Week 5

We had a couple of emotional classes last week.  I asked the kids put themselves in their dogs paws and write a story about their lives.  Where did they come from, how did they end up in the shelter, how do they feel?  In these stories the kids tend to write their own stories.  When the girls were done writing the stories I asked them to read them out loud.  After two of the girls finished their stories A.W. raised her hand.  With tears in her eyes, because her two best friends had just read their stories, she said, "They just wrote their own stories".  The kids usually either don't notice this or they don't say anything.  When A.W. said that, several of the girls started to cry.  Then they continued reading their stories.  It was nice to see them get so emotional.  They were feeling for each other, showing the empathy and compassion they were learning from the program.  It was one of those days that when I get into my car to drive home, I break down, not because I'm sad but because I'm so happy for them, so proud of them.
In our next class the kids wrote about their experience at the Macomb County Animal Shelter.  Some were happy with what they experienced and others were disturbed.  C.A. was pretty upset.  She saw her dog, Lilly, in the kennel and realized how much the dogs must feel like them, locked up.  A.W. was upset because the moment she saw the dogs in their kennels she realized how her family must feel when they visit her at the JJC.  J was happy because Missy was barking when she saw her and J had never heard her bark before.  A.M. was upset because Casey was kennel aggressive and he seemed very upset to see any of us. 
One of the girls, K, wasn't able to join us at the shelter because she hasn't been in the JJC long enough for them to trust her to go on a field trip so she decided to write about how she feels about Bella.  She wrote how proud she is of Bella, how much Bella has learned in such a short time.  Then K wrote about how she has lost so many people in her life that she has this big hole in her heart and Bella has filled that hole.  K wrote that now that she knows that hole can be filled she will be able to let people in again and not push them away.  THIS IS A HUGE STEP, A BIG REALIZATION!!! The entire room cried when K read from her journal, the girls, the JJC staff, and myself.

This is a pic of the kennels at the shelter.  Looks a lot like a jail cell doesn't it?  It's really more like solitary confinement since most of the dogs only get out probably 15 minutes a day.

Week 3

I can't believe we are already done with week three and going into week four!!! Time flies when you're having fun! The girls and the dogs are doing great. This is probably one of the best classes I've ever had, although, I'm pretty sure I've said that several times before. :) Let's do a little run down here:

MP, J, and Missy:
Missy is our red and white Husky. MP started off being lazy and J did most of the work. Turns out MP isn't lazy at all, I think maybe she just needed some time to get used to the environment and get comfortable with J and Missy. Missy also seemed to be lazy and it looks like she was doing the same as MP. Funny how most of the time the kids end up picking dogs that are just like them! It happens all the time! Missy is a typical Husky and is slowing moving through her training. J is working very hard. She likes to get things done and get them done right. J is very worried about Missy. She is constantly saying things like "Is Missy sick? I think she's sick, she doesn't look right today. She seems tired. Why is she tired? Are you sure she isn't sick?" If I had to take a guess I would say J has probably lost someone significant in her life to an illness, maybe her mother, father, or a sibling. MP has lost someone, her father, when she was very young, well, she still is very young. Maybe that is why the two girls are working so good together too. Hmmmmm. Food for thought.

AM and Casey:
AM and Casey are moving right along. AM's first dog was a nut. Casey is a nice change for her and she is enjoying just being able to work on the the basic obedience and not have to work out the problem behaviors. Casey is one of those dogs that is good at trying to mimic a person's voice. I've seen videos of dogs like Casey but this is the first I have witnessed! AM will say "I love you" in a howling voice and Casey will mimic it and it actually sounds like the dog is saying "I love you"! I will get it on video and post it as soon as they perfect it.

MM and Skittles:
MM is really enjoying the training. Skittles is extremely smart. MM has taught Skittles to sit, lay down, army crawl, paw, come, stay, and is now working on leave it. Most dogs don't make it this far in the six weeks they have to train. I wish we were able to work outside with this dog, she would be a great candidate for the agility course. I have never seem a St. Bernard on an agility course so that would have been a site to see!

