What a mess of toys

Each morning as I start my day of pick up I make my rounds in the house. In almost every room I find toys; dog toys. Two on the dog bed in the kitchen, 2 in the livingroom with guts strewn randomly about, 2 toys and 2 bones in the bedroom and down in the familyroom there are carcasses, guts and toys from one end to the other. I don't mind at all; dogs need stuff.

I have often walked into a new dog home when upon having a quick look around asked "where's the toys?" Sometimes the new guardians admit to picking up before I got there but more often they just didn't know. The more toys you give your dog the less likelihood of having your stuff ruined. Now of course it still requires supervision but once your dog learns what is there's and what is yours; they need a large selection.

We have a basket of toys and the dogs know where it is and that the contents are theirs with no restrictions. If I bring home new toys I will often ask the dogs to not ruin them; at least for a few days. They play with them and then when they start to kill and gut them, I remove them for later. This only ever lasts a few days and then the white fluff covers the carpet.

Tilley is my only dog right now who does not gut her toys; she takes great care of her them. Because of this I do not allow the other two to play and destroy her toys. They are surprisingly good about leaving her toys and strictly ruin their own. It is extremely important for dogs to have alot of toys; it is good for their mind, their body and the posessions in your home.

Invisible obstacles

Funny how the dog brain works. Yesterday I took the poodles to the park that has the wood fence; the one that they had to scootch under to get to the otherside with me. Someone took one of the bottom rails out of the fence; perhaps another dog person so that there was lots of room for a dog to go under the fence.

It's pretty low even for shorty like me so I jumped over. I called Luke to come with me and he stood staring at the fence and then started to pace up and down the fence whining. I was trying to capture a shot of him going under so I had to stay back and let him figure it out. It took quite a while and during the time when he was figuring out the whole fence thing I watched; seeing the wheels in motion is very interesting.

Dogs learn by association; this was learned association to the previous visit. Standing right in front of the fence with the missing bottom post Luke still thought that it was too low; like the lastime. Even though you can clearly see that there is more than enough room to go under; he remembered not enjoying having to scootch down so far to go under. His memory of the lastime under was interfering with his progress today.

He stuck his head under; but quickly pulled back again. With a couple of rewarding "good boy, that's it" he mustered enough courage to go for it. You can obviously see in the photo that he is not enjoying going under; even though there is more than enough room for him to easily pass beneath the fence. He had clearly remembered and had a negative association to going under the fence previously.

Tilley was much quicker to go under; although she too stood and stared for a while before taking the plunge. Going back under this time was much better; perhaps the negative has now been replaced by "okay,not so bad."

Excitement and confusion

While I was awaiting the dishwasher guys arrival yesterday afternoon I decided to do a shoot with my dogs. I haven't done an "official" shoot with them for a while; just the everyday grab a shot is what I usually have time for. So I thought maybe I'll get a cute Christmas type shot for a card; we'll see how it goes.

So I got out the treats and went through several dress rehearsals. Everyone gets very excited when we are working with treats of course. And amazingly enough; Luke's gets the most excited. Surprisingly because he is just so/so on food but with his reactive personality he becomes overly excited very quickly. We started with "let's all sit together." This is fairly simple except that Luke tends to move if someone touches him.

Tilley is my base dog; like a rock and unflinching so she get's placed first. Luke is next; I have to work with him very calmly and matter of fact like. Once he is in place I try to get Jessie in between without TOUCHING LUKE. Easier said than done; when I say without touching Luke I mean NOT TOUCHING. Not one hair can be touched without him flying out of position.

Now of course I can touch him and if I do alot of big touching I can place Jessie without him noticing that she is actually touching him. Normally he doesn't mind nearly as much about the whole "Jessie is touching me" issue but when he is overly excited it seems to be the much worst.

Okay now that we have everyone sitting together I decide to ask everyone to wave at the sametime. The poodles are amazing and Luke is waving his face off; Jessie not so much. The wave has always stumped Jessie; she is very short so maybe my hand being up over my very tall 5' 1" body confuses her. She likes to sit up; you know on her hind legs with her little arms in the air so she always defaults to this.

So while doing all of this I come up with a cute idea for a shot. They are amazing models; so easy to work with and stay like statues. It's a real treat to work with them.

