The Derby

I spent the day at a Charity event in Sacramento yesterday. It was an amazing privately owned ranch with lots of events. One of the events was a weiner dog race which seemed to be very popular. What a blast watching these long and lean dogs race to the finish line.

Betting was encouraged with all proceeds going to the Charities. After looking of the bio's of the participants I put our money on the dog that could catch birds out of the air. My Jack Russell can do that and she is amazingly fast so, the bird catcher was our dog. As a second choice I told my husband to put money on the dapple dog.

I am proud to say that both dogs placed; the bird catcher #1 and the dapple dog #2. I think its time that I start using my intuition for real, could be very profitable. Some of the dogs never made it to the end; they decided to turn around and just have fun instead.

The tallest great dane at the moment was there; Gibson

http://www.gibsondog.com/index.php

I saw this dog at the OC Pet Expo and was very impressed by his balance and body structure in general. I thought that being so tall he would lack the body quality but he definitely does not and seems to have a wonderful temperament; a true gentle giant.

Aside from the dogs at the event of course there were horses. Horses that lived at the ranch; they were amazingly beautiful. There was one of the Budweiser horses on display, whoa are they big.

http://www.grantsfarm.com/ClydesdaleStables.htm

Cool event.

What a guy

I thought I would write about a couple of behavior incidents today, they all had to do with Luke mostly. Although Luke likes to think he is quite the macho guy; he is very sensitive, much more so than the girls. At one point today I was sitting in the kitchen doing paperwork. Luke came through, he had a look on his face so I thought he wanted a drink. I got him some cold water with ice; just the way he likes and he drank. He wandered around the kitchen and left.

Back he came into the kitchen again with the same face on. He then came over to me and peered under my chair to the dog bed on the otherside of the table. Ah!! He was looking for the girls; which I thought was pretty cute. So I told him "Jessie and Tilley are outside." He looked at me as if to say "oh, thanks," and proceeded outside. I went to see where he went and sure enough he was laying beside the girls on the big double lounge.

Another incident involved digging; the offender was Tilley. The clear evidence was still on her feet and nose. I was shocked when I went outside to find dirt strewn across the patio. I have already put a fence around this area that she likes to dig in; so I was angry. I made some loud angry noises and gestures and gave Tilley a look when I went in the house. I hadn't caught her doing it so I was not going to bring it up now. But everyone knew I was mad.

For the rest of the afternoon Luke followed me; which is very typical but he also added reassuring nudges. The reassurance was for him; Luke hates to get in trouble and he wanted to be sure that we were good; I wasn't mad at him right? He did alot of wagging; eye contact and touching; these are all ways of communicating and reading. He was wagging in appeasment and the touching and eye contact were letting him know my mood at the present moment.

Then there was the flying feet on the wood floor. I had just fed the dogs and let them out; I then went upstairs to get something. While I was upstairs my husband let the dogs back in and Luke proceeded his look for Mom ritual. I could hear the dogs running around and all of a sudden I heard alot of feet going in different directions on the wood floor. I came out to see what was up and he was in a panic. Luke could not find me and if he thinks I'm gone he gets very upset; even though we were together only minutes ago. I came out to see that he was okay and he was very, very happy to see me. What a guy.

The Beach and Designer Dogs

Good morning, looks like its going to be a great day. The birds have been up alongtime already; it is very loud outside. I am trying to plan where I will take the dogs today, probably down to the beach somewhere will be the final destination. Since the start of shooting for my book I have found so many wonderful places in the oc to walk the dogs that I enjoy hitting different spots each day. Although the beach at this time of year really draws me. Once the summer roles around I'm not so inclined to fight my way to the beach through the crowds.

The other day we had all three at the beach, they love it. Even when they have to remain on leash they love being at the beach. The poodles love to be in the water, Jessie not so much. Although she loves wading through the tide pools and fishing for little moving creatures. They all wear harnesses and for Jessie it acts as her safety belt from falling head first into the pools. The slighest movement triggers her into action.

They all love to chase seagulls, its an all round fun activity. Just watching them as they stalk towards the birds; you can see how much they enjoy it. And like always we are stopped; "what are those?" My dogs, people don't know what my shaved incognito poodles are. Weimaraners? Airedales? but Labradoodle tops the guess list. "Nope, standard poodles," "really?" This is pretty much the same conversation played over and over again.

