Vet visit

Yesterday Tilley went to the vet; she does indeed have some type of infection of her bladder. She is on antibiotics which already started working and I had a goodnight sleep as did she. She infact is still sleeping sound right below me in her bed. She was an angel of course; although her level of trembling was off the charts when we first got there.

She get's the tip off as soon as she is the only one in the car. I have tried to change this behavior by taking her fun places alone but she just seems to have it figured out somehow. So when I open up the back hatch of my Xterra she is a quivering mass. Once in it takes a longtime for her to lower the trembling level and she never completely stops until we leave.

She had a couple of her growths checked out. A needle was put into them to draw what was inside; one drew nothing, the other a white substance that has been sent off to the labs. She is so good; they can do anything to her and she doesn't flinch; sort of the complete opposite of Luke.

On the way home we made a quick stop at The Lazy Dog Cafe to meet my husband for lunch. Of course Tilley was a perfect angel again; never left her mat that I brought for her and enjoyed my hummus appetizer. The waitress brought her a bowl of water that she didn't touch (she never drinks away from home). She had many admirers "look at the beautiful poodle". She is looking very poodley right now as she just got her face clipped and is in fuller coat with the cooler weather.

Tilley has one of the most beautiful faces, I have to say. Not that I am her Mom or anything; she is simply gorgeous and because of this I like to keep her face shaved more than furface Luke who looks adorable with a teddybear face. Tilley will be going back for a needle in the bladder test after she finishes these meds to make sure that it has killed everything. She's had it done often and is a trooper. I tell ya if someone stuck a needle into my stomach with no freezing; I'd probably rip their arm off.

May your last day of 2008 bring hope for a wonderful 2009. :)

Liver Biscotti sprinkles

I'm still laughing; funny how things seem quite normal until you see it through someone else's eyes. Lastnight as I was preparing supper for the dogs; sweet potato, ground turkey, ground beef, brown rice, apple and cucumber my husband was sitting at the table. We were talking during the preparation and feeding process. As usual Luke decided to only have a couple of bites.

I thought long and hard "what can I put on it?" I then remembered the Biscotti, Liver Biscotti sprinkles to be exact. Some smart person decided to collect all the crumbs from the liver Biscotti and sell them in sprinkle form. Smart, smart. So I asked Luke if he wanted me to put some Liver Biscotti sprinkles on his food? He followed me over and before I hit the bowl; my husband said "YOU HAVE LIVER BISCOTTI SPRINKLES?" The tone that the question came out with was that of unbelieving.

I thought about it and laughed; I guess that sounds pretty weird if you're a normal person. For me it is just another ingredient in my arsenal of "how to get Luke to eat."

Finding your vet

It's taken me until now to find my vet; the search can seem daunting at times. But like your own physician you want a vet that you feel comfortable with, a vet you trust. There are lots of good vets out there but finding one that you really click with can be tough. I've left alot of vets; some just because we didn't quite hit it off; others for good reasons.

I remember my very first vet telling me that there was no difference in generic grocery store dog food vs. the premium more expensive stuff. He didn't see why you should pay the extra money. But it was the day I brought my airedale in for a particular ailment that I left him. He wouldn't look at something else on her that was troubling at that same appointment; I had to make another appointment for the other problem with her. Same dog, just a different question about her.

There was the vet that I brought Tilley to when we first moved here; the one that let a vet tech take her out back and let her go. She was panicked and running across busy streets, finally ending up in our backyard somehow after only living here 2 weeks. The vet I saw that day never called me, never apologized but the vet who owned the facility called and sent me a coupon for my next visit..............Uh not likely.

I left one vets because I simply couldn't afford them. A simple visit for a regular check up, no tests, no shots was up near 500.00. The facility was new and improved, very high tech but too high tech for regular visits and my wallet.

Then there was the one I visited from a recommendation; they were great. Small and personal; I liked the main vet who owned the place alot. But alas; as luck would have it he was retiring. The new vets and I didn't mesh quite as well and one of them asked me what I was going to do about my fat poodle? Tilley was in full coat at the time and looks rather round but he had just taken her weight at 47lbs and given her a physical examine; but for some reason couldn't get past the full coat chubby look. He also gave her a clean bill of health after a urine analysis I had asked for because she had blood in her urine. Which lead us to the next vet.

