Smart Dog

Bittersweet

December's a time of celebration and a time of remembrance here at SDU. First, it's Nemo's birthday month! Who doesn't like birthdays? This is the little squirt when we brought him home in February of 2006. When we thought he was a Labrador mix.

And this is our big guy now. What a love. Two years ago, we went through some really rough times with Nemo. We didn't think he was going to live. It was hell. He had a usually-fatal fungus called pythiosis. It was a bad few months. He went through the holiday season with several surgeries. Healthy as a horse now, we're thankful to have Nemo with us.

December is also the anniversary of the loss of Lucky, my Australian shepherd. It's been just a year since he died of a heart attack. The dog who taught me so much about dog behavior has been gone a year...it's hard to believe. While his behavior problems were quite plentiful, oh the lessons I learned from him. I'm thankful to have crossed paths with this dog. He's buried at Lake Anna (he's enjoying the Lake in the picture above).

While not good with people, Lucky was a very good leader in his dog-world. We relied on him to raise the service pups we brought in. He'd tolerate but so much of their silliness, then would firmly - but gently - tell them when they'd crossed the line. I never knew how much work he did for us, raising puppies, until he was gone. Talos could use some "Lucky lessons," long about now.

It All Comes Back to Basics

Am I the only one who looks for a more complicated explanation than what's really happening? I tried to explain away Talos' lunging and barking behavior by attributing it to his adolescence.

Yeah, turns out that's just not the case.

Well, it could be a contributing factor, but the real reason he's lunging and barking is, well, because I haven't done enough foundation work with him.

Sad, but true.

I took him to class today and while he did much better than I anticipated, it was very clear that we have a lot of work to do. 

The Down Side:

• His sits are very slow. (He's slow to start them after I give the cue, as well as slow to actually execute them. For the dog trainers reading this: his latency and speed are the pits.)
• He doesn't have a very good stay.
• Duration of eye contact is minimal (five seconds or less)

The Up Side:

• His name recognition and "Look" are terrific.
• His loose leash walking is quite nice.
• Downs are terrific.
• His "settle" (go to his mat and lay down) are spot on.
• When given the opportunity to play with another dog, he's got good social skills and takes doggie corrections very nicely. (The Border collie did not appreciate Talos smacking him in the face with his paw and he told Talos by snarling and snapping his teeth. Talos understood precisely what the Border collie said and the paw was not thrown much after that!)

So, while there are more ups than downs, we have a lot of work to do. The morals of this story:

1. Recognize small bits of inappropriate behavior and do something about it before it becomes big chunks of inappropriate behavior.
2. You can never spend too much time on the basics!

Off to School

Talos is just turning eight months old - an adolescent. And just like human teenagers, we're seeing some behavior changes. Some are good, some not so good.

One not-so-good example: he's barking and lunging at other dogs. He wants to play, but is getting frustrated because I won't let him go to the dogs right away.

I don't let him visit the other dogs for a number of reasons:

1. When he's with his for-good person, he can't visit every dog he sees.
2. Not every dog wants a huge cow-like dog in his face.
3. He can't visit another dog if he's going to pull me to get there. 

That's enough reasons, right?

It's very difficult for me to find a training class during the day. I teach classes every night, but can't take him because I'm working - I've got to work with my clients.

Thankfully, one of my dog-training friends (who is an excellent trainer to boot) offers daytime classes and offered us a spot in her beginner level course on Fridays. So starting tomorrow, Talos is enrolled in remedial good manners classes!

I think it will take several sessions for us to get this behavior under control. But at least we're starting early. If you notice a behavior you'd rather not see in your dog, don't wait to see if it will get better! Talk to a qualified positive reinforcement trainer and enroll in a class or get some in-home training.

Behaviors don't get better with time. In fact, they normally get worse. So do yourself (and your dog) a favor and nip it in the bud before the problem grows into something unmanageable.

Talos' First Snow (Video)

Anyone with a new dog loves the first snow. Watching a dog run out into the new fallen snow for the first time is like watching your kid taste something new for the first time - it's not to be missed!

