What a night

Wow, what a night. The winds were so strong that I thought our roof might just blow off leaving us to the elements. Which wouldn't actually be that bad being here in Southern California; except that there is so much smoke in the air that you feel like you have the worst throat cold. We managed to get a bit of sleep but even the dogs were wresless. The dogs were all jumpy yesterday which was strange. Strange because Jessie and Tilley are not the jumpy type. Then there is Luke.

Luke is the most skittish dog we have ever had in our family; by far. He hates when things move by themselves which most dogs don't like but he takes it to the extreme. But when you know how sensitive he is to everything, he never misses a beat. He notices the smallest of things, like ants crawling around outside. Not too many dogs watch ants.

So with things blowing everywhere and the house making all sorts of noises the dogs were antsy ;) The wind seems to put most dogs into a state of unrest. We don't get alot of wind here but when we do its huge and over the years I've had to train in the wind often. Training in the wind is always a challenge and one that I don't look forward to. There is a huge "its the wind" factor. You cannot expect as much from your dog and if you can get the tiniest bit of information into that furry brain, you're doing great.

I've been out with dogs that cannot concentrate for a minute, with things whipping around them its just not the norm so they are on high alert. Sort of like "what's that?" "what's that?" the whole time. It makes them jumpy and difficult to calm. And usually if it is really bad we'll move indoors to work. But even that is not enough for some dogs who are use to the calm and quiet.

You must take into account the elements when working with dogs. There are always outside factors.

This and that


Good morning, I woke this morning to the smell of smoke. I was actually coughing as I woke; it's pretty strong and I cannot imagine how bad it is closer to the fires. If you have not seen the news about the fires in Southern California yet, we're burning pretty good. The winds are strong and not helping matters with the dry conditions.

I had a great canine photo shoot yesterday, great dogs; great guardians but bad weather. I worked around it, the winds were awful and just minutes into my shoot I was chewing sand in my gum, yum. Luckily I brought a hair tie so that my hair was not in all of the shots. The wind was so bad that I truly couldn't believe it; I stood there on the beach with the sand blasting me and thought "of course."

But luckily the shoot was yesterday and not today as the skies are filled with smoke. Lastnight as I looked out our front window I could see an ominous looking cloud type formation just right of the sunset. As I watched closely it was moving fast as I realized it had to be smoke. I went immediately to turn on the tv and heard about the beginning of the Santiago Canyon fire, not far from us.

The sun is not up yet so I'm not sure what it looks like; I just know that it smells bad. I had planned on doing a huge walk with Jessie this morning; the poodles are exhausted from two days of power running with my husband so they are off for the day. I'll know later if I'm going out with Jessie once the sun rises. Everyone has already had their morning cookie and are back on my bed asleep and happy.

Both Luke and Jessie had upset stomachs Saturday night and yesterday. I bought a new bag of dog food and it did not look or smell like it usually does. It didn't smell bad; just like I didn't get the same kind that I usually get. We'll see if that is the cause or not in a couple of days.

Laying down with dogs

I love having a pack of dogs and I love that when I lay down on my bed, couch or lounge outside that they all lay with me. If you have an independent type dog; he/she may not always lay with you. I have two very following dogs and one who is a pack member but much more independent in nature. No one would ever guess that my independent dog is Tilley. Everyone assumes that the loner is Jessie.

My days consists of moving around alot. Because I am a photographer and writer; it means that I am on the computer for a large percentage of my day. But, I have a bad neck; I've been in two rear end collisions in the past several years. If I am on the computer for too long; my neck tells me so. This means that I try to break up my time on the computer with gardening, baking and general household chores. So my pack is always in motion.

Like I've said before; I have beds all over the place and there are two in the computer room. Luke and Jessie are always where I am unless for some reason I have left them in the backyard for a while. Tilley occassionally will join us but she is more often somewhere else busying herself. At 10 1/2 she is still very active; while the other dogs are sleeping she is almost always outside chasing shadows or playing with a ball. Just yesterday I told her how amazing she looks for her age. :)

Lastnight was a beautiful night, the scorching day was finally cooling with the evening air. We all sat out on the patio with a great glass of cabernet enjoying the night; Luke was on the lounge with us, Jessie on the bed beside us and Tilley was wondering the yard. Funny that Luke is always by my side, he who is the most energetic out of the bunch turns into what I call a porch dog if I should sit or lay down anywhere.

