The Observation Room

Experiential and Observation Learning Dynamics

Background
This is a conceptual book of how walking the walk overrules and supersedes talking the talk. Showing, not telling, is the real master key to realistic learning. It is about how a young-at-heart and very creative single mom (Christina Virginia Freeman), and her two kids, (Cathy Anne, 16), and (Buddy, 15), that take over an animal shelter, with the help of her father (Joe Freeman). There, they all team-up and pursue every effort they can think of to help the dogs, cats, troubled kids, elders and all others that want to join in and become part of the modeling process. It is about the real magic that comes from giving.

Sally and Julia followed their two dogs around the last bend and walked along side the fenced-enclosed side-yard. Inside they saw Buddy coaxing a dog up the A-frame obstacle, one of the six training challenges in the Agility course that filled the Shelter’s entire yard. He was showing a young couple how to clicker train a German Shepard they were looking to adopt.

Ol’ Maude led Sally right to the post at the far end of an observation bench and started smelling it. Julia chuckled, “We’ve got P-Mail.” Sally laughed and they both sat down and watched Buddy tempt the Shepard up the step slope. 

Julia was giving Lucky a hinny scratch with one hand and pointed to Buddy with her other. “See how he breaks up the whole process into little steps, one little cleat-step at a time, up one side and then down the other. In the beginning, each little step is an accomplishment, and each little accomplishment gets a click and a small treat. Then after the dog gets the hang of it, Buddy will eliminate some of the treats. He‘ll eventually end up just the clicking for each step up and down linking them all together into one continuous chain response. Then, at the bottom of the other side, the dog gets one big treat with a lot of praise and petting.”

“So what’s the clicker do?”

“The sound of the clicker means a treat is coming. That association of sound and treat becomes a positive and reinforcing reward for a job well done. The click becomes a conditioned sound reinforcer that means the same thing as the treat.”

Sally looked up and smiled, “Sorta like a sound that tastes good?”

Julia laughed aloud. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to say!” She reached to her neck, pulled out her own clicker, and clicked it twice. “That was very perceptive Sally, and you get a double-treat for that just as soon as we get inside.”

Just then, a voice came from the little box that sat on top of Ol’ Maud’s post. “Hi Sally, this is Dr. Amy. I got back in town early and decided to come directly here to the shelter, for an extra long session with you, if you’re free.”

Sally looked at the box with surprise then to Julia.

Julia turned toward the shelter building and waved, “We’re on our way Amy,” she said then turned back. She smiled at the bewildered expression on Sally’s face, “Yep, around here we’re high-tech, at least when it comes to communication anyway.” Julia laughed and stood up. “Let’s go get you that double treat.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Observation Room resembled a large rectangular lunchroom. The entire west wall consisted of three huge picture windows that showed the entire side-yard where the agility-course obstacles were set up for exercise training. Underneath the viewing glass was a long Formica counter-top with ten barstools spaced out alongside. The counter top had sound dividers every three feet that raised or lowered for conversation privacy, and three speaker control boxes, one at each end and the middle.

Julia and Sally led their dogs inside and Julia unsnapped Ol’ Maude who went right to the water bowl then laid down on her padded cushion for some observation and a nap. She then put a short lanyard-lead on Lucky and hooked him near Ol’ Maude, with his own cushion. 

Dr. Amy Baxter sat at the far left end of the counter and pushed her notes aside to greet Sally and Julia. “Hi girls, have a nice dog walk?

“Yes,” Sally said as she walked over and climbed up on a barstool next to Amy. “We walked the dogs all the way to the creek and Julia said maybe tomorrow we can go swinging from the Tarzan-rope and jump into the swim hole.”

“Wow! Now that sounds like fun. Do you know how to swim, Sally?”

“Not yet, but Julia’s going to teach me, right Julia?

“Yep, it’s as easy as floating in a bathtub,” she chuckled.

Julia went to the refrigerator and got a large pitcher of ice tea and filled their glasses then went to a cupboard and opened it, “And for Sally’s treat, we have Snickers, Butterfingers, or a sucker, or a cookie, umm… oatmeal, I think? Would you like something to snack on Amy?”

Sally piped up for a cookie and Dr. Amy asked if she might have an apple.

Julia gave Sally the cookie and sat the basket of apples on the counter. She then went to the cupboard above the leash rack and pulled out a box of clickers, “And for your second treat, you get your very own clicker. What’s your favorite color, Sally?”

“Red,” she said with a beaming smile.

“Then red it is.” Julia picked out a red one, walked back, and slipped the lanyard over Sally’s head.  “Always keep it with you, and always be ready to click-and-treat, for any good behavior you see.”

Sally beamed a smile. “Thank you, Julia, and I‘m going to start looking around for good behavior right now.”

