Harlan pulled an Oso on the visit today.

We went up to the second floor, and they had these big picture
windows. While not the fourth floor, Harlan was still impressed with
the view.

He was also fascinated by the TV in one of the rooms. Not sure why;
perhaps because it was so much larger.

He was a very good schmoozer, especially with the men.

He was definitely more relaxed this time around. We did more "just
hanging out" in the common rooms this time around. Harlan would say
hello to everyone who wanted to pet him, do a few tricks (catch the
cheese being his favorite) and then, while we chatted, he did his "dog
in front of the fire place" impression, sometimes lying on people's
feet. I was worried that maybe he should be interacting more, but the
aide I was with speculated that a "dog on the hearth" was more homey,
anyhow.

One lady, sitting by herself, remarked that she was surprised they
would let a dog that big in. So I asked if he was bothering her, and
she said no, she was just surprised. So we explained that he was
trained, and talked about the tests he had to take, and all that.
While that was going on, one fellow rolled right up in his wheel
chair. Thought he was gonna get Harlan's tail, for a moment. Harlan
acted like this is the sort of thing that happens every day, and just
sat up for schmoozing. Wheelchairs are no biggee, apparently.

It is interesting how dogs give you so much to talk about. When his
tail would brush someone, I was reminded of the way my neighbor's
one-year-old follows Harlan around so that his tail will tickle her
face. So I'd tell the story, complete with my impression of Harlan
trying to figure out why this small human was following him around the
house. Or we'd talk about how he was supposed to be a small short hair
dog, except I was suckered by The Face. Or the time he ended up on the
check-out counter at Petsmart (my mistake: telling a dog who nose was
causing him to wander off "Harlan, get up here!").

Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.



--Terri & Harlan (send in the clown)

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:52:01 GMT Theresa Willis whittled these words:
Harlan pulled an Oso on the visit today.

Good boy!

We went up to the second floor, and they had these big picture
windows. While not the fourth floor, Harlan was still impressed with
the view.

Yup. I 'd love to know what they are thinking.

He was also fascinated by the TV in one of the rooms. Not sure why;
perhaps because it was so much larger.

Taht - or it might be high definition which has a different scan rate. I
think those have less flicker to dogs than standard TV. (Dogs have motion
sensitive vision so the theory is that regular tv has a strobe effect.)

He was a very good schmoozer, especially with the men.

Good for him! Good schmoozing is in the job description. Oso is partial
to the men as well. And *real* pets none of the whimpy fondling.

He was definitely more relaxed this time around. We did more "just
hanging out" in the common rooms this time around. Harlan would say
hello to everyone who wanted to pet him, do a few tricks (catch the
cheese being his favorite) and then, while we chatted, he did his "dog
in front of the fire place" impression, sometimes lying on people's
feet. I was worried that maybe he should be interacting more, but the
aide I was with speculated that a "dog on the hearth" was more homey,
anyhow.

One thing it does is make the people realize he is comfortable. I often
accompany that behavior with a remork like "uh oh - looks like he's
getting comfy. He just might want to stay here!" YOu have to be,
however, aware of anyone who might take it as if he IS going to stay. On
occasion we've had a heck of a time getting the dog away from someone who
got rather attached. Usually we bring up another dog, hopefully one of
the more pushy friendly ones, get the person's attention on the new dog,
then before they commit themselves "Well, he enjoyed visiting, He has to
say good-bye now."

snip

snip
Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

g And for a lot of them you can tell the sam story over and over and
they not only don't mind but find comfort in it.

Sounds like you two are having fun.

Diane Blackmman
http:/www.dog-play.com/therapy.html

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:52:01 GMT Theresa Willis whittled these words:
Harlan pulled an Oso on the visit today.

Good boy!

We went up to the second floor, and they had these big picture
windows. While not the fourth floor, Harlan was still impressed with
the view.

Yup. I 'd love to know what they are thinking.

He was also fascinated by the TV in one of the rooms. Not sure why;
perhaps because it was so much larger.

Taht - or it might be high definition which has a different scan rate. I
think those have less flicker to dogs than standard TV. (Dogs have motion
sensitive vision so the theory is that regular tv has a strobe effect.)

He was a very good schmoozer, especially with the men.

Good for him! Good schmoozing is in the job description. Oso is partial
to the men as well. And *real* pets none of the whimpy fondling.

He was definitely more relaxed this time around. We did more "just
hanging out" in the common rooms this time around. Harlan would say
hello to everyone who wanted to pet him, do a few tricks (catch the
cheese being his favorite) and then, while we chatted, he did his "dog
in front of the fire place" impression, sometimes lying on people's
feet. I was worried that maybe he should be interacting more, but the
aide I was with speculated that a "dog on the hearth" was more homey,
anyhow.