Labradoodles, goldendoodles, puggles, cockapoo, yorkiepoos, cockaliers and the list goes on and on. Puggles are what i'm seeing these days, they are a hot ticket. And from what I've heard from all the puggle people they seem to like these little guys alot. I have not heard any complaints about the nose on the ground behavior like a beagle so the balance of adding a pug has maybe toned it down a bit.

How many of these new "designer dog" breeders do you think love their mixes and are breeding them for health and temperament; doing all the appropriate health and temperament testing and not just for the $$$$$$$, very few. It's a vicious cycle; of supply demand. At first there are few, people hear about the newest mix that is the best of both worlds and want one. The breeders get wind of it and kick into gear. Production goes into full swing and they start popping up everywhere.

Like anything else the market becomes saturated; the targeted audience looses interest and the shelters fill up with designer dogs. I have no problem with mixes; I love just about all dogs and some of the best dogs I've met have been a great concoction of canine genetic material thrown into a blender. But the whole "designer dog" scenario is a bad one. When you see how many registered breeds, rare breeds and breeds that have yet made their mark on America, I cannot imagine having to make more. There truly is a breed for everyone.

Best not to pay these people who are mass producing dogs; the ones who do it just to get your hard earned $$$$$$$$$ and not for the good of the dogs.

Happy May 1st - puppy season?

Good morning and Happy May 1st everyone. May is a busy month for our family; always has been. My oldest brothers b-day is tomorrow, my b-day is mid May which I share with my twin brother, my husbands is the day after mine, my Mothers is a week later and my longtime friend back home is the same. May in general is a busy time with spring arriving many people focus there attention to a new addition, a puppy.

When is the best time to add a new puppy to your home? That is a big question and there are many answers to it. Surprisingly spring is not one of the answers; unless spring is a time when you have alot of time to devote to your new baby. Alotted time is the best time to acquire a new dog; when you know that you will have at least a month of time to devote to this new addition. Of course you need months of time for your dog but the first month is very important. You need to housetrain, socialize, establish routine and rules.

The next best time to get a puppy is when the perfect puppy that you have been waiting for has arrived. You have been searching for months or years and now the big moment has arrived; you cannot always plan when your puppy will arrive. Say you've found the best breeder and she will be breeding the bitch you want a puppy from in August, that means the puppies will be ready sometime in December. Hmmmm a December baby, not what you had planned. So, you either make arrangements to alot your time or you wait for the next go round.

Adding a new member to your family should never be taken lightly; you should have a plan. Adding a puppy should always be well thought out. There are times when a dog or puppy may enter your life at an unplanned moment but if you have been planning to add a dog at some point in time this can be a good thing. Sometimes you happen upon a perfect puppy just when they are ready to go home; this makes things a little bit more exciting but if you were already in the planning stage it is not all bad.

Rescues can be very unpredictable when they show up in your life. if you have decided to rescue a dog and are on a waiting list; the moment could arise at anytime. It is completely your decision if you have the time to devote at that particular moment; which you must consider carefully. A rescue can bring more baggage than a new blank slate puppy, which in turn can be more work; so think first.

Impulse should never, ever come into choosing or bringing home a puppy. You may desire a puppy today but believe me they are worth the wait.

Wednesday the 30th and popularity

Can you even believe that we are almost into May, where does the time go? I spent the whole morning in the North end of the OC finishing up my book shoots. One place that I was shooting was the Arbor Dog Park in Los Alamitos, very nice. I was very impressed, it has to be one of the nicest parks around.

Everyone was very well behaved at the dog park, it seemed to be more relaxing than some. Perhaps the size, it is a large dog park. The grass was nice, I'm not a big fan of the wood chips that some dog parks put in them. There were several trees scattered around the area and the whole park is surrounded by a golf course so the scenery is nice as well.

I actually saw two very nice miniature poodles at the park, a silver and a white. Amazingly enough you really don't see miniature poodles around much anymore. When I was young just about everyone had a miniature poodle. They became the dog to have and they were bred like crazy. Now they seemed to have just about gone with the rise of all the new "designer dogs," and breeds that are popping up.