He quietly sniffs the air and watches Tilley make the rounds. Typical male; he lets her secure the perimeter and only gets involved if she should see or smell something very interesting. With his huge ears up he keeps a keen eye on her; but he has no intention of leaving the comfort of the big double chaise he is enjoying. Once Jessie is down; curled into a very tight ball; she is pretty hard to get up. Even at bedtime she is hesitant to move from the warmth of her body ball; and I typically have to physically bring her to bed.

The pack all goes to bed together and rises together.

Puppy Mills

Lastnight I was watching Entertainment tonight. I can barely stand to watch a couple of minutes of the show; it is all hype and no content. They repeatedly tell you whats up next and when the story finally appears it is a split second of meaningless, who gives a (*&^ information. I continued to watch lastnight because they had a "breaking news" an "indepth report," about puppy mills. Because of the recent issue with Ellen and the little dog she passed off to her hairdressers kids, she has brought rescue groups and puppy mills to the forefront.

Of course the "Indepth report" was shallow and lacking any type of actual educational information BUT it was on tv which is always good. I've been trying to educate people for so long about puppy mills and why you should never purchase a dog from a pet store. So the fact that it is out there and being talked about now is a good thing. Its about freaking time!!!!

Being in the dog industry I have met way too many undersized, sickly and behaviorally challenged dogs that come from pet stores. I remember going into a pet store about a year ago; they never use to sell puppies so that's why I was in there. I was shocked to see a bunch of puppies set out on the floor in ex pens and asked "when did this start?" The kid behind the counter seemed proud to tell me the store was under new management.

I took a look at the puppies which I knew I shouldn't do; I should have just turned and walked out the door immediately. They were cute, sad, sick and one was obviously very sick. It was a very underweight boston puppy who was just crunched up in a ball with runny eyes and nose. I asked the clerk about her and he said "she's fine."

Especially with the holiday season around the corner; it is imperative that people learn and know not to buy puppies from pet stores. So it is up to the people who already know to spread the word. If we all band together; we can make a difference and maybe in the somwhat near future we can stop Puppy Mills all together. Stop these people who look at dogs as a dollar sign instead of the loving little creatures that they are.

A picture is worth a thousand words

I was out driving around yesterday looking for photo ops. Sometimes I just have to shoot something; so I decided on some fall scenery in the city that I live in. I made a couple of quick stops and got some nice images and was back on the road looking again when I came across a scene that made me smile.

I was driving down a road that I thought would lead me to a perfect vantage point for a golf course shot, wrong. But what I did see while driving down the road was touching. There was a very elderly gentleman walking his dog; a tiny blonde pekenese. I'm not sure how old this dog would have been; hard to tell but the dog was clipped short. The day had gotten hotter than it was suppose to so the dog was panting. As I drove by; the gentleman took off his hat and with one hand held the leash tight while the other hand fanned his dog.

They never stopped walking but the man continued to fan his dog. I quickly switched from scouting mode to simple pleasure; the kind where you stop and smell the roses. I made a u-turn and came back slowly. The man had gone another block but had now made a stop so that his tiny dog could quite literally wallow in the pure joy of the grass rolling. As the dog rolled around; obviously loving every minute of scratching heaven the elderly man made sure that his leash did not become tangled.

I was still driving so I had to move on past the scene. I thought to myself while driving away; how this dog and man meant so much to each other. The guardian was taking time out of his day to make sure that his dog was enjoying life and by doing this he himself was enjoying life. It is true that the simple pleasures in life are the best, dogs.

All quiet


Yesterday was a very quiet day. The dogs were spent still from their canyon run and poor little Jessie had joined me on a speed walk. She did very well on the way out but on the way back she was lagging bigtime. I could feel the pull on my arm getting stronger and stronger as we made our way back to the car. I never mind adding a 15 lb weight to my walk but it is amazing how 15 lbs soon feels like 50 in your arms. I'll give her a little break from walking every so often and she seems to enjoy the view from up in my arms. I guess when you are only about 8 inches off the ground the view isn't so good.