Again a recommendation; they found that Tilley indeed had a severe infection, more crystals than they had ever seen in a dog and was put on several rounds of antibiotics. But it was the lack of personal touch, no connection that bothered me. And the fact that after dealing with Tilley's huge mystery gapping wound on her tail; a couple of months before they had no memory or her or I. Both vets had told me they had never seen anything like this before; we were there alot and the vet had wanted to amputate her tail. Don't you think you would remember that? Even after attempting to jog his memory; nothing. That gave me a weird feeling.

All this was leading to the fact that Tilley is off to the vet this morning. I don't stress about it like I do with Luke. Tilley is an angel; yes she gets upset and tries to crawl inside my body but she will let anyone do anything to her. She definitely has something going on with her bladder again, hopefully it will be fixed soon so that I can get a goodnights sleep. I'm exhausted.

Another seizure

I knew I shouldn't have been thinking it; but I couldn't help it. It has been a very longtime since Luke has had a seizure. And I think it was just lastnight that the thought entered my mind; "it's been a while." I try to never think it; at least out loud, because it always seems to predict a seizure in the not too distant future.

I don't know what caused the seizure; I was pretty involved with working up some photos when he came to tell me. I felt a nudge; thinking it was Tilley I turned to see what she needed. It was Luke with his tell-tale "I'm going to have a seizure" panic look on his face. He had waited a little bit too long to tell me and we were quickly on the ground and in it.

Luckily I had just picked up so we had a good open space to go through it. I held his weight as he slid to the ground and made myself as comfortable as I could. Before I knew it Luke was stiff; but still with me. His seizures are always the same; they consist of two very clear parts with a small break in the middle. This was the first part; the part where Luke is still with me.

He did some motioning with his legs but it's not the bad part. He started to relax in my arms and turned his head to make sure I was still there with him when he quickly slipped away from me. Physically he was still in my arms but my boy Luke was gone. With his eyes fixed in a horrified stare I held him tight to me. His body twists and contorts into positions that are not normal for a dog. I am very aware of his feet and try to stay clear of his face and teeth.

Luke has never bit during a seizure; which is something that can and does happen. But he has nailed me with his feet when they stiffen like boards and his claws grasp anything they can find. His rear legs come up way past his head and his breathing is strong and heavy. I do not let go; I hold him safely in my arms so that he doesn't hurt himself.

Within minutes I can feel him coming back; it takes a long time. In all it is almost 20 minutes before it starts to stop. If you have never seen a dogs face when they seize; it is very scarey and disturbing. Their eyes are fixed open wide enough that the white is showing. The first blink lets me know that he is starting the coming out process. His body relaxes but convulses from the tension it has been through.

This is a very dangerous stage for Luke; as soon as he starts to come out he wants to get up and wander but he is very wobbly and must be kept down. I try to keep him calm by talking to him until he surrenders and lays still. In all it takes up to 1/2 hour for him to be himself again. But even after that he will not let me out of his sight.

This is when I usually turn on the tv and get comfy. With Luke curled up next to me he relaxes and recovers from whatever hit him. He spends many hours afterwards looking for the invisible enemy. He sniffs the air; smells the spot where he drooled all over the carpet, stares at the ceiling in attempts to get a glimpse of the elusive demon that attacks him every so often.

I know he doesn't know what has happened to him when he has a seizure; but he definitely knows when he is going to have one. He always comes to get me; and if I am not around he will go to whoever is home with him. I think he has only ever had one seizure when no one was home; and this is a tough thing for me to even consider. I can't imagine him coming out alone.

I have successfully minimized several seizures by talking soothingly to him throughout the ordeal. If I can keep him with me and not let him slip into the "gone" zone I'm happy. When he goes into the "gone" zone it get's bad, real bad. Several years ago I thought I'd give keeping him with me a try by constantly talking to him and it has worked off and on.

Having switched the dogs to a completely homemade diet for over 2 years now Luke rarely seizes. When he does; we get through it the best we can and I always hope that I'm here when it happens.

Opening presents

Never was there a more enthusiastic gift opener.

A dogs vocabulary

How many words can a dog learn? Have you ever consider what your dog understands as far as human terminology? If you know your dog really well you should be able to see when they understand a word. All of my dogs respond to many, many human words each with their own little visual recognition twist. Luke is again the easiest to read; his responses are more demonstrative making it easier to see if he understands.

All the dogs know everyone's name in the family. I can tell each one to go and see someone and they will; Jessie is not as reliable with this. I try to teach them new words all the time, even as seniors their learning capacity is large and they are more than willing to give it a try.

