Mango Minster - Cabana the Working Stiff

For the first time, Cabana and I have decided to participate in Mango Minster. Being extremely slow on the uptake, it has taken me about 3 years to figure out that Mango Minster is a dog blog show and contest, put on by the Mango Momma, based on the Westminster Dog Show. As Mango himself would say, "Duh!"

I have entered Cabana in the Working Stiffs category. After all, she may have flunked out as a guide dog, but she still works hard for her keep! Over the holidays, Cabana was invaluable as a babysitter, or more specifically, a young boy sitter. My nephews, ages 8 and 5, came for a visit, and Cabana was in stellar working form, which will undoubtedly lead to inevitable questions from the boys about why can't get their own dog back home in Louisiana. Sorry, but that's what happens when you come to the home of the greatest working stiff dog in the world.

Here, Cabana lets the boys practice reading to her. Her previous experience as a certified therapy dog/reading buddy came in handy. See how intently Cabana checks for accuracy? Or maybe she's having a staring contest with the Angry Bird on my nephew's shirt.

Always one to set a good example, Cabana shows the boys how to pose for a photo. They copy her, down to the paws! Now if only Cabana could teach them how to eat their vegetables....

Playing follow the leader, Cabana makes sure to steer the boys down the straight and narrow path. Exercise and routine are sacrosanct, and house guests are no reason for skipping a morning walk, especially when the standard dog rule also applies here--namely, a tired boy is a good boy.

If dog tummies make good pillows, cousin tummies must make good pillows, too. As with most things in our house, Cabana is at the center of the fun. With a single move, she can recapture the attention from all those bleepity techno gadgets, like iPhones, iPads, Nintendos and xBoxes. Cabana holds her own against them all--and that's got to be the toughest job there is! Any creature that can accomplish that deserves a prize, wouldn't you agree?

Hope you'll wish us luck in the contest. Or better yet, why not enter, too? I hear there are going to be some great prizes!

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Back to Work

My recent posts have all been about Cabana at play, but today, she was a working dog. Here we both are in our canine therapy uniforms.

This was our first time visiting the Alzheimer's facility totally on our own. After going there with the mentor twice and waiting for Cabana's jacket and my badge to arrive, I totally lost momentum. It took me weeks to finally pick up the phone and set up a schedule with the volunteer coordinator. It can be so hard to get the ball rolling sometimes, especially for someone as phone averse as me.

Today's visit was pretty good. After our last visit, I wrote down the names of some of the residents I'd met along with a short description, as a "cheat sheet" so I could remember them and address them by name. I was glad I'd done that because I saw them again today, and they were very pleased that I remembered them.

Cabana did great. She doesn't have to do much because being cute gets her a lot of free points. The weak link is me! I know I can't be too hard on myself because I'm new and externally, I do alright. I'm not nervous or too terribly awkward. But inside, I'm having a hard time!

It's very difficult to "read" the residents because they can be somewhat expressionless. They don't always respond when I ask them if they'd like to visit with Cabana, so I don't really know what they want. Some of them try to talk but can't get out the words. Really, the ones that ask me the same question over and over again are the easy ones! At least they're aware of our presence and are trying to carry on a conversation.

Last time I was there, I brought Cabana over to a table of women who were playing cards and eating potato chips. The whole time I was there, two of the women were having the most caustic argument, calling each other horrible names and being generally hateful to each other. I was rather taken aback and even said that maybe a staff member should move one of them to the other end of the table. The staff member walking by just rolled her eyes and said they do this all the time. But the funny thing is, today, the two women were sitting next to each other again, laughing and acting like best friends! These two women are now my impetus for going back--I want to see if they're friends or enemies the next time we visit!

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