The Journey Continues, Sort Of.

     Yakama Nation RV Park in Toppenish, WA

Well we have successfully made our way back to Oregon and into the Willamette Valley. Cherelle working the sounds like a pro. Good thing too because I've been distracted and l left the refrigerator door practically gaping, something you'd think would be difficult to do in a motorhome. Cherelle heard the door ajar alarm and let me know that I'd better get the thing closed. During a visit to my mother's in Forest Grove, Oregon, where we had lunch and a nice visit, Cher alerted me to both the toaster-oven timer and the microwave. My auntie who has lived with my mom since dad passed away three years ago, always seems to get a kick out of Cher. She and mom make sure that the big water dish is set out and filled for my girl when we visit. Last night we went to a gathering at my sister-in-law's where Cherelle gave me a tap with her nose when some guests knocked on the door and while there alerted me to a mystery sound. She and a couple of the guests heard it but could not quite pinpoint exactly from where it was coming. Cher and the guests were in agreement that the sound was somewhere in the kitchen but then it stopped and did not reoccur, leaving everyone scratching their heads. Me? I had to trust everyone else on the matter but was very proud of Cher showing her skills, working when there were a number of distractions.

    Catching some z's on her cot.

We will be taking a bit of a hiatus from traipsing all over the countryside, staying awhile in the town from which we launched our travels,Corvallis, Oregon.  I have found that I need some of the familiar. It is nice to be someplace where Cherelle and I are a fairly common sight and where I know that the odds of her and me being challenged as a Service Dog Team are slim. It is a relief to interact with people who know I have a severe hearing loss and take it in stride, making the effort that it often takes to communicate with me. 

Every interaction has some stress for me. I need to always and I mean always be concentrating each time I talk with anyone, and more so when there is environmental noise and the individual's voice is not familiar to me and/or soft spoken and/or has an accent and/or the person turns their face away and/or......you get the idea. And as a "tourist" discovering that you are missing out on information that everyone else has access to via audio, is disheartening. Financially it is no bargain to get one third or one half for what you have paid.  All these factors, combined with frequent new environments, does after a time, this case almost four months, push me to my limit. 

So I am taking time to recharge the batteries, so to speak, before further travels. But then every day each one of us is traveling on a journey that is our individual lives.  So then "Travels With Hearing Dog" continues even when the motorhome does not.

Best wishes from me and tail wags from Cherelle (aka Cher). The journey continues...........

Update On The "Oxbow Incident"

The General Manager | Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce contacted me via email to let me know that he was sorry that I had such an unpleasant experience while staying in Penticton, BC. His email was timely and thoughtful which speaks highly of the Penticton Chamber of Commerce. He sent me a complaint form to fill out to file with the Chamber. I replied, thanking him and expressing my regrets at not being able to spend more time in his city.

The Chamber of Commerce cannot address the incident with the owner of Oxbow RV Resort because Oxbow is no longer a current member of the Chamber. However Oxbow has the Penticton Chamber of Commerce member symbol posted predominately on its web page. 

Not for long I imagine since the Chamber now knows.

I have been informed by the BC Human Rights Tribunal that a US citizen is able to file a complaint with the Tribunal. I will need to wade through Section 8 of the Human Rights Code and review Tribunal Guides 1 and 2 before filling out the compliant. My issue may or may not fall within the guidelines. I have 6 months to file. A little light reading in the evenings while I snuggle with Cherelle. (Big wink inserted here.)

I want to thank everyone who has offered words of encouragement, support and words of comfort to me and snide comments about the individual discussed in my earlier blog and Facebook page. Each one has helped alleviate the unpleasantness of that encounter.

Hugs to all of you

Cherelle sends kisses along with the tail wags.

Stay tuned.........

    Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

 

Canada: The Good, The Bad and the Truly Ugly.

I thought I would try for light humor, hence the title, but I just cannot do it. I had a truly ugly experience at a RV park in Penticton, B.C. Canada. It involved not only the denial of access for my service dog, and therefore denial of lodging for me and my husband, but pure harassment about my status as a person with a hearing loss. 

I do want to say that the parts of Canada in Alberta and B.C. that we visited are beautiful and the majority of the citizens warm and friendly and other than three incidents of Cher being accosted by off lead dogs (that is "the bad"), she and I had no problems and were accepted as a team. However the following experience at the final leg of our trip was upsetting enough for me to dampen my spirits and my enthusiasm about that part of B.C. 

