Dad's with Dogs

Seeing that this blog is dedicated to dogs I would like to celebrate Dad's and their dogs today. Those of you who live with dogs; who share your life and love with your dogs. Ladies, what is hotter than a guy who has compassion for animals? Nothing in my books.

Happy Father's Day guys ;) You know who you are.

Familiar sounds

With the sun still behind the trees the time was 5:58 and I was rousted out of my sleep by the familiar sounds of a heaving dog. Nothing gets me out of bed faster than a wretching dog. I'm up and herding them out onto the balcony before I'm awake. She does the two expected hurls and is done; thank heavens for our balcony. Otherwise I would have to race down the stairs; risking injuring myself in my still sleeping state to get the hurler to the safe puke surface. Anywhere but the carpet is the goal.

But now I am out on the balcony once again, this time enjoying the sun as it comes up hinting of a beautiful day. After a full year of living in this house we finally gave in and bought some nice furniture to enjoy our balcony on. Now all we have to do is lay some light colored tiles on it and we're set. It is a dark turquoise color now; lovely (gag) and gets hot as all get out. The dogs are well aware of this and are very apprehensive to come out on it; even in the morning when we are in full shade. They are amazingly smart.

Jessie is the only one who enjoys the degree of heat on the balcony midday, full sun. She brings her little body out onto the hottest of spots and lays out soaking up the rays. I don't know how she does it; I cannot even stand for 20 seconds on it without burning my feet. Her color has alot to do with her sun toleration but the heat to touch is something her little body just loves.

It is this sun/heat tolerance that makes me a little choosey in my puppy selection. I'm not real picky about color; there is alot to choose from in poodles and now the parti, phantom and brindle colors are also getting popular. I am solely concerned with heat; Tilley suffers from the heat much more than Luke does when we are out. If the two are sitting in the sun; Tilley's body is hot to touch, Lukes is not. It's pretty easy to understand and the fact that we live in southern california and we do alot of outdoor activities with out dogs; I'd like to have a dog that is not going to suffer quite as much in the sun .

Nice morning; looking like a nice day. The poodles have just left with Dad for the canyon hike and Jessie sits with me while I write. I think we'll head down to Salt Creek with the little one after breakfast.

Have a great Saturday.

Breed Talk - The Jack Russell Terrier

As I contemplate which breed to talk about today; my girl Jessie sits watching me take each and every bite of my cereal. So I figured I'd cover the Jack Russell this morning; there is so much to say about these little balls of fire. The Jack Russells today have been divded into two groups, basically the working dogs and the dogs in the show ring. I have a Jack Russells, the others are Parson Russells in the ring.

But they started out as one tenacious terrier; bred to get the critters out of the barns. And that they do very well, Jessie loves nothing more than hunting, catching and killing critters. The Jack Russell is not a dog for anyone although they did receive a surge of interest with the popularity of Wishbone and Eddie on Frasier. They suffered the same results as the Dalmation after the 101 Dalmation movie came out; they ended up in the shelters. The money sucking breeders who do it for the cash pump them out without any regard to who is getting one or the health or temperament of the dogs they are breeding. This is the result of popularity in the dog world. Haven gotten in the puppy millers hands there are more than a few out there that are fairly loopy.

The Jack Russell is a very dominant, confident type dog that can have an overabundance of energy. The Jack Russell has a reputation of being crazy; as I am often asked that about Jessie. They have a hair trigger for movement and she is often caught chasing a bag or anything else that moves and catches her eye before she realizes what it is. Jessie has battled a groundhog back in Canada that was much larger than her, caught and ate a bird out of the air and downed a few tiny rodents in one bite. They are not for the faint hearted.

The Jack Russell comes in three coats, smooth like my girl, broken coated which is a more wirey coat with a small bit of facial hair and the rough coat which is a longer wirey coat all over. The JRT is between 10-15" at the withers and a very sturdy built dog able to do anytype of athletic sport. The color of the JRT is typically a tri-color of white (being over 51% of the body) with black and tan markings.

I recently had the chance to do a JRT shoot; both with puppies and adults and I was completely enamoured with the bunch. They kept me smiling the entire shoot; photographing moving Jack Russells is a huge challenge. They are amazingly intelligent and learn quickly; you just need to stay one step ahead of them. They can become quite dominant and strive for the leadership position if you don't keep rules and regulations in check.

The Jack Russell needs alot of exercise but strict care should be used to only let them off leash in a safely fenced area. The #1 way that Jack Russells die is being run over and I sadly know quite a few that have met this fate. There are many different sports that the JRT are born to do and anything you can think up there pretty good at giving it a whirl. Visit the JRTCA site for everything you want to know about JRTs.

http://www.jrtca.com/

A bored Jack Russell is a bad Jack Russell; so before you bring one home make sure you are up for the job.

water retrievers

We had a great day yesterday; I took the poodles to a special spot to see if they could have a swim. The coastline here is really rough making it only swimmable by the water obsessed or big strong dogs. Neither of my guys are up to battling waves and these huge waves are the reason that Luke has never been swimming yet. Tilley was lucky; she grew up at a lake and was swimming and dock diving at an early age. She loves it and is an extremely strong swimmer and water retriever.