When you teach your dog the meaning of our human words it opens up the ability to communicate more readily with them. Take a crazed barking pack; my dogs often go off when someone comes in the door. If I tell them it is just Nicole (one of my daughters) then the barking changes dramatically from guarding to excitement barking. Which is much more tolerable.

If Luke won't eat his meal I will tell him that I put butter in it. He will then go and check out his meal, what a guy. I don't really know how large their vocabulary is but I know they understand alot and I am always teaching them new meanings of words.

Some newer ones are airplane, your grass (I planted a special pot for their eating enjoyment), bird, ice and beach. Each time we do something I explain to them what is going on. "We are going in the car to the park." "Go have a drink of water," "anyone hungry? I'm going to feed the dogs" I constantly talk to the dogs and I am very aware that repetition is the secret to creating an understanding of words that they hear on a regular basis.

Because my dogs understand so many words it can be difficult to tag a new behavior with an associated term as it may mean other things to them already. I have actually gone days before putting a verbal meaning on a behavior because I've had a difficult time finding a word that is new. That or finding a word that I will remember; I really forget easily so it has to be something that will stick in my head as well.

It is nice seeing how much a dog can understand. Talk to your dog; they are listening.

Please control your dogs

Above are two great friendly labs I photographed at a dog park; not the two from this blog.

Yesterday we again took the three dogs for a walk. Although we went to the same park; this time we took a different path, one that is more narrow and doesn't have near the amount of grass around it for poor Jessie and her allergies. With the path being narrow, passing other dogs can be an issue. The issue is mostly Jessie.

Jessie loves to act tough; she is infact a very tough cookie. But as the guardians of this little tank engine we must protect her from herself. At 15 lbs she is much smaller than alot of dogs. She is very bossy being a Jack Russell and all and not every dog is okay with being pushed around by a tiny bitch.

As we started our way down the path yesterday a lady with two out of control labs was out in front. Clearly she had lost all control and the labs were doing what they liked. Calling and calling to her labs; who gave her absolutely no acknowledgement, it was like she wasn't even there.

I had the poodles and my husband had Jessie; the enforcer. He quickly reined her in as the two rogue labs charged us. They were friendly in a pushy, forceful and in your face sort of way. None of which goes over well with Jessie. She immediately started her growling and nashing which caught the boys attention. Which is when she got her quick ride into my husbands arms.

The boys had their hair up and were now getting a little too over excited. With Jessie's attempt to control the lab beasts now squelched by being hoisted into the protective arms of my hubby, Luke took over. Feeling very much like the man in charge he was on his toes. Luke is very good with other dogs but was finding these two unruly brown boys to be a little much.

The labs were off leash and causing quite commotion. There was alot of low muffled growling going on; the boys were being boys and Luke was taking them up on their challenge. He was not about to let these two hoodlums hassle his family. The guardian of these dogs of course saw nothing wrong with the out of control havoc that her dogs were causing and slowly meandered over still attempting to call them.

Watching the utter lack of control that this woman had over her dogs told of many repeat scenarios. When you know that your dogs don't listen to you; best to not take them off leash in public unfenced areas. With all the swirling, growling, hair up and tip toe walking it made for a not so great start to our walk. Very annoying actually.

Once the woman finally put leashes on her dogs we were able to pass and continue our walk. Now that everyone was super charged and ready to rumble; all but Tilley that is. She just wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Great Christmas, quiet Boxing Day

We had a wonderful Christmas, all the kids were home which makes me and the dogs very happy. The dogs love when everyone is home; it's really obvious by the elaborate greetings everyone gets and the magnitude of snuggling. We had our Christmas Eve dinner at Orange Hill which was fabulous and enjoyed the blustery cold weather all day yesterday.

We are having a nice relaxing and quiet Boxing Day. For those American readers; Boxing day is the day after Christmas and an official holiday in Canada. One that I think is a must, especially for those who make the Christmas Dinner ;)

My daughters and I took the three dogs for a nice brisk walk, it's gloriously chilly out. Then to Starbucks for a Christmas coffee and home to get some cookies for the dogs, and us. Having given Luke a bath before Christmas it was Jessie and Tilley's turn. My husband offered to do Jessie and opted to do her in the sink; whatever. She didn't seem to mind much and it sure saves the back.