As cool as it seems to have the "in" dog; it is the breed that catches the public eye that often suffers the worst. Take several years back with the popularity of Jack Russells; all because of Wishbone and Eddie on Frasier. Also the dalmation breed suffered tremendously due to the new Dalmation movie, very sad.

So when a breed starts to die off; this can only be a good thing.

Ah, much better

Much cooler this morning, I'm very happy about this. I think Tilley is going to loose her mohawk this morning; I'm growing tired of it. Everyone loves it but it really isn't her. And Luke? I'll leave him as a hairy beast as his hair grows in.

It seems that I have solved the barking frenzy situation at our house. Sometimes it just needs a little imagination. The first day we put Jessie in her crate; which did solve the problem. But with summer around the corner and the high temps I do not like leaving her in a crate when I am out. I have a fear of the AC breaking down and I would hate her to be somewhere she couldn't cool off.

The familyroom in this house stays very cool even in the hottest of weather so this is where I like to leave them. The problem was to figure out what was going on in Jessie's little head and how to turn it around. The original problem seemed to be my bed; and some sort of guarding/control issue on Jessie's part.

I tried just closing my bedroom door but she seemed to transfer that guarding/control issue to the front entrance where she can control the poodles either going up or down the two sets of stairs. The tell tale sign of unrest is coming home to a pack of frenzied dogs. They are all getting up there in age and would normally be sleeping when I get home so this is very different of late.

So on the weekend I got out the old babygate and gave it a whirl. They have been gated in the familyroom when we had a bunch of workers here doing upstairs work. But never when I go out so I didn't know if they would be okay with it or not, but it worked great. It was just enough of a switch up to put everything back in order, for now that is.

Jessie, Tilley and Luke were becoming anxious as I got ready to go out; I could see it in their faces. And it was obviously directed at Jessie. So hopefully this new familyroom solution will work from now on. Everyone was in a bed/couch when I got home and no one was barking or panting; great!!

Barking, are you listening?

Yes our dogs bark, but do you know what your dog is saying? I thought about writing about barking today because on Friday Tilley kicked into her guard barking. She does not guard bark often but when she does; I listen. My dogs do not bark needlessly; they will sometimes get on a barking roll due to something that has spooked them but they don't typically bark for the joy of barking.

I was in the kitchen on Friday and Tilley was outside in the back, she could see down the side of the house. Suddenly she kicked into gear; her whole body was saying "intruder." I found this odd but new immediatley there had to be someone inside our yard, inside our gate. I quickly went to the side of the house and the gas guy was there; I hadn't seen him before. He calmly said "I'm reading your gas meter;" and went about his business.

By the tone of his voice I could tell that he thought Tilley was behind a secure fence, she was not. Had she decided to follow through he would have got a big surprise when she came around the side of the fence. She stood her ground, feet spread and screaming out a threat. I told her she was a very good girl and she came around closer to the house and lay down facing the side of the house; obviously keeping a close eye on things.

There is a huge difference in the bark she warned this guy with and her "hey I hear something," bark. Dogs bark for all kinds of reasons, excitement, warnings, alert, frustration etc. It is up to us as guardians to decipher it. You need to pay close attention to a bark, watch your dogs body language. When Tilley was doing her guard barking she had all four legs spread wide and was stomping mad.

Sometimes dogs will simply give a small bark; to let you know that they heard something. Then it is up to you to go check it out. Frenzied barking is not good, no dog should be in a frenzied state. It is very hard to get a dog out of this state let alone communicate anything to them. So setting barking limits is a good idea. I allow about 5 usually, anymore than that and it gets annoying.

Luke will go to the door and bark if another one of the dogs has a toy or bone he wants. He's very smart; you can see the whole thought process that goes into it. But, the bark is a fake bark; I can tell. But it is enough to get the girls to drop whatever they have and go and check it out.

Barking is one way that dogs communicate; you should be listening. If it becomes a barking problem then your action is required. Remaining calm is one of the quickest ways to stop barking. If I am at home with the dogs and for some reason they are sure there is someone at the door; I will approach the door calmly, open it and tell them there is no one there. Remaining overly calm is the secret.

It can be difficult to remain calm when a dog is barking a ton but when you get excited; it makes matters worse. So keep your cool.

