Are you in it for better or worse?

We all have our happy dreams when we bring home our new puppy or dog.  Playing fetch, going on hikes, watching them romp happily while they play with other dogs and so on.  Rarely do we imagine what it will be like when they're older, except maybe picturing them slowing down, or that dreaded day when they pass.

My two shih tzu mixes, Annabelle and Doobie, aka the Littles, are 15 (16?) and 13 yrs old.  And let me tell you it has been a rough few months.  Doobie was diagnosed with diabetes in early June.  Besides agreeing to spending thousands, yes, thousands!, of dollars for the hospital to get him stable, I also had to understand that this meant monitoring his diet, checking his blood glucose at least twice daily, and giving him insulin shots every 12 hours with very little variance .  In other words, life as we knew it now revolved entirely around Doobie.
"Can you do it?" the internist asked?  Of course I couldn't put a dollar amount on Doobie's life.  So yes, I agree to the money to get him stable.
"Can you commit to being able to give him insulin every 12 hours every day for the rest of his life?  Some people can't."  Again, I say yes..  I have to try.  I cannot say goodbye to my dog because he needs me more now than ever.
So, that has become our new norm.  Every morning and every night, I check Doobies glucose before I feed him at 7:00.  After he eats, he gets an ounce of goats milk to lap up while I give him his injection.  I feed him the leaner meats, make his treats, and worry... worry, worry, worry.  Now that we're 5 months into it, I don't worry quite as much, but I still worry.
His mother Annabelle was diagnosed with Cushings about a year ago and we were treating it holistically to start.  When your pup has cushings, they drink a lot of water and urinate frequently.   It may be outside, it may be inside.  Now she wears diapers, but there are still times I don't put them on in time. After her symptoms started getting worse, we decided to put her on Vetoryl, one of the medications used to treat cushings.  She has not responded well to the meds.  She's lost weight, she's become  weak, lethargic, and today she didn't want to eat her breakfast.  We did another ACTH blood test the other day and now she is off of the Vetoryl for a couple of weeks.  But I don't know if she'll make it that long.  More worry, worry, worry.  So now I will be giving her 100 ml of fluids subcutaneously every day, cooking her anything that she will eat, and carrying her outside to potty.
Yes folks, life with our Littles is not an easy one right now.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  From the day we bring that new dog, or any pet, home, we are making a commitment to them. No matter how hard it can be, they are with us for the rest of their life.
For better or worse


Click on the links below to learn more about
Canine Diabetes - https://thebark.com/content/preventing-and-treating-canine-diabetes
Cushings Disease - http://www.canismajor.com/dog/cushings.html
How to give subcutaneous fluids - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp_C_EkMEy4&feature=share

Sept 27th - National Puppy Mill Awareness Day

Today is National Puppy Mill Awareness Day.
Did you know that 99% of puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills?  The picture that the stores will show you when you ask where the puppy comes from will be one of a beautiful ranch house, with a family in front with puppies of course. Everyone's happy.  When the reality is this..

Every time that someone purchases a puppy from a pet store or online they are supporting the mills and condemning even more dogs to a life like this.

If you're going to purchase a puppy, do your homework and find a reputable breeder in your area..

Please Pardon Me While I Start The Day With A Rant

Yesterday I took the pups out for their usual evening stroll around the neighborhood.  When we were coming to this one house I saw the owner pull into the driveway and actually hesitated, trying to decide if I wanted to continue past or wait until they went into the house.  You see, these people have a dog and they tend to let her out without a leash.   We've met this dog a couple of times before, not by my choice but because she came running up their driveway and she's been 'ok'. But Doobie has terrible body language - always so stiff - and I've been watchful. 

When I saw the back of the car pop open, she had a look that just zeroed in on Doobie, then jumped out and was coming towards us like she was stalking while the owner was still in her car.  I started going more into the road and then she ARRRGH!  Charged at him and basically bowled him over.  Thank goodness she stopped at that.  She even looked like "Oh Crap! What did I do?"  As I picked Doobie up and headed for home, I heard her owner say that I shouldn't have been pulling the dogs away.   Excuse me?  

Normally, I have dropped the leashes when she comes up.  But she had THAT look in her eyes as soon as she saw him.  So I thought, "Uh-oh, we'll go into the road."  I wasn't "tugging" or pulling them, I just started going that way.   If anyone else had seen that dogs look and the way she came towards us... they may have been yanking and screaming.   It was scary! And they probably would have called Animal Control.  It's a disaster waiting to happen.  And when it does, it will be the owners fault for not taking the right precautions and the dog is the one who will suffer for it.

After I took the dogs home and made sure that Doobie was truly alright, physically,  I drove back over to her house to talk to her about the incident.  I'm amazed at how well I kept my composure. 