CM, AA, and CiCi:
CM is working on a GED (General Education Degree) so she isn't able to be with us for every class so AA is doing most of the work. AA gets a lot more done with CM isn't there. AA seems to be a little over-powered by CM and won't do much with her around. CiCi is a difficult dog to work with indoors. She is easily distracted and REALLY wants to play with the other dogs so in a small gymnasium it not easy to keep Cici focused. AA did a great job of it today though! AA made sure to keep CiCi's back to the other dogs and they were able to get a lot done today.

CA, AW, and Lilly:
This is the perfect team! These girls are really working as a team. They discuss what needs to be done, how they are going to get it done and then do it! Lilly is one of the sweetest dogs I've come across. She's pretty young, maybe a year old. She has that soft coat of a Golden Retriever but she's snow white and stalky like a Pit Bull. One of our staff seems interested in her. He has been looking for a dog for a while and I think he has finally found her. :)
I love when the staff adopts a TP dog. This will be the third at the JJC. I myself have a TP dog too, not from the JJC though. Lukas is from Teacher's Pet's summer camp for kids, Kamp K9. Lukas was about 40 lbs., could barely move, always had his tail tucked, kept his head down low and could barely eat. He is now 89 lbs, eats like horse, gallops down the street with his tail and his nose held high. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.

MW, K, and Bella:
Bella, Bella, Bella. I seem to be saying that a lot lately! She's getting better with the nipping but the girls still have a loooooooong ways to go. Bella is turning out to be a little more difficult to work than I had expected. I knew it would be a challenge but WOW! We've had many injuries because of her nipping. Fortunately I have received most of them while harnessing her and the girls have just had a couple scratches. I am considering putting a muzzle on her Wednesday to try to work on getting her focused and keeping her that way and then remove the muzzle and see if the girls can keep her focused without it. A muzzle doesn't hurt a dog at all. I muzzle Lukas at the Veterinarian because if he feels the slightest bit of pain he will bite. He wouldn't bite me or my family but he will bite the Vet. I wonder how many times a Vet gets bitten throughout their careers???

Okay, here are some pics!

Missy

Bella

Lilly

CiCi

Skittles

Casey

What exactly is Teacher's Pet?

Create a photo slideshow

Day 3

Class was great yesterday!!! We have a class of about 9-11 girls. A few of the girls are going to classes to get their G.E.D. before leaving the JJC, which has its pros and cons, so they are in TP (Teacher's Pet) as mentors or helpers. The G.E.D. issue: I have seen many of the kids getting a G.E.D. Nowadays a G.E.D. is as good as a high school diploma. The JJC feels that while the kids are there they need to be educated as much as possible since, in most cases, the kids won't or can't attend school on "the outs". What I have found is some of these kids are too young when they get their G.E.D. and then go home and have nothing to do! With nothing to do, they get board, go out and get in trouble again! I see the benefit if the kid is 17 or older but under 17 they should continue in a public, alternative or home study school.

The kids and dogs.....

AM - Casey:
Casey is a black Pit mix. I believe Casey was originally owned by someone who wanted to train her for dog fighting. Her ears are cropped in a way that you see most fighting dogs have and she has a tattoo, some kind of symbol on her right hind leg. It seems that she was somewhat loved though, she's friendly and has some manners.
AM has been in TP previously. The dog she worked with had to leave the shelter before getting out of TP so AM only did two weeks train. This time around AM is on her last level at the JJC, Yellow shirt, so she will be going home in about six weeks, just enough time to train Casey.

MM - Skittles
Skittles is a St. Bernard/Cattle Dog mix ??? a puppy. My guess is someone bought a puppy and then decided they couldn't handle it and turned her into the shelter. She'll be an easy train.
MM is a very sweet girl, a little shy and clingy, smiles all the time (so far). MM always sits right next to me in the classroom and gives me a hug at the beginning of class and again at the end of class.

JC & MP - Missy (Red/White Husky, one blue eye, one brown eye, typical Husky personality :) I want to take this dog home! Extremely timid on her first day, a little better second day. Afraid of walking down stairs)
JC and Missy are perfect for each other, they both would rather sit and be lazy than work on training. JC is a sweet girl with lots of questions but as soon as I walk away she is sitting on her butt again. From what I've seen in the classroom though she is a like a sponge and works until she gets it right so I somehow have to keep her off her but when she's supposed to be training.
MP I really haven't been able to work with a whole lot yet. She had to leave class for a while yesterday.