We got about three inches of snow over the weekend and Talos got his first taste. There's nothing better than a dog giddy with delight at his transformed backyard.

Wet and Cold Tracking Day (Video)

Nemo and I went tracking today despite temperatures in the 30's, a drenching, cold rain, and the threat of snow. Yeah, I think I really am the crazy dog lady...

What IS tracking, you ask? Tracking is a competitive form of search and rescue. We're not really rescuing anything, except a glove, when tracking though. In tracking, the dog uses his nose to follow a scent (or "track") that has been laid by a person. On the track are objects (usually the aforementioned glove). The dog's job is to follow the scent of the person who laid the track, which of course leads to the object (the glove).

Competitive tracks are hundreds of yards long, involve several turns and curves, and might involve several types of surfaces (grass, weeds, woods, pavement, cement, etc.). In tracking, the most important thing to remember is this:

THE DOG IS IN CHARGE. (Unlike every other competitive dog sport, in which the human is in charge.)

Dogs have noses a zillion times more powerful than ours. We can't smell the track. We don't know where the track is. We have to trust our dogs. How cool is that?

So after a couple hours inside a warm, dry building learning about the fundamentals of tracking, we donned our rain gear and went out into the cold rain.We're only beginners, so we started with very short tracks. It was a fun time, albeit cold and wet. Nemo was shivering by the time it was all over - I turned the heat on high and covered him with my down coat so he could warm up.

Here's a quick video of our soggy, but fun tracking morning...

 

 

Working Hard

After teaching class last night, I loaded three dogs in the Element and headed for Virginia. Today, Talos and I spent all day in Charlottesville working with the good folks at Service Dogs of Virginia.  We worked on typical balance dog skills:

• loose leash walking
• settling quietly on a mat in public
• eye contact
• pivoting left and right
• backing up
• attention/eye contact

We started out in the training center, where distractions are minimal and can be easily controlled.Talos showed off his skills (and the areas that still need more work!) and learned some new ones, too. Then it was off the the Charlottesville mall, filled with holiday shoppers, twinkling lights, larger-than-life window displays, and lots (and lots) of kids.

There were three Great Danes - two in training (Talos and his brother, Gryphon), and a two-year old working Great Dane named Arrow with his person, Valerie.We got the chance to take the dogs into Santa's Circle and the big man himself actually took time to talk to the dogs. Talos was not fazed by the jolly man in red (he was a real Santa - beard and all!).

Three giant dogs make quite a spectacle no matter where they are, but put them in the center of a food court and it gets a little chaotic very quickly!Everyone has a question, everyone wants to pet the dogs. It was a great socialization experience for the dogs. With repeated experiences like this, the dogs quickly learn to settle down and ignore all the hullabaloo. It's really something to see a Dane sleeping soundly in the middle of the mall while a small crowd gathers with cameras, children, and questions.

In the end, though, that's exactly what the dogs need to do. They need to become so accustomed to that scenario that it almost becomes boring to them. Their partner, the person who needs the dog, relies on the Dane for balance and support. The Danes need to focus on their person, the pace, and the requests of their person. The dogs can't do their jobs if they are distracted by squealing children, gasps of passersby, twinkling lights, loud music, or roaming groups of teens.

Tomorrow, Talos has the day off and it's Nemo's turn to work.Despite the forecasted drenching rain/snow and temperatures in the 30's, Nemo and I are headed to a tracking workshop in Richmond, VA. This could get tricky - Nemo's not a fan of the cold. To be fair, he's single-coated. Unlike the Labs, who are triple-coated, Nemo gets cold very quickly. It's like us going out into the weather without a coat - we can't take it very long.

In a pinch, I'll take Tango with me.I'll assess the weather tomorrow morning and make a "game time decision." Tango would very happily trudge through the rain and wouldn't even notice the temperatures. But Nemo's got a nose on him that just won't quit. I think he'd be great at tracking and I really want to give it a go with Nemo.