Usually my guys rest after the weekend and a ton of exercise but yesterday they were just very quiet. At several points during the day I didn't know where they were. That in itself is very unusual as I always have at least two continual shadows; sometimes three. So seeing that they were not checking in I had to do the checking. I'm always doing a head count; mid day, when I get home and before I go out anywhere. I like to know that everyone is where they should be.

Jessie is very small so it can be a challenge locating her without calling. And being an 11 1/2 year old JRT, even calling her can be difficult. She really does contemplate the benefit of leaving her nice warm spot to come to me just because. Now, rustle a package and she's all over it. Tilley is the other one, now getting older she isn't as fast as she use to be and I can actually pass over her as she lays down somewhere. Because of her coloring she is very well camoflaged most anywhere. She sort of resembled a shadow in the corner of the couch. I have often stood in a room calling and calling her when she finally decides to let me know how blind I am.

One of all three dogs favorite perches in on my daughters bed. With mounds of blankets and a nice patio window for viewing it is prime real estate. They can lay back all snuggled in but still see the comings and goings. This is the room that they are not allowed to be in when I leave to go out anywhere. With me gone they know that barking at passerbys can go on until I get home.

I have dog beds all over my house, actually there is at least one bed per room. I have a huge bed in the kitchen, two really nice ones in the livingroom, a huge flat bed and a doggy couch in the family room, two in the computer room and three in the bedroom. So no matter where my guys are, they are comfortable.

Leash aggression

Don't be fooled by an aggressive outburst from a passerby. How many times have you been on a walk with your dog and been the victim of what seems to be an aggressive outburst from a dog on the other side of the street? Usually their guardian is cringing from embarassement or pulling like a mad fool to stop the show. I know I have been the victim many times which has made my job of teaching my own dogs not to do this; that much more difficult. Tilley of course does not do this, remember she is my perfect dog ;)

Jessie use to do it; but does not anymore. She is a a stick of dynamite with other dogs and it was no easy feat to teach her to contain herself. But after much treat dispensing she doesn't usually bother unless they throw her an evil glance. Luke is my best example of leash aggression although he rarely displays anymore. At the age of 7 he is a pretty good and much more mellow boy.

The unusual thing about Luke and the best example of true leash aggression is the fact that Luke is so good with other dogs; when off leash. Off leash is the key word here, on leash and off leash are two entirely different situations for a dog. Many, many dogs display aggressively when onleash much to the dismay of their guardians. So why do dogs who typically get along wonderfully with other dogs become so aggressive while on a leashed walk.

There are several factors why dogs can act aggressive.

1. they have lost the flight part of "fight or flight" which leaves them feeling stressed.
2. we tend to pull on a dog when approaching other dogs which changes their body language and removes their ability to communicate properly.
3. they are very close to us which can cause a guarding behavior to kick in.
4. they can sense stress from us.
and
5. we do all the wrong behaviors ourselves to help in the situation.

What you need to do is convince your dog that having other dogs around is a great thing. Get your dogs mind off of the other dog and onto you. Teach catch is one the greatest tools for this. If you teach your dog to catch really well you can use it while walking. They can't catch yummy treats and be paying attention to other dogs can they? Catching yummy treats does three things.

1. Keeps their attention on you.
2. Rewards them for catching and paying attention.
and
3. Puts a positive association on having other dogs walk by.

But the most important thing your need to remember is to remain calm yourself. If you get all flustered and start yanking on the leash, your dog immediately knows something is wrong. They see the dogs and associate it with the negative behavior from you. Don't forget your dog is leashed so they are going anywhere, so calm down.

Get in the habit of singing a happy song or giving your dog happy talk as soon as they see another dog. This will help you to stay calm.

Sunday morning

Good morning all. The dogs are curled up on my bed awaiting their canyon run. It rained yesterday so they missed out and it was obvious by Luke's behavior that he really missed out on his energy outlet. When Luke doesn't get out somewhere each day; somewhere to either use up his brain or body energy you can see it manifest in different behaviors.

As I said in a previous post; due to Tilley's recent wound issue there has been a shift attempt in the pack. Luke has been displaying some very obnoxious behavior lately. He has been pushier than normal with Tilley and when she was down with her tail would she would just shrink away. This behavior that she displayed only made his worse. But she is back on track and gave it to him yesterday.

