hiking – Page 2 – Me and the Doods.com

Adventures With Henry

This morning, I headed up a steep trail with Henry, enjoying the challenge and the beauty of the mountains, especially with the wildflowers still in their full glory. Near the top, I met two women sitting on the trail. I asked if everything was okay and one answered that she was just waiting. I assumed she meant resting. Turns out I was wrong.

A few minutes later a red helicopter started circling. I assumed it was doing routine fire patrol. I was wrong again.

It began flying lower and lower in tight circles. Eventually the door opened and someone rappelled out the side. Other rescue workers suddenly materialized out of nowhere.

I found out from one of the women whom I’d met coming up that the other woman had broken her leg and called for help. She added that the injured woman was 58 so her bones were pretty brittle. I didn’t share my age!

Henry and I were standing on an overlook with a few other people while all of the chaos was going on. We were afraid to move and get in the way. After quite some time, it seemed that everything was under control. I believe they brought an ambulance up dirt Mulholland, a drivable area, to transport the woman down.

But let me tell you, the wind from a hovering helicopter is like a tornado. We were getting pelted by pebbles and my sunglasses blew off my face and into the canyon below.

ELBEE Good thing she buys cheap ones because she always loses them.

On the bright side it was great training for Henry. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to desensitize him to loud noises.

Our other adventure this week was much lower key. We were walking on dirt Mulholland when a woman called out, “Aren’t you part of the PAC program?” Surprised, I told her that I was.

ELBEE She never would have recognized her if she’d been alone.

It turned out she was an ICU nurse at UCLA who loved the People Animal Connection. She knew Stanley and Gus plus thought she had met Charley years ago. She asked me about Henry who was being so sweet with her.

As soon as I told her that he was an eleven month old puppy in training, she couldn’t wait to call her friend, a PICU nurse at the hospital. While they were talking she decided to FaceTime so that her friend could see him too.

After she finished the call and was getting ready to leave, she took a moment to tell me how much it meant to the staff to have the dogs back in the hospital. She said they were truly helping everyone cope with the ongoing stress of COVID.

It was such a random but heartwarming encounter. The dogs continue to bring so much unexpected light into my life.

There’s Something About Henry

ELBEE I almost didn’t comment about her stealing another movie title but I couldn’t help myself.

When we met Henry last summer, I knew that life was going to be different. I just didn’t know how different. Bringing a new dog into the pack always makes things more interesting. Bringing in a Great Pyrenees/Standard Poodle mix makes it even more interesting than I could have imagined.

Now at eleven months and eighty pounds, it’s hard for me to remember him as that tiny puppy who slept in his crate and chased Gus around the yard. I kind of forget his size until we’re out for a walk and someone reminds me.

I’ve heard a range of comments from, “Why don’t you put a saddle on him?” to “He’s really nice, he looks like he should be meaner.” Yesterday someone remarked, “He’s so big and you’re so small. Good thing he’s well behaved.”

ELBEE Trust me. He’s not that well behaved. It was a moment.

At Petco, a sales girl, helping me find a harness for Henry, fell in love with him.

ELBEE Mr. Perfect still pulls on the leash.

And wouldn’t you know it, her boyfriend’s name was Henry. When we got in line to pay, to everyone’s delight, the woman behind us had a Golden Doodle in a cart who looked like an adorable mini version of Henry with white hair and big tan spots. The salesgirl, who was now the cashier, said, “This is my best day ever working here.”

Yesterday, I was picking up food at CPK and had Henry in the back seat.

ELBEE Apparently, someone still isn’t cooking.

As the waitress brought my order to the car, Henry stuck his big head out the window. She immediately started laughing and petting him and didn’t want to go back inside.

Even the police like Henry. We were on a busy neighborhood street that has a lot of blind curves. An officer was across the road on his motorcycle, doing security for a film site. When he saw Henry, his face lit up and he waved.