New equipment and control

I met a lady the other day that had two greyhounds with very cool harnesses on them. I love finding new equipment for my dogs so I have ordered one and will let you all know how I like it. I also ordered a two inch collar for Luke. I have been looking for a wide collar forever and finally found it. It is not a buckle which I would have preferred but the fact that it is wide means that pressure is spread over a larger area of the neck, very good. I don't use collars often but like to try out anything that I might want to recommend to friends, family or clients first.

I was watching the show Its me or the dog lastnight; pretty funny actually, I love the accents. I am continually amazed by people who seem to have no control over their dog once so ever. The dog that they were focusing on was a lab, a very out of control brown lab who did everything from poop and eat it to grab food right out of his guardians mouth, nice. With just a little intervention the whole situation was turned around.

The idea of allowing your dog to run your life through bad behavior is a pretty bad situation. By implementing just a few rules you can be assured that your dog is not a huge hassle to have around. When I'm shooting; I am a spectator, I have nothing to do with the dogs good or bad behavior; it is a very different position for me. Often I will ask does your dog know how to sit? Know what stay means? Can they down? And often the answers are no, no, no. Trying to communicate with no verbal control can be frustrating for everyone involved.

Continual touch can be very stimulating to a dog, in a bad way. Dogs tend to become over excited, especially if this is something out of the ordinary for them. Often dogs who are not told what to do on a regular basis get stressed l during a shoot because they need to either, sit, stay or down. Training your dog is not mean, it is one of the best things you can do for them. It not only gives them boundaries but helps them to understand what you want without creating frustration.

Luke is a reactive dog which I have discussed before so if I had no words to communicate to him, I would have to rely on touch. Touch definitely over stimulates Luke when trying to communicate with him. He quickly goes from calm to jumping, spinning and basically over excited and obnoxious. Luke is a hands off dog, which is how communication should be for all dogs. Some need more hands off like Luke.

Communication verbal cues should be delivered calmly, short, descriptive and very factually. I do not ask if my dog can do what I want them to do, I tell them. This is what I want you to do, allowing your dog to do as they please and not have any boundaries at all is the start of monster creation. No one wants to live with a monster, correct?

It's a start

Here she is on the skateboard, all 15 lbs of her. We will now work on the moving issue, you can see she is still at the holding stage.

Saturday night

It feels weird to be writing at night instead of before the day has started. My day today was not how I had intended. I was up bright and early for a day of shooting but at 8:30 went out back and realized that it was already over 80. The weather guys were right and it was a scorcher. So in to change my plans for the day, cancelled my shoots; it was just too hot for shoots. It ended up being near 100 where we are at.

So mid afternoon the AC was turned on and it was bearable. For those of you who know me you already know that I hate the heat; high 60s low 70s is my kind of weather. So my plan was to finish my book shoots this weekend but it will have to wait until mid week when the temps drop down to a better heat for me. Then I'll be out back at it again. Although I do have a shoot tomorrow morning which I'm hoping is a nice quick one before it gets really hot.

Wed. is suppose to be a highof 63; how weird is that? The dogs feel the heat, things were pretty mellow at my place tonight, even in the evening which is usually Luke's time to rev up. He rarely sleeps in the evening and usually makes a huge mess spreading all of his toys around the family room. He will bring you anything you ask him to and loves to catch. He makes death defying leaps to catch whatever you throw to him. He loves it and is quite proud as he struts around with it in his mouth.

Tilley is snoring at the moment, she is a big snorer. She is on her bed; jessis is on hers and Luke is on mine. Good night all.

Bridge work

Its been alongtime since I taught my Jack Russell a new behavior; but it was a spur of the moment idea that I think will be pretty cute. I use bridge work in my training. A bridge is basically a word or sound that lets a dog know that they have done what you want them to do and that a treat will be following. My little Jessie was clicker trained nearly 12 years ago so she understands the concept well. Once you have trained your dog this way they really learn quickly; and it is very interesting to watch.

My daughter was messing around in the backyard with a skateboard; the thought crossed my mind and soon I was trying to get Jessie to get up onto the board. She was not cool with the whole moving skateboard idea so we are still at the stand still level. But she is getting on it. I started by sitting on the gound; holding the skateboard. With treats in hand Jessie knows that I want her to offer me something; she's not sure what but she will offer me something.