The owner knows that her dog reacts to dogs that are on leash being lead away and yet, she still takes these chances.  But what really struck me was when she said that this wouldn't have happened if she had the shock collar on her.  Who knows if that's true.   I have a feeling the shock collar may have been the WHY her dog reacts to dogs being lead away and WHY it happened.  It's very possible that when they were training with the shock collar, she may have been shocked at the exact time that a dog was being lead away.  Or every time a dog was being lead away.  

Picture this.  You are with your dog.  There's a dog near you and the owner starts to lead that dog away.  Your dog turns and maybe starts to follow and ZAP!  you shock it because that was unwanted behavior.  Makes sense in your mind, doesn't it?  

Now picture it from your dogs perspective.  She sees a dog being lead away, perhaps turned to watch or possible follow it and ZAP!  She can then associate the shock with the dog being lead away.  Therefore, to her, dogs being lead away equals pain.  She now has to stop those dogs on leash before she gets zapped.

Think about it.

I offered to work with the owner to see if we can't lessen this dogs reactions using positive methods and I think she's going to take me up on it.   Is there a guarantee that her dog would never react that way again?  No.  But it's worth a try.

"My dogs are friendly!"

Oh my goodness, yesterday was such a beautiful day, the pups and I went for a walk in the woods behind a local park.  It's quiet, and we're usually alone, they get to enjoy nature, sniff all the new smells, and just 

"be dogs"

Do you see what I see?

Once we were at the turn around point, I saw a man with his dog on leash coming around the corner.  I kept my pups attention while he quietly went in another direction. No muss, and no fuss as we began to head back to the car.
As we were rounding the corner that leads to the main part of the park, I hear those infamous words that can make anyone shudder... "My dogs are friendly" and before I know it, three dogs are upon us, immediately imposing on my dogs space.

I'm happy to say that nothing happened, they really were friendly. And, besides being taken aback and definitely a little irritated, my pups were ok with it. Ok. Not happy. But suppose my dogs weren't "OK" with it? Or were scared of other dogs or people? Suppose I was the one that was scared of dogs? When I told the owner about the dog up the path, he said, "Oh, that's ok. These guys are friendly" That won't do you or your dogs any good if the other dog is not. In fact, that is when something can go terribly wrong.
My point is that just because your dogs are friendly, it doesn't mean that the world will be friendly back. Allowing them to run up to other people, with or without dogs, is rude and can turn into a dangerous situation. So, please be polite. Leash your dogs when others are near. Take them off the beaten path and give your pups treats for paying attention to you so that others may pass you without a thought.
And one more thing, NEVER have your dog off leash unless it's a safe as can be environment, they pay attention to you, and they have a great recall!  Keep them safe.

Why would you want to do all that?

I just don't get it.

vs

I was walking my dogs the other evening when I saw someone down the road also walking her two dogs.  While I was watching her I was hearing whirr, click, whirr, click, click, whirr and so on.  She was using retractible leashes for both dogs.   

Now, both of the dogs were small and neither of them were "pullers" but I still heard the whirr (let the line out) Click ( lock it = that's far enough) , Click ( unlock), whirr (out goes the line again), click, whirr, click...  You get the idea.  And let me tell you, she had it down.

Meanwhile, I've got both of my dogs regular leashes in one hand, my hands staying nice and warm in my pockets, free to come out to give the pups a treat for walking with me and paying attention to me with no effort what so ever.

All I could think of while I was watching her was "Why?  Why would you want to make a nice relaxing activity like walking with your dogs into something that requires so much thinking and good mechanical skills?"

A Student Asks About Electronic Fences

Today I received an email from one of my students who was considering installing an electronic fence system in their backyard and wanted to know what I thought.

I'm sorry to sound so negative (again) but I hate them.
I hate electronic (shock) collars.  For one thing, it is way to easy for the human to remove themselves from the act of shocking their pets.  This by itself is a big problem.  Did you know that their use is illegal in at least four European countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany) and is restricted in three others (Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy)?

In a webinar by Kathy Sdao, The Seductiveness of Shock, I learned of an interesting Behavioral Study of Obedience by Stanley Milgram 1963  in which the participants were instructed to use different levels of shock ranging from "Slight Shock to Danger: Severe Shock" on their human "victims," no matter how much they protested and said it hurt, or even if they fell silent.  The victims were not actually being shocked but those pushing the buttons didn't know this.  My point is that even knowing that the level of shock ordered could be dangerous, some did as they were told, disregarding the poor man on the other end of the wires.

And now, back to the electronic fences.  Companies make them attractive by saying things like
"Your dog deserves the joy and freedom to run and play freely without the physical restraint of a leash always controlling their movement, ..."
"Electronic pet fences and kennels keep your pet safely in your yard"   Until they don't.
"... have won the hearts of over 2 million owners and their dogs & cats"  I think the dogs and cats would strongly object to this statement.
"Most Reliable, Humane electronic fences"  Shocking an animal is humane???