CM & AA - CiCi (Beautiful Black/White Pit mix maybe? Maybe some Dalmatian? She has definitely had a good home in the past and has had some training. Sweet lovable dog, one of those where I got to wonder why she is in the shelter)
CM is talkative when CiCi is around but in the classroom is quiet. Not surprising though, sometimes a kid that won't say much at all will pour their heart out when a dog is present. CM will have to leave class earlier most days for her G.E.D. classes.
AA was quiet at first but opened up yesterday. She did most of the work with her dog and participated well in the classroom.

CA & AW - Lilly (White Lab mix. Her fur is soooooo soft! Lilly is very lovable and unfortunately sick. Getting sick dogs from the shelter makes me nervous. 50/50 chance she will make it through the program being sick.)
CA is a pretty girl that I thought would be a princess and not want to work with her dog. WRONG! I love when the kids prove me wrong! She is out going and is the first to get to work. Not a single complaint out of her.
AW - I haven't had a chance to get to know her much yet. She had to leave class for a family session.

MW & K - Bella
Bella, Bella, Bella. White Pit Bull with brown ears. She doesn't like to go up the stairs into the building. Bella is out of control! She jumps, nips, and has absolutely no focus what so ever. On Bella's first day with us she bruised my arms so badly with her nipping that my husband thought I had been attacked. She is the perfect dog for TP.
These two girls are saints! Bella is going to be the biggest challenge I have seen in my TP career. I have yet to hear one single complaint from either of these girls. They have loved Bella unconditionally and are working together to help her. Geez, it brings a tear to my eyes just to think of what they will do for this dog.

Okay, so there you have it! The first TP JJC class of 2011. I'm very excited about this class now. I was nervous at first but I think this will be the best class yet!

I hate to make this post drag on forever but I have to talk a little bit about what I've been doing with the kids on "the outs". If you haven't figured it out, "on the outs" means on the outside of the JJC. I've been working with KR, DE, NB, CC, HM, NW, and LH. A little bit on each of them:

KR: Not doing well. Disappears for long periods of time and then calls for help. I will help her every time and pray that someday she won't disappear again.
DE: She goes to the shelter with me at least once a week. Her home life sucks but she is doing the best she can.
NB: He is from my very first JJC class. I love him to.death. He is so smart. He violated his probation by running away from home after he left the JJC. He ran for very good reason. NB is now at a facility a couple hours away. I haven't seen him since just before he was transferred there BUT I GET TO SEE HIM THIS WEEKEND!!! :)
CC: She is fresh out of the JJC and has been to the shelter with me twice. Very smart girl, I hope she figures that out soon. I like to call kids like her an "old soul".
HM: HM is also from my very first class. She made a huge impression on me right away and because of her I realized that what I'm doing with these kids is my purpose in life and I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I don't see HM too often but she is doing well.
NW: NW doesn't need a whole lot of help. She is doing great on her own but I still love my visits with NW. She is NB's best friend.
LH: LH gave me a very difficult time her first three weeks in TP. I was SO frustrated with her! I was told at one point that I just needed to back off of her and that there are always going to be those kids that I just won't be able to connect with. There was no way I was backing off of this kid. There was something about her, that connection WAS there, I knew it! LH did everything in her power to keep her dog at a distance. Then, just like that, she broke down one day and said "I don't want to let this dog get close and then have to leave him. I know what it's like when someone just leaves and I don't want him to feel that way." UGGGGG! Broke my heart but that was just the beginning of a beautiful relationship between LH, her dog Princeton, and me. It was also the beginning of an unbelievable transformation of a 15 year old girl.
I see LH at least one or two times a week. She has been out of about three months now.

I could go on and on and on about these kids! I'll stop here. I won't drag on for so long in the future, I just had to get all the info out there today.

Thanks for reading!
Lisa

First and second days back....