The first thing she always offers is a nose touch, I say nothing so she moves onto something else. She stares at me for a while; looking around for something to include in the behavior. Finally she touches the skateboard with her paw "Yes" and she is rewarded. Looking at me she tries it again "yes" and she gets her treat. Jessie is a very fast learner so I can move quickly through the steps.

I expect her to put a foot onto the board now, she does "yes" and treat. I typically only ask her to do one level 3 times before expecting more from her. So the next step is to get both front paws on the board. Every so often she wains from our goal and tries something else; you must give no reaction to these sideline attempts. With no feedback she returns to her first objective; to get treats.

Once she is putting two front feet on the board reliably; I want her to put four feet on the board. This takes much longer as dogs do not typical think about their back feet, they just always follow along, right? After waiting for several minutes of two feet up, distractions of trying something else and starring at me she finally gets up onto the board with four feet "yes" and treat.

So I have her getting on the board on cue now while I hold the board. Now she must learn to deal with movement and then she will be giving Tony Hawk a run for his money.

Happy Dogs and horses

Yesterday I had an amazing shoot, dog and horses. Deep in the canyon surrounded by nature and animals; what could be better. Well for this photographer with a passion for animals, nothing. Standing still, quietly taking in the surroundings and watching; it was beautiful. The animals were happy and I certainly was happy.

When I get the priviledge to shoot horses, I am thrilled. With my busy schedule shooting dogs it can be hard to fit all the animals in. But horses is something I'm hoping to change in the near future. In my opinion horses are one of the most beautiful animals you can photograph. They stand alone in an image and they are true natural beauty. They are very different from dogs to photograph; but a flawless subject to shoot.

So far all the dogs I have shot for my book have been very happy and content. You can see the bond they have with their guardian; being able to view this from the sidelines has been pretty impactful. When an animal; be it a dog, cat, pig or horse is in a good and happy place, the result is great photos.

This is the reason I love shooting where dogs are happiest; environmentally speaking that is. Right now my three dogs are very happy curled up together on my bed. Actually I have shot several dogs on their guardians beds and those were amazing photos. So having animals in their happy place produces wonderful images. The type of image that when you look at there is no denying that this is a happy dog.

The moments do arise rarely when a dog is just not comfortable having a giant black eye staring at them and that is when my behavior experience kicks in. At the first sign of uncomfortable I switch gears, take a break, put down my camera and sit on the ground with the dog.

A true passion.

Oceans of dogs

I had several shoots yesterday and ended up at the dog beach in Huntington. I should have brought a chair; I could literally sit and watch dog beahavior at the beach for hours. I was there to try and get a particular shot; not easy when your models are there strictly for fun. So I did my best and got some great action and candid shots. I did add one more breed to my book as well.

There was one dog at the beach that stood out and could I have pulled it off: he would have been coming home with me. (just kidding) I couldn't stop smiling at this dog. I'd been at the beach probably 20 minutes when he arrived; at first I just saw a glimpse of him over the sand hill. I needed a closer look so up the hill again; and there he was, approx. all 4 lbs of him. He looked like a rough coated chihuahua; tiny, white and black and scruffy all over. Not only was he adorable in appearance he was adorable all over.

Many dogs are apprehensive about my camera; not this boy he came right up. He tried to reach my face to say hello by climbing into my lap, I was smitten. I don't like to shoot dogs unless I ask their guardians first so I yelled up to his. He told me that he found this little guy in a shelter and when they met him; this was him, friendly, happy and warm. Who wouldn't want to bring him home, I did and I had only just met him.

On one of his trips to my lap I asked him how anyone could dump a guy like him as he wriggled and soaked up the attention. How could someone dump any dog let alone such a tiny guy? My guess was he was from a pet store; someone fell in love at first sight but soon fell out of love when they discovered that there is work to having a dog. I can't imagine how cute this little guy must have been when he was a puppy, could he be any cuter than he already was?

So for the duration of my beach visit I was used as a safety net for this little guy. If he was feeling the least bit worried about his size and the other dogs he ran and dove into my lap. And every once in a while he would look up at me from his games and dive into my lap for a bit of attention. I have to admit I am a sucker for a little scruffy face and this was the smallest of scruffy faces I've seen in a while.