Yesterday at low tide my daughter and I ventured out to the spot where I hoped Tilley would get a chance to swim; it is a manmade channel making the waters nice and calm and very swimmable. It is not easy getting down the rocks to the swim area so I let the dogs off leash for two reasons: 1. They are better at finding the best way down on their own and 2: I didn't want either my daughter or myself being yanked down the rocks by an over excited poodle.

Once down on the sand they were in heaven; it is good for one's soul to see dogs running free and natural. I love it and could watch them all day long; especially when they are interacting with other canines. There were quite a few other dogs there yesterday and they were all having the time of their life. It did not take long for Tilley to kick into her shadow chasing issue so I took out her ball immediately to divert her drive.

I threw Tilley's ball in the shallows for quite a while; making sure that she was good and hooked before I tossed it into the deep blue. The first dive always takes a bit of coaxing but with her already into her ball she dove right in. We were standing at a drop off with the water only halfway to our knees; there was a clear visual drop. Luke doesn't know about drop offs so you guessed it he dropped off quickly. Panicking he tried to find his back leg footing which is the completely wrong thing to do but a very natural reaction to a non swimmer.

With his body in an upright position I watched him find his footing, come out of the water and shake it off. The drop off is so severe that he was literally only 2 feet away from the shallow spot. And I had already committed to going in if he needed me. Luckily he did not and was not too shaken by the incident. He loves water; he has just never learned to enjoy it in a swimming fashion. He wanted to go back in and with each toss of the ball he was ready to go but that little "I can't swim" thing was taunting him before he made his plunge. He pawed anxiously at the water, he really wanted to go but fear was holding him back.

So I went to the edge hoping he would come along and he did but it was such a drop off that I could not go far or I would be swimming. I grabbed a hold of him and gave him a small shove into the water, he enjoyed it and came back for more. But he is not the brave type to just go for it; although anyone could see the desire in his actions. So while Tilley continued her diving and retrieving Luke ran off to play with some other dogs in the shallows. I so wish I would have had my camera.

After about 45 minutes in the water I said "Let's quit while we're ahead," which is my motto in life. We headed back up the rocks where I gracefully lost my footing and scrapped my way back down to the sand. As we made our way to the xterra, we were all wet and I was bleeding down both legs. What a great day!

Training??????????????

Train: to make proficient by instruction and practice, as in some art, profession, or work.

I'm going to discuss training this morning; fairly remedial right? Not always; often we assume we are training our dogs when we are simply saying a word or words that mean nothing to our canines. I see it all the time; people telling their dog to stay, down or heel in vain.

During training or a shoot; I will ask "does your dog know what stay means?" The answer is usually no if I had to ask. Dogs don't come pre-educated in the art of physical behaviors that we like to ask them to do.

To Heel: to follow at one's heels on command.

Heel is a word that is used alot and trained seldom. Heeling can take weeks or months to ingrain into a dogs brain. You cannot just throw on a leash and say "heel" expecting them to know what it means. Heeling is a very controlled way of walking; the dog stays at your side and must pay close attention to your movements.

If you would like your dog to respond to a verbal cue you must take the time to teach them. Would you know how to make a Chicken pot pie if I said to you "make me a chicken pot pie?" Probably not unless of course you had learned how to make one already.

Teaching your dog starts with patience, quiet and reward. You start out easy, no distractions and break a behavior down into small enough steps so that your dog can "get it." You then work up to the actual behavior, then add small level distractions working up to large distractions. It is a process, and it can be a long one.

Then there is proofing, making sure that your dog can perform these tasks under any situation. And just like the beginning teaching; you must train in any environment that your dog will be expected to perform in. Many dogs can down at home, in their own yard or neighbors house but for some reason they will not do it when you ask them at the park. Have you trained your dog to down at the park?

It is much more difficult for a dog to perform when distracted either by environment alone or noise, other dogs, people etc. So you must train in these situations. Sometimes that means going backwards in your training until you catch up to the non distraction level response.

If you want a well trained responsive dog; be prepared to educate.

The big black eye of doom

Being a dog photographer can be a tricky endeavor; even the best of dogs can become unglued having a huge eye staring at them. My body posture is frozen and I have direct eye contact which both portray the wrong message. There have been several instances when I have had to act very quickly to diffuse a situation. Sometimes it is a dog that I have set up a shoot with; other times have been at a dog park or beach.