Nobody is perfect!

Yesterday started out okay; a day like any other it began with me writing my blog and then onto the rest of the day. I'm not sure when it started to go wrong; but I had a sense of scattering by mid morning. By noon I was fully discombobulated **To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse.** It wasn't a bad day; I was just "off" sort of all over the place so to speak. I was not my regular organized productive self.

This left me thinking about dogs and how they can have good days and bad days just like us. When I decided to be a professional dog trainer I had alot of things to consider and one of them was what I was going to expect from the dogs themselves. Having been involved with training since the age of 13 I'd already had alot of experience with many different trainers.

Some of the experiences I'd had over the years with training classes and trainers were not great; these all went into what type of trainer I was going to be. I clearly remember the first time I told one of my early clients "dogs are not robots." In my introductory years of conventional choke collar training; the dogs were treated very much like robots, I was not going to do that to dogs.

Somehow we expect so much more from our dogs than from other humans. We don't do what we are told the very second someone asks and we often completely ignore other humans. And yet when it comes to our dogs we expect them to present themselves or at least represent us as perfect. They aren't and we aren't either.

In the bad ole days of yank training; the dogs were not allowed to slip up. There was no room for error; not even the tiniest. So my clear decision was made the first day I stated that "dogs are not robots." They have days when they are on and days that when are off; they are emotional creatures. How can we possibly put such high demands as perfection on an animal when we ourselves aren't anywhere near.

How far will you go?

I'm used to the routine; the acting, the big parade that sometimes is necessary to get Luke to eat. He is one of the most simple yet complex dogs I've ever met; quite the guy. Yesterday he was in his "not in the mood to eat" zone. I recognize this from the first sign; lack of presence. Luke isn't one to hang around the kitchen unless there is raw beef, liver or roast but when I'm making their food and he is a no show; I know.

The morning feed wasn't too difficult to convince him to half eat but dinner, geesh. The fact that I was making shortbread and he wasn't in the kitchen was a sign. But when I called him to eat and he did not respond immediately; that was the big sign. Again? I thought to myself. Telling the girls they had to wait until I got Luke; I was off to find him. Another sign hit my nose when I neared the familyroom.

There was only Luke down in the familyroom and he obviously was having some gas issues, yikes. I called him to eat and he charged up the stairs only to slip and twist his leg. Now we had to go into the "let me see, I'll fix it" routine. With his ears plastered back and his eyes seeking sympathy I rubbed his leg to repair the hurt. "There you're all better," and he does a happy circle, bow and gives me a kiss. I'm good aren't I?

So into the kitchen and he's not interested; every speck of his body language says he does not want dinner. So I get out more liver, chop it tiny and add water to make a liver soup type substance. Pouring it onto the top I start the mmmmmmmmm, this looks yummy routine. His interest is small but visable at least. Jessie is just about exploding at this point and is near done her food before I walk away from her bowl.

After putting his bowl down I turn away so he cannot seek any further routine from me. If he is not interested in the liver conconction then; that's as far as I am willing to go this evening. I can see him in the reflection of the window; staring at his bowl, looking at me, then the girls. Finally after several minutes he realizes that I'm not doing anymore and he approaches his bowl. One bite; that's all that is needed to get things rolling.

He takes a bite; the one bite that always means he is at least going to eat something tonight. He ate 7/8ths of his food; pretty good for Mr. Fussy pants.

Whhaaatttt???????

Okay, this is probably what I looked like today when I was walking my poodles at a park I regularly frequent. We were there long enough to make one lap of the park before someone else came with their dogs. I always keep an eye on other dogs so Luke doesn't yank my arm off when I'm not paying attention.

This guy who was there with his two labs started making his way around the park when he stopped at the tables in the middle. I wasn't really watching what he was doing; just kept an eye on his where abouts. Then I saw him walk away; without his dogs???????????????????????? They were tied to the picnic table in the center of the park.

I literally must have had my head turned as I tried to figure out what he was doing. Then I realized he was on the phone. I was afraid he had tied his dogs and was leaving so I watched with question marks flying. He went for his walk; talked on the phone, without his dogs. Who does that?