Unfortunately, what they don't tell you about are the problems using these systems can cause.  And electronic fences can cause quite a variety of issues where there would normally be none.

They can cause the dog to shut down and be afraid to be outside.

Not knowing where this punishment is coming from, or being able to understand why it happens, they can start relating the shocks and warnings to anything that is happening around them at the time.  An example is if a dog or human is approaching, and the puppy goes to say hi and gets the ZAP! or BEEP!   The pup can relate it to the approaching dog or human and then becomes fearful of anyone/thing approaching.  This will usually lead to your pup being "reactive" which is often fear based, and acting aggressive because they are trying to get the scary thing away from them since it causes bad things to happen (shock).              
Another problem with that is that the behavior doesn't usually stay in the yard.  The fear will go beyond the invisible fence lines and come inside the house, or while out on walks, in the car, etc.  
A person who lives in my area put in an electronic fence for their smaller dog who is an absolutely lovely sweet dog and loved everyone.. (past tense).  Now, whenever anyone walks past their house, he comes out like Cujo.  He even attacked an unsuspecting dog that was being walked and wandered onto his yard.  This could have gone very badly for him since the other dog was much larger.  My pups and I have always had a good relationship with him, so he doesn't do that to us.  Instead he cowers just at the imaginary boundary line.... wants to say Hi but knows he can't.  Sometimes I'll go over into their yard and bring him away from the boundary line and pet him. You can see the relief flood through his body.  They also leave him outside when they're not home, thinking he's safe.  He's not.  It would be very easy for a dog or other animal to come in and hurt him, for someone to steal him, or for him to break over the line either to chase something or if the collar is not working.  He has run through the line into the road, then he didn't want to come back when the owners were calling him.  Someone once told me that the fence doesn't beep or shock if he's coming back from the other side of it.  I guess they forgot to explain that to their dog.
I currently have two clients whose dogs are reactive to other dogs.. both have an electronic fence.  It might be coincidence, then again, it might not.

It can and often does cause fear of other beeps and noises.  If the dog is in the house and the microwave or something beeps, it can cause the dog to now be afraid of receiving the shock in the house.  How can you reason that away with a dog?   You can't.  And he has just become afraid of being in the one place that he should always feel safe.
I had an 'almost client' that wanted to work on her dog not going over the threshold of the front door. When I arrived, I saw she had a shock collar on her dog. When asked why she said that she had the e-fence installed so he wouldn't go through the front door.  It was in the house!!  I had her remove the collar and got out my yummy treats and my clicker to go over my training methods with her.  One click and the dog ran into the corner of the kitchen and would not come back out.  The poor thing looked like I had beat him when just moments earlier he was so happy to see me.  My heart fell and of course the woman never had me back.  Before I had started I asked her if he was afraid of noises, etc., which is a standard question, and she said no.  Afterwards I talked to other trainers and one had suggested that maybe the collars warning 'beep' was more of a clicking noise or had a click like sound associated with it's activation. Or maybe it sounded like the latch on the door and suddenly that sound was in the kitchen which meant the zap couldn't be far behind.  I don't know and never will.

If you're saying that your dog would never be outside unsupervised, then why get one?  Besides training a great recall - which we do in class - having your dog on a 20 foot lead can be just as rewarding for him.  He'd probably rather have you out there playing with him anyway.

So those are my feelings about electronic fences.  My question to you is, is it worth taking a chance of traumatizing our dogs?

And the student that asked for my opinion?  I’m happy to report that I received this reply: “Wow, I am so glad I asked!!  Thank you so much for dissuading me”

What Are You Teaching Your Dog?

If your dog is pulling you to get to anywhere, everywhere, even if it seems like nowhere, and you follow, what have you taught him?

