Thanksgiving - dogs

It is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend which causes the "what are we thankful for" phrase to be pondered around the country.  This being a dog blog I will talk about what I am thankful for concerning my dogs and dogs in general.  First off and fairly obvious is the age of my dogs; having seniors nearing 15 and 16 and still healthy is amazing.  Each time we stop to talk to people and share the age of our dogs, people are shocked.  The most shocked is for Tilley and Luke, probably Luke even more so as he runs around like a young'n.  I met a woman the other day with a 9 year old hobbling around the park; when she heard that Luke was 11 she stood there in silence staring at him.

I am also thankful to have my senior dogs here to school Elsa, the real young'n of the family.   I am more than grateful that Elsa has joined our old family and brought some vigor back into a very sedentary lifestyle that we had become.  Just last night as we sat to watch a movie, Luke hauled himself from his very comfy and ritualistic spot on the couch to play with the puppy.  They ran outside and in, charging after each other with sheer joy.  Nothing is as glorious as seeing your dogs having great fun; especially the young and the old.

I am more than thankful that I have a wonderful husband, one that gets up at 4:30 in the morning to let the puppy out giving me a much needed break.  ;)  He has an huge spot in his heart for the canine species giving him an amazing relationship with each of our own dogs and compassion for all dogs.  

For all those who rescue and rehabilitate dogs; I am thankful for you all.  Light is being shone on the dogs and things are slowly changing.  As far as abuse, over breeding, fighting and  neglect issues things are moving far too slowly but at least they are moving; there is a glimmer of hope over the horizon.  A large movement towards the welfare of the animals and as the great Ghandi once said.

The measure of a society can be how well its people treat its animals." ~Mohandas Gandhi

Frenzy eating

Frenzy - wild excitement or derangement.  Yep that sums up Elsa during eating; it is up until now the only issue that we have had.  Over the thirty some years that I have had my own dogs I have never had a dog who was a frenzy eater.  If you have never seen a frenzy eater it is literally a hoover on steroids.  She can barely contain herself at feeding time; there is no chewing involved, only suction at lightening speed.

So as we quickly discovered that she was a frenzy feeder things changed in our house.  We have made her work for her food.  Much of her food is never given via a bowl but used as a reward for her work.  When she is fed with a bowl she is either spoon fed or hand fed from it.  I have fed her by dropping small amounts into a bowl with my hand and placed chicken/steak into her bowl while she is eating.  With a frenzy eater it is very important to establish that a human hand around the food bowl.

I'm really not sure if there will come a point when she slows down; as I said I have never had a frenzy eater.  You all know what I go through trying to keep Luke fed; he is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Elsa as far as eating is concerned.  When we were looking for a puppy I hoped and I hoped that we would not get another picky pants as it has taken so much work to keep meat on the boy.

Even though Elsa eats at a faster than light speed, her intelligence works at the same time.  If it is feeding time she rounds up all the dogs; she knows that she eats last and runs to each dogs spot making sure their bowls are placed quickly so that she can get hers.  Watching her do this is pretty amazing; the fact that she knows the order of bowl placement is after such a short time is crazy, but she is a poodle.

I hoped for a non picky eater for the the next....................be careful what you ask for.  :)

Vestibular disease

Lately I've been running into a great number of dog owners who have never heard of Vestibular disease so I decided that I would repost some of my past blogs on the subject.  It is so important to know the signs; sadly many people euthanize their dog at the onset thinking that they are doing what is right.  The symptoms of the sudden onset are definitely frightening but it all changes quickly.  Here are the past posts on the subject and as a side note Tilley is now 14.5 and doing amazing; crooked but amazing.

Link on Vestibular #1

Link #2

Link #3

Elsa's first class

Well, I have to say that Elsa's first official obedience puppy class went amazing.  We attended the puppy class at Wags and Wiggles.   As you all know I was taking her to class to learn in a different environment and socialize which is so very important.  I thought that there may be a couple of other people but it was just us which ended up being fine because the teacher had an adult Great Dane and a four month old Sheltie pup to work around.  Elsa met the big gal right away in the parking lot; her tail initially fell but it wasn't down long and she was trotting alongside the huge dog on our way to class.

