My Dog is Weird

We had our first training class today. As to be expected, Abby was a wreck for about half of it. We got there early - about 15 minutes early. I was hoping that we could do some training in the environment before everyone else got there; thinking that if she was already semi-comfortable that she would have an easier time when the class was full. I should have known better. Nothing is ever easier with Abby.

But through all the pacing and whining and trying to escape, Abby did ok. She did sit, down, find it, name recognition, watch. She did most of these when the instructor/other participants weren't actively moving. The strangest thing was that Abby did the best when the teacher was trying to be weird. Because this is wallflower class, part of the lesson is socialization. Abby was perfect when the instructor came by on crutches and in a wheel chair. My idea of Abby's internal thought process

"See, I knew that lady was weird! I have been waiting for her to do something crazy! I was right! Ha!"

Somehow I have a dog that can go over (baby) A-frames, go through tunnels, over jumps, and on a (non-teetering) teeter yet she can't handle something as simple as a person she doesn't know walking anywhere near her. . .

My dog is weird!

A New Language

I've been learning a new language recently. And no, it's not French!

It's Agility.

I had been to many dog shows before as well as a few other events where agility was run. I thought I knew the basics. . .Boy did I ever get an awakening!

AKC
CPE
NADAC
USDAA
TDAA

And these are just a few of the North American groups who hold agility trials.

From there, you learn

Standard
Jumpers
Tunnelers
Gamblers
Snooker

These are just a few of the courses your dog can run.

And what are they doing on these runs?

Walk -it
Scram
Weave
Contact

Its truly amazing what you can teach your dog to do! And how much fun that the two of you can have together in 90 degree heat!

The dogs and I had a great time. Ok, I had a great time. . .the dogs had a crate time. . .

The dogs did spend the majority of the day in their crate. They did get lots of potty walks - and a lot of water, though. It was good for them to be around the trial atmosphere. . .not that I will ever trial one of them. . .We'll see. For now I enjoyed supporting my friends and learning a lot about a sport I enjoy. I think that it will take some sweet talking to get my three interested in doing any of what we saw yesterday. But then again, I do carry a lot of chicken in my pocket (wait, MY pocket, not pocket-pocket!)

Good Luck Topper

I'm happy and sad to report that Topper has been adopted.

And I'm a little embarrassed to report that I cried.

What can I say? That little guy has been with me for almost 3 months! Day in and day out, that little guy went everywhere the rest of the pack did. He fit into my house and my life style better then some of my "real" dogs. He was so easy going, so middle of the road. Always up for a snuggle or a walk. He was never any "problem" like some of my past fosters. He was literally the easiest dog that I brought into the house.

But, he wasn't destined to be my dog. He had an amazing family out there that was just waiting to find him. And the family who adopted him today were amazing. They had a "little old man" of a chihuahua too - so topper should feel right at home. The meeting went great and he seemed to like the couple - more then he liked a few other people the he met. He was happy to sit in their lap...then happy to trot back to me...then off he'd trot back to one of them...then off to try to play with the grumpy old man! It was cute really - and he seemed to fit in nicely. And when they all walked out the front door later, he didn't even look back. Both a happy and a sad moment.

I'm sure going to miss him, but the kids don't seem to notice his absence too much. When we got home mole gave me a strange look - I think he wondered where the other dog went. I tried to explain it to him, and he seemed to understand. Mole always seems to understand. Pocket could care less. I think that Abby thinks he is under the covers. . .who knows what goes on in that dog's mind!

We are done fostering for a LONG time. It's always worth it, but it's still hard.

The Loss of a Friendship

On Sunday night, my grandma put her 17 year old cat to sleep.

Amber Sue was adopted from a local animal shelter 17 years ago - about a year after my grandma lost her 18 year old cat Fred. Amber Sue was one of those crazy cats that only liked the people that she liked and would prefer that the rest of the people would jump off a cliff. Ok, she never saw a cliff, so she had no idea what it would mean for a person to jump off of one, but you catch my drift. She would get grumpy if you tried to move her. She would give you the angry face if you were sitting in her spot. She used to scream at me if I didn't let her into "my bedroom" at night when I was visiting. Amber Sue was mostly an inside cat with the occasional squeeze past you onto the deck then what the hell do I do with myself now moments of outside freedom. Amber Sue would be considered a good cat by most standards.

The only health issue that Amber Sue had was a mild thyroid issue that had been kept under control for the past 5 years with daily medication. About two weeks ago she was diagnosed with kidney disease. It all went downhill from there. Something that should have been easily treated was completely mismanaged until it resulted in her death. I know that 17 years is OLD in cats, but this was something that could have been treated - at least for a little while. She should have lived at least another 6 months - even with this diagnosis.

On top of the tragedy of loosing a friend in an "untimely" manner, my grandma had to loose a friend that she has had for 17 years. The sad thing about living with - and loving pets is that we out live them.

Irving Townsend wrote:

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives more temporary then our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached, Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary pain.