Luke gets a look when he is looking for trouble. There is no missing it. He decided that he was going to harrass her and she was not in the mood. Typically she ignores him until he goes away which can be quite a while. But this ignoring routine works and is one that I use in my training regime as well. But if for some reason he really has it in him and she is short on patience then she lets him know much sooner.

Tilley goes from meek princess girl to fierce lightning dog. Anyone who has not seen her in action before would be shocked to hear what comes out of her. She has a huge and fierce growl, even when playing. She sounds very much like a grizzly bear. So she will growl and lunge with such speed that Luke doesn't know what has hit him. He is set back and left pondering his next move. Often that one attack is enough, sometimes not.

If she needs to tell him again, it is louder and with more force. Tilley also owns the sharpest set of adult teeth I have ever felt on a dog and one hit with those canines and he doesn't usually try again. Mustering up all the courage he can he goes for it again. This time she means to put and end to his harrassment and she does. He seems humiliated and Tilley is always unsure how far she is allowed to tell him and comes to us for reassurance. Of course I give it to her.

If for some reason I stopped Tilley from giving Luke the appropriate feedback; we then would have a monster on our hands.

TGIF



What is it about humans? We go through life assuming. I have to admit that I do it myself and yes; almost everytime I do it is the wrong assumption. I was talking about the color of our dogs with my husband this morning and how people tend to be afraid of dark dogs over light dogs. They assume a dark dog has a dark personality.

Almost everyone I meet thinks that my male is a female and my female poodle is a male. They assume because my female is dark grey and my male is light blonde that their sex is designated by this fact alone. My male almost always has a big furry face and is much taller than my girl, yet they go by color alone.

Strangers tend to want to pet Luke more than they want to pet Tilley. Luke is less likely to want to be pet and is a much more guarding type. In fact Luke has given several people quite a startle when they move in quickly to pet him. Because he is cuddly looking with his blonde curls make him no more approachable than a scarey looking black faced dog.

And; I love the fact that I do not clip my poodles as poodles. This helps people to see my dogs as the dogs they are. Often while out on a walk men will approach me saying "cool dogs, what are they?" When I tell them they are shocked "really?" "Wow, I didn't know I liked poodles." I love it, its like giving your kids a bowl of soup they love and then telling them there is spinach in it.

Its already Thursday?


This week has been one of those ones that somehow sneak by you. As I stood in middle of the kitchen this morning preparing breakfast I thought to myself "is it Thursday?" I went over the days gone by this week and came to the conclusion that it was indeed Thursday already. I can't believe it.

The dogs are looking good after their day of pampering; and everyone smells good. Actually the poodles always smell good; poodles do not get that doggy smell that other dogs get. My little Jessie gets that doggy smell but luckily she only weighs in at 15lbs. She is shedding like crazy right now as well, don't know what's up with that. She goes through non shedding and shedding all the time. Mostly she sheds in the hotter weather but it is cooling off and the hair keeps on a pour'n.

I'm planning a shoot with my three; they look so adorable together. When I do a shoot with my own or others dogs I try to capture the inner dog. If the shot is to include a human then I try to capture the connection between the two. I'm not big on "smile at the camera," type shoots, infact I find them to be really boring. And the shoots that include dog and guardian I don't allow looking at me. Unless the dogs gives me a out of the corner of their eye quickie.

Often a dog on their own will give me an amazing gaze into the camera and then other times the best shot is when the dog is gazing off somewhere far away. But when it comes to humans the draw to smile at the camera is so strong that it is very difficult for me to get the connection shot. I have been known to say "if you look at me I'm not taking the shot;" that usually does the job.

Anyone can pose someone and shoot. The resulting image is a lifeless one with both dog and guardian looking at whom ever is looking at the photo. No emotion, nothing to say that these two even know each other. I am currently looking for dog and guardian pairs to shoot for my portfolio so if anyone is interested, email me.