When I'm at a park I typically single out a dog to follow with my lense. One time my subject was a weimaraner; he had no idea I was shooting him which is what makes for great shots. Kneeling down in the park and watching him intently through my big lense everything changed in an instant. All of a sudden he caught me in his peripheral vision; his attention veered from other dogs to me. This is where I have to watch a dogs body language closely.

Often a dog will notice me and head my way to investigate; then there are dogs who get their ears up, have intense eye contact and are coming at me straight on. I look for signs of apprehension; this is can be the slightest change in posture that tells me the dogs is a bit afraid of me. I quickly lower my camera, turn to the side and slowly walk away or pretend I'm interested in something off in the distance.

It has always worked; I have never (knock on wood)been in a situation that went too far. Probably a quarter of my shoots are interupted by a sit on the ground session. This is when the dog is becoming anxious; I've been staring at them for alongtime and they need to see a human behind the lense. Typically I sit on the ground, turn away from them and let them do the once over sniff of me.

They have already done the sniff test in the beginning but many need the reassurance of doing it again; midway. Sometimes I will see the trying to smell me; trying to read something from the air around me. I will do the ground sit then as well; let them give the camera a once over and whatever they feel the need to smell.

I will usually at this point put on my big lense; this lets me get nice and close without having to get close. I probably use my big lense 80% of the time unless I am wanting some scenery in the photo; then I must use my wide angle lense.

Dog photography is a sort of like a body language dance; action, reaction so to speak. To get good shots the dogs must be relaxed which means often my big black eye of doom must veer away to save the day.

Breed Talk - The Toller

Wow, I remember being introduced to my first Toller way back in the early 80s. The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever or Toller as they are known by their fanicers is a medium sized red retriever. Often confused for a small Golden Retriever they are very unlike the Golden. The breed was recognized by the AKC (American Kennel Club) in 2003 and the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) in 1945 and is the official dog of Nova Scotia which is their Canadian province of origin.

Standing 18-19 females, 19-20 and weighing approx. 40-50 lbs the Toller is a solid, athletic dog. They have a very strong desire to retrieve which is what they were bred to do. I have had the pleasure of knowing quite a few Tollers and their drive to retrieve is a big part of who they are. They are typically very happy in a family setting where they are given alot of exercise. A typically friendly breed; the toller can be reserved with strangers, not one to throw lavish attention on people who they do not know.

The Toller is double coated which protects them in the icy waters where they started their work in Nova Scotia. There coat is medium in length and soft with a softer undercoat. Their coat can range from straight to a slight wave with more feathering around the ears, hind quarters and tail. The Toller comes in various shades of red with lighter colored feathering. Each dog usually has a touch of white either on their tail, feet, chest or blaze on their face; although not always. And their eye rims and lips and nose pigment is usually flesh color but can be black as well.

The NSDTR is a highly intelligent breed, easily trained and enthusiastic. They have amazing focus ability which may need to be directed through training. A great little working dog; they have alot of energy to retrieve which should not be taken lightly when considering the Toller for a companion. Given the chance they will retrieve from sun up to sundown.

This and that

Good Sunday morning. I spent most of yesterday gardening in our front yard. For Southern California our front yard is fairly good sized but of course it still has a sidewalk and road out front. So it is rare that I allow the dogs freedom out front. Yesterday we had Luke out front for a bit; but he doesn't like it. He is not out there other than to get in the car so he gets antsy and runs back into the house; really a good issue in my books.

Because I was working right out the front door I thought I'd just keep the door open so they could chill with me. I am so impressed and proud of my dogs when it comes to the boundaries they have learned. It was hours that they sat there watching me. Tilley went into the backyard several times and came back again. Jessie left to find somewhere comfy to rest and didn't return for a longtime. But Luke, Luke was there the entire time. None of the dogs were anxious about the open door; they were all relaxed and just chill'n.

All of the dogs had been on a canyon hike with my husband in the morning and were very tired. Tilley is really showing signs of her age and at 11 she seems much older than Jessie at 12. This is because Jessie is a small dog and Tilley is a large dog. After a good amount of exercise Tilley is starting to find it difficult to get up. She is slow and precise about her movements, it is sad to see.

Just this morning we were having Sunday morning bedtime with the dogs. Tilley was the last up and when she did make the leap she fell off the bed. In my anthropomorphism ( the attribution of uniquely human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings) way I put humiliation on the incident. I'm sure she was not humiliated but I do know that dogs do not like to show signs of weakness and this definitely was a sign of weakness.

I felt awful for her; so this morning I am off to find a bench for the bedroom. One that will assist her in getting up onto the bed without any trouble and one that is strong and stable enough for her to get down from the bed on. No one wants to see their dogs get older but just like us they are going in the same direction; aches, pains, wrinkles and all.