The humiliation I experienced yesterday (September 15th, 2013) as we attempted to check into Oxbow RV Resort with my Service Dog was inexcusable. Her ID, which I showed when asked was rejected. "It's a fake" the owner screamed at me (the husband of the husband wife owner team).  When I refused to back down on Cherelle's legitimacy as a Service Dog, he then attacked my disability status. This made the situation more appalling and traumatic for me. The owner harassed me, insisting I prove I was "deaf". I never claimed I was deaf, rather severely hearing impaired. He demanded I show him if I was wearing hearing aids. Flustered and in shock I did. Even then he refuse to believe that I was hearing impaired because in his opinion I did not meet his criteria as "deaf". He attempted to get me alone to conduct his own hearing evaluation on me which felt just plain creepy and at that point I walked away from him badly shaken. Perhaps if I were Canadian rather than American this would not have happened? If his goal was to be so unpleasant as to make us leave then the campaign was a success. My husband and I could not leave Penticton or B.C. fast enough.

However his demeaning and insulting actions will have consequences. I will be contacting the following and registering a complaint: Good Sam, (which is a huge supporter of Dogs for the Deaf the organization that gave me Cherelle), Penticton Chamber of Commerce, The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, B.C. Human Rights Clinic, BC Human Right Tribunal, and The Ministry of Attorney General. There is also an American Attorney who specializes in legal rights of those with hearing loss whose advice I will be seeking. 

When that business owner went from refusing me access because I had a Service Dog to refusing me lodging because he did not want to believe I was hearing impaired, he crossed over into territory he had no business going into and I might add no qualifications to make that determination. I do not want anyone else having to undergo that kind of ugly experience by that individual. 

Warm Wishes from me.

Tail wags from Cherelle aka, Cher.

    Bow Falls at Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Lost In Translation

Note: We will be in Canada September 4th through the 16th. Alberta to Pendicton BC.  I will not be using my cell or iPad because of the expense so it is unlikely that I will be posting until we are back in the U.S. If I snag a decent wifi I might do a short blog. So until the 17th.......... Everyone take care.

 Rest Area outside of Billings MT as we head to Butte.

As we continued our journey which has taken us through Montana, we drove through The Crazy Mountains.  The "Crazies" as they are sometimes called are a mountain range in Montana in the northern Rocky Mountains. With a name like that I just had to look up the story behind it. There were a couple of stories (see Wikipedia) but the one I thought most likely is attributed to what I think of as a case of "lost in translation". The Crow natives considered the mountains to be a place to go for vision quests. Since trappers and other people of European decent were likely not familiar with the concept of "visions" or of going someplace to have a vision, and the Crow may not have had a word for vision, it probably ended up being interpreted (and I am taking liberties here) by non-natives as "the mountains were the natives go to be crazy".  A more accurate name in my opinion would be Vision Quest Mountains. 

And this all relates to traveling with a Hearing Dog how? Well directly it doesn't but indirectly it does relate to my life as someone with a severe hearing loss. The Crazy Mountains label was, as I mentioned, probably a result of miscommunication and misunderstanding.  Both those words describe what happens to me on just about a daily bases and to basically anyone with a hearing loss. The extent of the "lost in translation" experience depends on the extent of and type of hearing loss as well as an individual's skills in dealing with the loss, such as wearing or not wearing hearing aids, (Dependent upon whether or not a person can benefit from hearing aids.) and ability to lip read and put speech into context. For me the experience of communicating with others is a bit like a trip through crazy mountains rather than of going on a vision quest. I will admit though that living with a hearing loss can lead to insights into others and myself. So maybe there is some "vision" involved even if I haven't sought it out. I suppose I could label my hearing loss as a Crazy Mountains, Vision Quest kind of journey. I am very happy to have Cherelle be my guide through part of it!  And there you have the tie-in to Hearing Dog. 

    Overlooking part of Butte MT and one of the many abandoned mines that surround the city.

Warm wishes to everyone from me and tail wags from Cherelle, aka Cher.

From South Dakota to Montana.

        Journeys Museum in Rapid City SD

Well today Cher and I bid farewell to South Dakota and after a full day's drive we say hello to Montana. One night in Billings and then tomorrow we will explore Butte for a few days. 

      Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, SD

In between sightseeing in SD Cherelle has been working the sounds for me. One of the RV park personnel knocked on the door with an important request and she let know he was there. Larry inadvertently triggered the smoke alarm and she had her nose tapping me in short order. Very importantly as we walked along a bike/walking path her body language indicated to me that something was behind us. I was able to step to the side in time to avoid a bicyclist rushing by. I think the cyclist may have announced herself first but of course I did not hear. Cher did though! She also showed off her skills to some guest we had.

 A very nice and interesting couple visited us who were in the Custer area from North Carolina in their cute RoadTrek motorhome. The woman, Chris is a freelance writer and her hubby, Bob, a photographer. They make a great team and together have had their work about RV travels published in "Motor Home Magazine". Chris is going to write an article about Cherelle and her life as a traveling Hearing Dog. Of course I and Larry may get mentioned too (wink). She will submit the article at the end of October. Cher alerted me when Bob's cell phone rang and when his camera beeped as he took photos of us. We were able to show them first hand how a Hearing Dog team operates. It was very reassuring for Chris who is going through the process of applying with Dogs for the Deaf for her first Hearing Dog. Cherelle and I want to wish her "Good Luck"!  We know she will be an awesome Hearing Dog partner.

Montana's Service Dog Laws are confusing to decipher. It does look like the state honors the federal ADA accessibility guidelines but I was unable to find anything that addresses the issue of injury or death of an Assistance Dog by another person or by a pet belonging to someone. If anyone out there knows please let us know. Right now to me the Service Dog laws in this state are "as clear as mud" as my late father would say.

Adventures in Montana to follow soon......

Warmest wishes to everyone from me,

Karen

With tail wags from Cherelle (aka, Cher).

And Here IT Comes.

I wondered how long it would be into our journey and where it would be before I encountered a real challenge to my right to have Cherelle with me. It was today in Deadwood South Dakota.

Now to let you know that in the over six years that Cher and I have been together we have been in a number of situations where we have experienced what I like to refer to as "misinformed encounters". I take them in stride and enjoy educating the person or persons regarding Assistance Dogs and the rights of accessibility regarding them. In all but one and now two cases have the individuals involved been down ride rude and even belligerent. At least this instance, as you will note from the copy of my letter to the organization, it did not result in my being denied access because I was accompanied by Cherelle.

A note here. I have not identified the enterprise involved because ultimately I was not denied access and because I feel this was an incident of "a bad apple" and not indicative of the organization as a whole. I put this "out there" as they say so that you get a chance to see what people all across the country who rely on Service Dogs inevitably experience.

To whom this may concern.

This morning (Tuesday, August 20th) my husband and I accompanied by my Service Dog, a Golden Lab mix, went to visit X. We stopped into the visitors center/gift shop before heading towards the site itself. A gentleman, who it turns out works/volunteers in the visitors center, perhaps his early 60s, approached me and said "You are not taking that dog even if you could pick it up and carry it."

Where can I begin with my displeasure. First thing, he was not wearing any name tag that identified himself as an employee or volunteer. I did not notice him come out from behind the counter so I just thought he was a rude and misinformed tourist. Secondly, he was very rude in the way he approached me even if, as he mistakenly believed, my Service Dog was not allowed. This brings me to the third and final issue. According to both Federal and South Dakota Sate Statutes, Service Dogs, also known as Assistance Dogs, are allowed wherever their disabled handlers are allowed (SD Law 20-13-23.1). The man could have asked "Is that a service dog required because of a disability?" He may even have asked  "What does your Service Dog do for you?"  He could not have asked what is my disability or demand proof that my dog is a Service Dog. What he most certainly cannot do is challenge me regarding my right have her with me. Please make sure all your personnel are trained on Service Dog protocol. 

Fortunately the two women who were at the admissions booth were better educated because I encountered no problems with them when we went to pay our admissions fee. My husband and I along with my Service Dog enjoyed our educational and reflective walk through X.  My Assistance Dog behaved extremely well and without any incidents. When we left no one would have had a clue that she had been there.

Regards,
Karen Brockett
And Service Dog, Cherelle

This photo is Not from the above mentioned organization.

Cher seems a bit puzzled about and maybe sorry for

the taxidermic bucking bronco.

@ Days of '76 Museum in Deadwood, SD.

Benadryl, Bear Claws and Burnt Eggs.