Wednesday


This was me yesterday with my dogs. I've never taken a photo of myself before so this is the first. I finally learned how to use my timer and will probably use it alot now for my book photos and article photos on my other site at www.JustdogswithSherri.com

Today was dog maintenance day again. Everyone had a bath, the poodles got their feet shaved; and everyone had their nails cut and filed. Since we have moved into a home with wood floors I make sure that the dogs have their nails filed as well as cut. Cut nails are sharp leaving scrathes on the floor. They also cut skin really easily which I have happen several times myself.

I plan on purchasing a dremel tool one of these days as filing 48 nails in one day is quite the job. But my dogs are all great about it, they hand over their paw; turn their head and let me do my stuff. Each dog gets a yummy treat after the nail cutting, it has become something they look forward to. When they see the nail cutters in my hand they all jump up and down, they don't even think about how much they hate getting their nails cut.

Even Tilley had a bath today, her first in many weeks. First she had her face and feet shaved; she is just way too beautiful to have a huge fur face. Luke on the other hand suits a fur face and I think he is adorable with it. So with the greatest of care I suds up Tilley without getting any water on her tail and clean her from head to base of tail. Boy she needed it.

My poodles are ultra easy care, none of the hours of brushing, grooming, clipping etc. for me. Nope, a #7 blade and it all comes off. Every week they get a quick brushing but if they are having regular bathtime then their hair curls up in tight ringlets. These ringlets are the very beginning of cords which their hair wants to naturally do. I do not want corded poodles but little curls stop the matting of undercoat.

I am always stopped and asked what breed of dogs I have. Mostly people think they are either Goldendoodle or Labradoodles because they don't have the recognizable "poofs" on them. I've even had a lady with a standard poodle ask me what they were, intelligent!

So they are all clean and beautiful again; Jessie is shedding like crazy. Being a Jack Russell which is only less worse than a lab shedding because she is smaller but it pretty much rains little white hairs when you have a smooth JRT. The pay off for never having to clip is to live with the hair, and honestly I'd rather clip. But I love the little munchkin.

I love these maintenance days, its all about the dogs. Its almost like a day off when I get to spend the whole day with the dogs. They are all now curled up and asleep after their rough pampered day.

This and that


Good Tuesday morning; it is 6:30 and I am still in bed, lazy eh? I was up lastnight with Luke for an hour and a half as he had a seizure and then the aftermath of it. He takes so long to settle and must be touching me at all times. He pants for at least 1/2 an hour and keeps his head up for an hour looking around. So after the 1/2 hour of panting I was fading quickly; I piled a blanket around his head and covered him up so he would settle and fall asleep. It worked and he seemed genuinely thankful for the head prop.

He never moved until just now. Of course once he was all comfy my head started its spinning. Don't you hate when you are exhausted by your head won't turn off. You try the old "think nothing," but that just leads you to thinking about something else. I finally dozed off just in time for my husbands alarm blaring away. I think I opened one eye but was soon back in deep sleep.

Other than a bad night sleep I'm pretty excited; I just launched my new website which will contain all of my articles wwith detailed instructions on behavior issues. You will be able to flip through the articles and downlowd the ones that pertain to your specific behavior issues, or at least your dog's behavior issues. It is just in the very beginning so there are no articles up yet but it is in exsistence. The new site is a spin off of this blog www.JustdogswithSherri.com

Today will be spent working on articles, matching photos to the appropriate article and uploading them to the website. I am also working on several articles and photos for a couple of magazines. Busy, busy.

Place

There are several things I like to teach my client's dogs that are not on the usual list at other obedience classes. Typically you learn the sit, down, come etc. But there are a couple of behaviors that quickly become essential when you have dogs or even just one dog. One of those behaviors is "place." This is my term but you can call it anything you like, that like any other exercise or behavior.

Place basically means to go to a certain place or object when told to do so. In my training we use it most commonly for when you'd like to answer the door in peace. Or when you have friends over who are not so keen on your dog; but you can use it whenever you like once it is a trained reliable behavior. It is fairly easy to teach and usually become and exercise that dogs enjoy. I once had a labrador client, adorable little thing she was. She was so enthusiastic about this exercise that when she heard the word "place" she would charge through the house and dive onto her pre designated "place" which was her bed and await her reward; this at the age of only 3 mos.