Julia smiled, “You’re welcome, Sally.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buddy was with the same couple now but started working with another one of the five dogs hooked to observation stakes scattered throughout the agility course. This dog resembled a cocker spaniel but had some terrier features mixed in and she seemed a little shy. Buddy was calmly going slow-and-easy here while charging up the clicker with a lot of small treats and praise. He was introducing the dog to the tunnel by shaping the pup’s curious nature as he went.

He led the dog completely around the tunnel then lifted the thin flexible plastic tubing up and sat it back down. He pushed it around and pulled it back and forth while gently shaking it. The dog cautiously approached and smelled it while it was fully stretched out and when Buddy began to collapse it shorter the dog barked at it. When he had it collapsed all the way, it resembled a big yellow tire and the dog pawed at it like a toy. Buddy then stretched it back out to its full ten foot length again and set it down. He went around to the front opening, got down on his hands and knees, and went in. The pup followed with excitement.

Amy smiled and tilted her head a little, “He’s really good with dogs, where did he learn how to do all that?”

Julia chuckled, “He’s a dog whisperer, ya know. He always has been ever since he was young; he just understands how dogs think. He said he use to be a dog in a previous lifetime. It could be true too because I use to be a horse!”

Sally choked up a bit on her cookies and laughed aloud. She reached to her neck and clicked her clicker. “That’s funny Julia.”

Julia chuckled again, “Well, thank you Sally.” She glanced at Amy with a smile then back to Sally, “So what do I get for a treat?”

Sally reached for an apple and gave it to Julia, “Here, this is good for you, one a day will keep the doctor away.”

Dr. Amy looked sternly into Sally’s eyes, “You are so wise, little one,” then took a huge bite out of her own apple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just then, Christina walked into the room with a young woman and a small boy that looked to be about ten. “Julia, could you help Judy and her son Ralphy look for a nice dog for his tenth birthday?”

“Sure,” she said as she stood up and raised the partition divider, giving Amy and Sally some privacy. She walked over, introduced herself, and shook hands with Ralph. “Happy birthday, Ralph.”

Christina handed Julia the clipboard, “They’ve looked at some of our dogs on the web site, but they want to walk around and see them in person.”

“Good, we have some special dogs around here, let’s go have a look-see,” she said as she turned towards the door. “What kind of dog are you looking for, Ralph?”

The mom said, “Something small that doesn’t shed, or bark, or bite or….

“Moooommmmm!!!” Ralph cut in. “You promised. I want a big dog, with lots of hair.”

Julia laughed, “Hey, I’ve got an idea,” she said as she opened the door and grabbed a leash off the hook, “Let’s go find your dog then we’ll go for a nice trail walk.”

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amy pulled her notes back out and gave a beaming smile to Sally. “Now, I have some good news. We just got the official okay for researching Experiential Learning Techniques. What that means is we are going to study and research all the various ways of how we think and learn things, through experience. And you, little one, will be our youngest study subject. What do you think of that?”

Sally paused at the sounds of all that techno talk and said, “I don’t know. I guess. But it doesn’t sound as fun as swinging in the creek.”

“Ah hah, but learning how to swim is a very important and powerful learning experience, don’t you think?

“Yes, but… Oh, I get it now, learning fun stuff.”  

“Yes! Learning is fun, and that’s going to be our first lesson. One of the primary tools we will use is a writing-journal, similar to the private journal you started last week. Cathy Anne is setting up a blog for this now and we will publish a journal-entry every week describing your progress in all the various learning skills you experience. The students at the university will read these updates and interact with us with questions and ideas. You see, they too are learning, I am learning and you are learning, and the dogs too, we are all learning. Somebody will be working with you everyday on this journal project and it will be fun. So, what do you think?”

“You said it would be about swimming and training the dogs and stuff?”

“Yes. Plus all the other interesting things you will be doing and learning both here at the shelter and at the farm.”

“Okay, but I can’t write very fast.”

Amy smiled, “Not a problem.”  

Chapter One - Damage Control

 

The Shelter Kids

Prologue

The past is the past, water under the bridge, spilled milk. We must live in the moment, the present, the here and now, for it’s in how we live out today that shapes and defines who we will become. What happens after the fact is the choice that determines the extent of mental damage.