You have taught him that you'll follow him anywhere, everywhere, even if it seems like nowhere, whether you want to or not.

~~~

If your dog is pulling so you take his collar in hand and hold him close to you, practically lifting his front paws off the ground while you're walking and explaining to him that if he doesn't stop pulling he will hurt himself, what have you taught him?

Not one single thing that is good.  No, your dog does not understand you or your actions no matter how many ways you try to explain it.

                                ~~~

If your dog is on leash and pulling you to get to anywhere, everywhere, even if it seems like nowhere, and you stop, only to continue the forward motion once the leash is slack, what have you taught him?

You have taught him that he can only get anywhere when the leash is slack.  Yes, it is easier said than done, but when you take the time, be patient and be consistent, it's worth it.  We want the leash to be the safety net, not the controller.  When we use it to pull our dogs or allow ourselves to be pulled, it's not an enjoyable walk for either of us.
                                ~~~
If you're out for a walk, and your dog is walking nicely next to you so you slip him a treat, what have you taught him?

You have taught him that being next to you is a good place to be and the more it is reinforced (i.e. treated) the stronger the desired behavior will be.  In other words, your dog will want to be by your side.
                               ~~~
If you yell at your dog as he pees or poops in the house, what have you taught him?

You have taught him that it is SCARY to pee or poop in front of you because you yell.  Then he may stop peeing or pooping in front of you anywhere.  Inside or outside.   Instead he may hide where he goes when he's inside, and never want to 'go' when he's out with you.
                               ~~~
If you come home only to discover that sometime earlier your dog had peed, pooped, or done something else to upset you, and you yell at him, what have you taught him?

You have taught your dog to be scared of you when you come home.  Your dog will have no idea why you're yelling at him.  And that 'guilty' look?  That's just worry or fear.  Again, it may not be the lesson he learns the first time, but then again, it might.
                              ~~~
If your dog poops in the house and you "bring" him over to it, pick up the poop, bring him and it outside, drop the poop then give your dog a treat, what have you taught him?

Lets try to break this down a little.

Your dog poops in the house and you "bring" him over to it, what have you taught him?  Most likely you have taught him to be to be very concerned when you come to him with 'that look' that you know is on your face, scared of you when you reach for his collar, and definitely to NOT want to come with you.
Then you pick up his poop, bring him and it outside, drop the poop and give him a treat.  Huh?  That just doesn't make any sense.  Do you think that the treat at the end would be telling your dog that if he poops outside, he'll get a treat?  The plain and simple answer is, no.  Being with your dog and giving him a treat right after he poops in the yard is what tells him that.

The true scenario above happened with an older puppy that had not had an accident in the house in a while.  It is quite probable that the dog was giving his humans signs that he needed to go and they weren't paying attention.  When you gotta go, you gotta go.
                              ~~~
All of the preceding scenarios can be prevented or taught with management, training or both.  If you need assistance with any of them, please find a positive trainer to work with who can guide you and your dog down a path that will help you build a long lasting and trusting relationship.

Before you act or react, THINK   "What am I teaching my dog?"

Three Simple Questions

There has been a new challenge going around called the World Dog Trainers' Motivation Transparency Challenge that is based on Jean Donaldson's three questions that you should ask any trainer that you are considering having work with your dog... and of course, you.

While I personally have not been 'challenged', I feel that these questions are important and ones that I'd like to answer now.


1) WHAT HAPPENS IF MY DOG GETS IT RIGHT?   If your dog gets it right, I am going to MARK IT, either using a clicker, a noise like a click with the mouth, or a word - such as Yip!, then I am going to REINFORCE your dog by giving him something he likes.  Usually that will be a food reward.  I use a lot of food in my training because it's fast and easy, and dogs love to eat good food.  Sometimes the reinforcement will be play, such as a quick game of tug or throwing of the ball, and other times it will be something the dog wants to do in the environment.  In other words, if they want to go sniff a certain spot, or chase a squirrel, they will either be off of the leash and released to go do it or we will do it together if they have to stay on the lead.  And yes, I have run to "sniff" with my dogs.

2) WHAT HAPPENS IF MY DOG GETS IT WRONG?  In a nutshell, nothing.  I will take a brief pause then give your dog something to do that he can do correctly, no matter how simple, and get reinforced for.  If I am having to many incorrect responses, I will stop training and go back over what it is we are trying to teach your dog, and figure what needs to be changed to make your dog successful.  Generally that will mean breaking it down into smaller steps and/or changing the learning environment.  However sometimes, and for whatever reason, it's just something that your dog cannot or will not do.  Your dog has the right to say "No"

3) IS THERE A LESS INVASIVE WAY OF DOING WHAT YOU DO?  Not as far as I know.  I promise to do my best to have everything set up so that your dog is having fun and is happy to be learning.  There is never a reason to say "No" or "Uh-uh" "Tzz" to your dog, to yell, intimidate, poke with hand or foot, do a leash correction (jerk the leash), use a choke, prong, or shock collar.  Nothing is important enough to warrant those actions.  And I mean Nothing.