This little boy was definitely a diamond in the rough ;)

Puzzling behavior

We have some weird stuff going on. I think I've discussed this a bit lately but it seems to be getting worse. If I go out at night for any reason I have been coming home to a frenzied pack of dogs. Tilley is by far the most distraught and I have been puzzled as to what exactly is going on. My dogs have never been the kind to stress about us going out; they are very use to it. Being that I am a trainer and photographer I'm pretty much in and out all day long.

Lastnight as my husband and I were getting ready to go to the book store Tilley started to display some odd behavior. She was obviously stressed about something; she couldn't settle and kept looking at us like NOOOOOO don't go; weird. I made sure that all of the windows were closed so if they did decide to go into a barking frenzy that I wasn't going to have my neighbors at the door when I got home.

As we exited the house we locked the door and waited. We have a window in the front door so we could peek at what was happening at least at the front door. Jessie and Tilley immediately ran upstairs and the barking began. I had no idea that it started so soon; and again I was puzzled. Listening carefully I could hear that it was Jessie; what the heck was she barking at?

So we quietly opened the door and I snuck upstairs, there she was in my room just barking. I don't know what she is barking at but this is my take on what is going on. She is short; so short that she cannot get up onto our new King sized bed. She wants up on the bed so that she can get to the jar of cookies on my night table. She is frustrated that the poodles can both get up there so; she is barking. I cannot be sure that this is what is going on but I'm sure going to figure this out.

The very fast and easy solution lastnight was to put Jessie in her crate. When we came home both Tilley and Luke were relaxed and asleep downstairs. Whatever is going on it is stressing Tilley out; not good. Tilley is such a good dog that this type of bad behavior is enough to drive her over the edge; she just cannot handle it. She may have even attempted to stop Jessie as she tends to do if she feels the need, and the result of that will be that Jessie will end up getting hurt.

We will be executing an investigation; I will sneakily hide and we will pretend that we are all going out. I don't know if I can pull this off but I have to try to see if what I think is going on; is in fact going on. Little pig that Jessie is I'm assuming that it is all about food. We'll see; and I will let you know if I'm correct in my assumption.

The calm before the storm

This is a very quiet morning leading up to a very busy week. I have a ton of shoots this week and this weekend will hopefully be back to back shoots so to finish up my one book. It has been a ton of work, loved almost every second of it. We had a very uneventful weekend, the poodles and the JRT were pooped lastnight and recooperating while we watched the Ducks get kicked out of the finals, sad but true.

I had Jessie out on a walk; a long walk yesterday afternoon. She was in fine form and ready to rumble with anyone who looked her way. Funny somedays she is the perfect angel and somedays; not. We saw a snake on our walk; I still have not been able to find out what type it was. It was black with some red; I can't remember where the red was as it slithered away very quickly. Jessie of course triggered to the movement; she was just about on top of it when it decided that she was too close. I think at the sametime that I triggered she actually moved away but I can't be sure because my yank reflex kicked immediately.

Maybe it was the snake that got her fired up, before the snake we met a family of four tiny, furry dogs; Jessie's arch enemies since being attacked several times by this type of dog. But she was fine, she gave them the eye but that was it. It is difficult not to signal impending incidents when you must walk very close to another dog. Of course you have to reign your dog in; which in turn gives them a heads up and mixed signals. So this is probably the culprit for Jessie's firey exhibits. Too close, tight leash, and communications signals being messed up.

People always seem to be so shocked when she displays; she looks like such a cutie. On the other hand I have brought her into a dog park several times when people could be heard saying "oh no, a Jack Russell." So some people know about these feisty little guys, some have yet to learn about a Jack Russell's tenacity. There are some breeds of terriers that are not as feisty but many are well known as Terrors.

Even today; you may still see sparring in the show ring. This is when a judge will two handlers to face their terriers towards each other. They want to see that they are little spitfires; although this is a bit shocking in todays world. It would be nice to see them loosing a bit of this tenacity towards other dogs.

Don't get me wrong though, Jessie is a great Jack Russell. She definitely has a leash aggression issue, being that she is a terrier but off leash she is pretty civil; as long as the other dog knows that she is the reigning queen and bows down to every wish. ;)

Frustration

Good morning, seeing that we have been dealing with a frustrating situation with our cable provider combinded with lack of a solution of late I thought that frustration would be a good topic for this mornings blog. As a dog trainer it is something that you must watch for, for the untrained or unexperienced it may go unnoticed. Frustration comes in many forms and when it is a dog that is becoming frustrated it may present itself in a hidden form.

