The Smart Dog U Blog

Hematoma the Horrible

This sweet 10-year old Labrador (Lily's her name) is in her own little version of doggie-hell. This is a dog who was released from the service dog program, in part, because she hated (and I do mean hated) wearing her vest. Keep that little nugget in mind as you read.

She's had an ear infection (our oh-so-mild winter means her allergies haven't gone dormant) so I've been putting meds in twice a day. Monday I noticed that she had what looked like a giant marshmallow at the base of her ear. It was big, puffy, and looked awfully painful. 

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Love Grows

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A Scary Moment on Our Morning Walk

Alternate Title: WHY I HATE UNDERGROUND ELECTRIC FENCES.

We walked every day in Europe. We walked a long time. A long way. It was really fun. I wanted to keep up that habit when I returned home. So this morning, I leashed up the three dogs and we went for a nice neighborhood stroll. As I walked out the door, I dismissed the idea of bringing my cell phone (the battery was really low). And I'd never ever needed the DirectStop. Ever. So it stayed behind, too.

The walk was nice - Lily (the dog who's reactive to other dogs when she's on-leash) did a great job dealing with the maniac dog who rushes his electric fence barking like he's going to kill us if we get close enough. (This alone is enough reason for me to hate underground electric fences. But wait, there's more. Keep reading.) She started to go into her frenzy but then turned and looked at me when I called her name and very quickly was back under conrol. Nice work, Lil!

We continued our walk, loving this beautiful morning. Around the next bend was a 90-pound dog, safely (so I thought) contained by his invisible electric fence. Thing is, he looked WAY too close to the road. Generally, he stays about 30 feet away from the road.

Uh oh.

He took a step closer. By this time, my dogs (Lily, especially) noticed this big guy who is very stiffly staring at us. Stiff is never something you want to see in an unfamilar dog - it usually means trouble. I yelled at him (I can sound pretty tough) to get away, but he's laser-locked on my dogs, taking very deliberate and slow steps toward them.

By this time, my guys are pretty fired up. I was unable to get Lily's attention, so she's in full-blown bark mode and now, with Tango (my yellow Lab) and Nemo (the hound/Dane mix) as back-up, she's in rare form. When Tango and Lily are together, even Tango (who ususally uses his brain and is reasonable) gets a little haywire.

The neighbor dog wasn't stopping. I had some decisions to make. And quickly. I wasn't going to get in the way of him. I hoped he'd notice that it was going to be three against one and would reconsider. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, he kept taking those slow, deliberate paces straight toward us.

I decided against trying to pull the dogs away: (a) I'm not strong enough (I was outweighed) and (b) tension on leashes, especially in a situation like this, is never a good idea. My next thought: give my dogs as good a chance as possible if this big dog decided to have a go at them. So I dropped Nemo's leash -- he's the least likely to fight and would try to escape if possible.

By this time, the big dog is squarely in the middle of my dogs. I'm still yelling (like an idiot) and thankfully Lily begins to calm down. (I don't think it was because of my yelling - more about that in a minute.) Things are still awfully stiff among the dogs, there's a lot of posturing and I'm still not sure how this whole thing is going to turn out.

I decided to drop Lily's leash as well - she's the smallest and if there was going to be a disagreement, I wanted her to be able to get out of there, too. Finally, I walked between Tango and the big dog, calling my dogs as I did it.

They looked up (!) and I began to walk away. The big guy decided he'd like to follow, so I turned, made myself as large as I could (hard to do for a 5' 1" person) and bellowed "GO HOME." He didn't necessarily listen, but I think the bass of my voice took him by surprise. He looked up at me and at least stopped moving forward.

My dogs got lots, and lots, and lots of food (I always carry food with me) and we extricated ourselves from the situation.

Remember the yelling I was doing as the dog was approaching? If I could do it all over again, I'd try to get myself under control first - yelling was ineffective at best. It could have helped encourage a fight. I was panicked, however, at the thought of a fight, blood, and the fact that I had neither my phone or any way to get an injured dog back to my house.