Once in class Elsa was put onto a tie cord; a cord attached to the wall and that is where she stayed to do her work until class was done.  It did make not having to hold a leash much easier to work.  Elsa sat and watched for much of the class; she did what was asked of her and wagged her tail for most of it.  She learned to give eye contact when she hears her name, learned to sit when someone approaches her and the touch exercise.  The touch exercise is when the dog uses your hand as a touch target.  It can be used for many purposes once it is reliable.  Most dogs love the touch exercise; I have taught it to all my dogs and used it extensively.

The teachers sheltie pup was amazing, so smart and attentive for a 4 month old.  I'm sure that's where we will be in another month; at least I hope so.  Elsa is an intense type of dog; very much a working girl and I can see having to rack my brain to stay ahead of her in the game of training.  She catches on so fast and easily that I find myself going through the beginning, middle and final advanced stuff very fast.

So after the learning part was over it was play time; socializing, which is actually learning as well.  The play time is held in a huge warehouse type room; amazing for the dogs to run in.  Elsa met a 13 week old aussie pup who was smaller than her but very intimidating, she didn't care for him at all.  He charged and ran and jumped over her head hitting her hard, not her cup of tea on a first meeting.  She pretty much liked everyone else but stayed close to the humans; especially one trainer human who she really took a shining to.

She did great for her first day; after class we got a tour of the facility, they have a daycare/boarding place as well.  It was pouring so there were a lot of dogs there; rain is a rare occurance here in SoCal.

First class

Elsa is going to her first obedience class; her puppy class is at noon.  Puppy obedience class, the phrase is sort of a contradiction of words.  Puppies in a room together to learn, hmmmmmmmmm.  Puppy class is basically a socialization time; the real learning is done by the owner who then takes the information home to teach to their puppy.  Most puppies have a very difficult time learning in a stimulating environment.  Not Elsa, nope she can learn just about anywhere.  Sure she will be slightly distracted but if there is food involved; she's on it.

It has been unbelievably easy so far teaching her anything; she already does sit, down, leave it, sits at the door to come in and is going to start on X today.  I will blog on the X behavior tomorrow.  Once we get that we will attack boundaries.  Class should be fun today; I am attending a very well known training facility that uses positive reinforcement methods of training.   The classes are on a drop in schedule so I'm hoping that on a Wed. there are some puppies to socialize with.

When I use to hold group classes we always had time at the beginning and end for social time.  Social time is a funny thing; a little is good, too much bad.  Once a dog get wound it's hard to unwind so less is more in class.  That goes for play time as well; often things go great until puppies get wound or tired and then things start to unravel.

With puppies, learning needs to be done in small amounts so an hour is going to be a longtime.  I'm not sure what we will cover in the class on this first day but I guess I'll find out.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Elsa does with the other puppies.  I'll let you know how it goes.

First class

Elsa is going to her first obedience class; her puppy class is at noon.  Puppy obedience class, the phrase is sort of a contradiction of words.  Puppies in a room together going to learn, hmmmmmmmmm.  Puppy class is basically a socialization time; the real learning is done by the owner who then takes the information home to teach to their puppy.  Most puppies have a very difficult time learning in a stimulating environment.  Not Elsa, nope she can learn just about anywhere.  Sure she will be slightly distracted but if there is food involved; she's on it.

It has been unbelievably so far teaching her anything; she already does sit, down, leave it, sits at the door to come in and is going to start on X today.  I will blog on the X behavior tomorrow.  Once we get that we will attack boundaries.  Class should be fun today; I am attending a very well known training facility that uses positive reinforcement methods of training.   The classes are on a drop in schedule so I'm hoping that on a Wed. there are some puppies to socialize with.

When I use to hold group classes we always had time at the beginning and end for social time.  Social time is a funny thing; a little is good, too much bad.  Once a dog get wound it's hard to unwind so less is more in class.  That goes for play time as well; often things go great until puppies get wound or tired and then things start to unravel.

With puppies, learning needs to be done in small amounts so an hour is going to be a longtime.  I'm not sure what we will cover in the class on this first day but I guess I'll find out.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Elsa does with the other puppies.  I'll let you know how it goes.

It's almost gone

Okay, just a heads up if you happen to be eating breakfast; I'm going to talk about gross stuff.  Tilley has had a growth on her shoulder for a very long time.  Not the big giant one on her hip that is filled with a coffee like substance.  It was just a small blip for a while but lately it had gotten so big that we gave it a name; Milley the Mole.  (yes weird I know.)  Mid summer Milley decided to burst of it's hard casing causing it to look even more gross than it already was looking.  It was a huge raw oozing growth; the size of a brazil nut approximately I guess.  I cleaned it and cleaned it, applied ointment and wrapped it and it was not healing so off to the vet we went.