I just finished the arduous task of blow drying Tilley. I really have to order my real grooming dryer. She looks great; quite the fluff ball. I have turkey soup simmering on the stove and I am now looking for a nice bottle of wine to open and sit by the fire; I love Boxing Day.

Happy Boxing Day to all my Canadian Readers. ;)

Nearly time

Well tonight is Christmas Eve; I love it. I only have dog gifts to wrap; yes I wrap them and they love opening them. The only bad thing that has come from this is that Luke thinks that every gift or package that comes in the house is now his. He loves to help everyone open presents; and he's pretty good about not eating any of the paper.

I'm going to keep my small camera nearby tomorrow when it is time for the dogs to unwrap and hopefully I'll get some good footage and pics of them opening their gifts. They adore new toys; not that they need anymore with two overflowing toy baskets already. I think it makes me happier than them when they get new toys. Dogs; like small children would be just as happy with the box ;)

We are planning on a nice quiet day; relaxing and getting last minute things done. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to eat at Orange Hill, not having family here we've had to adjust. Last year I brought home an actual "doggie bag" with Filet Oscar for the dogs. They were some happy.

I have breakfast to prepare for my bunch and then that's about it; until I think about something I forgot of course.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

Leave it; please and thank you

With the Christmas season upon us; many people complain about their dog getting to the tree. "How do you teach a dog not to go after your decorations?" Simple; you just don't allow it. That said they must be taught the "leave it" exercise. Once you start to teach this exercise you will wonder how you ever lived with a dog that doesn't know about the "leave it."

This exercise starts out simple; you put food down and tell your dog to "leave it." When they don't touch it you reward them with something else. This is where alot of people get it wrong. If you ask your dog to leave something and give them a pat on the head; chances are next time they are going for it. Dogs are smart; why should leave something just because you say so?

If you reward them for leaving an item then you get a much quicker learned response and then you can move onto the tough stuff really fast. You can start tossing things and asking them to leave it; reward. Once they understand fully what "leave it" means you can use it for anything. I used it to stop leash lunging at other dogs on the beach before; worked wonders.

The secret is to reward for leaving it at the beginning of the learning. Make sure that the dog never gets the item that you have asked them to leave; even if that means you have to make a death defying dive onto the item. Once they get the basic idea then you move to different areas, use different objects with distractions.

The toy I wrote about the other day that Luke wanted so badly was a "leave it" situation. It was truly amazing to me how much power it could yield. There sat a new toy on the floor; but the rule was "leave it." He did nibble it a couple of times but he never took it. He could have easily grabbed it and made a run for it.

It is also very important not to leave your dog with the item they are to leave alone. Say the Christmas tree; if you go out and leave them with it you are not there to enforce not touching it. So until you have a 95% success rate don't set your dog up for failure by asking too much.

There is no such thing as 100% success in anyone, dogs or humans.

When it doesn't work out

I decided this was the morning; I'm ready to talk about it. And I think that I can get through the whole post without crying. As you all know from my brags we added a new beautiful white girl puppy to our pack back in August. She is amazing; and up there with Luke with her smarts. But it was not meant to be.

Brook is living with a wonderful family; a standard poodle family where she has a young house sibling to brawl with constantly. So although it was a very sad story it definitely has a happy ending; at least for Brook. She is doing great an I am in constant contact with her new family.

I knew that adding another dog to my existing pack was going to be a difficult one. When I temperament tested Brook's litter; all the puppies scored pretty great. We packed up our puppy and brought her home. She was kissed and hugged and toted around constantly and bonded very quickly with me. As a dog trainer I've worked with alot of puppies; Brook is one of the most intelligent dogs I've ever met.

But something was amiss in the pack; something was changing in my dogs and in Brook. It was not a match personality wise; I saw glimpses of the mismatch several weeks in and worked on some issues. And after several agonizing weeks, days of crying and heartache I realized that it simply was not going to mesh. It was not a good match for Brook or my guys.

And this is the most important factor of the story; an amazing breeder. It you don't get a puppy from a good breeder and it doesn't work out, then what? As a specialist in canine behavior I knew that a rehoming should be done asap so with a very heavy heart she joined her Mother and siblings for a while. It has taken me months to get over it; she is constantly in my thoughts and she etched a mark on my heart that will stay there forever.