Road trip with a senior lady

I made a trip down to San Diego yesterday to pick up my daughter; have lunch and come back home to the OC. Being that I wouldn't be spending a huge amount of time down there I thought I'd bring the little one along. I donned her harness, set up a nice big comfy comforter in the front seat and strapped her in.

Before we headed onto the freeway I filled up with gas, whoa $$$$$$$$$$$$. Then I thought I'd take my xterra for a quick trip through the carwash. I didn't know how Jessie would react but I had a snack so out came the distraction. I was eating my all natural energy bar through the wash and gave Jessie a few pea sizes pieces. She didn't even know we were anywhere different until the drying part at the end. She was great.

So then we started out and she was already in sleep mode but that ended quickly and she was fussing. I thought that maybe she had to go so we made a quick pitstop at a scenic lookout. Bad decision; seems everyone was there to photograph the squirrels. If you know Jack Russells at all; squirrels are their life. They were bred to go to ground (down holes in the ground) and fetch critters out. Jessie loves nothing more than chasing, catching and killing critters.

So with the squirrels all around she was pretty much in the same mode as Luke had been only yesterday with the squirrels. So going to the bathroom was not in the plans even though I did my best to give her one last chance before we were in the car for a good hour, no go.

She was so good, she did fidget a little bit but soon lay back and relaxed. As we got closer to the ocean down by the army base she stood up and took in as much scent as she could. She clearly thought we were headed to the beach. But that smell soon left and she settled once again.

Once we were at our destination I hooked her up and let her out to visit my daughters apartment. We made an immediate stop to a tree planting so she could relieve herself first. Jessie could truly pee on a dime; if there is some sort of scent either on dirt of grass; she'll go.

She was very excited to be at my daughters apartment, it was her first visit. We then went down to Hillcrest to wander around and find a place to eat. We settled on a Deli where they had an outdoor patio where Jessie could eat with us. I was mad at myself that I hadn't brought a tiny blanket or pad to give her a place to plant it. She sort of shifted around until the food came and I asked her to sit under the table; there she recieved her lunch as well.

I spread her lunch out over the time we had our lunch so that she would remain under the table and focused. If there is food around, Jessie has focus that would amaze anyone. The waiter brought out some water for Jessie and then we were on our way again.

For the trip home she was set up in the back seat right behind me so that my daughter could keep a close eye on her. She is strapped in so it is important that she not get herself twisted up and hurt. She fell asleep for almost the whole ride home and no one would have ever known there was an old girl in the car. It was an enjoyable trip with the little one; one that I will definitely remember.

Extension arm

I had my poodles at Salt Creek yesterday; I had taken at least five minutes to consider bringing all three dogs or just the poodles. Taking them to Salt Creek is a whole lot different than a regular walk; we have to deal with squirrels. And for all three of my dogs squirrels are like hanging a carrot out infront of a rabbit, or a piece of chocolate cheesecake infront of me. They are tempted beyond the breaking point.

So knowing full well that I would be dealing with pulling issues with both Jessie and Luke I opted for just the poodles. Plus, adding a 15lb dog to the mix results in leg tangling as she weaves in and out of the poodles. So I filled a bone with Peanut butter and cheerios for the one who was left behind. Jessie is more than happy to be left at home when she can have food. I place the food well inside the bone so she has her work cut out for her.

The whining started well before we reached the 1 mile to the beach mark. Luke started his pacing back and forth, left to right, left to right and back again. For a reactive dog, excitement is the enemy at least where I'm considered. Excitement propels a reactive dog into uncontrolable behavior; never good.

So we get to the parking lot and the whining continues; I won't let him out of the car until he quiets at least a little. It is important that he get a grip every so often otherwise he will spin into oblivion. But once out on the path to the beach he slips quickly into squirrel mode; not good. Looking into his eyes; my Luke is gone and the bad Luke has taken over. I'm not fond of Bad Luke; but we have learned to coexist.

The path down to the beach is on a downward slope; not the type of terrain you want to be dragged down by a 50 lb out of control dog. So we stop often, sit, get some fleeting eye contact and continue. Each time I have taken Luke to this beach he is markedly getting worse. His tip off point is hitting him earlier and earlier; so I'm thinking next trip will be Luke alone and alot of work.

Both poodles are in hunt mode; zoned out to be exact. When Tilley is in hunt mode she is a little harder to get through to but she goes into an over calm state; her posture is slunk down, her head turning with the utmost of control in slow motion. Her whole demeanor whispers "quiet, I'm stalking." So I have one in slow motion and the other in full out mode. I can pretty much ignore Tilley; a few TILLEY's get her back into my zone. Tilley also deals with the shadow issue at the beach which is a big one.

Luke on the other hand is being taunted by the squirrels, each time I get a bit of control there seems to be another squirrel out ahead of us sitting up on a rock shrieking at him, daring him to go for it. And unfortunately Luke is one of those guys; you know the type who can't turn down a dare. So off he goes with me attached; the whole walk is a "be prepared" type walk for me.