I was there for quite a while today and this guy made several rounds of the park. A couple of times when he was on the otherside of the park his dogs starting going crazy barking. He didn't hear or didn't care as he was involved in a very serious conversation on his phone. Talking to myself at this point "no way; are you kidding?"

So the guy had done his duty; brought his dogs to the park LITERALLY. Whoa!

Chase/prey drive

Prey drive: The instinctive behavior of a predator animal to chase prey. Like many other terms in the world of dog behavior; prey drive is a hot one. I just read one definition of prey drive being the drive of a prey animal (fight or flight). And the predator definition was in fact predator drive; makes more sense actually. But we all know the hardwired behavior as prey drive; so I will use it. Most dogs have some sort of drive relating to the instinctive chase. Although there have been a few dogs that have none; I mean absolutely no drive to chase at all. I am always shocked when I am in the presence of these dogs and find it most interesting that they have been domesticated beyond their insticts. Watching a dog in a yard with birds wandering around; the birds flapping in mock take-offs as the dog simply watches them? I am simply mesmerized. Most dogs seeing a flapping bird on the ground instinctively go into "chase" mode.

I tend to use the term "chase drive" more often as it gives a clearer explanation of what is going on in the dogs mind. Some dogs are more driven by idea of prey; the end goal being to catch the prey. Many are driven by the chase; they may catch whatever they are after ie: frisbee or ball but have no kill instinct. My girl Tilley is a great example of drive. Her drive is off the charts. It manifested into a problem behavior quite young; at the age of only 4 months she was displaying shadow chasing; a common issue with dogs who have high drive. She quickly learned that in a big sunny yard a shadow was a very reliable prey. This gave her an almost constant victim for her drive. But Tilley has no kill instinct; she accidentally killed one rabbit years ago simply by catching it. There was no shaking; no kill tactics involved, it simply died of fright when she caught it. Rabbits are very delicate creatures.

Jessie on the other hand has killed her fair share of creatures and she does kill them. She is a typical Jack Russell; highly triggered by motion and pursuit follows, if the catch is accomplished the kill follows. Once the tiny creature is no longer moving; there is no longer drive. Many dogs will walk away at this point. Jessie has but she has also swallowed down several of the tinier creatures when asked to drop them. This is also very instinctive; rather than loose the prize, swallow. With intense behavior work Tilley's drive was manipulated and redirected. This was accomplished by rewarding her for chasing balls and frisbees and verbally scolding any shadow chasing.

High drive dogs make for very good performance dogs; frisbee, flyball, schutzhund etc. But drive can be tough for the inexperienced; that is why temperament testing is so important. Often during one of my temperament tests not one puppy will chase or follow an object. Sometimes there is one, two or a whole litter of driven puppies. Mostly it depends on the breed, sometimes the lines within the particular breeding. There is now a big push to breed more driven performance dogs. On one hand this makes perfect sense but on the other it is extremely detrimental. Many puppies bred with super drive and end up as "just the family dog" finally make their way to the shelter because their family cannot handle the drive. Drive can be good and bad; depending on where the dog ends up.

December 1st and Monday morning and nail day

Welcome to December; every year at this time I think back on the year and cannot imagine how we got here so fast yet again. Its been another very, crazy, busy year. Lot's of ups and downs and everything in between. But this is the time of year that I wait for; the cooler temps put me into a very good mood most days. I don't like the heat; I don't like when I have to get the dogs out before 9 am or else. Or else it's too darn hot to do anything at all.

I'll be cutting nails today; seems that nails grow faster than anything else, even on dogs. My guys are really good about it; they are taught right from the start that it is not a bad thing. Having their nails done isn't something they enjoy but they know that if they let me do it; they get a treat. This is most important when starting out nail cutting.

Before Jessie; I'd never had a dog that hated getting their nails done as much as she did. The tighter we held her the more she fought. This is the most common mistake when cutting nails. The most important thing to do is to do your best to make it a positive experience. If you just clamp them down and get it done; the next time it's gonna be worse, I guarantee it.

So when you start out, you treat for just having the clippers out. Next you touch the clippers to their nails and treat. All the while you should be getting your dog use to having their feet touched. Some dogs won't have foot issues if you start rubbing their feet when they are very young; many will have foot issues. Your first actual clipping goal should be one nail and lots of treats.