One thing it does is make the people realize he is comfortable. I often
accompany that behavior with a remork like "uh oh - looks like he's
getting comfy. He just might want to stay here!" YOu have to be,
however, aware of anyone who might take it as if he IS going to stay. On
occasion we've had a heck of a time getting the dog away from someone who
got rather attached. Usually we bring up another dog, hopefully one of
the more pushy friendly ones, get the person's attention on the new dog,
then before they commit themselves "Well, he enjoyed visiting, He has to
say good-bye now."

snip

snip
Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

g And for a lot of them you can tell the sam story over and over and
they not only don't mind but find comfort in it.

Sounds like you two are having fun.

Diane Blackmman
http:/www.dog-play.com/therapy.html

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:52:01 GMT Theresa Willis whittled these words:
Harlan pulled an Oso on the visit today.

Good boy!

We went up to the second floor, and they had these big picture
windows. While not the fourth floor, Harlan was still impressed with
the view.

Yup. I 'd love to know what they are thinking.

He was also fascinated by the TV in one of the rooms. Not sure why;
perhaps because it was so much larger.

Taht - or it might be high definition which has a different scan rate. I
think those have less flicker to dogs than standard TV. (Dogs have motion
sensitive vision so the theory is that regular tv has a strobe effect.)

He was a very good schmoozer, especially with the men.

Good for him! Good schmoozing is in the job description. Oso is partial
to the men as well. And *real* pets none of the whimpy fondling.

He was definitely more relaxed this time around. We did more "just
hanging out" in the common rooms this time around. Harlan would say
hello to everyone who wanted to pet him, do a few tricks (catch the
cheese being his favorite) and then, while we chatted, he did his "dog
in front of the fire place" impression, sometimes lying on people's
feet. I was worried that maybe he should be interacting more, but the
aide I was with speculated that a "dog on the hearth" was more homey,
anyhow.

One thing it does is make the people realize he is comfortable. I often
accompany that behavior with a remork like "uh oh - looks like he's
getting comfy. He just might want to stay here!" YOu have to be,
however, aware of anyone who might take it as if he IS going to stay. On
occasion we've had a heck of a time getting the dog away from someone who
got rather attached. Usually we bring up another dog, hopefully one of
the more pushy friendly ones, get the person's attention on the new dog,
then before they commit themselves "Well, he enjoyed visiting, He has to
say good-bye now."

snip

snip
Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

g And for a lot of them you can tell the sam story over and over and
they not only don't mind but find comfort in it.

Sounds like you two are having fun.

Diane Blackmman
http:/www.dog-play.com/therapy.html

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:52:01 GMT Theresa Willis whittled these words:
Harlan pulled an Oso on the visit today.

Good boy!

We went up to the second floor, and they had these big picture
windows. While not the fourth floor, Harlan was still impressed with
the view.

Yup. I 'd love to know what they are thinking.

He was also fascinated by the TV in one of the rooms. Not sure why;
perhaps because it was so much larger.

Taht - or it might be high definition which has a different scan rate. I
think those have less flicker to dogs than standard TV. (Dogs have motion
sensitive vision so the theory is that regular tv has a strobe effect.)

He was a very good schmoozer, especially with the men.

Good for him! Good schmoozing is in the job description. Oso is partial
to the men as well. And *real* pets none of the whimpy fondling.

He was definitely more relaxed this time around. We did more "just
hanging out" in the common rooms this time around. Harlan would say
hello to everyone who wanted to pet him, do a few tricks (catch the
cheese being his favorite) and then, while we chatted, he did his "dog
in front of the fire place" impression, sometimes lying on people's
feet. I was worried that maybe he should be interacting more, but the
aide I was with speculated that a "dog on the hearth" was more homey,
anyhow.

One thing it does is make the people realize he is comfortable. I often
accompany that behavior with a remork like "uh oh - looks like he's
getting comfy. He just might want to stay here!" YOu have to be,
however, aware of anyone who might take it as if he IS going to stay. On
occasion we've had a heck of a time getting the dog away from someone who
got rather attached. Usually we bring up another dog, hopefully one of
the more pushy friendly ones, get the person's attention on the new dog,
then before they commit themselves "Well, he enjoyed visiting, He has to
say good-bye now."

snip

snip
Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

g And for a lot of them you can tell the sam story over and over and
they not only don't mind but find comfort in it.

Sounds like you two are having fun.

Diane Blackmman
http:/www.dog-play.com/therapy.html

Theresa Willis wrote in
:
..

Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

I love these stories of yours,( and Diane's too.) I think you ought
to compile them together because it's a very good reading.
It really makes me smile and I can visualize it quite well.


Terri

Theresa Willis wrote in
:
..

Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

I love these stories of yours,( and Diane's too.) I think you ought
to compile them together because it's a very good reading.
It really makes me smile and I can visualize it quite well.


Terri

Theresa Willis wrote in
:
..

Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

I love these stories of yours,( and Diane's too.) I think you ought
to compile them together because it's a very good reading.
It really makes me smile and I can visualize it quite well.


Terri

Theresa Willis wrote in
:
..

Turns out I have a lot of Harlan stories, so even when he isn't doing
something silly at the moment, he can still get a laugh.

I love these stories of yours,( and Diane's too.) I think you ought
to compile them together because it's a very good reading.
It really makes me smile and I can visualize it quite well.


Terri