So when you are looking for a dog trainer, please remember these three simple questions.  If you do not get the answers you are looking for, keep looking.  There are a lot of wonderful positive trainers out there.

Thank you,
Lisa Arant
Small and tall Dog Training
Rockville, MD

Related Post - Do No Harm

On The Subject of Grooming (part two)

So, now you've got your groomer picked out and your puppy is home.  Now what?  Now it's time to start getting your puppy ready for it's first grooming experience.  The following is a list to help you get started.  Take the time to work on all of these exercises every day and never continue on to the next step until you know that your puppy is totally comfortable with your current step.  For example, don't start holding your pups individual toes if he's not comfortable with you handling his paw.  

• Begin getting your puppy used to being brushed.  How? Show the puppy the brush, follow with a little (pea sized or smaller) treat. Gently touch the puppy with the brush, follow with treats.  Gently brush the puppy, follow with treats.  You get the idea.  If your puppy is more interested in playing with the brush, slowly feed him the treats while you are brushing or let him lick something such as a small amount of canned dog food, meat baby food or fat free cream cheese that has been smeared on a plate while you brush him.  If the puppy chooses to move away from the brush, let him.  Don't ever force your puppy (or dog) to stay there.  Just try again another time.
• Get your puppy used to blow dryers.  Turn it on, give the puppy some treats.  Do this a few times throughout the days (yes, I mean dayS).  Once your puppy is comfortable around it, after making sure it is on a low, cool setting, you can briefly have the air blow on him.  Then, you guessed it, out come the treats.  Again, do a few sessions of this and always follow it with treats. 
• Touch your puppies paws and individual toes.  And just like above, follow it with treats.  We have to get them used to having their toes held since they will be getting their nails clipped.  After they are comfortable with you holding their paws and individual toes, touch the nail clippers on a toenail, then treat, touch, treat.  Then clip the very tip of one toenail, YAY! follow with treats.  Clip another toenail the next day and ALWAYS follow with some yummy treats.
• To get your puppy used to the bath, we first have to get them used to the bathroom and the bathtub.  Have them go into the bathroom and let them eat treats.  You can sprinkle them about the floor and let them "explore" the room while finding the tasty treats.  Place your puppy in the DRY tub and give him treats in there, then take him out.  In tub, treat, then out of the tub.  In, treat, out.  run water in the tub while the puppy is out of it and again, feed treats.  You have just added a new element to the whole experience and that can be a scary noise!
• Place the puppy in the tub with just a little bit of water in it and treat.  If they're enjoying the water, let them play in it for a few minutes.  They can even have their very own rubber duck. :-)
• Once they are comfortable, they are ready for their first bath.  Remember to go slow, be gentle and treat, treat treat.

• 

Picture from Dogs Naturally Magazine Facebook page

On The Subject Of Grooming - Part 1

I love you Little P

Oh my dear little Percy.  Little did you know that when we went to the MCHS rescue to see if there was a dog we'd like to foster, that it was the man that picked you out.  Not me.  My instincts said No.  I wasn't sure why.  But it was the man's turn to pick out our next foster and he thought..  "Cute - check, small - check, likes her (me) - check.  Should be easy to get him adopted"  You know the saying, Man makes plans - God laughs     But I'm glad he picked you.

I tried so hard to get you adopted. I  brought you to two adoption events, but you didn't do well at them.  You didn't like the other dogs there, nor did you particularly like the people.  You really didn't like people that came to the house either.  You went after our neighbors very gentle son, our kid's friends and in particular our daughters boyfriend, anyone that Doobie and Belle barked at - even if it was a happy bark.  You really didn't know what to do with those two.  When they acted like silly dogs you'd run over and bite at their legs as if to say "Stop It!  What are you doing?"  You even went after the man that picked you to come home with us.  Yes, he did trip over you, twice, but you blend in with the floors and the couch so well.
You were with us for 3 months before I ever saw you raise your tail in a happy wag.  And then the day came.  You were adopted!   We'd found out the day before you went home with her that you had kidney stones. And 5 days later, you were returned. It was going to cost the adopter $1500 that she wasn't ready or able to spend.
That was it.  I thought that would be the end of you.  The shelter wouldn't spend that kind of money and I didn't have it.  So I called our friend Mary, co-director of the rescue Hedgesville Hounds, and left a message of what I thought would be your demise.  I didn't expect her to do anything,  I just needed to talk to someone to help me accept it.  Lo and behold, Hedgesville Hounds offered to pay for your surgery!  They saved your life, Little P.  
I went back to trying to get you adopted.  On Facebook around Halloween I posted this saying your were desperate and trick-or-treating for a home.

And then I tried this post "Lisa found a lonely Little Dog.  Oh no!  Lisa was working when a lonely little Percy from who knows where appeared at the Humane Society.  She's worried that he may never find a new home because, well, he's a little different.  But he's cute" (This was a parody from a FarmVille post about a little cow or something)
Evidently you were meant to be with me.  Everyone else knew it pretty much from the start.  Everyone but me.  And finally one day, 18 months later to be exact, we realized we couldn't do that to you. We couldn't put you through getting used to another home.  You'd started to relax with us and make yourself at home.  Besides, who else would grow to love you as much as we had?  It finally became obvious that this was your home all along.