Depending on your dogs reaction to nail cutting will determine how quickly you progress though the steps to the final goal of having all nails clipped. Once your dog understands that they get a treat for letting you cut their nails they will probably be much more accomodating. It's not a joyous event; just something that has to be done.

Great care must be taken not to cut the quick. If you hit the quick on your dogs nails it will be put in their memory bank for next time. There is always the chance that you might hit it so if you do; lots of treats and try to undo this bad memory.

The quick link: http://www.ehow.com/how_2282261_spot-quick-dogs-nail.html

My guys know as soon as I get the clippers out; they sniff around to see what the treat will be for the day and then patiently await their turn. Tilley is always first; she is by far the easiest, very much a statue. Then Jessie who usually fights me a bit but lets me get her done. Then Luke who is very good but has his little nail cutting ritual. Circle around, have to be told twice where I want him, mouths my hand to complain and then gives me his paw.

Everyone gets a treat after they get their nails done and then another treat once everyone is done. In all it takes about 2 minutes, nice.

Sunday canyon walk

We took the dogs down into the canyon this morning; they love it. It was very mucky and the dogs were soon sporting their giant mud boots; us as well. Watching them run free, smell everything and occasionally dig is good for everyone. Every once in a while Luke get's the urge to dig; it is usually short lived if Jessie is with us; she takes whatever she wants from Luke which includes prime holes to dig. She just pushes him out of the way and will snap at him if he tries to take it back. But today he got in a good bit of digging before she realized he had a good hole. Jessie loves to dig; 75% of her outtings can be used up by digging. Which makes for a lot of standing around waiting for us. But to see her little body digging with a huge smile on and her mouth full of mud can only make you smile. Tilley is not a digger; except for my garden that is; which she has been doing on a regular basis lately. I'm not happy about that but she decides that there is a critter in there that needs to come out and there is no stopping her. She is really showing signs of her age; today she was really lagging. I stayed back walking slower to keep back with her. Even though she is showing signs of slowing down; at nearly 12 it is just starting. I've seen many poodles who look old at 8 years of age. Good breeding.

This and that

First off our dishwasher is not working; I just got it. Really cool, we had our Cdn thanksgiving without a dishwasher and now we had our CKO(Christmas Kick off) or Am. Thanksgiving without a dishwasher. Of course I'm cooking and baking alot because of the holiday season and not having the dishwasher sucks. Especially when I'm cooking for all the humans and the canines as well. Oh well, the guy is suppose to be here on Thursday to fix it.

Yesterday I barbequed up some liver for the dogs; especially Luke you know. After cooking it; I left it sitting on the table outside cooling when Luke appeared out there with it. Being that liver is his favorite food the smell had drawn him to it. He got closer and closer as I watched through the kitchen window. I wondered if all his training would be thrown away because of the liver; getting on tables and counters is a huge no no in this house and no dog would regularly consider it here.

He wasn't looking around at all; only taking big deep breaths of liver steam in and loving it. I was ready to yell if the liver got the best of him; but it didn't. He stopped and looked into the kitchen; thought a while and then came to the door. It was very clear that he wanted it and the only way he knew how to safely get it was to come and get me. I was so proud of him.

Not only does this show that he knows he is not allowed to help himself; but even when I'm not around. This is also a very good sign of where he thinks the food comes from; me. As far as pack hierarchy goes; this is a very important issue. So after he came to get me, we went out and got the liver and he had his dinner.

When I went to get the liver at the store the turkey's were on sale for $5.00 instead of over $20.00. So I grabbed two thinking of the dogs and the deal that this would be. They've been in the over this morning for several hours and are soon ready to come out. They look good but the smell of stuffing is missing; that will be here soon enough again in a couple of weeks.

I've found something else that Luke absolutely loves; homemade shortbread. The main ingredient; butter. :)

Cuteness never gets old

CKO day is over and now we move onto getting ready for Christmas. Today is Black Friday; the equivalent to shopping on Boxing Day in Canada. Many of the stores open at 4:00 am and there will be people waiting to get in and spend their money. We aren't in the market for anything in particular so we might hit the stores this afternoon sometime; maybe not.

Our CKO day was nice; busy, hectic but enjoyable. It's the day we get the bulk of the Christmas decs out. What a difference now at this stage of our dog lives. The dogs were spread out on random couches around the house. Jessie was the main attraction; it amazes me that after 12 1/2 years that the kids still eeewwwww and aaaahhhh about her cuteness.