After our lovely, relaxing walk along the beach (NOT), I opt to sit and chill with the poos on the grass hill. Bad Luke still has a tight grasp on my boy; not willing to let him go quite yet. Both Tilley and Luke are glued to the squirrely beasts running around infront of them. Tilley does a down, she is so in control even when the thing she wants to do more than anything in the world is to chase the squirrel.

The inner good Luke is listening to me; the bad Luke is not. So I only have 1/2 of my dog to work with and when I ask him to down he does but never takes his eyes off his target. With the sun heating things up I decide it's time to go; I'm over this whole squirrel thing now anyway. So as we head back up the hill which is where the exercise really kicks in my boy starts to slowly come back. You can literally see it happening, his body starts to relax, he starts looking around at his environment and looks back to see that I'm there. Then the Good Luke is back in his entirety as he glances back, gives me a wink and a wag and were good to go.

Has it made a difference

So the Oprah show on Puppy Mills has now aired twice; has it made a difference? Are people still mindlessly moseying into the pet stores and buying on impulse? We have a pet store at our local mall; it is about 5 min. from my house but I don't go in or even look that way as I pass the store front. So I don't know if people are still going in. I do know that by now with all the media coverage including the Oprah show that there is no reason not to know.

Even people who do know about Puppy Mills and the horrific lives these breeder dogs live go into the stores. I know several rescue people who know all about Milers and their evil deeds but they bought a puppy in a pet store. Why is this? When then when you know the facts; would you go and give them your hard earned money? The way that some human minds work is to save or rescue when they can. So to them they are saving a puppy.

WRONG!!!!!!This is the wrong thing to do and believe me I have a definite "save" mentality as well but knowing the big picture and "getting it," helps.

1. By buying a puppy; you enable the pet store to buy more puppies.

2. By buying a puppy; you keep the millers in business.

3. By buying a puppy; you enable the millers to continue with their cruely.

4. By buying a puppy; you ensure that the dogs who live the tortured lives at a mill continue, unchanged.

5. By buying a puppy; you keep the inhumane treatment of these in a never ending cycle.

STOP THE CYCLE; DO NOT SPEND ONE CENT OF YOUR MONEY IN A PET STORE THAT SELLS PUPPIES OR KITTENS.

The real truth is that only we can make a difference. It is the consumer who has the power; if we don't buy puppies from pet stores or online stores the millers will go out of business; bottom line.

Positive modification

Good morning; its midweek and the weekend is just around the corner. With June upon us many of us will be out and about with our dogs more; which means that behaviors are going to arise. Both good and bad but how you deal with both makes a huge impact on furture behaviors. What is your reaction to a behavior?

Many behaviors catch us off guard and our human reactions are not good ones. We often over react negatively which can actually make a behavior worse instead of better. Take the example of your dog not coming to you. You took them to the park and decided to give them a bit of freedom; then when you called them they opted not to come. They were having fun and chose not to end this freedom. You then scream and yell; finally get your dog to come and go off on him, scolding him serverly. Think he is coming next time? Probably not.

Dogs are much smarter than we give them credit for; so smart that they often outsmart us because of our impulse to react before thinking. Did you do a ton of recall training before deciding to give your dog some freedom? If not then letting them off leash is a very bad idea. Teaching our dogs to come to us must be ingrained as a positive thing. "If you stop having fun and do what I want you to do; I will reward you, we will have a party."

Solutions to behavior issues should be thought out and the steps mapped out clearly so that you know the means to the end. Feedback both vocally and physically must be timed to perfection. Mis timed feedback can undo or offer no education to your dog; so work on your delivery. Often looking at a behavior from a different perspective really helps; hence hiring a professional is usually a good idea.

A good example of a very misunderstood behavior is separation anxiety and its fallout behaviors. You may come home to find poop all over your house or the neighbor is complaining about howling. Many people accuse their dog of being spiteful and upon discovery of the mess go into a fullout attack of their own. This only increases the stress level of your dog each time you leave putting them in an awful state of never knowing. Never knowing what will happen when you open that door; wanting you home but dreading your arrival.

Dogs who have true separation anxiety need help; your help to overcome the behavior that has stricken them. Just like with other misunderstood behaviors we can make or break them. It is our job as canine guardian to research and discover what is going on in those little canine minds. And what we see from a human perspective may be way off the mark in dog terms.

As I have said many times before dogs learn through association; action/reaction. And when you take an unwanted behavior, think about your reaction and its implications to the action it may be fuel for further unwanted behaviors. Dogs minds do not work like ours do; it can get complicated and it can be as simple as sitting back and thinking before reacting.

Bone Day again

Yesterday was bone day at my house; which means I was up and at the grocery store bright and early. I get strange looks and comments as I order my bones and walk through the store piled high with meat, bones and a can of pumpkin. Of course I bought more than I had planned, I hadn't grabbed a cart.