The vet said that it should come off; Tilley should have a surgery, at the age of 14.5.  I very clearly told the vet that there was no way she was having surgery at the age of 14.5 to remove Milley.  I wanted him to give me something to heal it; we could live quite nicely with Milley hitching a ride on Tilley if it was not quite so raw and oozing.  I also asked if he could simply freeze the spot and cut it off.  Heck I know lots of people who have things removed like this.  It was only attached by a tiny end it seemed and stuck way out.  After all Tilley is a dream patient and with my assistance it could easily be done.  He hesitated and said a lot of "what ifs."  We chatted back and forth; for some reason vets don't seem to like to go this route.  But if it was coming off this was the only route that would be taken.

Imagine having your dog live to be a healthy happy 14.5 and maybe not make it through a surgery because of a growth.  No way was it coming off.  So I was sent home with cleanser and ointment and instructions.  It seemed to take forever for that bugger to heal, but it finally did.  Once it was healed it was in danger of catching on something; and when Elsa noticed it she was obsessed for a while so Tilley was put into a shirt to hide it.  That worked and Elsa got over it.

Lately I'd noticed that Milley was looking very dry, dead in fact.  So dead that I was sure I could break it in half at least.  You guessed it; this morning I decided to give it a go, just the tip.  It broke right off just like I thought; so later on in the day I got out my clippers and removed all the hair around it so that I could have a really good look.  It truly seemed to be attached by a thread so I worked with it for about a half hour.  By the end of the ordeal Tilley was left with the smallest tiny blip on her shoulder, the size of the point of a very sharp pencil, I'm not kidding.  I could not believe it; this thing had been there forever and all of a sudden dried up.

So I got out some cleanser and ointment and cleaned her all up.  I really cannot believe it; Milly the mole is now a thing of the past and what is left on her shoulder is not worthy of a name at all.  Weird.

Fear

Fear:  a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Life can be filled with fear causing objects, situations or events.  How our canines deal with these depends on their past experiences, introduction and watching you.  Often there is a negative association to something; maybe a bad thing happened at the park so your dog is on guard while there.  Perhaps a large man wearing a hat scared your dog so now he is wary of hats and men.  Dealing with fear can be a very sensitive affair; how you undo fear takes time, patience and understanding.

Elements in our daily life can be fearful to dogs whether they are a new puppy or just experiencing for the first time.  Being that I have a new puppy I am dealing with lots of "new" things that Elsa has never seen before.  In fact almost everything she is experiencing is new.  She is very confident and assured; she has feared very few things so far but I'm sure there will be lots to overcome in the near future.  So far she has only been concerned with a little white Bichon, a bench, the birds in a pet store and a very loud siren at a strip mall.

So what do you do if your dog displays fearful behavior?  The first and most important thing is to never force; don't push, pull or cajole.  You need to outwardly ignore the fear, do not feed into it.  Next you need to display your own behavior of carefree and who cares attitude.  For Elsa's fear of the little white fluffy dog which initially surprised me; I simply bent down beside the dog and said hello.  She was bucking at the end of her leash trying to run away but as soon as she saw me saying "hi" she came to see what I was doing.  I was showing her that I was not afraid and that this guy was pretty darned cute.  Within a minute she was jumping on his head.

For the bench that she was afraid of I quietly sat down and put some cheerios on the edge.  Again within a minute she was sitting by my side not giving the bench another thought.  The birds that frightened her were loud and I knew they would be an issue.  So we went into the store and I just let her take it all in.  Her tail went down as she listened intently to the squawking.  After several minutes of letting her see that nothing was happening I asked her for a sit which is about as solid and reliable as it will ever be.  She looked up at me and sat; got her cheerio and we moved on, bird issue gone.

Your own behavior is huge; if you are a true "leader" for your dog then they will always look to you for guidance.  If there is a scary noise in my yard Elsa will look to my big dogs for guidance.  If they are just laying there then she will ignore the noise like they are.  If she is more afraid she will come and sit by me and watch what I am doing.  At that point I usually get up and putter around making it clear that the scary noise is not.

Remember, your dog is always watching you.