Karen and Cherelle at Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming.

(No dogs but Service Dogs are allowed on trail.)

As promised in my previous blog here is something about some of the daily stuff of traveling with a Hearing Dog.

Benadryl? Some of you may be wondering what does that have to do with Cher? Those of you who have had to give medication to a dog may have a pretty good idea where this next bit is headed. 

Like many Labs and Lab mixes Cherelle is occasionally plagued by allergies. One of the things that I like to avoid, because she has public access, is a plop down in the middle of aisle 5, fur flying, scratching fit from her. And at a restaurant........ Well you get my drift. The fairly sudden change in geography has triggered allergy issues for both of us. Cher's veterinarian has suggested giving her Benadryl when she seems to be uncomfortable. In the past I used some of that cheese stuff that spurts from a can to cover up the pill. Worked for quite awhile until she got wise to that and became adapt at sucking the cheese off and spitting out the pill. Round one Cher, me zip. Next I purchased those little pouches of doggie yumminess called "pill pockets" and voila problem solved! Joke is on me as it turns out because that was a temporary fix. I discovered this the other day. I took the pill shoved it into the "pocket" rolled it around in my hand to thoroughly hide it and with an excited voice said "Yum Cher a goodie!"  She snapped it up started to chew, swallowed and, yep, spit out the pill. Round two Cher, me zip. Stubborn is my nickname, so I tried again but this time I held her head up slightly thinking that would force her to swallow the pill. Crafty girl that she is, she slid her tongue back as I tilted her head and after quickly chewing and swallowing the tasty pill delivery system proceeded to spit the pill out with such force that it hit me in the forehead! Cher three, me zip and wondering how to win this Benadryl battle. An idea formed. They make this stuff for kids right? Kids hate medicine so it comes in yummy favors. Why don't I try giving her the allergy med in children's form? Off we went to one if those grocery/pharmacy stores, bought the medicine, returned to the RV, measured out an appropriate dosage and..........success. She sucked it right down and seemed to be looking for seconds. Cher three, me one, until?

Bear claws. Those sugary, deep fried dough blobs of goodness we buy at our favorite pastry shop. Yum! Nope. I am talking about those long wicked looking things on the ends of the paws of a bear. Those very big furry creatures that get into garbage cans and raid picnic hampers. What!  Here is how it went down.

Larry and I and Cher, in her role as Service Dog, went to the "Buffalo Bill Center of the West" in Cody, Wyoming. Wonderful place by the way. I highly recommend visiting it. The audio for the displays that have narration are captioned!  Anyway, when you first enter, a Park Ranger does a short presentation about the bears one might encounter while visiting the various parks in Wyoming. I think it is an attempt to keep the tourists from getting nibbled on by the different bears that inhabit the area. FYI, those would be; brown bear, black bear and grizzly bear, oh my!  There is also a bear skin with claws intact, for people to touch and marvel at. I went up to look and touch and marvel and so did Cher. She smelled the fur, she smelled the paws, she smelled the claws and then she began to give them a little taste. At that point, especially since the Ranger was watching all this, I told Cherelle to "leave it", which she did. The Park Ranger was amused and said that there have been other dogs that have checked out the skin and that most of them want nothing to do with it. Trust my girl to try and snack on it! Other than that Cher behaved like a lady the rest of the tour and was not phased by all the wild animal sounds that were recorded and played in the nature section of the center or I might add all the various taxidermy creatures. She even tried to work some of sounds when people would push the buttons to activate the animal calls. 

The final "B". Burnt eggs. I have now learned that unless a smoke alarm is involved Cher will not alert me to burning food. I was boiling a few eggs in preparation for potato salad. I forgot to set the kitchen timer to remind me to check on the status of the eggs.  The next thing I am aware of is Cher tapping me with her nose and leading me to the kitchen section of the motor home. Not because of the eggs but because my husband was calling my name. He had discovered the, by now char boiled, eggs sitting in a dry slightly burning pan!  I have no doubt that had it gotten to the flame stage Cher would have decided that it was something I should know about, but obviously she is of the "don't sweat the small stuff" frame of mind.  A few scorched eggs. No big deal. Think about it. It wasn't bad enough to set off the smoke detector. 

Next state on our travels. South Dakota. Until then........

Warmest wishes from me and tail wags from Cherelle (aka Cher).