Frustration is typical in training; sometimes it is hard for our dogs to "get it," and a dog will become frustrated. If what you are doing is not working; you much switch gears or move on. A very good example is when you are teaching a new puppy, using a food reward of course. Most puppies just want the treat; if they have to wait too long for the treat they will start to exhibit some unwanted behaviors like jumping, whining or biting. So what do you do if your dog becomes frustrated?

The solution to this problem is to break a behavior down into baby steps. For some dogs the whole picture may be too much to undertake so breaking say a down or leave it into tiny doable pieces makes it easier to "get it." So although the goal may be to have your dog lay down, you start rewarding them for lowering their head, then their neck and head, then for putting one foot out, then slightly lowering their body until they are in a down position. Once you get to the final goal your dog will probably have an "ah ha moment."

Again patience plays a huge factor in the learning curve.

Living in a human world

Call it training or life coaching or obedience but it is all the same bundled into the fact that we as humans need to educate our canine companions about living in our world. We don't lead the sames lives and so dogs must learn how to live in our world. I am a huge believer of allowing and ensuring that our dogs have a great dog life; but to make sure this happens they must learn how to live appropriately in ours.

Having a dog in your life is a huge responsibility; one that should not be taken lightly. You are their companion, educator, leader, protector and caregiver. That's a big job; so what does all of that encompass? Educating and guidance is the biggest job, call it whatever you like but basically it is teaching our dogs to act approriately in our world and to do behaviors on cue; and yes it is very important for all dogs. I don't care if you have a huge Great Dane or a tiny tea cup maltese they all need to learn certain behaviors along with what is and is not appropriate behavior.

You cannot be wishy washy about it; they must learn certain behaviors so that we can communicate with them. You cannot always rely on the fact that your dog is really cute and well behaved. What if your dog slips their leash? Do you panic? What if you would like to leave your dog in a spot at the beach and go talk to someone without your dog; would they stay?

There are several behaviors that are a must for all dogs. Sit is the first and most basic; down, as in laying down is very useful, stay is a must, come is an absolute essential, boundary training can be life saving and as many other verbal cues that you can teach them. The more you teach your dog the easier it is to teach them. The more verbal cues that your dog understands the easier it is for you to communicate to them.

Teaching dogs a human vocabulary is also very important. You should hear me all day long with my dogs; I speak to them constantly. And because of this they understand alot of what I am saying. They may not understand an entire sentence but they get the general idea of what my sentence means. Dogs pick out the words from a sentence that they understand, you can see them listening for those ones that they recognize.

Physical control should not be needed on a day to day basis. You should be able to control your dog without physical contact; if you cannot then you have not done near enough work. I hate collar grabs; everyone has to do it at some point but relying on a collar grab is just wrong. Give them a few lessons on how to act appropriately and you won't be tempted to grab so much.

All dogs are different, just like all people are different. But, all dogs deserve and education. How much education really depends on their human. Education does not have to be a structured event; learning in a fun and relaxed atmosphere is much more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Even as my dogs are in their senior years I still like to keep them on their toes; its good for them. I will do a long down stay, make invisible boundaries that cannot be crossed and try new behaviors that we have not already learned. There is no limit to what you can teach your dog and NEVER, EVER use their breed or mix of breeds as an excuse not to teach your dog.

Your dogs lack of "getting it," is your lack of "delivering it."

Thursday's face

Good morning, it's 5 something and way too early to be awake. I tend to consider the appropriate time of waking to be when the sun is up. It doesn't have to be fully up but it should definitely be making an appearance; getting up while it is still dark goes against everything my body tells me. And I have to say that my dogs agree as they have not budged from their beds this morning. Typically they will join us in our bed once they wake up enough to leave theirs; but they are all still in sleep mode.

I had several shoots yesterday which means that today I will be working on those photos. The face, its all in the face for me. My absolute favorite part of shooting dogs is capturing expression. Sometimes that expression is a lack there of; like my little Jack Russell Jessie. When she gets in the car to go anywhere she gets her travel face on; which is the lack of expression. Its funny but a nothing face is her travel face.