Always on a mission to socialize Henry and get him used to new things, I figured the uniform and the mortorcycle would be great practice so I threw caution to the wind and ran over. When I had to cross back, I realized just how busy the street was. The officer, very kind and concerned, stopped traffic and led us over safely. Technically, Henry and I had our first police escort.

ELBEE Seriously?

Sometimes It’s the Little Moments

With the world still such a mess, I thought that sharing a few positive, personal moments might be a good way to go.

Let me begin with one that could have gone terribly wrong. I was starting up a trail with Henry when a woman on an adjacent trail yelled “Hey, clean up after your dog!” Since I’m a fanatic about cleaning up after the dogs, I was a little confused and, to be honest, offended.

ELBEE Trust me. She’s like the poop police. I was almost afraid to go.

I assured her that Henry hadn’t gone and told her that one of my pet peeves was people who didn’t clean up after their dogs. Then I showed her the four bags I had with me just in case. To my surprise, she began apologizing profusely.

ELBEE Trail rage incident averted.

When I walk on busy streets with Gus and Stanley, we take up most of the sidewalk. If someone is approaching, I will often step aside and wait for them to pass. The other morning, an older man saw us coming and moved over to give us room. When I said “thank you,” he smiled, nodded and did the prayer sign. It was just so simple and sweet.

Later, we were in a crosswalk on busy Ventura Boulevard when a man and his preteen son passed us going the other way. Suddenly, the boy waved enthusiastially and called out. “Thank you so much. I taught my dog the tricks the way you told me.”

I realized we’d met them a few weeks earlier. After interacting with Gus and Stanley, they told me that they had a pretty rambunctious puppy at home. The boy, who was working hard to train it, asked me for a few tips on getting his dog to do some tricks. How nice to hear that it had worked out.

Yesterday, I was on the phone talking to someone about getting repairs done on the house. We had spoken several times before so she knew about the dogs and their schedules but we’d never really discussed them.

As we were about to say goodbye, she said “I have to tell you something.” She admitted that she’d never thought much about what therapy dogs could do until recently. She was in the hospital and they’d brought one to her room. In her words, “I was delighted and forgot my pain.”

That brings me to one more very positive note. At UCLA and Tarzana Hospital, we are all in the process of getting ready to bring the dogs back in to visit again. In these trying times, who doesn’t need a little dog comfort and love.

Henry Has Arrived at Big Boy Status

Henry is not a small puppy but I don’t really think about his size until something calls it to my attention. In this recent photo with my friend Carol, honorary aunt to all the Doods, he looks huge!

ELBEE Hello! He’s closer to the camera, of course he looks huge. It’s called perspective.

With the long Great Pyrenees legs he inherited from his mother, he’s like the tall awkward kid who will be a star basketball player once he fills out.

ELBEE Thank goodness that unfortunate puppy acne has cleared up.

Lately when we’re walking, I hear lots of comments about his size. Two people suggested I put a saddle on him. I was chatting with a Spanish speaking man, who smiled and said “es un caballo,” which means “he’s a horse.”

ELBEE Someone is showing off her limited Español.

Friday, as I was coming down a steep trail that wraps around the side of the mountain, a man and his adult son were waiting to meet Henry. They explained that from a distance they had seen something big and white walking down with me but with the sun on him, they couldn’t quite tell what it was.

Henry’s stature and his unusual coloring draw so many people to him that my mountain social life has really expanded. A shyness that I sensed in Henry has been replaced by curiosity and a bit of attention seeking. He watches everyone and expects them to say hello and pet him. I think I sense a tiny bit of his inner diva coming out.

ELBEE I’m so proud.

GUS & STANLEY So are we.

The mountain meetings are a gift as far as his socialization is concerned. If he’s ever going to follow in his big brothers’ therapy dog paw prints, he needs to be comfortable with people of all ages, shapes and sizes. We go to class for obedience and behavioral issues, but you can’t sign up for all of our trail interactions.

A few times I’ve been surprised by people remembering him after only one meeting. Kids who have briefly played with him on the trails will call out “Hi Henry” when they see him again. After one hike, a little boy rolled down the car window and yelled “Bye Henry” as we were walking down the street. I couldn’t help but smile.