Now, place can mean a certain object or particular spot. It could mean the corner in the front hall, the spot by the fireplace or a rug or dog bed which can be moved around. It is important to decide this before teaching it. Once you have decided where "place" will be in your home you can start the learning process.

It all starts out by guiding the dog, actually taking them to the spot that you are going to call their place. You want to try to use your body more than your hand to guide them there. From past experience when you point many dogs jump up to your hand, especially the overly excitable ones. So just walking to the "place" and rewarding them for hitting the spot works best. You can add your hand point once the dog has the general idea of what "place" means. Make sure to say the word "place" clearly each time.

In the beginning you will need to walk them right to the spot. Often manouvering your body around to get them onto it. You want them to feel that they have changed surface. There are no treats to lure with this behavior because you really need them to pay attention to where they are, not just what they are doing with their body. So the treats remain away until they are actually on their "place." At this point you will use your correct behavior word or sound; yes, okay or correct (more on this later) and then reward as quickly as possible.

As with anything; repetition is the key to learning this behavior quickly. Once you see that they are starting to get the idea; you want to start stopping short of the spot and expect them to continue on. It is important that you start distancing yourself from the spot quickly. The goal for this behavior is to be able to be in another room or far away from the spot and command "place." When you do start getting some distance you can toss your treat to them but only if you can keep it on the "place."

When you get a bit of distance, it is easy to add to it. When you know that your dog fully understands what "place" means you can add a stay to it, if your dog understands the stay command. If not then teach stay in general first; then add to the place command.

I'll never forget another of my lab clients as I walked through their front door on our final session. As the girls charged down the front stairs their guardian said "place," immediately they changed gears and headed to the front corner where their comfy bed lay awaiting them. They stayed there until I was through to the kitchen and they were then released, was I proud?

Not good-just plain weird

Tilley's tail looked great this morning when I opened up her bandaging but one trip inside to get her wash and new bandage and its looking strange. She only licked it a bit and it was completely transformed from looking pretty great to scary. The best I can guess is that the skin grew before the tissue was healed underneath. The new skin that was growing from the outsides in is like tissue paper that she ripped open in several places. It went to a nice light pink to bleeding like a fresh wound in a matter of minutes. Its not looking good.

I'm going to give it a couple of days and take another trip to the vet to see what he thinks. I thought we were just about there but after today I really don't know. I was so surprised by the tissue consistency and just how thin the skin is covering the wound. Her tail also bothered her alot today but she is not trying to take off her bandages which is a good thing.

At least I know I'm not off supervising duty yet, a couple of minutes can do alot of damage at this point still.

Today

I was awoke early this morning by a gorgeous, long legged blonde guy tromping across the bed. It was chilly lastnight and that means that Luke is looking for a snuggle. I invite him to snuggle with me; who wouldn't? His balance is not great when he is half asleep and walking on the huge pillow top bed. He does his couple of circles and settles in beside me. He wants his head rubbed, he loves it and the more you rub the harder he pushes. What he loves most is when I rub from his nose up to between his eyes. I realize that this simulates a mother cleaning his face; remember I said he was a baby?

Back to sleep for a couple more hours and I am again awaken by a dog; this time it is Tilley making her communication noises. Ever since she was little she makes weird throaty noises which for many years I really didn't understand. But I have come to the conclusion that it is her best attempt at communication. She often will make the noise when she wants something but has also used it when I ask her questions. She really is almost human; I think it a poodle thing.

With all three dogs now curled up and asleep on the bed they are rudely awaken by the neighborhood dogs. The barking is especially bad this morning. There is a Jack Russell at the end of the street who has taken it upon himself to scream at every dog that passes by his house. And the other annoying barker's breed I have yet to figure out but its a big one. His bark is the kind that you know you don't want to meet the dog behind the fence. Very scarey.

So I am again in bed with my dogs enjoying my coffee and contemplating the day ahead. There is a doggy fashion show going on today which I think I might just swing by and shoot.

Have a great cool weekend and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my Cdn friends and family.

Things that bug me


While on my laptop checking my email this morning it reminded me how much I hate it when people do not return emails. I'm not talking about the occassional "forget to reply," emails; I do that myself. I'm taking about the ones where people simply ignore you. They don't like what you have said or don't want to discuss something so they simply don't reply, honestly that irks me to no end.