I have had to counsel families where two or more dogs were just not going to work it out. Sometimes it simply doesn't work and you have to do what is best for all dogs involved. As canine guardians it is our job and commitment to do our best; and my best was to give Brook an alternative family; one with younger dogs in it. It was very important for her to have constant canine companionship and my guys were not fitting the bill.

It was a very complicated pack dimension; as are most pack matters. For things to run smoothly all canines have to be on board or at least be workable. Sometimes personalities just do not blend; and when this happens it is sad but we must do our best to make things work for everyone. I did that; it was one of the saddest and most difficult things I've ever had to do but I believe very strongly in the saying; "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Missing the snow and smarties

http://webcam.city.ottawa.on.ca/trafficvideo/seahorse/webcam/video.html

First, the above link is very close to my home in Canada. Its about a 15 min. drive and the closest webcam I could find. I would love to introduce Luke to the snow.

Speaking of Luke he really showed his stuff lastnight. Many people who meet Luke think that he is, let's just say not the sharpest. But after having so many dogs over the years I can honestly state that he is the smartest. Not that they all haven't been smart; both Tilley and Jessie are amazingly intelligent. But Luke just has that extra "human like" quality.

Dogs are all different and they all learn different and excel at different things. Jessie is the easiest to train a new behavior to because she is so food motivated. Tilley is calm and understands very quickly and Luke get's overly excited easily and confuses things but in his everyday life type smarts he shines.

We got a new toy as a gift; one toy. So I couldn't decide who to give the toy to, it is not easy to make that type of decision. So after days of telling Luke that he could not have the toy that I had left in the box on the floor in the kitchen; I made my decision. I took the toy and put it into their toy box; this way letting whoever wanted, could take it. This got me off the guilt hook by giving it to one dog.

I had put the toy in the basket on Friday afternoon; and lastnight while we were eating dinner Luke came ito the kitchen with a funny look on his face. I watched him and he was looking in the direction of the livingroom. He left again and came back looking at us and then something to the left of the doorway. He left again and came back obviously needing us to follow him. Very much like Lassie; he was doing his best at telling us something.

Knowing that he needed something I asked my husband to see what he wanted. Luke ran downstairs and stared intently at the new toy that was donning his basket. He had been told for days that he couldn't have it. Now that it was in his toy basket he thought that he could have it but had to make sure. He was asking permission to have it. Amazing.

As soon as he got the "okay" he grab the toy and ran up to the livingroom with it. While we ate we could hear the very happy squeaking. He then came into the kitchen where he devoured it within minutes.

If you pay really close attention your dog will amaze you; mine do.

4 am

It's still very early and I'm really tired. I was up at 4 am with Tilley this morning; she had to go out and after I got back to bed I had a tough time falling asleep. Tilley has a very specific noise she makes at night when she needs out; it is a mouth closed whiney, groan type noise and it get's whinier the longer she has to make it before someone let's her out. Sometime I will wake up at night thinking I've heard her little noise; I lay waiting to see if she does it again when I realize she is snoring.

This morning I think I heard the first groan. I'm up and rummaging around for a robe; it's freaking freezing at 40 degrees out and the window is open. Once in my robe I do the customary shuffle across the bedroom so as not to step on any unsuspecting dogs that might be out laying on the floor instead of their bed. All this while trying to be as quiet as a mouse and not wake my hubby.

The floor is freezing and once I hit the tile floor in the kitchen I'm happy to find a towel still laying at the door from the rain the other day. Using the kitchen counter as a leaning post I watch and wait. Tilley immediately pees; then off she trots to the other side of the yard. Tilley tends to wander and not care that all I want to do is go back to bed; it is 4 AM afterall. So I flip the back lights on to see what she is up to; like a teenager she knows what the lights mean. She looks to the kitchen and waits for the official call. Of course she needs her private invitation; SHE WOULDN'T WANT TO JUST COME BACK AFTER SHE IS DONE.

TILLEY, come on!!!!!!!!!! She jogs back to the kitchen and we make our way back to the bedroom in the dark. Trying my best to be quiet I turn the door handle like a nighttime burglar and close it behind me the same way. Of course Tilley stops at a meer couple feet inside the door and I trip over her because she is dark gray and I can't see her in the dark. I shuffle her along and climb back into bed; yes, the bed is still warm.

Tilley settles on the pillow beneath me and is snoring in minutes. Me, not so fast. I think fell asleep minutes before it was time to wake up. TGIF

Luke update

If you could have seen Luke lastnight you would know that he is feeling better. I was out shopping with my daughter and we then met my hubby for dinner. When we arrived home; Luke was in his finest spinning formation. With his mouth held open wide he was huffing his happiest of huffs. He was spinning and jumping like a mad fool.