And I thank God for you. Even though you've been a pain in the butt at times, you have been such a wonderful blessing.  I believe that you were put smack dab in the middle of my life for a reason.  If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have met the wonderful people that came into our lives.  I wouldn't have learned how to manage the issues that special dogs such as yourself, can present nearly as well as I have.  And I don't know that I would be able to relate to and help others with their own special dogs, without having experienced it all myself.  Or maybe someday I would have, but I don't think so.   Because of you and everything that led up to you, I have learned so much. 

And now, it looks like we are on our final chapter together.  You have prostate cancer.  It's been a few months since diagnosis and, all things considered, you had been doing fairly well up to now.    

You will be so missed when you are gone.  You're our special Little P!  I'll miss having you glued to my side every second that I am home.  How, with those same teeth that you'd threaten to take a bite out of someones ankle,  gently and tenderly you take treats. The way that you snort then flop over on the bed for a belly and butt rub in the mornings is so cute.  That so very sweet and loving side that only a few got to see.  And of course there's your "Yay! I pooped!" run through the yard.  I've never seen a dog get so excited and happy about it.  

This morning I watched and you yelped while trying to poop.  You've done it before but not like this morning.  This morning there was no "Yay! I pooped!" run afterwards.  I promise I will not let you suffer.  We will try some things with your diet and see if it doesn't help.  But if or when you've had enough..  be sure to tell me.  I'll know the look.  I promise.  I hope.

You will always have a special place in my heart.  I love you more than ever Little P.  We all love you.

Until we meet at the Rainbow Bridge - R.I.P little Percy  2001 (?) - May 21, 2014




May 21, 14
It's now been almost two weeks since I originally wrote and published this but it never felt quite right so it has been edited a few times.  I guess that some things just never feel right. Like having to say GoodBye to those we love.

On the subject of grooming.. (part 1)

You should have seen Doobie the first day I met him.  The poor thing was so matted that he looked like an afro with feet.  His ears stuck straight out like the wings on an airplane only they were about 2 inches thick with matts and you couldn't see his eyes at all.  I was at his original humans home (I have an aversion to the word "owner") so there was nothing I could do except to try to explain to the woman that those matts hurt and he needed grooming ASAP!  Unfortunately Doobie didn't come home with me that day, but his mother Annabelle did.  She looked more like an old fashioned mop that had been through the ringer a few times too many.  But don't fret, it took a couple weeks, but we were finally able to get the rest of the pups out of there and into foster homes.

Annabelle after her first grooming

Doobie after his first grooming.  He looked like he had never seen
the sun - and he probably hadn't.

 Because of the condition Belle was in, the only thing we could do was get her groomed right away.  There wasn't any time to worry about conditioning her to like it - it had to be done.
Fortunately,  I know the groomer.  I used to work with her so I knew first hand how great she is with dogs.  And 10 years later she is still the only one I trust with our dogs.  God forbid she ever retires!
She is the first one I recommend when people ask, usually because they don't know who to go to or they've had a bad experience or, I should say, their dog has.

If your new puppy is going to need grooming, the time to start looking for a groomer is before the puppy comes home.
Not all groomers are alike. Start asking your friends that use groomers who they use.  Then ask them why.  Exactly why.  While I do like the dogs to look good, I'm not picky.  The most important thing is how they are taken care of while they are in someone else's care.  So get specifics.  How is the dog when they go there?  Is he afraid?  Have they ever found any mysterious cuts or problems that should have been brought to their attention by the groomer or receptionist when they picked him up? and so on.  If you like what you hear, see if you can make an appt to go and check them out.
Here is one person's experience with groomers.  I have edited out parts to shorten it.

We first started taking our dog to the groomer at our Vet and I would usually drop him off. Our dog would shake and be scared until he saw the groomer walk up and then his tale would wag and he would go right to the groomer and I just felt like that was a sign he liked the groomer (and not the pokes and shots from the vet!). Long story short the groomer disappeared and the vet said they weren't going to have a groomer anymore.So we started taking our dog to ____ (based solely off of reviews on yelp.com and location) and my husband would usually drop him off. One time though (and the last time), I dropped our dog off and he was crying and clinging on to me and shaking when the lady tried to take him from me. So, I called my husband and asked him if that was common... he said yes (husbands! grrrr!).        Anyway, that is when we asked you if you had a recommendation. You said that you took your dogs to Susan at Kenhaven, and since it's right near my husbands office we figured we'd give it a try. Our dog isn't crying and clinging to us when we leave him and I love that the staff lets us know everything.

                                

Before (just need a little clean up)

After

Here is another person's experience with grooming

"I changed groomers because the former groomer was recommending some training techniques that I didn't quite think were appropriate.  It made me feel uncomfortable to think if these behaviors were suggested, then perhaps the groomer was doing them to our dog while he was there.  I also noticed that he would come home from the appts very wound up!  I thought that if he was acting different after each of the appts, then he may have been under some stress during those appts.  If only dog could talk!"