"Mom look at her," "Mom look what she's doing," "She is so cute, how can she be so cute?" After 25 years of having standard poodles she definitely stands out as a cute little munchkin; all 15 lbs of her. And now at 12 1/2 years of age she is pretty adorable when she is in a deep sleep with her little tongue sticking out.

Of course wherever she happens to lay; someone covers her up with a blanket. Unlike the poodles she has very little hair; probably because it is all over my house. Jack Russells are double coated like a lab so they shed like crazy. And if she gets mad it comes out in a storm of white hair.

She tends to get alot of treats from the kids; she can simply mystify them with her adorable cuteness and they cough up the goods. I don't know how many times I tell them all not to give her food; but I'm not so cute so they don't listen to me. Jessie is not an in your face type of dog; she's more an in your lap girl. She loves her creature comforts. And if someone drops a blanket; she quickly curls up in the middle of it.

Yesterday at one point she was curled up in the middle of the familyroom floor on a red down throw; pretty cute. She probably gets away with more because she is so darn cute. Ah heck they all get away with murder; they are all way too cute.

Turkey day

Well it is Turkey Day here in the US; but being Canadians we have already celebrated our T-day back in October. The first couple of years here we celebrated this Thanksgiving but I found it much to close to Christmas for my liking. So today we will celebrate our own holiday called CKO (Christmas Kick Off). We have a big Italian feast that includes pumpkin; I'm making Savory Pumpkin Pasta.

The dogs are still in bed at 9:40; what a bunch of lazy dogs. They love when everyone is home and they don't have to rise and shine in the early hours. So they will be having more of a brunch than breakfast this morning. Lots of giblets are cooked up for their enjoyment and Luke loves them. He is really an internal meat eater; it's his favorite.

Lastnight before going to bed he started to sneeze a bit; I'm keeping a very close eye on him. His Amoxicillin ended last weekend so I was afraid that whatever he had might return; I'll keep you posted.

The weather is great for the this CKO weekend; nice and cool and wet. I'm loving it although looking at the Ottawa weather I'm jealous of their snow for this time of year. But I'll take this cool wet weather over hot and sunny for getting into the Christmassy zone.

Happy Turkey Day to all; happy CKO too!!!!!!

It's raining it's pouring

Okay; in most parts of the world rain is not a big deal and in some places it's the norm. But here in sunny Southern California it is big news "storm watch." It's pretty funny, a bit of rain is commonly referred to as a storm. A storm? You wanna see a storm? Try Kansas, Texas or even our little ole Ottawa for an intense snow storm. I remember many storms both electrical and snow where you did not think about leaving the comforts of your house.

With the rains come the sissy dogs who do not want to go outside. Yes, I'm talking about my sissy dogs. The girls didn't use to be sissy's; they are from Canada where going out in the rain and snow is very normal. But now after being here for 10 years they've assimilated. Luke is a Socal boy so he is the perfect example of the dogs accustom to the sun.

This not going out in the rain is a big issue for canine guardians here. In fact the first couple of rains here for us; it was on the tv and radio about the dogs and how to get them out. Funny how if the dogs are going for a walk they are totally fine with the rain; but a quick trip out to the backyard is not.

If by chance my dogs have not noticed that it is raining out they will approach the door with the typical gusto only jamming on their brakes at the last moment. Normally I have to join them outside while they do their business or nothing will get done. Now these are all adult dogs and they will hold it until they burst. But I don't want any bursting going on in this house; so out we go into the rain.

They are very quick about their business and do not waste anytime sniffing around like a typical outing. I have plans to cover a section of the grass this rainy season so that I don't have to deal with these sun worshipping dog issues. But for now they will have to go out and endure the harsh elements and I'll have to deal with "wet dogs."

Thankful for dogs

With Thanksgiving in two days this is the time of year when people think about their life and contemplate what they are thankful for. Of course I am very thankful that my family; my immediate and extended family are all healthy and happy. But being that this is a dog blog I want to talk about being thankful for dogs; as I am very thankful for dogs.