So there I was literally piled high with bones and meat. When I was ordering my bones the way I like them, I noticed they had their hamburger on sale so after the guy wrapped my bones I asked for 5lbs. I call the bones Flinstone bones, they are full legs and I have them cut in three pieces, they are very big and heavy. He guy at the counter kept insisting that he could help me; "thanks but I got it." I got it alright and my arms were about to collapse as I put everything onto the cash.

There were alot of questions through the cash "making something?" "Nope, its for my dogs." "Oh, bones for the dogs and hamburgers for you?" "Nope, its all for my dogs." ???????????? Human head turns! "You must love your dogs." "Yep!" I gave a quick explanation, sometimes I think people ponder what they feed their dogs after hearing what my guys are getting.

So back home; I took one step in the door and they know; Luke's nose never fails him when there is meat involved. I unwrapped the bones and put 1/2 of them in the deep freeze for later. The others sat on the counter for a while and then in the fridge to thaw. So Luke pretty much hovered in the kitchen or tried to get me back into the kitchen all day.

At around 3:00 the bones were ready and I was ready to give my undivided attention to bone chewing. Jessie gets hers first, then Tilley and last but not least Luke. Everyone is in a separate corner of the yard; placed strategically in the shade and where I can see everyone from the kitchen. I will have no fighting over bones.

This is such an important part of canine hygiene. Teeth cleaning; you cannot believe what their teeth look like after a session of raw bone chewing. There is much value put on a raw bone which means that there can be problems. Although I have no problems with my poodles, Jessie can get a bit possessive. So instead of instilling a guarding behavior by simply taking her bone I have taught her that my presence means a piece of raw meat.

I cut some of the meat off the bones just for this reason and throughout the chewing a deliver a piece to each of the dogs every so often. It has made a huge difference in Jessie's posture alone at my approach. She no longer freezes and gives me "the stare." She simply looks up at me to see what I have for her, very nice.

So now everyone has nice clean teeth once again and I have more bones in the freezer for a couple months from now.

The association factor

I'm going to visit association again; in dogs it is an important factor. What happens in a moment can have huge implications by the surrounding environment at that very moment. So what is association exactly? The wind blows and a door slams; a dog learns that wind very likely means doors will slam. A dog lunges to see another dog while wearing a pinch collar; they receive pain around their neck and associate this pain to a dog approaching.

Dogs associate much more than we humans do; it can actually take us alongtime to associate things. But for dogs it can happen in an instant and be ingrained forever. Sometimes if you get to work on the misassociation immediately; you can undo any wrong doings. But not always, sometimes somethng that happens remains and no matter what you try to do to fix it; there is no fixing.

Puppies go through a fear period around the age of approximately 4 months; it is important at this stage that you try your best to make it a good one. Many dogs are left with fallout behaviors due to a negative association. Once you learn and understand about association in dogs it is much easier to "get" what is going on with your dog. Maybe your dog is displaying some weird new behavior; suddenly they are acting fearful when they come into the kitchen. This is new; what the heck is wrong with your dog? They never use to act slung down, tail tucked and ears plastered back in the kitchen.

If you look at this behavior and think; sometimes you need to think for a long while, you might remember the day when you dropped a pan right as your dog was walking into the kitchen. It scared the life out of your dog and she ran for cover. So now what you have is a fallout behavior, a result of an association. My boy Luke has associated fear of wind; he had an experience of being waken from a deep sleep from a door slamming which resulted in a seizure. So when the wind blows moving the doors around he is in a fearful state. I can slams doors to a certain degree but if the wind is blowing he is on full alert.

It is all action/reaction for dogs so what and when we do has alot to do with how and what our dogs will learn. Leash aggression is a huge association factor. We see another dog coming our way so immediately reign our dogs in; this behavior alone starts the "hey what's up" reaction from our dogs. What we should do is show them that other dogs walking by results in treats and a very happy or level and calm guardian.

Some association instances cannot be helped; accidents happen even when we do our utmost to avoid them. But your reaction can have a huge impact on that association and if you are quick enough, you can indeed change an association before it is ingrained.

Questions?

A lunch guest

We had lunch in San Clemente today; by the time we got there I was near starved to death. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant which is my favorite and we were seated outdoors on the patio. To my delight we had a lunch guest near our table; a 6 mos old red min pin. When we arrived she was more or less tangled up around a lamp post but her guardian unhooked her as we took our seat.

She seemed very friendly; showing a little bit of fearful apprehension with a few things but pretty good. I overheard her guardian say that she was 6 mos old and she looked it; still very lanky. She was enjoying meeting people and seemed to be having a good time except that her girl was holding her leash very tight so she couldn't come and annoy us. Annoy me??? The original dog lady; never in a million years.

