The Adventures of Captain
Jack—Explorator™
June 2018—Episode 6
Word of the month—Cooperation
The act of working
together toward a common mutually-beneficial goal.
“The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.”
--
Bertrand Russell
Read
more about cooperation at the
following: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/cooperation
Recap
from Episode 5: Captain Jack began
to feel like he belonged to a family. The big black-and-brown dog turned out to
be very calm, polite, and quite humorous. Horace was a big, goofy dog and
Captain Jack could not believe he was ever afraid of him. Stephanie took the
very first photograph of Allen, Penelope, and Captain Jack together while they
were lying in the grass with their arms, legs, and paws up in the air. A candid
moment in the lives of children and a puppy who had been through a number of
traumatic experiences, but had come together and had found loyal caring friends
to share their lives. How Captain Jack wished that moment could have lasted
forever. He was so thankful for his new friends. He wanted to find some way to
show them how grateful he was for having met them, for Allen and Penelope having
helped him when they needed help themselves, and for them having helped him
find food and a safe place. He really hoped good things would happen for the
children too.
Episode 6—June
2018
Stephanie took out
their lunch, a big umbrella, and the four chairs. She opened up the chairs and then
spread out a big blanket for Captain Jack and Horace. Everyone pulled out the
sand buckets and shovels and started to dig in the white sand. The big goofy
dog and the puppy started to dig in the sand as well. Sand was flying
everywhere. When the dogs turned around, they saw Penelope and Allen covered in
the sand they had just dug up. They were all laughing so hard, they were crying.
But it was a good, fun kind of crying. The children took the buckets, got water
from what they called the ocean, and
started to make shapes in the sand that looked like big fancy houses. Captain
Jack and the goofy dog kept digging and throwing more sand toward them. Allen
and Penelope thanked the dogs for helping. They said the dogs were being very cooperative and were good helpers.
Captain Jack and Horace were just having fun being dogs and digging.
In the distance, Captain
Jack could see a figure running toward them. It looked like a dog, but it didn’t
run like a dog. It had a kind of a hopping motion to its walk. A woman was
running with the dog and talking to her in an encouraging way. “Good girl, Amber,”
she said. “Keep up the good work.”
They looked like a
supportive team. But the intriguing thing was that the woman had one normal leg
and another leg that looked like a springboard or something. As the two came
closer, Captain Jack could see that both of them were missing one leg. They
were encouraging each other every step of the way. Captain Jack could see how Amber
cooperated with the woman. Amber looked back and waited for the woman to catch
up. Even with only three legs, the dog still had an advantage over the woman who
had one real leg. Amber’s three legs gave her more stability as she ran on the
sand.
The runner stopped
near us and wiped her brow. It was hot and she didn’t have any water with her. Penelope
and Allen noticed that she looked kind of tired, so they called to Stephanie
and asked her to come over with some water for the runner and her dog. Stephanie
also brought over a chair so the runner could sit down and rest a bit. The woman’s
name was Sarah. She looked as though she were about Stephanie’s age, but she
was much taller and had very long dark hair.
Sarah told them
her dog saved her life. One day she was swimming in the ocean when a shark attacked
her and bit off her leg, swimming away with it. Her dog Amber jumped into the
water to chase away the shark. In fact, the dog did scare it off, but another
shark proceeded to bite Amber. Though both of them were seriously injured, the
dog found a way to bark and get them the emergency help they needed desperately.
Sarah said the dog’s quick actions saved her life and brought people to their
assistance quickly. Sarah went on to say that she didn’t want fear to rule her
life after that, so she made sure that she and Amber came to the beach every
day to enjoy the ocean and regain confidence in being near the place where the
incident happened. Stephanie, Robert, Allen, Penelope, Captain Jack, and Horace
made new friends that day.
By then, they were
all ready for lunch. Stephanie invited Sarah and her dog Amber to join them. Of
course, Captain Jack was not
delighted about sharing his lunch. The big goofy dog definitely didn’t like it
either, because eating was his favorite thing to do. But all the humans praised
Horace and Captain Jack for being so kind, sharing, and cooperative, that the dogs couldn’t disappoint them. They all ate and
drank just enough. Then everyone decided to fly kites since there was a very
nice breeze. Penelope and Allen were really excited about flying kites.