In any event, the day will be spent learning alongside a dog. It's the coolest way to spend the day.

Blondes Rocking the Hunter Orange

Neither Tango nor I are slaves to fashion.

As the picture above proves.

That's us, the two blondes rockin' the hunter orange. You probably didn't even notice the black Lab in the picture. That's Lily. She's not wearing any orange. You see, it would clash with her silky black coat. (Actually, her hunter orange vest didn't fit.)

Because it's hunting season, we're decked out in our orange. Hunting is illegal on Sunday, which is when we were out, but we figured it was better to be safe than shot. I think we look pretty darn good, Tango and I.

We found a pond. You put Tango anywhere near water and he's going in. Water is a magnet to him. I felt the water - it was cold! Probably in the 40's. Thank goodness the Labs have the double coat - I don't think Tango's skin was ever touched by the water. Note that Tango's still on leash, even though he's retrieving. There was no reason for him to be off leash. First, it's illegal. Second, it's dangerous. (Those are leaves on the surface of the pond, not algae.)

The water's good, but chasing a stick into the water is even better. I found a good sized stick and Tango retrieved to his heart's content. I was tired of throwing the stick long before he was tired of retrieving it. That's a Labrador for you.

We were out for about two hours. We saw one deer and lots of hawks and squirrels. Unfortunately, we were the hosts to lots of ticks. Little tiny ticks. I found four on Tango, one on me, and one on my husband. 

Take some time this weekend to get out and enjoy the woods with your dogs. Just wait until Sunday, wear lots of orange and check for ticks when you're done!

Three Dogs, One Christmas Tree

Our annual Christmas tradition includes cutting our Christmas tree. We always take some dogs with us, of course. It's just not Christmas if the dogs aren't included!

 

We found one of Talos' relatives when we were at the Christmas tree farm! A cow!

It was a cold and windy day, threatening rain, but we all had a fine time.

Christmases spent with dogs are my favorite memories.

I'm Thankful...

'Tis the season to be thankful. Tomorrow's the last day before all the insanity begins: the shopping, the wrapping, the parties, the travel, the stress.  

So in the lull of Thanksgiving eve, I wanted to pause and remember all the good stuff, the things I sometimes call simple pleasures:

* The warmth and tickles from a dog sniffing my ear

* Waking up to a dog's head on my chest

* Wagging butts that greet me every time I come home - whether I've been gone all weekend or just went to the mailbox

* Old friends (Rocky, the 1st service dog we raised is here for a visit!)

* A husband who not only tolerates, but enjoys the dogs as much as I do

* The special communication the dogs and I have developed - we grunt, we sigh, we whine. And each of us knows what the other means.

* The unbridled look of joy when they're playing

* Doggie dreams - they run, they bark, they howl!

* The teamwork and cooperation I've developed with my dogs - we have FUN together!

* Friendship - there's no better friend than a dog.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and everydog. Woofs to you all.

Anger Management

Have you ever tried to learn from someone who was angry?

It's not much fun. My dogs will confirm.

I was working with my dogs today, training some new behaviors, when I found myself getting frusrated, impatient, and (dare I say it...), angry.

I immediately put the clicker and the food down, released the dog, and went into a different room to take a break.

The dogs all followed me for which I was grateful. It meant they didn't take my frustration personally. I don't know why I was frustrated, perhaps it's this silly sinus infection I'm dealing with. Or the meds that I'm on to fight it. Or this dratted grey, cold, and rainy weather. Or that I have 101 things to get done.

Whatever the reason, I stopped training. It's not productive, it's not fun, it's not efficient to train when you're angry.

I wasn't mad at the dog, I was simply frustrated. But the poor dog doesn't know that my actions aren't directed toward him any more than the cashier can't know that you were short with her because you just had a run-in with a co-worker.

So make sure training is always fun. For everyone: you and the dog. If either of you is getting frustrated, it's so easy to step away. Simply put the clicker down and go do something else. It works wonders for the training, for you, for the dog, for your relationship.