employment goals were finally coming to fruition. At last I had a career goal job in a fine environment. I just couldn't accept that this cloud taking over my body and brain was indeed something very malicious, even life threatening. One day the lights and dreams of a successful professional life went completely out as I crumpled on my office floor. This was July 26th, 2000.

I went to bed too ill to deal with life going on around me, without me. Now I had to depend on others to assume my responsibilities. I am chastised even today, by my family for not making them understand just how very ill I was. This was a life changing ride and getting off didn't seem an acceptable option. No way could I allow myself to wrap my brain around the concept that I was never going back to work again. I had worked so hard emotionally and physically to attain my goals. I shut down emotionally rather than allow myself to feel the swirling negative emotions. I went to bed and let my depression and physical illness find succor in sleep.

Although there were people who cared around me I existed in a wordless void. It took months to recognize that it was from an all together different being I needed guidance. One with whom I could communicate without giving words to my misery. I needed a sentient being that could give me strength and focus.

Who had I always turned to in times of great difficulty and in times of joy? I had lost touch with myself. Daily cares and responsibilities had robbed me of the childlike kindred spirit I felt with nature. I had "grown up" and I didn't like it one bit. There had always been an inner child who remained close to the natural world and its inhabitants. I was not only sick from this insidious illness I was spirit sick. I had dogs, cats and other domestic creatures in my home, but being career driven I didn't take time to really know each one. There is something essential to life in a relationship with an animal. Some animals reflect a gift of harmony and zest for life more than others, and I believe it is this special chemistry that can nourish and heal. I have found it to be so throughout the course of my life. It is this very magic recognized in the benefits of animal assisted therapy. It is the core of the human-animal bond. It is my life fuel from the very wellspring which I believe all balanced energy flows.

I realized I had starved my spirit just as millions of other people do when they become mesmerized with their daily existence. I had succumbed to the absorption of my strength through focusing on work and other responsibilities. It was imperative I renew my spirit to become strong enough to fight the physical battle ahead of me. Immersed in the world of work and family care-giver I had lost my greatest life force. Instinctively I slowly figured it out when I finely realized how very impaired my body was. I knew that only a special animal could help.

My dearest dog was old and struggling with his own health issues. It was youth, energy, enthusiasm, goodness, and joy that were needed to stir me. That is when I began the search that led me ultimately to Rusty.

Five months after my collapse one doctor came up with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. This turned out to be only the tip of my personal mountain hidden in the dust storm. I was little help in finding a cause because the only feeling I could relate to was despair. This was before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After time passed and the wars began, I started to see I was developing a strong sense of a parallel experience. A loose parallel derived from my problems and those experienced by the severely wounded returning from war. It's hell, having your life course just shut down. This concept has grown and modified over the time of my partial recovery. I had always fought hard to maintain as near to normal life as possible. Now there wasn't any energy to push forward. I realized I would never be able to pull off my charade of normalcy as before.

My mother drew strength from being on or near the sea as well as enjoying the mountains for inspiration. These are forces from which I too draw strength. However, I knew it was in the company of living, breathing creatures of this earth from who I could regain focus and a centered mind with a fresh new purpose. It was at this time, eight months after my collapse that I began my search for a dog to assist me and become my special guide. Such dogs, or other creatures, that rescue human companions are labeled angels. I needed an angel right then.

That was when I sat down at my computer and began looking for the perfect dog. It was obvious to me that I needed a helper dog to make getting about easier and as a spirit guide, to find my way through the months, even years, of treatment I faced. This was a lot to expect but I knew such a dog was out there and I would find him or her. In my mind I saw connectedness between the dog I chose and my guide to recovery. Some people might term it magical thinking. This belief was all that I felt clear about.

I was ready to go anywhere to find my special partner. My physical condition was not keeping me from having the one medicine I knew would help me most. Travel to the Tetons and getting Rusty was an enormous challenge. I knew the strength gained by the natural world of mountains and desert, along with Rusty, would inspire my will. Buoyed by the knowledge Rusty was at the end of that rainbow kept me going.

Chapter Three

Ah Ha

"One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why." Unknown

Over a year later, surprise gall bladder surgery and a liver biopsy brought the whole picture into focus. My liver was "nearly dead" according to the surgeon. I had long standing liver disease resulting in cirrhosis. It was listed at stage four liver disease by December 2001. Now that was news. No one had thought to check liver function with a simple blood test. After all I was just an unemployed person who had to declare bankruptcy after losing my job and benefits. The tests and doctor visits continued although the income to cover it all came to a screeching halt. It turned out I had had hepatitis C, for twenty years. My prognosis stunk.

Blessings began to come through the community clinic, in January 2002, when I was assigned a smart interested doctor, Dr. Scott Wilson, who believed it was worth fighting, if I was willing. That woke me up. I was always a fighter but this was such a demanding battle that I held little faith in a win in my column. I am not a game player when it comes to my health care treatment. I demanded honesty and we developed an excellent working relationship that continues today. Dr. Wilson has proven to be as fine a human being as anyone could wish to meet. His exemplary work at the community clinic and volunteering in Haiti reflect his solid values gaining my approval.

The huge all consuming cloud was still enveloping me making thought and action impossible. I was a toxic waste dump! How were we to clear this mess up? I emphasize the we because it had to be the work of not just the medical staff but most of this patient's entire being was put into this task of recovery. Whatever it took to bring about such cooperation I knew I had to dig deep and seek it along with sticking with the program. This was a life and death struggle. I realized I wasn't ready to give up. I chose life once again.

The combination of Rusty and Dr. Wilson bracketed by family support gave me the strength to push through the next three years toward recovery. My health was always like a dance on an invisible floor, so this was just another waltz I had to master.

Chapter Four

Expanding My World

"The past is our history, there for the wise to build upon." Unknown

I have known serious health battles from earlier times in my life. My health was already long at risk with a compromised immune system. Past experiences with fighting back from the edge, called death, I viewed as a positive. My belief is that strength can be drawn from familiar experiences if we want to move forward. However, this storm was unlike any I had known. My past experience was coping with breathing problems. Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, were companions from childhood.

I had experienced being poked and prodded by members of the medical profession. The attention this brought was unwelcome. Sitting braless on a bed, breathing like a guppy in front of med students is unnerving at best. However, oddly enough, this can build a will to show everyone just how tough you are.

As a twenty-five year old mother I had what is called a near death experience. I caught a nasty infection and went into full cardio-pulmonary arrest. It took place in the hospital elevator while on my way to the intensive care unit. I don't remember going into arrest. I was busy entertaining visuals which included dancing in the air while pushing away concrete clouds. Near-death experiences vary with individual life experiences. Mine was an artistic expression, of course.

See my drawing of this experience on the front page of Part One.

Near death experiences have been described in literature. This wasn't my first close call so I took a rather anthropological perspective. As a twelve year old I had an out-of-body experience during a high fever. I found myself up near the ceiling of my bed room looking down at the doctor working on me. I still hold that memory in my mind's eye.

By age twenty-five my body was tired and ready for warm sunshine. So, when my respiratory specialist sat on the edge of my hospital bed in Minneapolis announcing, "Lady get the hell out of here! Go to Arizona." I took him up on it. Although he thought I would be away from dampness and pollen. Both awaited my arrival with the warm "monsoon" season, combined with the countless imported trees and grasses. Arizona promised warmth and dry air to breathe which proved to be true much of the time. That was a great lure for recovery. Having as normal a life as absolutely possible was a big motivator.

(Continues...)

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