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A
special dog with a special job.
Missi Mai has something important to say . . . in her own light hearted way! |
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Missi
Mai Martin Hello folks, nice
to meet you and great to greet you. My name is Missi Mai Martin and
I live with the author of "Celubrious" and I call him my Papa.
I can tell you first hand that he is a wonderful man. He is very kind,
gentle and easy to train. He gives me a full body massage every morning
at 5:00 a.m. while wakening up on our front porch. All I have to do
is take care of my business on the front lawn, something that needs
to be done anyway, but he thinks I'm trained by him. (Ha Ha Tee Hee!)
Can you even believe he actually tells his friends that I can talk.
He says "what's on the top of our house?" and I naturally
say "roof-roof" He then says "what's sand paper like?"
and I say "rough---rough." His favorite is "what's the
name of the greatest baseball player?" and I say "rouff---rouff".
I know it's hard to believe but what did you want me to say---DiMagio?
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I am living proof
of what is called a hybrid designer dog….I am half American Eskimo
and half Shih-Tzu…. My owners are thinking that two (2) irresponsible
pet owners let their dogs off the leash and found my owners to pay a
high price tag for me. My extended family tells me I am special and
that I was picked above some other special puppies. It was love at first
sight, and I was only eight (8) weeks old. I understand there was a
method to their madness for wanting a dog and I promised to be all that
I could be and they believed me.
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Papa
and I also live with Maw and she is the main reason for my being with
them. Maw is nearly deaf and needs my help for hearing. I went to puppy
camp or what I like to call (paw's on boot camp) which is about three
(3) hours from my home to be trained (brained washed) by my drill sergeant
Ms. Cathy so I could turn out to be a "working dog". Sometimes
I think of her as "Colonel Klink!" Actually, she is a pretty
nice lady who works with Pilot Dogs in Columbus,
Ohio.
I have learned all the basic obedience
things like; sit, stay, heel, down, and off as instruction and training
was given in both voice and American Sign Language. When I followed
the sergeant's orders she always complimented me with the words I love
to hear "good girl." Once my obedience training was complete
I moved on to the alert skills training sessions (advanced combat paw
training). It is there I learned to respond to the alarm clock, the
telephone, the smoke detector, the doorbell, as well as someone hard
knocking on the door. |
| Going home was my temporary graduation as a working dog for hearing impairments but the final exams were yet to come. When I finally got home with Maw and Papa I had to train the two (2) of them and they had to keep me alert and on my paws to all that I had learned. We had to constantly practice all of my newly attained skills. They were determined to get it right and so was I. When we were not sure about something we were as near as the phone to Colonel Klink---Ms. Cathy, you remember the drill sergeant, to assist and guide our abilities to make it right. She was great! |
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Several weeks later the sergeant came to our home for the final exam and to test my skills. You guessed it, we passed and graduated. I am now a certified one hundred percent working dog with the forever skills to assist my hearing impaired Maw. I wear an orange collar, orange leash and sport an orange certified dog tag. By the way, my graduation party was awesome, so many treats and new toys for this certified hearing dog graduate…….Sorry you missed it! |
| The training and certification are very important to Maw and Papa and since I promised to be all that I can be as a working dog I want to keep my promise. The separation from my extended family was ruff, ruff, ruff…I want to give thanks to Ms. Cathy at Pilot Dogs in Columbus, Ohio for making my tour of duty a memorable experience as she is the one who has made all this valuable training possible |
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If you or someone you may know can benefit from the assistance of a hearing dog, like me, please call Cathy at 614-443-0029. Pilot Dogs / Hearing Dogs is a private, non-profit organization. There is no cost to the qualified recipient. Pilot Dogs specialize in taking homeless dogs that would have been put down and place them in homes with people who are hearing impaired. Some of the dogs train with the women confined to the Ohio State Prison System which also provides them with job opportunities in the future. The Pilot Program presently has dogs that are house broken; obedience trained and hearing impaired alert trained ready for placement. All you have to do is fill out an application and be accepted. We know its "ruff-ruff" when you can't hear but it is not to "ruff-ruff to ask for help. May God always hold you in the palm of His hand, seize the moment and have a "Celubrious day." |