But if you think about it, her dog was talking.  And thankfully she listened!

There are a lot of groomers out there, but not necessarily all of them are good ones.  It is important for you to pay attention to how your dog behaves when you bring him and when you pick him up. Also trust your gut.  If you don't have a good feeling, then find someone else.  You also have the options of finding a groomer that will come to your home or learning to groom your dog yourself.   Just remember, always be an advocate for your dog. Because if you're not, who will be?

Stay tuned for part two… Preparing your puppy                  On The Subject Of Grooming - Part 2

Thank you

I worked as a kennel technician at the old Montgomery County Humane Society Animal shelter on Rothgeb Drive in Rockville, back in the mid 90's.  Even back then the building was, well, it was old and desperately in need of updating and they were talking about building a new shelter.  As time wore on, I would go back to visit the shelter now and then and when I left I had such a feeling of sadness for the animals that were there.  It's not that I thought they didn't receive the care that they needed or that the employees and volunteers didn't do everything that they could for them.  It was the setting.  To me, it had such a feeling of dread throughout it, like a cloud was always over it.

This morning I had the pleasure of seeing the new Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony.  All I can say is it's about time and Thank You.

Thank you for finally giving the dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, chinchillas, fish, turtles, horses, pigs, cows and every other animal that may need temporary housing a place that will keep them warm and as comfortable as possible until they are either reunited with their owner or their new forever home is found, or until...

Thank you for being a force-free facility with enclosures nice and bright with windows, plenty of grounds for the dogs to get exercise and rooms for the cats to relax and lounge in.

And a big Thank You to MCPAW for all the work you've done raising funds that helped to make the center what it is and the continuous support for the animals.

If you wish to visit the new center it will open on March 2nd, 2014.  It is located at  7315 Muncaster Mill Rd, Derwood, MD.

Here is my adopted boxer Mitzy with a foster kitten.  
The top picture is me & Larry a Dane/Lab mix

Your New Dog Is Not Your Old Dog

So please stop comparing and change your expectations.

It's funny how I see trends in the calls I get for training services.  I don't know if it has something to do with the time of year and a lot of people brought new dogs into their home over the holidays or what, but for the past month or so, during at least 50% of the calls, I've inevitably heard the person say "My other dog was a  fill in the blank  , and he never did this, or that, or anything wrong - ever "

To be fair, most of these people had only had a dog or two that had passed away after living a nice long life.  They are remembering how nice and calm their previous dog was.  Their dog never chewed on things they weren't supposed to, always let them know when they had to go out, etc.  It sort of reminds me of child birth…  you remember the joy and blank out on everything that came before hand.

Whether you're bringing a new puppy or adult dog, purchased or adopted, into your home, remember that this is a living, breathing being.  It is it's own entity and should be treated as one.
Your new dog has no prior knowledge about you or your habits and rules.  But given time and gentle guidance and training, he will learn them and you will learn about him.  Together you will develop your own special bond.

 Mitzy, my boxer, loved the kittens I fostered but chewed through the baby gates and destroyed  couches.

 Doobie has always been such a calm and gentle soul and makes a wonderful therapy dog

 Annabelle, Doobies mother, is a little shy of strangers but has a heart of gold

Percy hates cats, doesn't care much for people, but is very loving and sweet in his own special way.

Do No Harm

I know. It sounds like the oath doctors take - in fact I'm sure it is in there somewhere. But shouldn't that be the same for all professionals? I am a positive dog trainer. What that means is that I don't use force, pain, intimidation, choke collars, electronic collars, prong collars or anything that can fall into any of those categories. I train by reinforcing the desired behaviors with rewards such as food or play or whatever the dog enjoys at the moment.
Do no harm.
It seems that lately I've been seeing the use out dated punishment  and dominance theory training every where I go.
There's a little pet specialty boutique that Annabelle and I used to (note that I said "used to") walk to at least once a week during our breaks from the office. One day, I turned around and right there, hanging with the collars was a StarMark training collar (pictured left).  I looked at that thing and I looked at the young girl behind the counter and asked her if she would use that thing on her dog. "Sure" she said. "It doesn't hurt them. [The owner] uses it all the time on her dog." I almost asked her to put it on and lets try it out. Instead, I left and I haven't been back. If it doesn't hurt, why use it. Isn't that the whole point of such a gruesome looking device? To cause pain to the dog that doesn't obey?  It says that it is "gentle but effective in enforcing pack leadership."  And what happens when the dog doesn't respond right away?  Most people will yank harder.  I have neighbors that use prong collars and when I asked them about it, they said "[Expletive] right.. If they don't listen they will get pain"
This is what it says in the description of the Neck Tech.
"The enclosed design of the Neck Tech Sport (pictured right) conceals the prongs on both long hair and short hair dogs making this prong collar very discreet without the need for a nylon prong collar cover. In other words, no one knows that you haven't been training your dog, but torturing.
