Kender’s Match Video, day 1

It’s time to seriously start working on the “match video” for Kender’s service dog.  The packet telling us how to do this is five pages long, packed full of questions.  They need to know absolutely everything, from our previous history with dogs to every quirk of Kender’s personality.

First up is an interview with both myself and Brian about our personal history with dogs.

“Take a few minutes on tape to talk to us about your experience with dogs. Did you grow up with dogs? Have you had dogs in your adult family? Are there dogs in the home now? How did you relate to any of these dogs? Did you train with them at all? Were the dogs inside or outside? Are there dogs that make you nervous? If so, what behavior is it that does this? What do you like in a dog? What do you dislike in dogs? Do you have a size preference? How do you feel about handling the dog in public?

I’ve written out most of this already for myself.  I just need to get somebody to video me saying it.  Then I need to get Brian’s interview done and see if there are any pictures or video to add to his.  Next up is a section on Kender and our pets.

First talk to us a little. How does your child do with animals? What good experiences have they had? Has there ever been a bad experience? If so, explain. What type (personality wise) does your child seem to like best? Any dogs that the child is afraid of? Now, start to show us a little. If you have pets in the home, let us meet them and tell us about them. Show how your child interacts with them. Do your friends have dogs? Okay, time to invite yourself for a visit or ask them to bring the dog over for dinner! Show us your child interacting with their dog(s). We talk about dogs a lot, but show us all pets in the home and show how the child interacts with them. If you have a dog and can show the dog interacting with another dog(s) that would be best.

Time to get some friends over here!  I tried to get Kender to interact with Pixie the other day, but it didn’t work out that time.  I do have video of Kender feeding our bunny.  I need some video of Kender petting the bunny and the cats, and also of him trying to toss the cats down the stairs, I suppose.  (They do say in the beginning to include all the things we would normally hide from the world!)  I’ve asked my friends to get together with me and Kender this week so we can do some videotaping, especially with larger dogs and the lady I know who fosters future service dogs.  I’ll make another attempt with Pixie, as well.

Next up, The Family:

Okay, let’s see the other kids. If they are old enough to introduce themselves and talk a little please let them. How do they feel about the dog? What do they hope for? What interactions would they like to have with the dog? Show us their interactions with family pets, or if there are none, borrow a friend’s. We would also like to know a little of their personality and things they like to do.

Some of this I can get from friends along with Kender’s dog interactions, but pretty much this entire section still needs to be filmed.  Individual interviews with everybody, plus shots of them with all the animals.  I can feel the minutes of video already adding up!!

Now we get into the boring stuff that is not going to be up for public consumption, I think!

Time to take a tour of the house. Start with the front yard and show us that and the outside of the front of the home before you enter the house. Take us on a tour through the house. Show each and every room. Talk to us. Where does your family spend most of their time? Where does the child getting the dog spend their time? Show us their room in particular. Where do they sleep? Will the dog sleep in bed with them? What does the room look like; what things does the child like to do while in this room? Once we have seen the whole house (include spaces you would not allow the dog and talk about furniture — will the dog be allowed on it?) we will now head out the back of the house to see the yard. Show us your fence or if you don’t have fence tell us how the dog will get exercise. Show us around the outside of the house and yard. The neighbors: What dogs live in the homes beside and behind you. Are their dogs through the fence that may interact with your new service dog? Do the neighbors dogs or cats ever enter your yard? What type of dogs (breed specific) live by you and what other neighbor pets might your dog encounter?

I hate the thought of doing this, but do it I must.  I must put the state of my home on video for these people to see.  Hopefully I will have time to make at least two videos of each room, showing the clean and dirty states, but if the rooms don’t hit “clean” in time it will have to be dirty.  So be it, because unfortunately that’s just the way it is here.

As for neighbors, I already have one neighborhood girl and her little chihuahua on video to plug into this section.  I need to talk to the lady up the block who owns a great big dog, the family next door to my mother who breed chihuahuas, and Perfect Dave and his little dog Harley.  I also need to finally introduce myself better to the family whose chihuahuas bit Jarod so long ago (what is it with chihuahuas in this neighborhood, anyway?), and I need to see if Angela’s family still has their 3-legged chihuahua (another one!).  I’m not sure if I should talk to Dave’s tenants; their kids play with mine, and I know they have dogs, but I’ve never actually seen their dogs.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten with the form.  Today I have dumped my camera and transferred all my images to a separate video folder, where I am reviewing and labeling them.

Published by solinox

I am a Wiccan priestess, a libertarian mother of triplets plus three, a wife and homeschooling mom to blind and autistic children, a fiber artist, and a Jane of All Trades, always learning and seeking to help.

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