Are Henry and Gus laughing at my post?

Go to Your Happy Place

Not for the first time, my title was inspired by the saying on a packet of Truvia.

ELBEE She is no Shakspeare.

As soon as I read, “Go to Your Happy Place,” the mountains popped into my head. And with some of the craziness I’ve seen over the past few weeks, I really needed to go up there.

First there was the woman at the bank. The branch had been closed for a week so on the morning that it reopened there was a long line outside. People were politely social distancing as they waited to go in.

As I walked up with Stanley, I heard an extremely loud voice. It was a woman near the front of the line, who ironically was from another country, mocking people of different nationalities. I’d guess she dropped the f-bomb about twenty times during her ranting and raving.

Eventually a manager calmed her down and got her inside. After doing her banking, she was sitting on a couch refusing to leave until two customers she was pointing at were arrested. Unfortunately, the police arrived shortly after she had been convinced to leave, dropping more f-bombs as she headed out the door.

Then there was the older man with long scraggly hair, sitting in the passenger seat of his car parked near a busy trailhead. The door was open and his bare feet were sticking out. As I walked by with the dogs, I realized that his feet weren’t the only things that were bare. A woman in front of me was so flustered, she said “I’m getting out of here as fast as possible.”

ELBEE She can’t make this stuff up.

When I went to my happy place, it was if the universe knew that I needed a few positive signs. I found heart-shaped rocks embedded in two different trails. A friend told me they were good luck.

I saw a smiling face that someone had drawn in the dirt.

I was delighted to see the first bush sunflowers of the season in bloom, a hint of the glorious explosion of color that will soon cover the hills..

ELBEE Now she’s William Wordsworth.

At home in the evening, what lifted my spirits almost as much as being in the mountains, was hanging out with the Doods and watching the sun set over my happy place.

**Does this picture make my head look small?**

Hobnobbing with Henry

Originally this post was titled Hiking with Henry. Then I thought about the way he interacts with everyone on the trails. It’s more like hobnobbing. It’s as if he’s at a mountain cocktail party.

ELBEE Is she his date?

He takes a moment to assess people rather than running up and jumping all over them like perhaps a Goldendoodle.

ELBEE Excuse me for being gregarious.

His hesitation, which I think might be shyness, apparently comes across as good behavior. Large and calm, he draws a lot of attention. His size makes people more aware of his demeanor. Am I going to argue when someone says it’s nice to see a big dog who’s trained.

Learning that his mom is a Great Pyrenees and his dad a Poodle, countless people have commented that his demeanor is more like the Pyrenees. He’s patient, affectionate when he chooses to be and watchful. A woman saw him from a distance and called out, “He walks like a Great Pyrenees.” By the way, I am amazed at how many people have had Pyrenees in their lives.

Henry is also a hit with the kids. We met an adorable nine year old who’d been begging her mom for a dog. She saw Henry and said “That’s what I want.” Her mom laughed when I asked her daughter if she was going to take care of it and she gave an enthusiastic “yes.”

ELBEE Then she saw the size of Henry’s poop bag.

His hair stays party ready too. Neither Gus, Stanley nor Henry sheds but so far he doesn’t seem to get matted like they do. In the mountains, he shakes his head and the twigs and burrs fall right off of him. For the other two, I’m like a blow dry bar.

ELBEE It’s obvious. Pyrenees are too busy guarding sheep to get their hair done.

Coming down from the trails after one of our hikes, Henry even found the perfect ride. What are the chances we’d run into my friend Lou who was driving a vintage 1971 Corniche! I’ve taken photos of the dogs in my car, but this is how Henry “Rolls.”

ELBEE That was my line.

Hanging with Henry

During all of our very special hospital visits in December, it was hard to imagine that at the same time last year, we were on Zoom. It was even harder for me to believe that last Wednesday we were back on Zoom. The dogs are out of the hospital until at least mid-January so a call with the teens in the neuropsych unit at UCLA was better than nothing.