I couldn't imagine loosing a pet after loving it for 17 years. And even if I could imagine it - or have lived through it - there is nothing that you can say to comfort someone in this situation. The loss is so great, the pain too deep. It is like loosing a part of yourself.

But in the end, it is worth it. The sorrow that we feel at their loss is only a fraction compared to the joy that their life brought.

Missing Class

Abby and I missed out Obedience Class today.

It was no fault of our own - I didn't sleep in, and she wasn't vomiting all over. The Macinator had injured herself and I spent the morning in the ER with her. She is fine, and will probably blog about it later - with gross pictures. . .

I have to admit that I am really bummed that we missed class today. I am not that sad about missing the curriculum - I used to teach that class! I am more sad because Abby is doing amazingly well at home and I want to see how some of her training stands up to the stress of an actual class. We are practicing in busier and busier places, but all those places are still familiar to her - as well as all the people who have watched.

I should probably find a park somewhere where we can do some training in a much higher distracting environment... We could also do some basic heeling as well - something we haven't really been able to do in our living room. . .

Brother From Another Mother

Five years ago I adopted a dog from the animal rescue I was working at. Three months ago I began fostering a dog for the rescue I'm currently working for. My mind may be playing tricks on me, but there is something eerily familiar with the two of them. . .







And for those who never thought it would happen (including myself)

Going in:


coming back:


Pocket, meanwhile. . .

Agility NOT My Dog

Abby had a great first agility training session. Not only was she focused on me, she also offered some sits. Abby's first lesson was an agility tunnel - she got both her front feet in, but that was about as far as she would go - not too bad for a dog with NO socialization to going into things. It was decided that we would go back the next day and try again.

Abby was having a very "off day", so we put her away and tried with someone else. To my surprise, Topper was the star of the day! He immediately ran through the tunnel with little more then one treat thrown through. He liked it so much that he kept doing it! (Don't worry, I'm not keeping him!)

Mole also found something he enjoyed: the teeter! It is much smaller then regulation height, but it was still a moving teeter! He didn't have any fear of it. It was strange to watch - my little old man. He also really liked the jumps - not something I was encouraging.

I also did some practicing with dogs that already know what they are doing. They looked beautiful running through the weaves and over jumps. I, on the other hand, looked like a fumbling idiot running next to them - seriously, they gave me that "you are such an idiot" look. That is why I can never own dogs smarter then me.

After the long day in the hot sun, we were all ready to go home and rest. But we brought the tunnel home for some practice thinking that a strange object in a familiar environment isn't as strange. Guess who goes through the tunnel now????

Abby!!!!!


Followed closely by everyone else. . .cleaning up the chicken she missed!

The dogs slept like rocks, I slept like crap trying to sleep around 4 rocks!

Focus

One of my main goals in training Abby is to get her to focus on me in stressful environments. As a sight hound focusing on a stationary object is hard enough, but add that to a lack of socialization and you get a dog that focuses on everything but me. I know how to get a dog to focus on me, and I have been working with Abby, but I still need some extra help. To get that, I am turning to other trainers I trust and to training books - Control Unleashed is my current read. And while the book is mainly used by agility trainers, it's sole purpose is to create a focused and confident dog. (Does that sound like something I need???)

I just started the book but one thing has already stuck out. She says "I find it odd how many people want their dogs to focus on them when they are not at all focused on their dogs" (pg 62). I wanted to laugh out loud when I read that sentence because last night I attended a doggie dancing class and was struck by how many of the students weren't focused on their dogs. These people were attending a class to have fun with their dogs, but they were often more concerned with their own foot work/leash work/teacher than what their dogs were doing.

All this comes on the heels of re-reading The Culture Clash. There are many important points in this book and many reasons why I recommend people buy it, but in this specific context it is for the explanation of the differences between owner-handlers and trainer-handlers (pg 164). A study was conducted to find out who dogs responded to more: owner-handlers or trainer-handlers. A training session was set up and video taped. The parameters were the same for both groups (ie: training collars, food rewards, dogs). It was determined that the dogs responded to the trainers more often then their owners. Surprising? Not to anyone who has attended an obedience class with their dogs.

The interesting thing about the study wasn't that the dogs responded to the trainers more, it was why. It turns out that the trainers paid more attention to the dogs then their owners did. Ok, that was the over-simplified version. The explanation from the study was that the trainers gave the dogs feedback every 6 seconds where as the owner only gave feedback every 20 seconds.

Take that bit of information and add it to the "coke-machine" scenario. If you put a dollar into a coke machine you expect to get a coke back. If you put a dollar in and you don't get a coke back, what would you do? After you kicked that machine, you would try another machine. You sure as hell wouldn't put another dollar in the neglectful machine. The same is true with dogs. If the dog is offering behaviors, such as "watch", and the owner is oblivious and not rewarding for the behavior, the dog will eventually find something more rewarding to do.

Paying attention to your dog while you are learning something new in a training class can be difficult, but s/he is the sole purpose for attending the class. And it is equally important not to loose the "old behavior" as it is trying to learn a new one.