I enjoyed this.
Teresa, Daughter of Mama (57/43/38)
-----Original Message-----
From: Parkinson's Information Exchange
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of George J. Lussier
Sent: Friday, June 11, 1999 8:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Puppy and the Man with Parkinsons
THE PUPPY AND THE MAN WITH PARKINSONS
Once upon a recent time there was a puppy of mixed breed including
lab and pit bull . And there was a man ; he to was of mixed breed
in a sense but of more importance he was 60 years old and had Parkinsons
Disease, a debilitating neurological disease that more than likely
would leave him in a nursing home and nearly did. A few years ago
he was in horrible shape and spirits but through the wisdom of his
neurologist and his own unwillingness to give up he chose to go the
sugical route. Today he is doing well although given his decision
to take on a puppy you wonder about his mental health.
But the Man with Parkinsons thought long and hard about taking on
such a long-term commitment. He is a practical man, a realist, who
thought he had allocated enough time, energy, money and true love.
To his credit he had studied the litter of nine since the day of their
entrance. This was no whimsical decision but it was an erroneous one.
Whatever he had allocated wasn't anywhere near enough as he found
out when the seventh week rolled around and the puppy seemed ready
to move away from his family.
The puppy is black and white in color with one black eye and one
albino-like light eye. She did not respond to any name including her
given name of "Pinto" or "Crash" as the Man with Parkinsons was fond
of calling her. Within 6 months she will weigh in at about 65 lb.
Even as he type out this story she is asleep close by he can almost
see her growing. As a puppy she reasoned that her primary objective
was not to learn her name but, as puppies all over the world were
doing, "search, seek-out and destroy" But this is not what this story is all
about because while irritating to the Man with Parkinson it is really no big
deal, What we are going to talk about is walking the puppy.
The Man with Parkinsons had some lofty ambitions that he and his
dog would go on long and very pleasant walks. A man and his dog has
become a puppy and his man. He though aloud: "How could such a sweet,
new born learn such dastardly ways to literally trip me up?." And
the Puppy thought silently: "Where do I come up with such great tripping
strategies" (To say nothing of my neat and very sophisticated language).
And at that moment the Man with Parkinson and Pinto looked at each
other and realized in harmony that Pinto has a tripping gene. It's
all in the gene pool! But alas this insight did not interrupt the
negative behavior because there was no agreement that the behavior
was indeed negative.
Although the Man with Parkinsons knew that ALL relationships were
a struggle he thought that this might be a bit easier. Wrong! OK,
so they didn't have to worry whether or not dinner was to be dutch treat
or should they kiss on the first date. There were other issues that
only someone with a movement disorder would think about. Issues/questions
like, is Pinto neurologically and physiologically ready to respond
to training? If so, when and how best to do this "obedience" training?
Is the Man with Parkinsons able to do this training? With the help
of a seasoned trainer they are about to find out. Be sure and read the
next installment in this very true story