On the bright side, Henry was able to join in. At seven months, he’s way too young to be certified to go into the hospital, but on Zoom, puppy antics can be pretty entertaining. The kids would rather see a dog chase his tail than do a perfect sit.

ELBEE I wish they’d had zoom when I was a puppy. I could have gone viral if that was a thing.

Competing with his brothers, Henry has become much more patient about accessories. He’s also learned about hogging screen time. Midway through I had to escort him out of the room for a few minutes so that Gus and Stanley could perform uninterrupted.

ELBEE Personally, I thought he was more entertaining.

Last month Henry graduated from beginning obedience. I admit there were moments I had my doubts like when all he wanted to do was was watch the children in the adjacent playground. He was also distracted by an adorable little puppy named Q-Tip. We had to separate them in class.

I was actually amazed at how well he responded to commands. I would like to take the credit but so much of it was from hanging around with Gus and Stanley.

To my husband’s delight, he has also learned how to fetch. Our last dog that would fetch was Cody, a Golden who predated all of the Doods by years. Even Riley, our more recent Golden Retriever, had absolutely zero interest in retrieving.

The way Henry brings the ball and hangs out with him has helped Doug get used to Henry’s size, since he wasn’t expecting him to be quite so large. Speaking of size, at his check up this week he weighed in at 73 pounds, up from 47 in October!

I brought Gus for his check up too to give Henry some moral support but it was totally unnecessary. Once Dr. Sanders dropped down on the floor next to him, Henry loved the attention. He even gave him his goofy smile.

As we were watching a movie last night with the dogs gathered around us, I realized that in these crazy times, I am especially grateful for the way that Henry, Gus and Stanley have integrated into such a copacetic pack. My husband and I have three live-in dog therapists.

I Can Still Bench Press the Dogs & Other Things I’m Grateful For

In this uncertain world where watching the news can give you stomach pains, I thought it would be a good idea to focus on the positive.

ELBEE That is way too much information.

First, thank you to my husband Doug, my daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren. My life would have so many empty spaces without you. A shout out to Jennifer for doing Thanksgiving. I am grateful that we could be together and that all I had to bring were my fabulous stuffing and sweet potatoes.

ELBEE Seriously?

Thank you to Doug for his steady support during the pandemic and for coming to terms with the fact that Henry is getting larger by the day

I truly appreciate the friends in my life. COVID-19 made it difficult for us to see each other but I always knew you were there. When you shared that my writing was bringing you joy, you brought me joy.

I am also grateful for the memories of family and friends who are gone but whose loving presence guides me. I will always hear the laughter of my brother Stan and my dear friend Eileen.

The mountains are still my spiritual space, my sanctuary. Standing on an overlook with the ocean in the distance gives me peace. Thank you to my mountain friends. We may not know each others’ names but I treasure our camaraderie.

I want to acknowledge the older couple who have made it their mission to clean up trash on the trails. I frequently see them coming down with bags full which is inspiring but sad at the same time.

Thank you to the bike riders who have finally gotten bells and actually say “thank you” when you move over to let them pass instead of trying to run you down.

ELBEE She can’t get past her issues with the bikers and that last statement is a bit sarcastic for a gratitude list.

I am deeply grateful that I have been able resume in-person visits with Gus and Stanley. A year and a half of Zoom calls was better than nothing but seeing them interact with patients, family and staff is heartwarming. I have been so touched by the incredible welcome back that we have received at UCLA and at Tarzana Hospital.

I feel so fortunate to be able to continue on this therapy dog journey that began fifteen years ago with Charley and then Elbee. The Doods have taught me about kindness, healing and unconditional love. They have filled me with gratitude.

ELBEE Finally it’s about us.

And I can still bench press them!

HENRY I didn’t sign up for this.

ELBEE I feel your pain.