So when the time presented itself I told her to feel free to let her little pup wander; and that we loved dogs. She said she didn't want her to annoy us; and I told her it wasn't going to happen. So she let her wander and she came and said hello; stuck around for a while and then came and went at her leisure. She was adorable.

She had a little bit of a scare by a delivery guy; her hair stood straight on her back as he came closer and closer. Finally she couldn't take anymore and dove under her guardians table until the threat passed. Then she slowly crept out; being careful to look in all directions for the offender. He was gone and she was once again good to go. He then appeared and she forgo the tough girl act and went straight under the table.

I was impressed with her human; no consoling, no coaxing her that all was well; she just ignored her and went on eating lunch. This was the correct thing to do and the little pup was paying attention; she quickly realized there was nothing to fear and came out once again.

We actually left first, I leaned down and said my good-byes; adorable little thing.

My first BITE

Well it has finally happen; with all my years handling dogs in the show ring, training dogs for over 9 years and shooting them for almost 4; I got bit. BY A DUCK!!!!!!! One would think that the odds of being bitten by a dog are highly evelvated being that I deal with dogs on a daily basis; but nope I was bit by a duck.

I had both training and several photos shoots yesterday, it was a full day. I was at my first shoot; my models were amazingly gorgeous; an intense guarding breed. The shoot was at a park with a lake, man made of course. There were ducks all around the lake; in and out of the water.

One weird looking duck started to approach me; I assumed it wanted me to move so I did. It looked like a cross between a duck and a turkey actually. It had the red wrinkly skin around its head and was a large size. I moved, I moved again but it was not happy with me moving. It lowered it's head and waggged its rear end at me, hmmm.

Seeing that I do not know duck behavior I just tried to stay away. I soon forgot about the duck and was fully enthralled in my shoot when WHACK. "Ouch, that stupid bird bit me." I hadn't been paying attention and the creepy thing snuck up behind me and took advantage of the tiny spot of skin showing on my lower back and took a bite, and it hurt.

It wasn't phased by the ordeal at all and continued to monitor and follow my movement at the lake. I was phased; having never been bitten in all my years of dog work; I was highly perturbed. With one eye on the duck and my other of my models I finished the shoot.

So there you have it, my first bite story.

Breed Talk - The Bulldog

Few breeds can entertain like a Bulldog. I have had the honor of training alot of Bulldogs and it did not take me long to fall in love. Hands down Bulldogs are the most expressive and amuzing breed there is. If you have never had the chance to meet and get to know one; I highly recommend it.

What I noticed very quickly when I started working with Bulldogs is that they have been given the "stupid card." Far from stupid; their intelligence works to their benefit; convincing their guardians that they just can't "get it." And far too often the bulldog guardian shrugs and moves onto something more pliable. Do not let a bulldog con you into thinking they are the big dumb dog; not even close.

Bulldog are heavy set low riders; not built for super athletic sports but love run and romp with the best of them. With their lack of muzzle length you must take extra precaution in the heat; ensuring that they do not over heat. The bulldog does not have a height standard in the US but goes by weight; a male should run around 50 lbs with the females approx. 40.

Unfortunately Bulldogs are one of the breeds that the puppy millers have gotten their hands on so be careful where you acquire your dog from. Make sure that the breeder where you get your bulldog does all the required health testing. Bulldogs have their fair share of health issues so before buying make sure you can afford the up keep. Most Bulldogs that I have met have allergies; whether food, grass or other substance it is common with the breed.

With a body built like a tank it makes sense that swimming is not a bulldogs cup of tea. Although I do know several who can swim; most sink like a stone. So please take extra precaution around water with your bulldog.

The bulldog is definitely one of the breeds that people accept as big and fat. But a fat Bulldog is just as unhealthy as any other breed, maybe even more so given their height. Watch their weight; they do love to eat. And many guardians have told me that once you have a bulldog you always have a bulldog. Their annoying snoring becomes melodic to most; something you learn to love and cannot live without.

I love Bulldogs, their expressiveness, ignorning stubborness, funny body language and loveable snorting makes them irresisstble. And I have to admit; there is nothing cuter than a bulldog puppy, they win hands down.

Poodles

I have had standard poodles for over 20 years; my first standard was a black female in Canada. My very first dog was an airedale and although I loved her with all my heart I knew the airedale was not my breed. Mandy had been my sisters dog and when she had her second child; she found her to be too much to handle with the little ones. So at the age of 18 I took Mandy; we were inseparable until she left us at the age of 13. I added our first standard poodle to our family when Mandy was still around. Mandy taught her well.

When I had decided to add another dog to the family I had seriously considered the doberman; which was my first choice. After much contemplation decided that I could not deal with the short life expectancy; which was at the time 7-9. With great breeders out there it has now moved up to pretty much a normal large dog life expectancy. I looked at the Giant Schnauzer and the standard poodle. Because of Mandy I was drawn to a furry face but I had heard alot about the standard poodle that sounded good.