Antoher thing that bothers me is dog related and it is a biggy in my eyes. Placing the wrong dog with the wrong human. I'm talking about rescues or shelters; it can happen with breeders but that's a different subject. Recently I heard about a dog that was obtained from a rescue group; it is in my opinion a very "special" dog needing to be placed with just the right person. This dog is part Border Collie, there lies a problem right off.

I am not dissing Border Collies but you need to know what you are infor if you are getting one. And sadly there are way too many pure and mix borders in the shelters. This particular dog is now in the hands of a very inexperienced young person; who is relying solely on a choke'm trainer for help. This dog has bitten at least 3 people in a very short time span. This dog should be returned and the people at the rescue reprimanded seriously for placing it with this particular guardian.

I used to volunteer at a shelter, one of the worst experiences of my life. Don't get me wrong; I think shelters are great but this one is not and was not. This particular shelter did no temperament testing at all; placing dangerous dogs with unsuspecting families. One such brainless situation could have been avoided but the shelter employees didn't listen to the lowly volunteers, me! I was doing my rounds, checking out who was to be walked on this particular day. I came across a very nice looking dalmation; looking being the key word here.

As I knelt down to greet the dog it stood at the back of the cage with a clear direct stare; then ever so slightly she showed me her pearly whites. As I turned my head to leave she then proceeded to display a mock charge. This was no nice dalmation, infact she was very dangerous. I went to the front to inform them of the impending doom and they said "really?" Needless to say they didn't listen and when I returned the following week I learned that the dog had bitten a pregnant volunteer on the top of her head as she sat beside this nice dalmation.

Another case that comes to mind is one that I was called out on, I was to assess the dog. Immediately upon meeting this dog I knew that it was a very dangerous one and that I needed to be very careful. After discussing the dog in length I told the new guardian to return the dog. And yet another dog I was called out to see was a huge mixed breed and I told this lady the samething, return the dog. This after seeing it growl at her very young toddler, wrong dog, wrong family. I'm sure this dog would be wonderful in the hands of an experienced hard dog person.

If people are going to take in and rehabilitate dogs they need to be very careful and very knowledgable. I understand how people want to help and save all the dogs but it can be a very dangerous situation in the hands of the inexperienced. As an experienced trainer specializing in behavior I know that 2nd hand dogs can hide their true self for months so you really need to know what you are looking for.

It is always best to wait for the perfect home to place a dog; each time a dog is rehomed due to placing it with the wrong person the dog becomes more unsettled. It is not fair for the dog or the people. I have had the great opportunity to meet some wonderful rescue people and shelter workers who are doing it all correct. They tell me the lengths that they take to ensure a placement is right; even if it takes a year or more.

The fact that there are so many unwanted dogs is sad indeed; and it is wonderful that there are so many people who want to help. But to ensure that dogs are placed in forever homes and not passed on and on it needs to be a very controlled process.

Finally the beach


Lastnight I took the poodles to the beach; finally. With Tilley's tail situation; the last thing you want to be around is sand. But with her tail healing nicely I thought I could surely keep her from sitting; we'd just keep moving. As soon as we pulled onto the canyon road which is the road that leads to the beach Luke has his ears up and is pacing back and forth. Tilley remains calm as usually and is in her regular position; facing backwards watching the world pass by.

Luke is always watching where we are going with much anticipation. The whining starts around 5 min. from the beach as the ocean breeze blows through the car; tossling the dogs senses and their ears. Parking is easy at 5:30 in the afternoon; everyone is going home. With the dogs leashed they are given the okay to get out of the car and Luke shrieks with delight. Its a good thing he has his special "easy walk" harness on as he strains at the leash resembling a wild mustang.

Once I get myself together; leashes untangled and dogs heading the in the same direction as me we are off. Within feet of the parking lot is a street light on the PCH Pacific Coast Hwy where we must wait to reach the beach on the other side. This is where I typically have the dogs sit and wait patiently, or as patiently as Luke can muster. But lastnight I had to work on them not sitting due to Tilley's tail. A nice man waiting with us to cross inquired about Tilley's tail; "did she break it?" I explained that I thought it was a spider bite and he told her how sorry he was that her tail was hurt.