In particular my dogs but all dogs in general. I feel exceptionally lucky to have three such wonderful dogs; and they have taught me many life lessons. In fact it is the dog life lessons that make us the dog people we are. With each dog life I live through I become a better dog guardian for the next. I have become much more intuned with my dogs; listening, watching and learning.

I talk to alot of dog people and many who have recently lost a dog that they had loved. How do you deal; how do you even think about getting another dog? There is no advice you can give a grieving guardian but to follow their heart. But what I do tell them is that each dog leaves paw prints on our heart; some deeper than others. Each dog in our lives prepares us for the next.

Over the years I have met many, many amazing dogs and I can often be heard saying "you are so lucky to have each other." How lucky when you find a dog that is a heart dog; one that completes you, one who's simple presence makes you smile. Living with dogs is a win, win.

It doesn't matter where a dog comes from; it doesn't matter what size, shape or color they are; like us it is the heart. The heart of a dog is immense; and at times their heart overwhelms us. Take a dog who has been abused or tossed aside by humans; who is then rescued by a human. They hold no grudge, they offer their forgiveness and heart to whoever takes them in.

The saying "lucky dog," comes from from the fact that many people consider dogs to be very lucky; living in a house, having their own bed, eating good food. It is a term used now for many different circumstances both animal and human. But perhaps the term should be "lucky human" afterall how lucky are we that dogs allow us to live by their side?

It's decided

First let me say that I am soooooo happy that it is cooler; plus they started playing holiday music. Being in Southern California and being a Canadian native I need alot of "stuff" to help me with the Holiday season. I'm use to frigid temps and snow so this really helps. I'm listening to this

http://www.kost1035.com/cc-common/ondemand/player.html?world=st

until Boxing Day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day

After finishing up a training book and two photo books I'm on the hunt for a publisher so if anyone out there knows of a publisher who is looking; send them my way. The books were a blast to shoot for; now this part of doing books is the really tough work.

I've also just decided to get to work on my poodle book. It will be a photo coffee table book all on Standard poodles. I am going to get all colors, and activities; being that the standard is one of the most versatile breeds out there. So now I have to make up a new contract and get going.

I will be traveling quite a bit for this one; I don't want just southern California dogs for the book. I've started a poodle book several times but something always seems to get in the way. The only thing on my plate now is finding a publisher so I'm focusing on SPoo's for the next year. Not like I haven't been focused on them for over 25 years but now there is an end goal in sight.

So if you're out there and have a standard poodle; I might be coming to shoot your dog in the near future.

Coyotes

The coyote image on the head of my blog was taken during a Kuvasz shoot. The same place where my husband runs the dogs. This coyote showed up at a perfect time when I needed the two Kuvasz to have an intense look on their face; the resulting image landed on the cover of Dog World.

Yesterday my husband took our three dogs down to the canyon for a run. He forgot to grab leashes because he took his car and not mine. My car is filled with so many leashes of different types that you would never be without. So in his car the dogs were collared but not leashed.

With Jessie accompanying them; great caution must be taken because of the coyotes. I know way too many JRTs here that have been taken by coyotes. I even know of one lady who literally saved her dog only by having a leash on. A hungry coyote is a dangerous animal for small dogs. I also know a couple who lost their old brittany spaniel to a pack of hungry coyotes out of their backyard. Scarey, very scarey.

So having no leashes is not an issue except when coyotes are concerned. We are not too too worried about our standards but we know full well that Jessie is a great meal for a coyote family. As my husband was walking down in the canyon a lady from up top by the road was yelling at him; he tried hard to understand what she was saying when he realized that she was yelling "Coyote." There was a coyote coming down the path after them.

Only a very hungry coyote would go a round with my standards to get to Jessie but it is a very unnerving feeling knowing that one is stalking your little dog. My husband carried Jessie for a while and then just left. Today he made sure that he has all the leashes but most importantly her extension leash. If a coyote makes a grab for her; it is going to be a very big mistake for the coyote because my husband will be on the other end of the leash.

Emotions

Are you an emotional type person? I am; and because of that I pay strict attention to my emotions, especially when working with dogs. Lots of dogs are emotional as well; some are not. It is of utmost importance when working with dogs to use and control your emotions. I have often stormed into a room looking for something when I noticed my dogs were acting very wary of me. Once I stopped and watched them for a while I realized then what was going on; they thought I was mad.

