He Speaks

 As we start year two with our Resident Therapy Pup- He is 65 lbs, smart as a whip, is a little Hulk-ish. One minute he is laying his head on your lap, wagging his tail, loving on any soul that needs cheering up or just needs a little love, the next minute he turns in to HC the guard dog with a ferocious bark.  We have just about figured out the bark is really just him talking. We almost think we know what he is saying too.  If he doesn't think you are supposed to be here he will ask, "HEY! What are you doing here!!!!" As soon as the new person presents themselves the tail wags and he is good.

His barks mean all sorts of things, I suppose it is unrealistic to expect a creature to be with other creatures all day long and stay silent. (True for kids too) 

Folks at school take extra good care of him.  He thinks he is one of the staff, so if someone comes by and walks away without saying hello you get the "WooF!" Usually a single bark saying, "Hey YOU! Did you forget to come see me????" If he hasn't seen you in a bit you get the "Woof, Woof, Woof!!!" Which seems to mean, "Oh my gosh, I am so happy to see you, it has been such a long time!!" (maybe a couple of hours)  If he has been asleep and gets woken up by someone sometimes we get the "WOOF, WOOF WOOF, WOOF" bark which seems to say "Gosh dang it! You scared me to death!!!!!!"  Then he settles right down, stretches comes over and wags a tail"  The most ferocious barks come at the people who have no affiliation with anyone in the building.  Usually the maintenance guys or outside contractors. The get the "WHO THE HECK ARE YOU WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF" deep guard dog sounding bark.  --  In the morning while in his crate if I haven't woken up soon enough for him we get a really quiet little soft "woof" , almost like he is saying "hey, are you up yet?" 

If we listen to what they are saying they really do communicate- I feel it is the same for kids too, kids don't really know the words to say for things all the time, but if we sit back and listen and observe we can tell what they are saying and what they need. Listening has become a skill I have grown in through this process, (I can grow more) but listening is so much more important that speaking.  You just learn so much. I have sure learned a lot from Henry Clay, HC the superhero dog. 

This year he is already soothing kids, and making them feel welcome and safe.   He hasn't been out in classes too much yet, we are letting everyone settle back into routine.  But when we say to him "Do you want to go see the kids?"  He jumps up and goes like it is the best day ever! Even more quickly then when I say "Hungry?",  Wouldn't it be great if we could all jump up and go like it is the best day ever when we realize "Hey, we get to go see the kids!"  Thanks Henry Clay!