Things I will never leave behind again: Cell phone and DirectStop.

If you have an underground electric fence: PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COLLARS ON YOUR DOGS ALL THE TIME. The dogs really DO know when the collar isn't on. DON'T leave your dog unattended. And when they start to bark like maniacs at the boundary, call them back! All that frustration is not a good thing for your dog. And having them cross that barrier to get to my dogs isn't good for me. Or my dogs.

Independence Day

Here in the Mid-Atlantic, it's hot, hot, hot! Too hot to be outside, too hot to do anything inside. So just a quickie blog post today to celebrate Independence Day.

These pictures are of Rocky (service dog #1) and Lily (service dog #2) on 4th of July in 2002. They were rockin' the red, white, and blue for a neighborhood parade.

We're fortunate to have the opportunity to visit with Rocky from time-to-time. He's visiting here with us right now, as his family vacations. It's wonderful to be able to keep in touch with the dogs we've raised. It's special to have them back in the house, just for a visit.

Little Lily never went back to the service dog agency: she was dismissed because she didn't enjoy working in public, and she was somewhat reactive (barky) at other dogs. She's a terrific pet dog and we're happy to have her as part of our permanent family.

Enjoy this 4th of July with your four-legged friends. Remember:  the big booms of firework celebrations can be mighty frightening for our dogs. Please, please leave them at home with the radio or television on to help mask the thunderous booms from fireworks tonight!

The Dog Days of Summer

It's gonna be a hot one here in the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. I'm a lover of summer time, and so are the dogs.

That's Tango and Nemo having fun at Lake Anna retrieving the bumper. 

Lily's enjoying the boat on Lake Anna.

Lucky enjoying a ride on the raft at Lake Anna.

Tango cooling off with the hose.

The sprinkler is a dog-entertainment toy!

Talos didn't like the water then, and he STILL doesn't like it!

Nemo and Dana enjoying an afternoon at Lake Anna.

Opposites Attract

We had the misfortune opportunity to dogsit my parent's monster dog, Copper earlier this week. She's been with them for a couple years now, rescued from the local shelter in Virginia.

She and Talos adore each other. They wreck run through the house, barking and playing, until they collapse. They're enamored, truly.

I can't say the same for the other dogs in the house - they're not particularly fond of Copper. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say Copper's not too keen on them.

She's a pain in the neck lot of dog. She's definitely not a dog for a novice dog owner. If she were human, you'd call her, well, I don't really use that kind of language here on the blog. Let's just say this: if she were a human, she'd be the boss of everyone.

She's especially rough on Tango and Lily. If I don't put her in solitary confinement watch her, she'll try to control every move they make. They're (unfortunately) nice enough to take it from her. When she's commandeering visiting our house, Tango can't retrieve the tennis ball if she's around. She'll go after him immediately - and not in a nice way. She's an idiot "up" and "on her toes" kinda dog. 

Talos seems to be immune to her bossiness. I know I'm anthropomorphizing here, but I'd venture to say that he laughs at her antics. It looks as if he's saying "That's all you've got?" As much as she tries to boss him around, he'll have none of it. Not because he's bullying back, just because he doesn't take her seriously.

Thankfully, her stay with us was only an overnight one and she's now back with my parents. It was quite sad to see Talos' face, though, when my parents put her in their car and left our driveway. She, too, looked longingly at Talos from the backseat, her eyes never leaving him as the car went up the street.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that some of our dogs are clearly uncomfortable when she visits, while another dog finds her completely irresistible. I mean, how many times have you said about a friend "I don't know what he sees in her!" I guess opposites attract in the dog world as often as they do in our own world.

Building Body Confidence in Your Dog

Lily's a pretty agile girl. She jumps into the wheelbarrow when we're working in the yard. Jumps in when it's moving. And loves to stand and shift her balance trying not to fall. 