So how you use your emotions means a whole lot to your dog. And you can use your emotions to your benefit; as we can pretend. Dogs are not good pretenders nor are they liers so what you see is what is going on. I have worked with dogs who displayed emotions from severe fear to pure guarding aggression and everything in between; and I do my best to monitor my emotions accordingly.

There was one time several years back that I had a real issue with a dog. I was in Kelowna, BC and while my husband attended a conference I strolled the beach with my camera. On the way back I noticed that a large black chow mix was chasing and lunging at a jogger; she was having quite a time when the dog noticed me and charged. Knowing full well what my options were I tried the calm approach and turned sideways and it came at me so at the last minute I turned and stood my ground.

I was really left with a stare down, moving towards the dog kept it at a distance of about 5 feet; no further. If I tried to move away in any manner it came at me; so there was definitely a degree of fear but not enough to make it run away. There I stayed at a stare down literally until it's owner came by and screamed at it. Stupid people; honestly.

But any other time I've had to deal with a dog with issues I've been prepared or able to defuse the situation with some tactic. It really takes an understanding of dog behavior to know what your best move is. Some dogs react in very strange ways to things that are very basic; this can sometimes throw you. This is when you must sit and think; then alter your plan of attack so to speak.

Building confidence is very important; it can be the difference between learning and not. A dog who is constantly fearful can't learn; you must work through the fear and build trust and confidence, only then can a dog relax and understand. A dog who is easily excitable can have a difficult time learning as well; so keeping yourself in a zen like state really helps. Most dogs who are the easily excitable type also deal with a complete hands off method of traububg better than any touching being involved.

Working with aggressive dogs is tricky; even though it is scarey you have to portray yourself as confident and unshaken, it is a must. Many dogs who display aggressively have the wind taken out of their sails when you show no reaction or ignore the behavior. But some aggressive dogs do not stop their aggression except with a similar display and this is where you don't want to go. That is why outsmarting an aggressive dog is truly the only way to do it safely. Challenge a dangerous challenger and you could end up on the loosing end.

San Diego yesterday

I took a quick trip to San Diego yesterday to visit my daughter. The drive down was great until about 20 min. into it when the whole freeway jammed on their brakes. We were reduced to crawl speed; as I wondered what the heck was going on I realized that there were no cars on the other side of the freeway. It was really weird looking to the left and seeing no cars. It was a bad accident; up further there were lots of fire trucks, ambulances, police vehicles and a helicopter taking someone to the hospital.

Once through the mess it took no time to get there. The first thing we did was visit the Humane Society; my daughter has told me all about it and I wanted to have a look. It was very full; lots of mixed breeds, a few purebreds and a few puppies. Two of the dogs there attempted to bite me or whoever walked by right through the cafe. I thought it odd that they had these dogs in the public area; a child cook easily stick their hand through and be injured.

The facility is very nice, much nicer than most shelters I've seen. There were a couple of dogs that pulled at my heart strings. Especially the old ones; I hate to see old dogs in the shelters; this makes me the most sad. How can someone live with a dog into its senior years and then pitch it?

The shelters are a much needed service but it is not a good place for any dog to be. I can't even imagine how my dogs would act if they got left there. It is very difficult to temperament test dogs that have spent time at a shelter; everything is sort of in a mess as far as stability goes. What you see is most often not what you get at a shelter. Stress levels are high so dogs are not themselves. They are also in a state of limbo; typically it can takes weeks to months to see the true dog once home and relaxed.

So as much as it is an awful place for any dog to end up at; it is needed. And the people who take in these dogs and care for them do their best. It is sad that there are so many unwanted dogs in the world; many of the dogs I saw yesterday will have a difficult time being adopted. As for the old ones; where are the golden years? More people need to consider giving the old ones the best years of their life.

Buying beds

Luke has been sleeping in our bed alot lately; infact every single night. I don't mind; we bought a kingsized bed for this specific reason. He usually takes up a nice middle spot so as not to bother myself or my husband. But often he is one sided; meaning that someone has a body to sleep around.

This everynight thing is different; he use to sleep in his bed on and off so I started thinking that perhaps he doesn't like the new bed I got him. Tilley likes it but she isn't near the fussy pants that he is; infact she isn't fussy about anything. The new bed is firm to walk on, not hard but the material is thick and firm making it not so squishy and comfy.