‘Damage Control’ is a dramatization, a realistic fiction story based on an ACTUAL beating and rape that happened in Virginia last year to seven year old Sally (not her real name), in her own living room. It’s a story about healing, balance, and the reality that is found only by ‘Walking the Walk’.
 

~~~Flash back to February 2010~~~
Three weeks have passed since that fateful day in February and Sally was not responding well at all. None of the counseling, the drugs, or the therapy sessions had shown any positive improvement in alleviating Sally’s nightmares, her fear, or her trauma.

Her parents pleaded for help and finally the child-care counselor involved with this case contacted, TARP (Teens At Risk Program) and spoke to Dr. Amy Baxter at a University in Pennsylvania.. They arranged to bring Sally and her parents to Gray’s Farm, an experiential  research learning- lab affiliated with the Animal Shelter the following week for a six-month intensive, TARP intervention program, with all expenses covered by the research foundation.
 

The family was set up in trailer #12, which nestled in along side the horse corral and the pasture with an over-looking view of Wintergreen Gorge. The father had to return home after a few days but the mother stayed on and participated in the activities and chores around the farm and at the animal shelter. For sixteen hours a day, everyday, Sally’s day was filled with action, adventure, structure, mentoring, learning, teaching, dog training, and much, much more, all with the good guidance and mentoring from the many good and caring volunteers who understood pain and suffering. Her nightmares subsided. 

Chapter 1

Damage Control

~~~The Animal Shelter~~~ 

Seventeen year old, Julia Roberts and fifteen year old, Buddy, had been working with Sally to develop her assertiveness and self-identity through defensive action moves in the Combat Hapkido Self-Defense Program. “It’s all about having control,” Julia repeated over and over to Sally.

Julia showed Sally just a couple simple techniques and focused on speed, accuracy, conviction, and spontaneous reaction. “There are at least five techniques to break the thumb of an 800 lb gorilla and you already know two of them,” she said.  Sally was getting readings of ‘SEVERE SPRAIN’ on the ‘Rule of Thumb Meter’, a contraption Julia helped design and build to measure the actual twist-torque delivered to a fake thumb.
 

Already, Sally knew the sidekick and the front kick, and her impact force, speed, and accuracy kept improving every day. Julia explained to her that it doesn’t matter how many moves you know, but how well you know them. She endlessly repeated her mantra, “It’s better to know one thing well, than ten things not quite good enough in a pinch.”

Mrs. Andrews, Sally’s mom, sat on the bench along the front of the animal shelter and watched Julia, Sally, and Buddy finish their workout. The kick-bag hung from a big oak tree and Buddy stood behind it, supporting it. Julia looked over to Sally and smiled, “Okay, let’s do it one last time for today.” She looked directly at the bag and shouted, “MY NAME IS JULIA AND YOU WILL NOT HURT ME!” She went into a backspin, followed by a round-kick hitting high on the bag almost knocking Buddy off his balance with the impact force. “Take THAT.” she said and turned to Sally. “Your turn, show your mom what you can do.”

Sally glanced around at her mom then back at the bag. She zoned in on that exact spot Julia had showed her and with conviction in her voice, she shouted loudly, “MY NAME IS SALLY AND YOU WILL NOT HURT ME!” She stepped in and snapped out a front kick with accuracy and force. At the impact Buddy, in his bag-support position, grunted loudly and pushed himself off into a back roll and bounced off the tree then rolled backwards again. He got up, staggered a few steps, feigned a faint, and fell to the ground motionless and pleaded, “Hey, take it easy on me, I’m a good guy.”  Sally and Julia looked at each other, did a high-five slap, and started laughing.
 

Mrs. Andrews just sat there for a moment. She could not believe the difference in her daughter after only two weeks. She wasn’t sure she would ever see her sweet child laugh again, but….  A tear seeped from her eye, and she had to shake herself to control her voice, “You’re doing really good sweetheart.”

Julia put her arm around Sally as they walked towards her mother, “She’s going to be a champ Mrs. Andrews, you can be real proud of her.”

Her mom stood up and took Sally in her arms, and they hugged. “But Julia, I’m worried about Sally going through life in attack mode like that, it invites trouble.”

“Mrs. Andrews. This is not about being in attack mode or about fighting, or even about the win or lose outcome. This is about developing self-efficacy, and self-confidence. This is about self-empowerment. It’s about having perfected a skill of action and assertiveness that generates a power within. It’s about knowing and believing in yourself and your skills of choice until they become a part of you. It’s about never again feeling helpless and defenseless without options.”

“I can see that now, Julia, thank you, and what a powerful belief to have within.”

