Touch, Rehab visits, and the chiropractor

Touch:
So far I have failed miserably with Ike and Touch. Oye! As Esther recommended, I tried whip cream on his target plate. He was fairly confident licking it off, so I put my hand under the plate with whip cream. Guess what Mister Ike did? He up and left the room and hid in his crate. No joke. I don't quite understand his thinking....

I talked about it last night with Denise before our Shelter classes. She has a small dog that she had a lot of difficulty teaching Touch to and she recommended trying peanut butter. I might try a whole new tack with the peanut butter. I don't want to ruin what I have going on with his target plate since he really enjoys that and thinks it is a fun game. So perhaps I will start on my hand with the peanut butter and see what kind of response I can get from him. He is very food motivated - he just gets weirded out by some things. It makes me laugh to think about all the people that think of dogs as the same and brave/fool-hardy. Mister Ike is not!

Rehab:
Ike and I have been visiting a Rehab/nursing home in Canton for nearly three months now. We are finally getting into a groove where I know the people who most enjoy seeing him. The past couple of times I have left the rehab feeling as though we are really bringing some light to people's lives.

Visiting the rehab is the one thing I do with Ike that I end up feeling a bit like a stage mom. I totally recognize that I get more out of it than him. However, considering what a weirdo he is about people I think it is excellent continued socialization.

I hope to the good gods that when I am old or ill someone visits the rehab I am in with their dog!

Chiropractor:
Ike had his third visit with Dr. Ann Crawshaw on Wednesday. Ann is a chiropractor for people, horses, and dogs! Wow.

Since Ike is so pokey, and a little bit stiff on one side, Katrin recommended that I take him to the chiropractor. I will freely admit to being a bit skeptical at first.

On our initial visit Ann inspected Ike and detected a knotted muscle in the left pelvic area caused by the left side of his pelvis being tipped the wrong direction and a jammed neck! Our first two visits were to work on these problems. This last visit Ann did Ike's first full body session. We have two more sessions to go and I am VERY curious to see how it pans out. Dr. Crawshaw is a very nice person. I can only hope this adds some speed to my boy!

I will try and write in more depth about our chiropractor visits on Wednesday after his next appointment. In some ways, the procedure might sound voodoo-like, however if I get the results I am looking for I could care less about the presentation.