Henry, Bigger by the Day

Gus did something very strange. I woke up early and saw him sleeping soundly in his favorite spot by the fireplace. Suddenly, he sat up, flew across the room and jumped into my arms. He buried his head in my neck and cuddled up as if he couldn’t get close enough.

I’ve seen the dogs “running” in their sleep. I’ve heard them bark lightly through their snores. Elbee even howled in his sleep after Charley died. What Gus did was a first for me.

ELBEE I think it’s fairly obvious. Gus saw the trailer for Clifford the Big Red Dog and was having a nightmare about Henry getting to be that size.

Speaking of Henry, he’s going through a puppy phase. One minute he’s calm and adorable. The next he’s all over the place. I think it’s more obvious because he’s so large.

Saturday morning he had his first obedience class. Let’s just say he was more interested in the other dogs and the activity in the park than he was in the training. I’d give him a C+ in leash walking. On the bright side, Michelle, who also trained Stanley at that age, commented to her assistant, “Ellen’s dogs start out goofy but they’re great later on.”

ELBEE I don’t think that’s a compliment.

I’ve started hiking with him too which is going better than class. He sort of stays by my side when he isn’t completely distracted by the sights and the smells. He greets the mountain regulars with tail wagging. Even better, unlike Stanley, and especially Gus, his hair isn’t like Velcro so he doesn’t bring home every twig and burr.

GUS What’s Velcro?

I also took him on his first official shopping trip to one of my favorite little neighborhood clothing stores. The women are dog lovers who have always welcomed the Doods.

Sabrina, who was working that day, fell in love with Henry and the feeling was mutual. In between his puppy antics and talking to the dog in the mirror, he flashed her a smile and rolled over for a belly rub. When we were leaving she said, “He’s such a cool dude.” That’s exactly what my husband calls him. Maybe there’s hope.

ELBEE Let us pray.

A Four Feathered Oops!

Have you ever done something illegal, having no idea that it was illegal? In the spirit of the new year I have a confession to make.

I was hiking up a narrow trail when I saw four beautiful feathers on the ground, with no injured bird or nest in sight. Totally forgetting one of my favorite sayings, “take nothing from the mountains except memories and leave nothing but footprints,” I got caught up in the moment and picked up the feathers. I thought they were some kind of a sign.

ELBEE That is total rationalization.

I was pretty sure they were from a red tailed hawk. I have always found such peace in watching the hawks soar overhead. I had an unforgettable experience when one flew so low, it’s talons brushed my hair. A man hiking behind me asked, “Did I just see what I thought I saw?

ELBEE I’m sure the hawk thought it was nesting material.

When I got home I took a photo of Gus wearing the feathers. Then I googled red tailed hawk to see if I was correct. The good news is that I was. The bad news is that it’s against the law to take those feathers.

GUS Oh no. I hope I don’t get charged as an accessory

Overcome with guilt, and afraid I might be arrested, I hiked up and returned the feathers to the mountains. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have taken Gus’s picture. Then, in the true spirit of atonement and also trying to clear my guilty conscience, I thought it would be a good idea to do some sort of community service.

As luck would have it, it was Gus’s turn to visit the adult day health center. The participants, ranging in age from their twenties up to their eighties, are dealing with issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Others have severe physical disabilities.

Due to COVID, the dogs have been unable to visit for most of the past year. From the moment I walked in with Gus, there was a ripple of joy. The regulars gave him a warm welcome back. Staff members walked over to tell me how much the dogs had been missed.

Especially touching was seeing the man in his sixties who only smiles when the dogs are there. Awhile back, before the pandemic, a therapist caught him smiling for the first time in months as he petted Stanley. He wrote me a letter sharing how much the dogs mean to him.

As Gus and I made our way around the large room, stopping to visit people sitting on scattered couches and at the lunch tables, he stayed with us. Even with a mask on, I could see that he had a constant smile on his face.

I have a very strange note to add. As Gus was sitting in the yard for his
“feather” photo, a red tailed hawk suddenly started circling overhead. When I went to take the feathers off of Gus, there were five! My husband, a man of science, was a witness.