Another reason for a steak dinner tonight! - Page 1

I know usually this forum discusses less than positive experiences with the public, which is why when I have a good experience or come across people who don't take liberties with my dog I try to shares those.  

Took my guy to my son's little league game, since he loves to go to these games and crowd watch.  So we were sitting under a tree enjoying the breeze when I made note that a family beside us had a child who was extremely stimulated by the crowd and situation: nothing bad but obviously autistic and becoming a handful for his mother.

Erik had been making friends (I lost count of how many hugs he got) and staying in a good platz most of the day so when I had my eyes on the game at one point I didn't worry too much when I felt the leash tug.  I knew he was creeping but wasn't overly concerned since I knew who was around and figured he was rolling, stretching and enjoying the grass but in the next couple of minutes I realized that our area had gotten a little calmer.  So I glanced down the leash and realized he's wriggled himself over to the autistic youngster and was laying beside him.  The boy was mostly ignoring him but would reach over and squeeze the thick fur at his neck/shoulder and then go back to playing.  I glanced quickly at the mother and lifted the leash, ready to bring Erik back to me but she had this desperate look in her eye and shook her head so I left him be.

And that was how we passed the remaining innings of the game.  Erik didn't budge, no matter the chaos around him. His new friend played calmly and would reach over and squeeze his fur every so often and one time lay down across his shoulders, hugging him. This is much the way Erik has handled himself around a member of my family who is developmentally challenged but it was fascinating to see him do it with a complete stranger.

Towards the end of the game, the mother came over and thanked me for sharing my 'therapy' dog and asked me what agency I had gotten him from.  I explained he wasn't a trained therapy dog but my sport dog and this was a 'day off' for him.  She was very surprised and explained that her family was looking to get her child a therapy dog but had not yet found one who clicked.  That they had worked with a couple agencies and of the dogs they'd met, they had not been introduced to a German Shepherd and she was going to talk to the people she was working with about possibly trying to find one since her son took so well to Erik.

To me, today he earned a steak for dinner, just like he gets after a successful trial!  It always just feels good when we have a successful 'Ambassador for the Breed' interaction with the public.

Such a good dog! Thanks so much for sharing!

This is how our breed SHOULD behave!

Good boy, Erik!

My Dylan is dual, actually triple purpose- autistic support & protection & tracking for a 4yr old autistic boy who likes to pick locks and escape while his parents are sleeping. They bought him for tracking and protection, but within a couple weeks, he started intervening in the child's tantrums and quelling them in a way his parents couldn't come close to. He would go farther and farther away, mentally, when his parents would try to talk to him or touch him. Dylan seems to have the opposite effect. He can nuzzle him and lick him and nudge and the boy seems to come around in a fraction of the time. That same litter also has one who naturally alerts to low blood sugar. It was Capri's last litter and I bred her daughter to the same sire hoping for more of that temperament. Both do great "regular" work as well- hoping for more of the same! 

A dog who naturally has those tendencies is so amazing to watch, imho. 

Thank you everybody!! 

As proud as I am of our titles and his IPO work ethic, it's encounters like these that really puff me up like a peacock.

Like I've explained before, it is this temperment I saw in him from a puppy that got me through all the struggles with IPO until he matured to a point and it clicked on.

Jenni thank you for the good boy!  I'll give him a canoodle for you.  I wish I'd had the connections to do more therapy work with Erik because he does appear to be a natural for it as well as tracking and protection.  People ask me a lot of the time if he's a PP dog since I do protection and I explain he is not.  For me, personally, doing protection is about my getting to know his true thresholds under pressure, his nerve and the clarity of his head.  This is why I'm never worried about him in public.

Dylan sounds wonderful and I really respect how the litters you've put on the ground seem to produce these kind of balanced German Shepherds.  For me, personally, I don't need a dog who is extreme in one direction or another.  Give me this balanced, clear headed thinker, over the top of the podium, any day of the week.

Wow. That brought tears to my eyes! Awesome story.

RLHAR, I'm curious how he's bred. I wonder if he and my pups like that have any common ancestry. I couldn't believe I got 2 out of a litter, with zero training. Very early presence of these qualities, too. The diabetic alert was only 16 weeks old when he started waking the guy up. These things were purely happenstance- the dogs were purchased for other tasks. Send me his ped please, if you don't want to post it. 

RLHAR, if you see this woman again, get her info. I would gladly give her a very steep discount on a pup of the nearly repeat breeding. I say nearly repeat because it's 3/4 the same ped. No guarantees, of course, but when you're getting multiples "accidentally" turning into service dogs, I'd say the odds are in your favor. She is due in 2 weeks.  I really feel for the parents of autistic children. 

Jenni,

That is a fantastic offer and I will definitely keep an eye out for the family when I go to the next games!  I'm not sure if they were in our league or one of the visting teams though.  I should have gotten her name today but you know how it is with dogs/kids, you sometimes strike up hour long conversations over the topic of dogs/kids and wind up walking away without ever exchanging names.

If you see her, you see her. I'm easy to find and not going anywhere anytime soon.  :)

I love to see my dogs serving a real purpose. I cannot imagine what those parents go through on a daily basis. I'd love to post pics of Dylan w/his child but I won't post pics of someone else's child on the internet.