So yesterday I thought I'd switch it out for one my husband recently purchased to see if that helped. When I got up this morning there he was still curled up tight in his bed. It was the comfort level all the time. As we ate our breakfast; Luke jumped up to assume his perch position. This is how it usually is, the dogs join us in the morning. I bought a special ottoman so that Jessie can get up in the morning as well.

The other bed, the firm one will be put in the family room for now. If it gets used down there; great. If not; it will be designated an outside bed. When the choice is concrete or a firm bed, the bed gets used.

Aggressive/dominance and communication

Aggression and dominance are commonly intertwined; but they are very different in the dog world. Dominance became a very "in" word several years back and people were throwing it around like "positive training." I actually had to stop using it for a longtime because it evoked fear in many people.

Dominance is a state of being; in dogs you have dominant and submissive with more or less of each state in each individual dog. Dogs are pack animals and being pack animals some lead and some follow. If all dogs were leaders then there would be a big problem. Dominance has nothing to do with aggression; aggression stands on its own. I have added dictionary meanings to explain both terms below.

The term "aggressive"

characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; militantly forward or menacing

The term "dominant"

ruling, or controlling; having or exerting authority or influence: dominant in the chain of command, occupying or being in a commanding or elevated position.

A dog does not need to be a dominant dog to display aggression. Any dog can be aggressive for many reasons. Probably the most common form of aggression is dominance; dominance towards the guardian and family. This is not a true dominant dog problem but one where humans allow a dog who may not normally be a dominant dog to become dominant. Many dogs who are dominant aggressive are not truly a dominant dog but have been forced to take the dominant poisition within a household. Guardians who do not lead their dog risk this scenario.

I have met many dogs with aggression problems caused by lack of leadership. Some of the worst cases have been the little dogs; the type that get away with murder only because people think they cannot inflict as much harm. True on one hand; a Great Dane bite will probably do more damage than a Yorkie bite. But on the other; a small dog can inflict severe life threatening bites. Many children have been scared for life by a small dog. Size should not matter when aggression is the route problem.

When dogs meet onleash or off there is often aggressive communication. Many people will step back and state "oh, your dog is aggressive." This is wrong in most cases; dogs need to communicate and their means of communication is with their body and sound. They can't walk up and say "hey my name is Bob; I'm a bigwig at a big company and I have an expensive car." So their way of saying this is to stand on their toes and look the part.

If another dog comes by who doesn't know about this big headed dog; they soon will. The problem lies mostly with humans, rarely dogs. Typically other dogs will just let the hot aired dog posture around; not getting in his way. But many guardians take great offense to any communications from other dogs to theirs. It is all in what the body is saying.

Take Luke for example; a very good example I might say. When we go to the vet he displays very aggressively; growling very deeply and trying to look very menancing. To people who do not know him; they want to grab a muzzle. But I know my dog and know that he has never even attempted to bite someone. The fact that he stays back and only does the tiniest of mock charges tells you alot. And what the person does after this tells everything; if they ignore the behavior and sit down on the ground it ceases. The behavior is fear based; Luke tries to keep people away from him at the vets by seemingly being big and scarey.

Now of course not all dogs are bluffing; fear can be a very scarey behavior. Fear must be dealt with very carefully; especially if a fearful dog's reaction to a fearful situation is aggression. You cannot punish fear; you must teach a dog to be confident and help them to get over or at least deal with their fears.

Dominance on the other hand is a state of being; wanting to be a leader type, a take charge type of dog. My Jack Russell Jessie is very dominant; but in our pack she is a very calm and level headed leader. Luke is a very dominant dog as well; but being that he is not level headed and is not a calm type dog I do not allow him to become the top dog. He basically is a wanna be; he tries very hard, postures around but lacks the big boy confidence and stability to be a real leader.

Just lastnight he attempted to mount Tilley; strictly for dominance sake. Lacking confidence he tries this when Tilley is vulnerable, half up on the couch. It takes but a second for her to retaliate; and he runs for cover. Tilley is very confident but not a dominant dog at all; she is just happy being and has no hidden agenda.

Dogs are very simple yet very complicated.