Once we got in past the whirling maniac he continued to huff for over a 1/2 hour. He was very happy that we were home. I made his dinner and he ate almost all of it; then out into the rain where he had to be called in. I looked out to see him just standing; the windy rain hitting him in his face as he inhaled the stormy weather. Perhaps he was as happy with the weather as I am.

And to make him even happier I settled in on the couch downstairs to watch some Christmas specials. Luke loves when I am stationary. He brought me several toys plopping them into my lap. We did a couple of tosses and then he settled on the floor by my feet. Every so often he would look up backwards to be sure that I was still there; that he hadn't missed me leaving.

We don't know what was wrong with Luke and I hate that. I like to know what I'm dealing with but alas like usual we just don't know. But the important thing is for the time being he is much better. He has an occasional snuff but is pretty much back to his old self. He is shadowing my every movement, rubbing and huffing in sheer happiness at any family members appearance and is just basically really happy right now.

Not knowing what was wrong is scarey; you don't know what you are up against. But hopefully with his rhinoscopy they got whatever the problem was. And as usual I will keep a very close eye on every moment, behavior and emotion that Luke is having as well as the girls.

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=11009&O=Generic

Leave it

If you put a cookie in the middle of your livingroom floor; do you have enough verbal control over your dog to not have that cookie eaten? Not too many people can do this; but you should be able to. Having older dogs now it's not something that I use alot but when I need it; it's there.

Leave it, is one of the most important things I teach my clients to teach their dogs. It is an exercise that starts out fairly easy and very structured; which builds to "real life" status once learned. Of course there are things that are more difficult to leave than others. Heck when I go shopping; there are some things I can't leave at the store, some I can.

Leave it, can be taught to very young puppies or seniors who have never been taught the concept although it may take a while. Taking has alot more meaning behind it other than the fact that they are taking everything. If your dog takes whatever they want even when asked not to; then you have no leadership status.

I like to keep my guys on their toes; we all tend to let the seniors slide so every once in a while they get a refresher. We may be watching a movie and I will toss a cookie on the familyroom floor. As all attention is drawn to the cookie I state a very calm "leave it." Attention is then on me, I am controlling the cookie.

Jessie's answer to this difficult task is to look away. It is much easier for her to deal with not eating food on the floor if she is not looking at it. The poodles look at it, then me and realize they aren't going to get the cookie and relax. Depending on what type of food has been tossed onto the floor is the length of time spent looking at the item.

There are times even with my guys that they simply can't bare it; usually because of a new toy in the house. If someone decides to go for it and not listen, a simple enforcing movement towards the item reminds them of who's item it is. There is no harsh words; serious maybe but no yelling, body language works much better.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes; I'd love to hear about it.

Creature comforts

Does comfort every get old? Nope. Plain and simple; who does not like to be comfortable? I love nothing more than climbing (and I literally mean climb) into my bed; with flannel sheets that are prewarmed by a dog. Hate to get into a cold bed at night? Ask your dog to lay there while you get ready for bed; works wonderfully and they don't mind a bit. Once it's warm just ask them to scootch over a bit.

It's early and I've just had my coffee. I can see out my window that the sun is just starting to come up, looks like it will be a beautiful sunrise. Jessie is completely under the covers; I'm not sure how she breaths under there but she loves heading right down to the bottom of the bed. Luke is curled up a few feet away; of course on top of the down comforter and Tilley is still in her bed right beside us.

I have to admit it makes me very happy to see dogs that are comfortable. Especially when it is an older dog but any dog will bring a smile to my face in the lap of coziness. It bothers me when I see dogs laying on concrete and I always want to grab a bed to throw under them.

When you're a kid you can sleep just about anywhere. I remember many a sleep over both my own and my kids sleep overs where there are kids sleeping everywhere; all over the floor. Try that when you are middle aged; doesn't feel so good. I'd be the first to shotgun the couch; somehow as you get older the floor becomes much harder.

Dogs naturally gravitate to comfort; I've never had a dog that didn't lie on clothing that were dropped on the floor. And even when they are on my bed; they much prefer to nab any clothing item to snuggle up with. Not only do they like comfort; they really like the smells of home and you.

