Communication

How do Assistance Dogs communicate with our hoomans when we need them to pay attention to us?

Through our actions and at times barking!

When my boi runs away, I bark once and then sit and wait for my family to give me the command to track my boi.

When I see my boy hurting himself, I begin nuzzling him to redirect him to me. Sometimes I just go and lay on my boi!

I even go and nudge my boi, and my mum, with my nose when I sense that they need a break.

And my intelligent disobedience skills are paw-some! There are times when I know better, so I will not obey a command and make my boi doing something else instead. One day I saw my boy walking towards a road, so I dragged my Mum towards him and then pushed my boi back onto the footpath.

All Assistance Dogs will communicate with their owners in different ways!

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Come with us to Equine Therapy!

Come with us to Equine Therapy!

Equine Therapy is more than just spending time with the horses.

Equine Therapy is building a connection with your horse.

Equine Therapy is about learning new emotional regulation skills and putting them into practice.

Equine Therapy is learning how to communicate with the horses. Learning how to care for the horses - grooming them before and after riding, washing the horses down, getting their feed proportions correct.

Equine Therapy is learning to communicate with your horse while riding, giving the correct commands, seating positions on the saddle or bareback, learning to ride with no reins and controlling the speed and direction of the horse by moving your legs.

Equine Therapy is learning how to strengthen your core muscles.

Equine Therapy is more than just spending time with horses.

2023 Christmas Countdown

Christmas Countdown with Alaska and Henry!

In the lead up to Christmas, we participated in the daily prompts that In Paws We Trust were posting.

#teamhenry #henrythehero #teamalaska #autismassistancedogs #assistancedogsaustralia #labradorsofinstagram #assistancedogs #dogsofinstagram #workingdogsofaustralia #assistancedogawareness #workingdogsbooks #assistancedogsofinstagram #educatingfamilies #inspireyoungminds #inspiringyoungminds #readgrowinspire #childrensliteracy

The Helpie Kelpie!

  ***Please note that we do not receive commissions of any kind for reviews. We're simply sharing products that we find useful.***

Books, books and more books! Yet another paw-some book landed on our doorstep during the week. A book about a different type of working dog!

The Helpie Kelpie and the tool thief is written by yet another Australian author, Alicia Case.

Inca, the Helpie Kelpie and the star of the book, is a rescue Kelpie who goes to work with her Dad on construction sites. As the title suggests, there's a tool thief and Inca is in the right place at the right time.

So what are O and L's take on the book?

Me: What do you think about this book?

L: This is a good story. Inca is very cute and he's a Kelpie like Alaska! That's cool!

O: This is a really good story. There are so many different types of working dogs, and not just Assistance Dogs. Work sites would have dogs on them.

L: Uncle Pat is a tradie?

Me: He sure is.

L: I wonder if Uncle Pat takes his dogs to work!

O: You should ask him next time we see them! But this is a really good book. I love that Inca is a real life Kelpie that goes to work with his Dad.

Me: Who would you recommend this book to?

O: I think this would be a great book for all children. It introduces the reader to a different kind of working dog, so that's a great thing. We need more books about working dogs so that people become more aware about the roles that they play.

L: Yep, what Sissy said!

Me: Out of 5 paws, how many stars would you rate this book?

L: 5 paws! So many great 5 paw books!

O: Another 5 paws book!

Books, Books and more Books!

 ***Please note that we do not receive commissions of any kind for reviews. We're simply sharing products that we find useful.***

Books! Did you know that we love books??? Well, we do and we've added another book to our collection of working dog books.

The Puppy Adventures of Porter and Midge, is written by Jennie Chen and Giselle Nevada.

While the book isn't about working dogs as such, it gives readers a brilliant introduction to the socialisation of young puppies. The book teaches children how to interact with a puppy, as well as many other important skills both for the puppy and for the family that will benefit the puppies development. From socialisation to dog/animal distraction, to learning how to interact with people and everything in between. The authors do state that the book isn't a training manual but it could certainly sit alongside puppy training books.

So what are O and L's take on the book?

Me: What do you think about this book?
O: I love the illustrations. They're so bright and colourful. And the information in the book is really good.
L: Mum, everywhere they take the puppies in the book, that's what we did with Alaska when she was a tiny puppy. Did Henry do that too?
Me: Henry probably did.
L: Oh. It's a good book and it's easy for me to read. I like the pictures.
O: The story flows really well and I like how they go into detail about why they're taking the puppies to the different places and environments.
L: I wonder if the puppies are going to be Assistance Dogs too?

Me: That's a great question.
L: I know.

Me: Who would you recommend this book to?
O: Anyone who has children. If families are thinking about getting a puppy, or even a rescue dog, they should read this to their children. All of the information in the book is relevant to people who are new to having a dog as part of their family. It would even be great for families who are going to owner train an Assistance Dog like we're doing with Alaska.
L: What Sissy said!

