Tru here.

In honor of Assistance Dog Week (( http://www.assistancedogweek.org/about ))
today i am sharing the steps we use in training Service Dog how to respond when a pill drops on the floor.

Symptoms of tremor, and lack of estimated personal space can be a problem.
Just like i seem to have a hole in my lip when it comes to eating or drinking, the same is true for taking my pills.  Not uncommon that a pill lands on the floor.  Sometimes i realize it dropped — and sometimes i don’t.

Goal is that
*1*: dog will notify me when pill is dropped, because i may not realize it)
*2*: “find” (point to) the pill location, (because i might not be able to find it)
*3*: WITHOUT dog eating the pill !!! (We don’t need a sick dog!!)

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When i start filling weekly pill bottles i tell Hero “Pill Watch”.  Hero sits or lays nearby, watching for a pill to drop.  i have a colored TicTac candy on the table, easy to grab for training.  Picked TicTac candies because they are not dangerous to dog in case he swallows it during training process, similar-sized to most of my pills, and their bright colors are easier seen when they drop.

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To start with, i “accidentally” dropped a TicTac about 4 or 5 times, every week when i filled pill canisters.  Now i “accidentally” drop a TicTac once or twice, and a Fish Oil capsule once every week.  Eventually i will only go thru the “accident” process probably three to five times every month — just enough to keep Hero aware of his task.

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When filling pill canisters i will
*1*: “accidentally” drop a TicTac, then say “Hero, Bark!!”
*2*: After he barks i say “Hero, Find” — and grab a small treat.
*3*: When he gets his muzzle close to the candy i say “Leave it!” then i say “Hero, Whisper”.
*4*: After his quiet bark (loud exhale?) i put the treat in front of his muzzle and remove the TicTac.
(once in a while, i will give him an extra-high-value treat instead of the standard smaller treat).

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We worked with Hero to have him bring high-value unique “found” treasures to myself or husband — without eating them.  Example: We will discreetly place a Pupperoni Sausage on the floor somewhere.  When he comes across it we are watching, and one of us tells him to “take it to …” (the other person).  He is expected to do this WITHOUT eating the item !!!

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LINKS:

Service Dog Links at >> https://truthfulkindness.com/about/life-other/animals/service-dog-links/ .

My most crucial entries are here >> https://truthfulkindness.com/category/important/crucial/

Most recent are here >> https://truthfulkindness.com/
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i am attending few Zoom groups right now.

Calendars will eventually be removed to prevent over-Loading the upLoad limit for website “Media Library”, because they actually take quite a bit of mb.

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Disclaimer that i misunderstand things and make mistakes too, so there might be mistakes in Calendar.

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DAILY at DM (Dementia Mentors): we host 40 virtual memory cafes each month with Dementia Mentors.
These are “member-only” gatherings for those living with dementia
(every day except Sundays for persons living with some form of dementia
— and also twice-monthly for Partners on Sundays).
More info here >>  https://www.dementiamentors.org/ .

To be part of Dementia Mentors’ video chats,
membership form is at >> https://bit.ly/DM2020contact .

Video “tour” is at >> https://vimeo.com/showcase/3464118/video/264048358 .
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These are OTHER events i know of during this week:

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04 Aug, Tues; FTD Patient Support Group on Tuesdays, (members only): If you have a firm diagnosis of Fronto-Temporal Degeneration and would like to join the FTD Patient Support group, please contact sherylwhitman.FTD@gmail.com. The group also has a video Zoom meeting every Tuesday; 10am Pacific time, 11am Mountain time, 12 noon Central, and 1pm Eastern time.  Members-only.  https://www.theaftd.org/living-with-ftd/support-for-people-with-ftd/ .

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04 Aug, Tues; DAA Drop-in with Dr Susan on Tuesdays:  While COVID-19 is impacting everyday life, please join us at the Dementia Action Alliance for an online discussion with Susan Wehry, MD Tuesdays  at https://zoom.us/j/4567882023  ((1pm Pacific Time, 2pm Mtn, 3pm Central, 4pm Eastern, 9pm UK, and 10pm South Africa)).

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05 Aug, Wed: Dementia Mentors’ Christians (members only) are offered “Christian” gathering on 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.  This is non-denominational Christian group for fellowship and prayer.  (( 9am Pacific Time, 10 Mtn, 11 Central, 12 noon Eastern, 5pm UK, and 6pm South Africa)).  Members-only.  >> https://bit.ly/DM2020contact .

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05 Aug, Wednesday, Teepa Snow has “Lets Talk” video chat with Persons Living with Dementia.   (( 10am Pacific Time, 11am Mtn, 12 noon Central, 1pm Eastern, 6pm UK, and 7pm South Africa )). at https://teepasnow.com/services/online-learning/webinars/webinars-for-plwd/

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05 Aug, Wed: LBD Living with Lewy (members-only): Membership is limited to those diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. These video Zoom gatherings are part of the “Living with Lewy” FaceBook support group, so you must be on FaceBook and a member of that specific FaceBook group.  Members-only.  https://www.lbda.org/go/virtual-groups .

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05 Aug, Wed: Dementia Mentors’ (members only) are offered Wednesday-night guided meditation series.  (( 6pm Pacific Time, 7pm Mtn, 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern, 2am UK )). Members-only.  >> https://bit.ly/DM2020contact .

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06 Aug, Thursday: DAA Discussion topic …. Zoom video chat begins 7am Hawaii, 10am Pacific Time, 11am Mtn, Noon Central, 1pm Eastern time. 6pm London, 8pm South Africa. Link to join is at this page >> https://daanow.org/online-discussions/ .

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07 Aug, Friday: DAA Faith Hope and Love; using spirituality through challenging times.  Fridays at https://zoom.us/j/4567882023  ((  NEW TIME: 9am Pacific Time, 10am Mtn, 11 Central, 12 noon EASTERN time, 5pm UK, and 6pm South Africa )).

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Mark Your Calendars for future events:

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25 Aug, Tuesday, is next Dementia Chats with Lori LaBey.
This monthly recorded TEACHING series involving persons with dementia as experts in Lived Experience. Let me know if YOU would like to participate
>> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyFH7iN6JFUE9oJFbRre0VAFbPWQFQcT6 .  ((4th Tuesday of each month, 7:30am until 9am Pacific Time, 8:30 until 10am Mtn, 9:30am until 11am Central, 10:30am until 12 noon Eastern, 3:30pm until 5pm UK time , and 4:30pm until 6pm South Africa)).

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* Admin issues: SHARE dementia awareness thru buttons below. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of comments, but please filter your comments with truthful loving kindness to all concerned. If
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* Admin issues: SHARE dementia awareness thru buttons below. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of comments, but please filter your comments with truthful loving kindness to all concerned. If interested in receiving notice of future blog postings, subscriptions are available through a “follow” button in the upper left corner (MS Explorer) or lower right (Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome). If there is an advertisement below, I have no control over what is shown. My own full legal name is Truthful Loving Kindness. My current diagnosis is still Mild Cognitive Impairment, but my neurologist said I am in a unique position for helping because I have “one foot in each door”. Text Copyright © Truthful L. Kindness 2020Aug02. Tags are: assistance dog, dementia, dog, medication, PLwD, service dog, symptom, task, tremor.