A dogs expression changes so quickly that I often don't even know what I've captured until I get home and see it on "the big screen." Often I can be heard saying OMG as I flip through my new images. Body position is cute and can make a shot but facial expression is truly everything. It takes the eyes, ears and mouth to complete the expression. Quite a while back I was doing a shoot with Jessie and a piece of cake; the entire set up was on the kitchen table. Ah yes Jessie on the kitchen table with a piece of cake; great idea Sherri.

So as I was shooting Jessie's expression which was caused by the fact that there was a piece of cake infront of her; one of my other dogs appeared. He was hovering around the cake; this is when the real magic happened. I could see that she was much more serious now that someone else might get the cake but I didn't know that she was quite so serious. I captured a lip curl which I had missed with my camera eye; it was a great capture.

Doing portrait type work can be tough; it is extremely important to have a "good expression," on the dog. Guardians who are intuned with their dogs know each and every "face," so if their dog is stressed, frustrated or just plain not happy they are going to see it in the image. Sometimes it can be difficult to have a dog relaxed enough to get a good face let alone a great face. That is where patience factors in, patience, patience, patience. It truly is a virtue when you consider the alternative.

The Past and moving on

This is Clyde; one of the greatest loves of my life. Just recently I was excited that not only did I have a new computer but I have a scanner which means I get to put old photos on my computer. This photo is old; yes but my husband came home with it lastnight. He had found a bunch of old dog photos on his laptop and thought he better put them on a cd before they were gone.

So here he is; Clyde. This is one of my favorite photos of him. He is about 11 in this photo, the same age that Tilley is now. Just looking at the photo brings tears to my eyes; not sad tears but tears of recognition. This dog had such an impact on my life, he lived through alot of change.

Clyde was an amazing dog; and he really was the one who sealed the deal with males and me. I love male dogs; there is just something special about them and the relationship they have with their female guardians. Well, maybe not all dogs or guardians but definitely me. He is the reason I carry a special spot in my heart for the boys.

When I think back to my life with Clyde I cannot remember a time when he wasn't right there by my side. He was a constant companion; no matter where I was or what I was doing. When a dog touches your life like this; with so much influence on your past, you hold that memory inside for a lifetime. I have often mistakenly call Luke; Clyde. Not that they are alike in anyway; infact they could not be more different in personality.

No one can truly understand what a dog means or meant to you. Your relationship is a personal one, one to be cherished and stored away in your memory. These memories can be drawn upon at a moments notice; and these memories are what help you to move on.

Clyde is quietly with me still; he was, is and always will be a part of me. I miss him dearly.

Kids and dogs

Kids and dogs are a hot topic for me; one that treads on a thin line between meant to be and a disaster waiting to happen. Having been at the Pet Expo for several hours on Friday just reminds me of how much lack of "dog knowledge" many parents have and teach their children. Being a Mom myself; and admittedly an over protective Mom at that; there are many kid/dog interactions that make me shutter. As a dog trainer I have witnessed many incidents that shocked me.

It is the humans responsibility to educate our children about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior with dogs. Far too often I hear the phrase "she is going to bite you." If you think your dog is being pushed to her limit and will eventually bite your child; things are not as they should be. Leaving the disciplining up to your dog is a very big mistake. If you do not teach your child how to treat your dog appropriately then you risk your childs safety in many ways. One with the fact that your own dog may bite your child and two; you have not taught your child how to treat other dogs who have the potential of biting them as well.

By leaving your dog in charge of discipline you also are not protecting your dog; that's where the defense mechanism comes in. If your dog feels the need to protect herself she will; which could result in her biting, which could end her in a bad situation. Almost all dogs give warning signs; your dog may have given your child many already. But children are care free and if they have not been taught then they either don't listen to the warning or simply don't care. Your dog will then be forced to up the warning until she can stand no more.

Dogs use sound and body language to communicate; it is important to watch closely. I have been in many homes when my protective instinct has hit and I have had to sit the parents down and give it to them straight. Even the best of dogs will bite; you can never say "my dog would never." SUPERVISION AND EDUCATION is a must with children and dogs. To strictly rely on the "my dog would never," idea and leave your child and dogs unsupervised is a dangerous situation indeed.

Watching small children reach over gates at the Pet Expo where they were met face to face by a strange dog had me on high altert. I cannot believe the amount of people who have not taught their children not to pet or hug before asking. EDUCATE AND SUPERVISE.