Me: Out of 5 stars, how many stars would you rate this book?
L: Maybe we should change it to paws! Normal books we can use stars. Dog books we need to use paws.
Me: Sounds good. How many paws?
L: 5 paws!
O: I agree buddy, definitely 5 paws!

Books! Superheroes with Paws!

**** Please note that we do not receive commissions of any kind for this review. We simply love sharing books that we find useful. ****

There's always excitement in our house when we receive a package, especially when it contains a book! You can never have too many books, right? Well we've added another book to our collection of working dog books.

Superheroes with Paws, is written by the wonderful Jessica Ten Vaanholt from over Childrens Stories by Jessica. Jess is yet another home grown Australian author.

Jessica wrote the story after she was approved to receive her own Assistance Dog. Working in the early childhood education and care industry, Jessica realised the importance of educating children and families about the important roles that all Assistance Dogs play. And a great way to do that is through books!

It's yet another wonderful, very well written, educational book on the different types of Assistance Dogs and the roles that they play in their owners lives. 

But before we even read the book, this was L's announcement!!

L: Woah, the dog has a red coat like Henry! And it says Superheroes on the cover. Henry is my superhero! This is the best book already!

So what are O and L's take on the book? Read on!

Me: What is the best thing about the book?

O: This is amazing, it sounds like Jessica was writing about her own Assistance Dog. Did she get her puppy yet?

Me: Unfortunately not yet.

O: Oh that's terrible. But this is an amazing book. Jessica talks about the different types of Assistance Dogs.

L: There even a Autism dog like Henry!

O: I love that Jessica talks about the different tasks that the dogs all do.

L: I like the pictures, there's lots of pictures and they all have red coats like Henry's. All the dogs are superheroes. I love this book. And it's easy for me to read too.

O: Jessica has even put information in about why reading books are so important, what a great idea.

L: Can you read it again please?

Me: We can soon, just a few more questions first?

L: Seriously? Okay.

Me: Who would you recommend this book to?

O: Everyone! This is really cool book. The story is very realistic and informative. There's so much information in this one book. This will definitely help to spread more awareness about Assistance Dogs.

L: Everyone needs to read it. Maybe we need to start a library on the island so all the people can read about Assistance Dogs. The old people who keep talking to Henry really need to read all of the books. We can put this one and Henrys book and the Dogs with Jobs book, but they can't keep the books. Can we read it now?

Me: One more question then we can read it again. Out of 5 stars, how many stars would you rate this book?

L: Fine! 5 stars, I think you only buy 5 star books Mummy! We never get a terrible book.

O: Definitely another 5 star book.

L: Now can you read it again? And then you can read Henry's book please?

Me: Sure, thank you for reviewing the book.

L: Please read now?

And read it again we did!

This book would be a great addition to any child's home library.

And just quietly, how amazing do all four of these books look together!

Books! Dogs with Jobs

 *** Please note that we do not receive commissions of any form for this review, they are simply products that we find incredibly useful. ***

If you haven't realised by now, we love books! You can never have too many books, right?

Earlier this year, I self published a book about Henry and it was after the publication that I realised just how few books there really are that focus on Assistance Dogs. So I am now on a mission to collect as many different books about Assistance Dogs. As you can see from the above photo, our collection is quite small at the moment but we will be adding to it over time.

It has been quite a while since our last book review, so we figured that we would start reviewing our books about dogs collection.

First up is Dogs with Jobs 1 and Dogs with Jobs 2!

Dogs with Jobs is written by Australian author Natalie Leski and was first published in 2021.

We came across Natalie's first book quite by accident and just had to order a book. When Natalie published her second book in the series this year, we again had to purchase a copy for our collection.

Both books introduce readers to working dogs of all descriptions and the differences between pet dogs and working dogs. Both books also talk about the importance of being respectful towards all working dogs, regardless of if they are Assistance Dogs or other types of working dogs.

So what are O and L's take on the books? Keep reading below!

Me: What is the best thing about these books?

O: I love both books, there are so many working dogs that people don't know about so it's important that there are more books to educate families. Both of these books have a range of different types of working dogs for people to read about.

L: I like the pictures, they are very colourful and really look like real working dogs. My favourite picture is Emma because she looks like Henry. And the book is easy for me to read. Maybe the old people here on the island need to read these books too because they keep saying Henry is a Guide Dog!

Me: Who would you recommend these books to?

O: Everyone! More awareness and education is needed about Assistance Dogs, People wouldn't, you'd hope that they wouldn't anyway, go and pat a Police Dog while it is working, Yet there are many people who think it is okay to pat an Assistance Dog while it is working. Both have important jobs to do. Both need to be respected.

L: Same. I don't like it when people just touch Henry without asking first. He is helping me. The old people need to read it.

Me: How many stars would you rate both books?

L: How many stars, I can't remember how many we use!

O: Let's rate out of 5 stars. I give them both 5 stars!

L: Me too! And Henry and Alaska love them too!

So definitely great books about working dogs that every home should have! And a 5 star rating to go with them. You can purchase Dogs with Jobs via this link.