Fear

Fear:  a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

Life can be filled with fear causing objects, situations or events.  How our canines deal with these depends on their past experiences, introduction and watching you.  Often there is a negative association to something; maybe a bad thing happened at the park so your dog is on guard while there.  Perhaps a large man wearing a hat scared your dog so now he is wary of hats and men.  Dealing with fear can be a very sensitive affair; how you undo fear takes time, patience and understanding.

Elements in our daily life can be fearful to dogs whether they are a new puppy or just experiencing for the first time.  Being that I have a new puppy I am dealing with lots of "new" things that Elsa has never seen before.  In fact almost everything she is experiencing is new.  She is very confident and assured; she has feared very few things so far but I'm sure there will be lots to overcome in the near future.  So far she has only been concerned with a little white Bichon, a bench, the birds in a pet store and a very loud siren at a strip mall.  

So what do you do if your dog displays fearful behavior?  The first and most important thing is to never force; don't push, pull or cajole.  You need to outwardly ignore the fear, do not feed into it.  Next you need to display your own behavior of carefree and who cares attitude.  For Elsa's fear of the little white fluffy dog which initially surprised me; I simply bent down beside the dog and said hello.  She was bucking at the end of her leash trying to run away but as soon as she saw me saying "hi" she came to see what I was doing.  I was showing her that I was not afraid and that this guy was pretty darned cute.  Within a minute she was jumping on his head.

For the bench that she was afraid of I quietly sat down and put some cheerios on the edge.  Again within a minute she was sitting by my side not giving the bench another thought.  The birds that frightened her were loud and I knew they would be an issue.  So we went into the store and I just let her take it all in.  Her tail went down as she listened intently to the squawking.  After several minutes of letting her see that nothing was happening I asked her for a sit which is about as solid and reliable as it will ever be.  She looked up at me and sat; got her cheerio and we moved on, bird issue gone.

Your own behavior is huge; if you are a true "leader" for your dog then they will always look to you for guidance.  If there is a scary noise in my yard Elsa will look to my big dogs for guidance.  If they are just laying there then she will ignore the noise like they are.  If she is more afraid she will come and sit by me and watch what I am doing.  At that point I usually get up and putter around making it clear that the scary noise is not.

Remember, your dog is always watching you.






a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil,pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feelingor condition of being afraid. 

Asking a lot

This morning I was thinking about what we ask of our dogs.  We ask that they please forget about many of their dog ways and fit in; fit in to our human world that is.  Having a new puppy I am working on that right now and it does leave me pondering.  Yes we do ask a lot from our canine partners but this life together was forged many many years ago leaving us with merged results; dogs live with humans.

Sadly many dogs don't live great lives; street dogs, dogs who once lived with humans and were abandoned and those born on the outskirts of living with humans, not truly wild yet not domesticated.  Life for our dogs offers huge variety from living in a bag or arm of a human not being allowed to ever truly be a dog to that of a working dog who's life may be closely knit with a human yet more closely resembling a life from the far past.

When you add a dog to your life, adjustment can take a good long while and be a challenge.    Depending on the dog and yourself will factor in on how much you have to ask of your dog.  Just imagine the dogs who will live in wide open spaces; tending flocks of sheep and left pretty much to their own vs. dogs who live in the center of a big city in an apartment.  Sure the dogs out in the fields have a less confined life but there is more asked of them with regards to working for a human.  Dogs who live a more rural life are asked to curb their canine behaviors more to fit in.

Often a dog is chosen for a specific purpose; their very canine traits a plus.  Other times an owner may try to discourage those very traits; requiring a dog to work hard and asking much more of them.  Sitting back and considering where dogs come from and how far they have come as far as their life with us, humans can be a little amazing.  They often not only live with us but many work for us and depending on the work that they perform can be asking a lot or a little of them.

Dogs are great at being dogs; the vast majority of them that is.  A dogs ability to meld to our ways; assimilating into a human world is pretty amazing when you think about it.
 

Fall

Fall is upon us and in many places it sure looks like it.  But here in SoCal it is still green, still warm and sunny.  But in all the places where it is actually fall like it is time to start growing coat or making arrangements to get a coat for your otherwise shaved dog.  Dogs who have their own naturally beautiful coat are just fine as the temperatures drop; it grows in fuller, filling in any spots that might get cold.  But what about those who want to have a shaved dog because of "shedding" issues or have a dog that has less than a warm coat?