I can hear Jessie snoring under her pile of blankets down at the bottom of the bed; I guess she breaths just fine down there. Luke is curled up tightly in his corner of the bed and Tilley is just now eyeing my husbands warm spot on the bed that he has vacated.

There's no place like home.

Change

How well does your dog adjust to change? I'm sure you all know of a human or two that doesn't like change but what about our dogs. We had a big party on Saturday night and of course the weather forecast was saying that there was a chance or rain. Being that the party was going to be an indoor/outdoor one we put up an e-z up and covered our large trellis with a tarp.

I had the dogs outside all day so that they would be good and tired for the party; they'd be in our room while it was going on. They watched the goings on during the preparations; the girls didn't flinch the entire day. Luke on the other hand did and does not like the e-z up or especially the tarp.

First; we call Luke, Luke skywatcher. Each time he has a seizure and comes out of it he is constantly checking the skys for whatever got him. He doesn't know where the seizures come from but watching his behavior he thinks it comes from the skys. So when the wind kicked up and the tarp was flapping he shot in the house like a bullet. Seeing this I kicked into my "behavior modification" mode.

Calling Luke out I set to puttering. Luke was on constant alert to the flapping tarp but I kept him close. I chattered to him about all the things we were doing; talked about the bad dog barking behind our house and just general day to day stuff. He is a good listener; weird actually because he's a guy. ;)

Anyhow, he soon relaxed and each time the wind would flap the tarp I would make sure to do nothing. Our dogs watch us so closely to see our reaction and if they consider us to be the leader; they follow our lead. The girls made a couple of glances to the new sky covers but weren't worried about them.

Change can difficult for anyone but more so for dogs. We can't tell them what is going on or give them a heads up to impending changes so it happens all in the moment for them. Watching them watch us gives us a clue as to how to calm them with our own behavior.

Rabies

Rabies vaccines; it's a hot topic these days. www.rabieschallengefund.org The Rabies challenge has brought it to the forefront and is digging into the facts. I have always got rabies vaccinations for my dogs but now into their senior years and having health issues I am not willing to compromise their health. With Titers you can reliably test the amount of immunity a dog has to certain diseases.

www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/titer_test.htm

With a good titer; our dogs are still protected but sometimes this isn't enough for the officials. With simple common sense it should be; you can have titers done for humans as well and that seems to be enough for us. Why should be re-vaccinate when the dogs body has enough immunity? They are finding out that over vaccinating is alot more dangerous than once thought.

I have a very inquiring mind; I always want to know more. If I hear about an important issue that I hadn't heard before then I dig in; I want the facts. I listen to what people have to say; take what I think is important and toss the rest. Life is a constant education; to deny facts, to turn away in an "I don't want to know" manner is really useless.

Take the whole Autistic/vaccine debate going on in the human world right now. Many just don't buy it; thankfully many are also digging. We are only human and humans make mistakes; but to turn away from the facts is a disservice to us and our animals. Before you re-vaccinate; research, research alot.

Crumbs on the bed?

Check out these crumbs; any guesses who left these crumbs on my bed? Luke; that's who and in a moment I will be throwing Jessie up there to clean up the mess. Each morning before my dogs get up they get at least one cookie each. I do not like to have to feed the dogs immediately upon my rising so this gives me wiggle room. I also don't like to create a stringent routine that the dogs cannot bend from.

Most humans would get a severe scolding for leaving this pile of crumbs in the bed; note also the white hairs in the mix (if you can see them.) I keep a sheet on my bed; of course covering the beautiful comforter I bought that matches my room beautifully. But you would have not seen it because it is under the "dog" sheet. But this one sheet allows me to chill about messes like this pile of crumbs. I quickly roll it up and shake it over my balcony for the peasant mice to feast on.

If you are a clean freak then it is definitely difficult to have a great and enjoyable life with dogs. I prefer to have my home set up so that I don't have to worry about things like that. Dirt doesn't bother me; instead of worrying about the dirt, we should all worry more about how not to worry about it. For one; I believe that wall to wall carpeting is one of the worst inventions EVER. In my dream home it would all be gone.

Yes I like the comfy feeling under my feet but having had three children and 8 dogs over my married life so far; carpet is stupid. There are so many things to worry about in this big world of ours; material things should not be one. I once worked with a lady who had two pitbull mixes. When I got to the house they were in the tiny matchbox sized yard. As we spoke about the problems these dogs were having she charged outside and yelled at one of the dogs for stepping on the grass????????????????Uhhhhhhhhhh, what? Apparently she had new grass and the dogs were not to set foot on it.