“Yes indeed ma‘am. It’s a mentally magic state of mind; it’s the ‘ART’ of self-defense. We’re going to do a short cool-down walk now, and then she can get ready for her appointment with Dr. Amy. Come on Sally, let’s get a quick drink, grab a dog, and hit the trails.” Julia patted Sally’s back as they walked to the front door. “You’re doing good kid, there’s nobody ever gonna mess with you again.” 

~~~WALKING THE WALK~~~‍‍‍‍      
   After grabbing two water bottles from the fridge and two leashes off the hooks, Julia and Sally went into the kennel area and walked down ‘dog-isle’. About halfway Julia stopped, opened a gate and put a leash on a little beagle pup named Lucky, and handed the leash to Sally. She walked on to the large-dog section and went to the last kennel on the left. She knelt down and spoke softly to Ol’ Maude, an old retriever mix they found last year beaten and almost starved to death. Ol’ Maude was about ten years old and nobody seemed interested in adopting the old dog, so Julia did.

Ol’ Maude was Julia’s favorite and she got real excited when Julia stood up, opened her gate, and snapped on a leash. She wagged her tail so hard it swayed her whole backside and she almost lost her balance. She loved her walks with Julia everyday.

With people in tow, the dogs led the way out the side door, around the agility course, and up the well-worn trail that meandered through the trees. Ol’ Maude took the lead position with her keen nose and sharp eyes. She was always on the lookout and smelling for any signs of danger, or food. This was her pack and she had a job to do.

Julia and Sally followed behind their dogs with an easy walk and some small talk until they came to a fork in the trail. Julia paused for a moment. “What time is your meeting with Dr. Amy?”

“Three o’clock.” Sally said.

Julia looked at her watch then back to Sally, “We’d better take the short trail this time.” She then tugged the leash to the left with two easy snaps of her wrist and said “Haw.” Ol’ Maude, who knew the lingo well, headed off onto the trail to the left.

The short trail led directly to the creek before looping back toward the shelter. Sally looked over to Julia and asked, “How long have you been with the shelter, Julia?”  

“For about a year now, my real home is in West Virginia. Did you know that Joe Freeman, we call him J.F. for short, is Christina’s dad, and he lives right next door to me and that’s where Christina grew up? And Buddy always came down for the summers to visit his granddad, and that’s how we became best friends. When Christina decided to take over the shelter, as a family effort with both her kids, Buddy and Cathy Anne, both her dad and I came up to help."

“Don’t you miss being home?”

“Yeah, I miss home, but this is important, to help Christina get this Animal Shelter going.” Julia went off in thought for a second, “Ya know what I really miss the most though is watching the wild mustangs frolic in the creek late in the evenings, with the moonlight reflecting off the water. It looks like a liquid silver ribbon running back and forth through the valley. It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

Sally's eyes lit up, “YOU have wild mustangs?”

“Yep, ‘bout 25 of them, all ranging free in the upper meadows behind J.F.s cabin. We bring them down every year for the rodeos.”

“Rodeos," Sally said with disgust. "That’s mean; I saw how they are so mean to those horses on TV.”

“Nobody’s mean to my horses. I’m with them almost all the time and they actually kind of like it. They spend all year long looking forward for rodeo season to begin so they can buck those cowboys off their backs and put ‘em in the dirt, on their butts.” Julia smiled and looked over to Sally, “Do you ride?”

“No, I’ve always wanted to but…”

“Well how about tonight after supper, you can come along with me and Buddy for a little trail ride down Manitowoc Valley.”

“Sure.” Sally piped up with enthusiasm. “Julia? Will you teach me to barrel race like you do?”

“I think that might be something we can work at. Yeah! That’s good idea, Sally.”

~~~~~

They reached the half waypoint of the trail where it followed alongside the babbling creek, briefly, before winding back into the woods towards the shelter. “Hey, you want to switch dogs?” Julia asked as she held out her leash towards Sally.

“Sure, I’ll take the lead with Ol’ Maude” she said, and they switched dogs and positions. Sally admired the way Ol’ Maude just moseyed along smelling everything there was to smell when she noticed a big scar on her hind leg. “What’s that Julia?” she asked, pointing to the scar.

“That’s an old battle wound Maude carries with her. She was abused and beaten pretty bad before we found her.”

Sally stared at the scar that ran from the top of the left hip all the way down to her knee, “Who would ever hurt a dog like Ol’ Maude?”

“I don’t know!” Julia said vehemently. “But they sure as heck wouldn’t if I was around.” She looked over to Sally then off to the side and threw out a swift round kick at some imagined dog abuser, and shouted out simultaneously, “UHAAUUH!”

Sally then imitated Julia’s kick with one of her own, “My name is Ol’ Maude, and you will not hurt me. Uhaauh!”

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍O’ Maude turned her head around to see who called out her name and what the ruckus was about, and then turned back again, to her job at hand.

Author Notes
Photo by Chuck Szmurlo. Thanks for this perfect image of teamwork between mankind and animal.
This is a conceptual book of how walking the walk overrules and supersedes talking the talk. Showing, not telling, is the real master key to realistic learning. It’s about how a young-at-heart and very creative single mom (Christina Virginia Freeman), and her two kids, (Cathy Anne, 16), and (Buddy, 15), take over an animal shelter, with the help of her father (Joe Freeman). There, they all team-up and pursue every effort they can think of to help the dogs, cats, troubled kids, elders and all others that want to join in and become part of the modeling process. It is about the real magic that comes from giving.