Many types of dogs like Italian Greyhounds, Great Danes, Greyhounds, Dachshunds or Dobermans have very thin coats and they need to be kept warm if they are going to be spending any length of time in the cold.  I've written often about how I am not into clothing for dogs as a fashion statement unless of course it is for a purpose like warmth.  Then I am all about keeping your dog nice and snuggly in some snazzy clothing.

Tilley often wears clothing, being that she is very old she has a difficult time cooling herself.  So we keep her nice and short which helps but also ensures that she stays fairly clean.  In the cooler evenings she can get cold so she has several coats that do the job nicely.  I tend to keep Luke with a longer coat as the weather gets cooler and the new little lady will get the same.  Jessie has a very thick and dense coat even though she is smooth coated so she goes au natural.  Also she hates wearing clothes.

I often see people with those naked type breeds; the ones with the very thin single smooth coat out in the cold.  Imagine if someone tossed you outside in the cold with no clothes on.  What should also be taken into consideration is the amount of time that a dog spends outdoors.  If they are indoors for most of the time except for a quick romp or elimination trip outside then they will feel the cold much more than a dog who spends more time outdoors.

As you pull out the sweaters; long johns and wool socks, consider your dog and their ability to keep themselves warm outdoors.  You may need nothing at all but a good brush; but perhaps you need to find a dapper new coat to keep them warm this fall and winter.

I'm back

Wow; how fast does time fly?  Crazy.  First I'd like to thank all of you who wrote to tell me how much you enjoy my blog and offered blog ideas for the future.  :)  Next I'm sure that you are all wondering how the baby is doing, right?  Well she is doing great and in the three weeks she's been here she has only had one accident.  It really helps having the older dogs show her where to go for sure plus making sure that she is out often and rewarded for going outside.

We've been lots of places with Elsa for socializing; she has had two sets of shots so far so anywhere that there is not a steady stream of dogs we have taken her.  She's been to Starbucks, Home Depot, the beach, a few friends houses, a couple of strip malls and the High School near us.  She adores people and likes other dogs, although we haven't had too many other dog encounters as of yet.  She will be attending obedience classes this Sat. or next Wed. which will be very strange for me.  I haven't been to a class in over twenty years and I will have to do a lot of smiling and keeping my mouth shut I would imagine.  Being a trainer myself and having trained for years it will be difficult to have someone else tell me how to do things.  I'm not sure if I'll let them know that I am a trainer myself or not yet, probably not.

Taking Elsa to class is for socializing; she will be with other puppies and at the end of the class they get to play so that is the important part.  At 11 weeks old she is very advanced as far as physical ability and I cannot imagine what she will be able to do once she is fully grown.  She is very confident yet mindful of the older dogs most of the time; except for the before dinner hour.  That is her bewitching hour and all rules are pretty much out the window.  This is typically when she learns many lessons as she hurls herself around at everyone; both dog and human alike.

It's good to be back; nice to have a break but now I'm ready to write.

I'm leaving

I'm leaving; just for a bit, I am taking a much needed break from blogging for a week.  I've been blogging steady now for almost 5 years so it's time to take a break, step back, regroup and start back fresh September 30th.  I've been pondering this for a week; don't know if I can just go cold turkey, weird.  I love blogging; I really enjoy sharing dogs with all of you but with everything, sometimes you just need a break.

What I would love while I'm gone is that if anyone has a topic that they would like to see covered, please let me know.  Feel free to leave comments here on my blog and  I can always be reached at sherri@justdogswithsherri.com anytime.  I love hearing from you all, and really enjoy when you comment on a blog.

As you know we have a new addition here so I won't be relaxing much.  :)  I have a great deal going on and I am looking at many different opportunities for Just dogs with Sherri and dogs in general.  Have a great week, and I will be back on September 30th.

The rhythm of routine

Morning all, I've written many times about routine; how it can be both good and bad depending on the particular routine.  Having a new addition in our house we are out of routine once again and it will take a while to get back there. I like routine so far as daily life running smoothly and that's about it.  I do not like to do the same thing day in and day out and tend to get bored with the same ole.  Having been through Vestibular disease with Tilley; it took us quite a while to work that issue into our daily routine.  Then Jessie was hit with dementia; another adjustment which took us a few months to figure out and we were back on track.

After that Tilley became quite incontinent; again more adjusting to work into the routine.  Two dogs that cannot hear, more altering to get back on track.  And now a new addition which has sent routine out the window.  Change is a funny thing, sometimes it is good, sometimes it can be bad and sometimes things just need a bit of shaking up.  I think the shaking up is where we were; with three old dogs we had slipped into too many mundane routines.  Well, that's all gone now.