Once on the boardwalk I ask for more patience as I take off my flip flops and hook them to my "flip flop hook." I need both hands for this boy on the beach. As soon as we are on the beach he spots his first victim; barking and charging the innocent seagull; he oozes k9 joy. Tilley is of course her perfect self, always controlling herself; always the lady. The beach was very quiet only a couple of people scattered on the full length of it, nice.

Being at the beach at this time of day in full sun was a little blinding; the sun was setting setting streaking across the ocean and onto the wet sand. So we headed away from the sun first to let my eyes adjust. Luke's charging and barking puts a grin on peoples face and aside from my arm being stretched; seeing Luke this happy makes me smile as well. We didn't stay long, just long enough to do 3/4 of the beach and back again.

I cannot wait until Tilley's tail is completely healed so that our beach visit is not quite so controlled.

A little about me


Since the young age of 13 I have been involved with dogs in some form or another. My show handling was mostly self taught through trial and error; but I did have the priviledge of receiving much knowledge from the renowned Marth Covington Thorne in Canada. I remember the day Martha said to me "young lady, never stop handling; the show world needs handlers like you," clearly as she handed me my huge trophy. I started out in the conformation ring as a Junior handler and moved up to handling breeds of all kinds. Some of the breeds that stand out isn my memory are Dobermans of course, which was the dog that started it all. Airedales, Irish Deerhounds, Irish Terriers, Mastiff, Bull Terriers, Great Pyreanese (sp), Shelties and of course Standard Poodles.

During my show years I was also active in obedience training. This was where I learned the conventional choke collar methods of training. I am not proud of training dogs like this but when I was 13, way back then; there was no other way. I never had fun training my dogs with this method and as soon as I learned of positive reinforcement training everything changed. I never looked back but I am happy that I have the conventional experiences. This gives me an insight into this type of training, the mind set and reason why I never use it.

After giving up the show ring shortly after the birth of my first daughter I put all my energy into being a Mom in a small town. As my children grew into their pre-teen years I became a well known baker. I attended a weekly farmers market where I was quickly dubbed the "cookie lady." I also supplied a local restaurant with an array of cheesecakes which I have won many prizes for.

From baking I went back to the dogs as a Pet sitter. I loved spending the time while my children were in school just chill'n with lots of dogs. It is very rewarding walking and playing with dogs who spend their long days alone because their guardians work all day. This was not a long gig as we were soon to move to California; so I gave up the dog walking and focused on the move.

Once here in California I met and worked with a trainer. Not long after I became a private in-home dog trainer and I loved it; for almost 10 years I have got to meet some amazing dogs and their guardians. Several years ago my husband changed the course of my life my giving me a pro camera for Christmas. Now for almost three years now I have been a professional photographer specializing in dogs of course and human sport photography.

Throughout my years of training I have written and had many articles published. At the moment I have one book almost complete and two on the back burner which I hope to get to and finish this winter.

Well, that's me in a nutshell.

Great expectations


Are you dismayed, frustrated, constantly struggling? Does your dog act completely opposite of how you thought they would? This is very common; and one of the most common behaviors is when your dog is interacting with other people. Whether those other people are strangers or people you know but your dog doesn't; it can be a challenge.

I have been called out on many occasions to deal with an aggressive Golden, a fearful Doberman or an over exhuberant IG (Italian Greyhound.) All of these examples are opposite from what the norm breed temperament specifies. But it happens alot more than people know about.

Training and educating yourself really helps with this type of situation. That and admitting that your dog is different. It is really more a human problem than a dog problem. They are who they are, we just need to come to terms with it. So you wanted a dog that loves everyone, even the out of control kids down the street. But what you got instead is a dog that does not want to meet anyone; especially the kids down the street.

This is often the cause for dogs being "dumped." Sad but true, the whole "you aren't who I wanted," human emotions kicks in and the result is often; try again. But you can change things; maybe not completely but definitely for the better. Sit down and decide today that this is your dog; you are this dogs person. What are the amazing things you love about your dog?

Obedience, training, more obedience and training. Training is never a bad thing unless it is bad training like brute force type training. Decide today that you are going to take charge, for better or for worse your dog deserves your best effort.