She delights in riding in the little trailer behind the lawn tractor, too. If it's moving and unsteady, she wants to be involved in it. Maybe this summer we'll get her on a wake board or water skis.  

In the meantime, I've found a great tool that helps Lily build her muscles, challenge her balance, and gain body confidence. I call it The Egg.  It's an exercise ball that's well, egg-shaped!

When introducing Lily to The Egg, I used really tasty treats and made sure The Egg was super secure. The last thing I wanted was her first experience with The Egg to be a bad one. 

Below you'll see the video I made of her first Egg experience (eggsperience?). I kept the session short, fun, and easy. Even super-confident, eager-to-try-anything-Lily thought The Egg was a little weird, but she quickly got the hang of it. She was able to get onto The Egg in two different ways: from the floor and from the couch. 

I'm looking forward to working with her more with The Egg. Once she gets the hang of it, I think the sky's the limit as to how far we can go with The Egg. Stay tuned and I'll bring you more from The Egg and give you some ideas on things you can do with The Egg and your own dog!

Get Your Dog To Notice You!

Does your dog dash out the door, pulling you along behind. 

If you dropped the leash, would your dog even notice?

Does your dog pay more attention to the distractions outside than you?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you're not alone! This is one of the most common complaints I hear from owners. Their dog doesn't even know they exist once the dog is outside. Thankfully, there's an easy remedy to this situation. 

You'll need:

• a clicker
• delish treats
• 6' leash (no retractable leashes!)
• regular buckle collar (no prong or choke collars!)

Leash your dog, put your treats in a fanny pack and have your clicker ready. Open the door, step outside and wait for your dog to look at you. Don't move any further than just outside the door. As soon as your dog looks in your direction, click and give him the treat. You may have to reach and put the treat in his mouth if he's really distracted. Then just wait some more. Click every time your dog looks in your direction. If you're using super high-value treats, your dog will start looking at you more often than he's looking at his environment. 

Here's a video of my four dogs so you can get a feel for what this exercise looks like and how to do it. Each piece is only about two minutes long.

Targeting - Your Secret Weapon

Sometimes the solution to a dog's behavior problem can be as easy as teaching the dog a brand new behavior, then asking for that behavior right before your dog starts the old, problematic behavior. We teach targeting in Canine Building Blocks group courses because it's a nice, simple solution to many behavior problems. 

What is targeting? Targeting is simply teaching the dog to touch his body (most often his nose) to a specific target (your hand, for example). 

Because it's so simple, many people miss the importance of this behavior. 

I hear this a lot:

"My dog lunges at other dogs, what do I care if my dog touches my hand?!" or "My dog pulls me off my feet, how can targeting stop that?!"or "My dog barks his head off when he sees another dog - targeting's not going to help me."

Targeting can do all that. And more. Targeting is a powerful tool. Here's what it looks like. (Lily's good at targeting, it's one of her favorite things.) After you watch the short video, scroll down to read how I use it with Lily, who's reactive when she sees other dogs. 

When I take Lily to the vet, we're likely to run into other dogs. If I don't give Lily something to do, she'll lunge, bark, and jump at any other dog at the vet office. She's not aggressive, but it looks like she is. To prevent her from displaying those lovely manners <ahem>, I simply give her something else to focus on -- me!

We run through the touch game, as seen above, complete with clicks and very high value treats (think: steak). She's happy to engage with me and I'm preventing her from practicing the very ugly and inappropriate behavior of reacting to other dogs. 

Even if your dog is super-duper friendly, not all dogs (or people) want a dog coming up to them. Use targeting to keep your pal involved with you, not with someone else or their dog. 

Snow Hounds (Video)

We love the snow! This is Talos the Great Dane's first big snow. And because he's a service dog in training, we'll have to return him to Service Dogs of Virginia before next winter. So every snow's important to us! Enjoy watching the dogs romp...