First day back. Feb 7, 2011
Today was a BUSY day!!! I thought I was ready to get back but of course all morning long I kept thinking of things that I still needed to do! It all came together right on time though.
The class is HUGE! Sixteen girls all together. One, who has been there for probably a year, is going home this Thursday and another girl will be going home in two weeks. So that leaves us with 14 girls to work with! We will have six dogs so I'm thinking we will pair the girls up two to one dog and have two of the girls mentor the new girls.
Mentors do not work with their own dog. They help with all the kids and dogs, just as one of our volunteers would do. I'm really excited about one of the girls mentoring. "KT" is very shy and very easily influenced by the other girls. I'm hoping that putting her in a mentor position will force her out of her shell and help her take charge and lead the way for other girls for once. I have high hopes for her. "KT".....remember those initials! I have a feeling she will be in this blog quite often!
We just had classroom work today, stress reduction and management. The kids are taught how to read the dogs' body language, understand their stress and how to react to it all. It's pretty easy really, just put yourself in the dogs paws.

Day 2, Feb. 8, 2011
The girls walked in the gym and did exactly what they were supposed to do...no rushing up to the dogs, get down to the dogs level, no petting on the top of the head, relax, be happy, and no direct eye contact with the dogs. The dogs quickly adjusted and were comfortable, and so were the girls. Unfortunately, we will be unable to keep all the girls in the class. Sixteen is just too many. Although it went well today, I realized it is so much easier to connect with the girls and talk with them when it is just one kid and one dog. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to have two kids to one dogk, for example, when it is a painfully shy kid and I can pair them with an out going kid. We really have to pay attention to someone like "KT" though, who is so easily influenced by others. We have never been able to pair her with anyone. She needs to come out of her shell, yet we don't want her learning bad habits from others. KT has trained two dogs, has gone home, and came back again. This time we'll try her out in a mentoring role. She was already taking it seriously today. She stepped up and was helping others, even cleaning up after the dogs without being asked to.
So now the difficult part was to begin, who stays, who goes? Then a staff supervisor, for the JJC, walks in and tells me, who stays, who goes. You'd think "oh great, I didn't have to make that decision now". No, not the case. It seems to me that the decision has been made based on punishment. Kids that are being punished are not allowed in the class, and kids who are behaving, can stay. That is not the way it is supposed to work and, unfortunately, Teacher's Pet runs into this problem quite often. The kids love our program, so staff in most of the facilities that we work in, have decided to use us as a punishment or perk. Fact is, the kids that are getting in the most trouble, having the most problems, they NEED to be in our program. They need the most help. Teacher's Pet wasn't created for fun, it is designed to help these kids, to give them confidence in themselves, to prove to them that they are worth something, they can do good things, they can be loved, it helps them feel good about themselves. Uggggggg, people just don't get this! They think, "this is fun so they don't deserve this, they're are being punished". So now this needs to be addressed and it is never a good to start off the program with a disagreement. I really have to think about how to approach this!

Tomorrow I will post pics of the dogs!

Trying to get back to blogging!

I've been thinking a lot about getting back to this. It's a great time to start again since I have a whole new class starting tomorrow. I'm thinking I should be able to get on here at least twice a week. Since I've last been on here I have also started mentoring several students after they have left the JJC (Juvenile Justice Center). I really like doing this since I can keep in touch with the kids now! :) If you had followed a year ago when I was on here, I was having a difficult time letting go of the kids. Being able to keep in touch with a few has really helped and it's been fun too!
Updates on some of the kids:
H - I see and or talk to H periodically. I'm not really mentoring her. I've taken her to look for a job and went to her graduation from drug court. She seems to be doing well.
N - I haven't seen N in a while. He is attending/living at a school a little far away but is doing great! We write letters, yes, actual hand written letters! It's the only way we can communicate right now. Hopefully soon I will have permission to visit him.

I have been taking several kids to the animal shelter in the mornings during the week. It's been a lot of fun and we're able to get some training in too. I have even taken one of my own kids a couple times and that has been a lot of fun!

There have been some changes to the program over the past year. The boys and girls have been separated in our program so we have boys on Tues/Thurs and girls Weds/Fri. We recently received a grant to build a building which will allow us to keep the dogs at the JJC throughout their training, six weeks. I am really excited about this although there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of plans to be made!

I'm hoping to be able to keep this blog up to date!!! Good night for now!

Lisa