With nearly two weeks under our belt with the new addition we are slowly getting back to order.  More than routine is adjustment; adjustment to change.  For a while it can seem like a wrench has been thrown into the works but with patience and a little tweaking to life customization it gets back to routine.  For me there are two meanings of routine; one good and one bad.  The good one is as I said, daily life playing out smoothly.  The bad being mundane; needing some shaking up with some change.

Routine can also be bad when you live with highly intelligent dogs, and I do.  This new addition "Elsa" is amazingly intelligent, scary intelligent so I have had to already switch things up.  It amazes me how quickly such a young puppy can figure it all out.  So as much as we will get back to life running smoothly; which is all about me adjusting, there will be no  mundane routine here for sometime.  And that's a good thing.

Road block

As a positive trainer specializing in behavior modification it is my job to figure out how best to do just that, modify behavior.  With each dog being an individual it is often a challenge; much time is spent pondering on how best to attack a specific problem.  As of late I have realized that my own Jessie has a serious road block, the gates of learning are closing.   She has not completely shutdown and locked the gates but the learning curve is diminishing and leaving a very small gap to work in.


Dementia:  severe impairment or loss of intellectual capacity and personality integration,     due to the loss of or damage to neurons in the brain.


Jessie has dementia and it is getting worse.  She mostly sleeps during the day and if she is up she is wandering mostly in circles.  One of the wonderful and amazing things at this point is that she is still using the dog door when she needs it during the day although her very early morning usage is not as reliable.  


Dementia is a horrible thing; both in humans and in dogs.  Every once in a while we see a glimpse of our girl come out and it is an exciting moment.  The other day I came home from the store; there she was at the front door and when I reached out for her she did not startle.  She also was wagging her tail, obviously happy to see me which is something that we rarely see now; I'm assuming this is because her recognition ability is also poor.  


Trying to get Jessie's attention let alone direct it is pretty much impossible.  I am often left wondering what is going on if anything in that little head of hers.  During her wandering she will often stop in my office and look up at me; at this point she slinks down and moves on as if she is sneaking away.  When I scoop her up to join us she is uncomfortable and tries to exit without notice once again.  It is a frustrating time.  


Old behaviors have remained but newly instilled once long gone now.  One of the newer behaviors which I had been most happy about was the one that she adapted only a couple of years ago.  After eating she was to go to her bed; this helped in her wandering into someone else's food bowl area.  She was unable to hear any growls or see warning signals which became dangerous.  That "go to" bed behavior is now gone and she is left standing over her bowl as she finishes up not knowing where or what she should do.  


Where we once had a wide open road ready for as much learning as we could throw at her; there is now a road block which I may or may not be able to get around.

Desensitizing

Desensitizing:  to lessen the sensitiveness of, to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling.


I have a great deal of desensitizing to do; with a new puppy in the house one cannot skirt the realization that dogs have unbelievable senses.  Living with dogs that slowly moved into the not so great hearing or seeing zone you tend to forget.  So I have a lot of anticipation going on with the new one.  Most of the anticipation is around feeding; she is a frenzy feeder, it seems that she can never get enough so the smallest of signals that it is feeding time sends her into a zone.  


The first step I have taken to break this is to hand feed her; I have gone between that and having her sit as I put small amounts into her bowl.   She is eating 4 times a day so it is not long between meals and she is getting a great deal of cheerios between meals with her training.  Yesterday I saved a whole meal as training rewards; making her work for her food.  This is great for grooming as well; dishing out food as I brush her makes brushing a wonderful thing.


I have to work on desensitizing the bowls; when she hears the sound of stainless hit the counter it begins.  So today there will be lots of stainless hitting the counter for no reason at all.  This is how you desensitize, you make the trigger sound a non issue.  This will be difficult because I still have to feed my dogs and I'm not throwing out all of my stainless bowls.  So with enough work I hope to lessen the frenzy zone to an inquisitive look.


Probably the biggest behavior problem over the years with clients as far as desensitizing has been leash crazies.  You know when you get the leash out or even move close to where the leashes are kept and your dog is sent into a frenzy?  Depending on where the behavior starts is where you start your desensitizing.  If you reach for the leash cupboard handle and it begins then you do this all day, every time you pass that cupboard.  Once you achieve the handle touch you can move to swinging the door open, getting closer to the leashes with each success.  Moving towards the goal of having calm dogs sitting to get their leashes on is totally doable.