Mandy didn't shed much which I really liked so I was looking for another breed that didn't shed; at least didn't shed alot. So I decided to take a serious look at the poodle; I was not turned off by the "poodle" image as many people are. The first visit was to a home in the country with lots of dogs and lots of colors. The dogs were all very friendly, I was impressed and hooked. It happened very quickly with poodles and I.

So after the addition of our first standard poodle it has been poodles since. Except for the one addition of a tiny Jack Russell; the rest have been standards. Today I will meet a bunch of poodles at the beach. This is our first official OC Standard Poodle get together and I'm really looking forward to it.

My dogs will be different than the others in looks as I abandoned the "poodle" clip long ago. My dogs are large curly retrievers; utility dogs. If you really get to know a poodle; their exterior image hints of nothing about the real dog; only the guardian. The hair is the work of the guardian and usually a groomer; this breed is very much an all purpose dog. I am constantly asked what breed of dog my dogs are and when I tell people they always say "really, poodles?"

As a trainer I can say that they are the smartest breed that I work with; the Golden coming in at second I'd have to say. Although I love the breed; I also love that each and every dog within the breed is completely different. Just like every other breed and mix, there are no two dogs the same.

Busy week

The week is already underway and we are at Tuesday already. I don't know about you but starting my week off on a Tuesday messes me up. I hope everyone had a great Memorial weekend, I did. Nothing hugely memorable but nice. The dogs had a full weekend of exercise, getting bathed and fun and are crashed bigtime.

Unfortunately with summer comes fleas and the hunt for a little less non toxic treatments to keep the beast away is a huge undertaking. Last year we were innundated and I finally found out the cause; MY NEIGBORS DOG WAS INFESTED. Fleas had taken over the dog nextdoor who lives outside, at the side of my house. So with so many fleas they decided to hop the fence and look for more dogs to eat.

We finally got it under control when a vet told them that their dog was infested with fleas!!!!!!!!!!! So reasearch, research to find out how to ward these things away without doing any longterm damage to my dogs. I've decided to bath the pooches regularly as those little beast drown during a bath. If you have a pool, let your dog swim for the good of them and the death of a flea.

I highly recommend looking into all those "topical" treatments that are so amazing. Just what are we putting on our dogs? Did you ever think twice when the label says "keep children away." And we are putting it right on our dogs? How about flea and tick killer that we have our dogs ingest? If you think about it really hard, it doesn't make sense. Something that is so toxic that it kills fleas and ticks in hours; get your dog to eat it.

I am using Natural Defense; at a minimum. A little spray here and there, washing the beds and the dogs regularly and keeping a close eye on anything moving that shouldn't be moving on my dogs. I hate fleas.

I've got a full spectrum of dog stuff going on this week, a couple of shoots, some training, a poodle meet up, working up photos for a magazine submission and getting my two books off to some new publishers.

Busy, busy.

Happy B-day Jessie

Today is Jessie's 12th birthday; no one would ever guess that she is a day over a year old. I am always stopped by people wondering how old my puppy is; and when I tell them she was 11 they think I mean weeks. They are totally shocked when I tell them years. Now at 12 years old she looks great; the lady at the petstore today told her so today. I took her into get a special treat and the cashier gave her a huge ice cream cone shaped cookie for her birthday.

To have Jessie reach the age of 12 years is pretty much a miracle. We have had a bonus 6 years so far with her as she was at deaths door 6 years ago. To think that these past 6 years could have be spent without our little Jessie would have been very sad indeed. I have to admit that she is the cutest Jack Russell Ive ever seen, not because she is mine or anything. ;)

We got Jessie almost 12 years ago at the request of my husband; he had wanted a Jack Russell for years. Other than this single little JRT its been Standard poodles. So when I realized he really want a Jack Russell I set off to find a good breeder in Ontario. I found The Bowery in Bancroft, Ontario. I set up an appointment to come out and check out their dogs and perhaps bring home a tiny puppy.

When we arrived I was amazed at the set up and impressed by the quality of dogs. She had set two puppies inside for us to choose from. Knowing our family history, children and dogs she had chose two puppies that would fit. I was immediately drawn to the white broken coat with a tiny spot on her eye. My husband immediately fell in love with Jessie. At that moment I decided to step back and let him choose the dog he wanted; afterall it was his breed of choice. So the decision was made and Jessie joined us on our trip home.

She was definitely a handful in the beginning but made a big turn around at around the age of 3. Now at 12 she is a tiny angel; but still very much a Jack Russell. She is always ready for a rumble, up to hunt and kill at any moment, chase anything that moves, eat anything edible; sometimes even not edible, she is the continual enforcer and keeps everyone smiling always.

Happy Birthday Jess