Kids = dirt, dogs = dirt and life definitely = dirt. Learning to shake off dirt is a much better way to channel your energy than worrying about the dirt. Hey if there were no crumbs in my bed; it would mean that there were no cookie crunching dogs in my bed.

Get'n the creeps

I had the dogs down in the canyon yesterday; it's where we let'm rip. But; since a lady several miles away got savagely attacked by a cougar I'm sort of creeped out about going down alone. Even with my poodles both being at the 50 lb size; Cougars are alot bigger. Several weeks ago a coyote stalked the dogs while my husband ran them; afterall Jessie is a nice morsel at 15lbs.

So when I'm down in the canyon now; I have my pepper spray and I am very aware. Nothing is taking any of my dogs for a meal. The good thing about the canyon right now is the dryness; all along the edge of the pathway is long dry grass. Even the slightest movement from a bird makes alot of noise; this let's me know if anyone is watching us.

As my favorite quote says "quit while you're ahead" and I did. We left after a short 20 min romp. Tilley is really slowing down and rarely runs; Jessie is attached to me by her extension leash and Luke is our scout out ahead. He runs back and forth and back and forth so he gets lots of exercise in 20 min.

I much prefer to be joined by my hubby in the canyon; but I do pity the animal that messes with this vicious canine guardian and her dogs.

Dogs just wanna have fun

First let me say that I love the above image. "What are tails for, eh?" Notice how tightly that little IG is holding onto that tails; her back feet are off the ground. I could literally sit at the dog park for hours and watch the interactions. I really need to get my butt back to the park with my camera. After the shoot and back home looking at the photos I am often surprised by what I've captured. I can't always see expression while it is happening.

When you shoot dogs in action; you get the chance to stop time and see what you would have missed. We can't possibly see all the signs; dogs give each other signals the entire time they are interacting. Some signs are so small that you would never see them unless you are sitting watching. And then there are the one's that only a camera can capture.

Often when I'm going over images I will notice that the rough and tumble play may have been more than play for one of the dogs. Or one of the dogs may have been fearful and I didn't realize this until seeing the images. Of course it is hard to focus, shoot and see all the behaviors at the sametime so I see the behaviors when I open up my image files.

Watching as I love to do is extremely important at the dogparks. Unfortunately it is one of the human behaviors that tends to slip by the wayside. Many people pull up a chair and have a good ole chat session. They may or may not know where their dog is or what they are doing; not good. Going to the dogpark is a social event; for your dog and for yourself but you must watch your dog at all times.

I have seen way too many avoidable incidents at the parks; and the cause is guardians not watching. As your dogs guardian it is your job to make sure they are behaving or that they are not being bullied; no one else will do it for you. Dog parks are great places; they offer a great amount of different dogs for your dog to socialize with.

There are some places where dog parks are not necessary; places where there are many open field areas where you can let'er rip. But canine interaction is extremely important; especially when your dog is young. By interacting with other strange dogs your dog keeps up with their canine communication skills. They learn to read each other the way they were meant to and they learn to play nice.

If you are lucky enough to have lots of friends with dogs and a either a huge backyard or a field at your disposal then you'll never have to use a dogpark. But for most people a dogpark is the only place their dog gets off leash.

Howling

Howling; some do some don't. For us it has only been the boys that have been howlers; don't know if there is anything up with that or not. Luke is our current howler. He doesn't do it often but he is in a state of ready whenever a siren is heard. He like many dogs is extremely affected by howling sirens. My girls on the other hand never bat an eye to the sound of sirens.

What makes a dog howl when they hear sirens? It would seem that it is an uncontrolable behavior in some dogs an automatic response. A hardwired behavior left over from their wolf days. The howling in response to a siren is very different from howling say from loneliness or boredom. Some dogs howl when their guardians go off to work; I have one of those in my neighborhood.

Luke obviously howls in response to the siren howling; although there was one time that he did start howling from a siren but continued on for a very long and very loud time. My husband and I were out; our daughter was home and told us he howled right at the front door. This was obviously a fall-out of the original howling that got started from the siren but continued because of our absence.

A harmonica can often encourage a howling response from a dog as well as other dogs howling or sounds that closely resemble the sound of a howl. But the fire truck or police siren gets Luke everytime.

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.