As they got their
kites ready to fly, Captain Jack noticed strange, clear mushy things floating
in the ocean. He started barking and running toward them in the water. Those
weird things looked like they’d be fun to catch and play with. The puppy heard
voices behind him yelling, but couldn’t tell what they were saying. Captain
Jack kept running through the waves toward the floating things. It was a lot of
fun. And then he caught one! For a second, the puppy was ecstatic and excited. Then—almost
instantly—a sharp pain shot through his
entire body, and he couldn’t move. The puppy blacked out. All he could hear was
crying and screaming and people yelling, “Get him! Get him!”
Captain Jack was floating farther out on the waves faster than they could run or swim. The puppy was limp and couldn’t move at all. He could hear Amber barking excitedly and smelled her breath very close. The last thing that went through his mind was the smell of lunch on her breath. And Captain Jack blacked out again.
Humane
Education Points: There
are many pets (both cats and dogs) that are tripods
for various reasons. Most of them can adapt and learn how to function
relatively normally in life. Some need prosthetics or carts in place of their
limbs to restore their mobility. Most of all, they need patience, compassion,
support, and love.
Follow-up
Activities: Watch
the movies Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2. Or go to this website: www.seewinter.com
Read about tripod
dogs and cats, how they adapt to their missing limbs, and how they learn ways
to function in life. You might want to check out Tripawds® at tripawds.com,
dogguide.net/tripod-dogs.php,
handicappedpets.com/canine-amputation-tripod-dog/,
pinterest.com/cynjen/tripod-dogs/, or
thebark.com/content/keeping-your-three-legged-dog-healthy.
Read about
physically challenged children at websites such as the following:
--teacher.scholastic.com/professional/childdev/working_with_children.htm
--lds.org/topics/disability/list/physical-disability?lang=eng&old=true
--thoughtco.com/physically-handicapped-students-3111135
--helpingchallengedchildren.org/
(Helping Challenged Children, Inc.)
--medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/physically+challenged
--neatoday.org/2013/03/28/students-with-physical-disabilities-speak-out-on-challenges-in-school/
--cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=306&id=1874
(Women’s and Children’s Health Network on Physical Disability—Children)
Discuss ways you
might be a better friend in school to someone who is physically challenged in a
different way from you.
Story
Discussion Tips:
1) In what ways did
characters in this episode demonstrate cooperation?
Which characters worked together in each instance? How did they cooperate with
each other?
If you became differently abled in some way, how would
you want people to feel or act around you? Why? How would you try to make
people feel more comfortable around you if you were differently abled?
3) In what ways in this
story did Sarah’s dog Amber help her owner? How did the woman and Amber
encourage one another? Why?
4) Why did Sarah and
Amber return to the beach every day to the area where they were attacked by
sharks and suffered their injuries? How did those visits make them feel?
Have you ever done something like that to keep
yourself from living in fear after something bad happened to you? If so, how
did it make you feel to overcome the fear so it didn’t control your life?
5) Quick actions by
rescuers helped after Sarah’s and Amber’s shark attacks and after Captain Jack
was stung by the jellyfish and was floating out to sea. What do you think those
rescuers did in each situation to save the person and the dog? Why were quick
responses very important?
Have you ever been in a serious medical situation like
these? If so, what happened? Did someone rescue you as well?
©2017
Heddie Wittlin-Leger
Our
Nonprofit of the Month
The Tripawds Foundation is a 501c3 charity established to help amputee pets and their people everywhere. Current projects include:
- Maintaining the public benefit Tripawds Community
- Hosting a Toll-free Support Helpline
- Reimbursement for certified rehab consultations
- Free vet patient outreach materials
- The Tripawds Rescue Fund
- NEW! Amputation Surgery Assistance Program
- NEW! Tripawds Gear Fund