Desensitizing must be done in baby steps to achieve success.  You have no choice but to attack the behavior at the fledgling stage.  Once a frenzy behavior is well into the zone it is very difficult to break through.  This is where most people make the mistake.  A dog in full frenzy mode is zoned out so to speak, they cannot even hear you.  So you have to get in there before they are in the zone.  


Luckily desensitizing is fairly easy; dogs are amazingly intelligent and they learn through association.  This is how you get into the zone in the first place, association and smarts.  So it is also how you get out.  

Friends

Friends, we all have them and they all fit into different categories.  Some are simply good acquaintances; others friends are people you see now and again but don't have a huge impact on your life and then there are the friends who are always there; a support system that you can rely on through thick and thin, someone you can turn to in need or just for fun.  You may not see these friends for months or years but the connection is never lost, a true friend in the purest meaning of the word.

Like us dogs have friends and they also fit into categories much like ours.   I love watching dogs meet up with friends; it brings much joy to me as a human when I see them light up by the appearance of a canine friend.  Luke is my easy read dog, that is if you know what the signals mean.  So when he meets friends in all of the different categories he displays appropriately.  He saves his "special friend" category for a very few select dogs.  He likes most dogs and any dog that he has met and hung out with will likely be on his friend list.

Unlike us dogs do not have friends who are simply friends by saying the word, they either are or they are not.  If a dog meets another and they do not mesh, they do not enjoy each others company and want to spend time together, then they will not be friends.  Friends let other friends get away with much more than non friends.  Watching friendships grow into the highest category of best friends is amazing.  Luke had a best friend, Ragzz, but sadly she passed away this year so now that BFF spot is open.

Dogs really enjoy getting together with their friends.  Just ask a dog park regular who takes allotted time out of their day just so that their dog can hang with the gang.   Being with friends is a great feeling; a time when you can let down your defenses and just have fun, be yourself.  I have witnessed several events where a friend dog has stepped up to the plate for another.  While being harassed by a "non friend" dog these friends will support each other in need.  Even though they are not a pack in the truest form of a pack of dogs; they have assembled a tight connection.  One that is not cluttered with image, ego or general BS like we humans tend to incorporate.

A friend is a good thing no matter who you are.

Things are going wrong with walking dogs

Most of my inspiration for writing comes from being out with my dogs. I frequent parks, beaches and open fields. Of course my favorite place to walk is somewhere quiet with my dogs off leash just running having fun but those places are becoming harder and harder to find; especially here. Although running off leash is wonderful; our dogs must learn how to walk nicely on leash, it's a fact of life. Yesterday when my husband and I had all three out having fun at the park a woman walked by with three little dogs on leash. She'd obviously been watching too much of a certain guy on television.

Our dogs were running everywhere; two were on leash (they have long leashes), Tilley was off leash doing her rehabilitation ball retrieving. The woman was far away but I could see her trying to get organized and then she proceeded. As she walked past us I watched; she bent down and gave one dog who was walking a bit out front a push to get back behind her. Okay so they looked happy enough; they were definitely cuties but were they having fun? Happy and fun are two different things.

We walk our dogs for our dogs; correct? Well; we actually walk them for us as well, a walk is always good for us but we mostly do it for our dogs. When I walk my dogs I like them to do what they enjoy; sniffing, lifting, wandering etc. I do not want my dogs dragging me down the street or across the park but I in no way want my dogs walking behind me like robots. If I head out on a power walk; meaning that I mean business and we are getting in some exercise, I allow sniffing for a good amount of time before we commence. Sniffing is what dogs do; they love it, so they get in a good amount of it before we start our non stop walking.

If you watch a pack of wolves move around in the wild; it is the Alpha who says where they are going. The top wolves decide which direction to go in but they don't have to be out front; that is a fallacy. The members of the pack watch the Alpha and go where he goes but the lower members are all about, even out in front. When I take my dogs for a walk in the woods and everyone is off leash they are following me; there is no doubt about it but they are like a pack of wolves, all around.

In my opinion having your dogs walk behind you is just not fun for me or my dogs. Now if they want to walk back there as my Tilley likes to; fine. But keeping them back there to show them who's boss defeats the purpose of why we are out for a walk.

Breaking it down

Learning is a very individual thing.  Each canine has their strengths and weaknesses like us.  One dog may excel learning quickly with lots of cheering on while others might learn by example or very slowly.  All are different and this is why a trainer which can be an actual trainer or you, the trainer of your dog must be flexible.  I remember many times going through the process with different dogs and every once in a while get thrown for a loop.  Sure they all are different but some are extremely different in how they will best gain the knowledge.

Going through the down behavior with Elsa this morning it quickly became evident that she was one who needed a behavior broken down.  She very rapidly grew frustrated and stopped offering anything.  This meant that she was not being rewarded quickly enough for her efforts.  We then went to treating for moving her head down.  From there she had to put her head to the ground for a treat.  The next step is the one leg out request or leaning back depending on how a dog actually lays down.  Elsa does the lean back, front legs stretched out in front.  And then finally the complete down position is required to get the reward.  Once they hit the final destination then you do not go backwards; they must continue to complete the desired behavior for a reward.

She is getting pretty reliable with her down already.  We moved from the carpeted area to the tile floor where she surprised me with a quick down.  Now we will work it into the daily routine where she will be required to down for anything that she would like; manners in the making.  The base behaviors are so important.  Once a dog starts to learn it is so much easier to teach them other behaviors.  The whole concept of learning can be lost on a dog who never receives any type of training.

Some dogs are not the type to offer up new behaviors, Luke is one of those.  He gets very goofy when we start new behaviors; he very much likes to get everything correct so he is not a fan of not knowing what he is doing.  For him a cheer leading session helps him to get over any apprehensive obstacles that arise.  Watching closely as a dog is in the learning process is essential.  They will display a great deal of information that is important in their further learning.

Make mine a tall one, please.

I've been going through old files lately with moving into my new office.  The other day I had a box out filled with binders; each overflowing with training clients from the past.  As I sifted through the pages some names prompted memories; others left me thinking hard trying to remember.  The books hold many years of dogs that I've worked with; some were a breeze, others had mild to severe issues.  Being that I was flooding my head with memories from the past; this lead to other memories rising to the top.  The calls.

I get a lot of calls; people in need of help.  Like my clients, some calls are long gone and remain in the past but there are some that I remember as clear as it was yesterday and I often talk about these when the topic comes up.  One call in particular was just that, a call.  It never got past the call as I would not agree to work with the dog.    The call came in on a late afternoon; I answered "hi this is Sherri."  The woman on the phone said that her vet had given her my name and she was to call me.  "What can I help you with?" I asked.  "Oh nothing" she quickly replied.  "Do you have a problem?" I inquired.  The woman stated that she had no problem; no issues with her dog.  So with my time ticking away I finally said "why did you call me?"

The woman told me that the vet had asked her to call me; so again I asked why?  Having been asked to cap her dogs teeth with soft covers because of a minor biting issue the vet had rejected her request and told her to call me.  After probing for answers, this conversation was going no where and a huge waste of my time.  "Why would you want caps on your dogs teeth?"  Finally bits and pieces started to emerge; but discovering the elusive facts was literally like pulling teeth.

The information that was slowly coming together was not the type that you want to hear.  The dog, a very large guarding breed was not fond of people in general but mostly men.  "He's a bit skittish" she exclaimed as I dug deeper for the truth behind the call.  So finally I had to ask "has he bitten anyone?"  She danced around the truth for what seemed an eternity until she finally said "yes."  As it turned out they were in the middle of a lawsuit; oh yes he'd bitten someone, badly.  And her reason for the capped teeth was for when it happened again, not if it happened again.  REALLY?

From there we went into the nitty gritty stuff, how, why and scenario facts etc.  Seems that the dog had been a backyard dweller; never having been socialized, living out his life with the same scenery day in and day out.  There had been no training and from the sounds of it there was no interest in behavior modification work of any sort in the near future.  She simply wanted the teeth padded so that it didn't hurt as much or inflict as much damage when he did it the next time.  This case was a nightmare and no professional in their right mind; like the vet who sent her to  me would get involved willingly.  An owner with a proven biter who did not want to work on his "issues?"  I was not being dragged into a lawsuit, no thank you.

I explained to the woman who she had to call; a person with a facility who dealt with aggressive dogs.  After hearing this she assured me that he was not aggressive............................hmmmmmm.  So I dug up the number for the training facility and said my good byes.  This was one of the weirdest calls I've ever gotten; but there are many more that have left me shaking my head trying to figure out the human race.  We're a weird bunch I tell ya.