One other note about these and the other collars such as choke and shock,  they can, and do cause undesired (aka bad) behaviors to occur where before there were none, and make existing undesired behaviors worse.
Why would you willingly do this to your dog?  It's not their fault that you haven't taught them what behaviors you want.

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According to an article by Timothy Kirn for the VIN News Service

"The AVSAB recommends that verterinarians not refer clients to trainers or behavior consultants who coach and advocate dominance hierarchy theory and the subsequent confrontational training that follow from it," the position statement says.

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Do No Harm

The next one I've been hearing a lot is the "tzz" noise that has been made so popular by a tv personality that likes to add a quick side kick or hard poke to emphasize it.  That is all he is folks.  He is a TV personality - nothing more.  His shows are edited to make it look like everything he does is seamless.  Let me ask you this.  Would you honestly pay someone to come over and choke your dog with the collar until his tongue turns blue because they have a behavior problem? Or pin him on his back until he submits? Now lets substitute the dog for something else.  Would you pay someone to do this to your cat? Your bird? Your ferret? Your child?  What makes it ok to do this to dogs?  And what are you teaching them?  Nothing, except to fear/hate you.  Wouldn't it be better to teach them what you want instead?  

Trainer and friend Jeni Grant of Train Your Best Friend uses a great analogy that goes something like this: 

Pretend you're starting a new job. They sit you at the desk with no instructions because "you should know what they want you to do" and every time you do something wrong, they give you a jerk or a jolt or a kick.  They never tell you what they want, you are on your own.  Now, pretend you're at that new job and they've sat you at a desk and given you step by step instructions of what they want and every step you do right, gets you a chocolate kiss (or better yet, extra $). And when you do the whole job really well, they give you even more. Which job do you think would give you more confidence, you'd do better at, and which one do you think you'd enjoy more and want to work harder for?

So, the next time your dog is doing something "undesirable", instead of punishing them, simply interrupt the behavior and give them something appropriate to do instead.  If you're not sure how to do this, have a session or two with a positive trainer or sign up for positive training classes. 

Study - If you're aggressive, your dog will be too. Says Veterinary study at University of Pennsylvania

Dogs aren't the only ones to worry about...

We recently started remodeling on the back section of our house which includes a new roof. Anyone that's ever had any work done, knows what this means. Loud bangs, loud equipment whirring and sawing and drilling, loud everything. I wasn't concerned about Doobie and Annabelle. They have slept through everything including earthquakes, nothing seems to affect them. Percy, on the other hand, is a different story. He's never done well with new people coming into the house, let alone people coming in and tearing things apart. I knew what we had (and still have) to do. Percy needs to stay in the bedroom with some light classical music on. The blinds are open but only on the upper part of the windows so light comes in and Percy can't see out. Plus, he has a bully stick to chew on.

That one was easy to figure out. But what about the birds? Talk about stress! I have 4 birds. Two small parrots and two cockatiels, one of which is almost 22 yrs old. Birds really don't do well with stress. Feather plucking, or not eating, it doesn't take long for a bird to go downhill. So, what to do? The room they're in is right next to the back of the house -- lots of banging, not good. So I was going to put them upstairs -- lots of banging again, plus being closer to the banging from the roof AND being in a strange room, REALLY not good.

Then one night as I was tossing and turning while worrying about all of this, it occurred to me that when birds think there is danger around, they are quiet. How can I convince my birds that there is no danger or nothing to worry about? I already had the answer and didn't even know it. When I was leaving the next morning, I put itunes on and started playing birdsong radio (www.birdsongradio.com) where the birds are always chirping. There was my answer! If those birds were always singing, there was nothing to worry about. Sounded good in theory. So for the past two weeks, the birds have stayed in their regular room only the streaming bird songs have been playing a little louder than in the past. There has been some major noise going on at my house and not one feather has been ruffled or one seed left untouched. My birds are not showing any signs of stress whatsoever. So, if you have any feathered friends in your home and you need to reassure them that all is well. Try birdsongradio.com or any other streaming bird sounds you can find and see if that doesn't help.

and as for the fish ... We'll save that one for another day

I'm a therapy dog, you know...

This is Doobie, our therapy dog. What makes him a good therapy dog? A good therapy dog will not jump up on people but will wait patiently either sitting or standing with all four on the floor to be pet. A good therapy dog knows that when you tell them to leave something alone, they will leave it alone. This is so, so, so important for the safety of your dog. God forbid they ever pick up a pill that has fallen on the floor. We also don't want them to be cleaning food or anything else off the floor, or someone's bib, or from the trash, or... well, you get the idea. A good therapy dog does not scare easily. It is alright if something or someone startles them, but they need to be able to recover quickly and go on about their business. Most importantly, a good therapy dog doesn't care if someone is in a wheel chair , using a cane or walker, walks with a limp, doesn't have legs, pets them with hands that are disfigured from arthritis, is loud, is quiet, is very old, or very young. A good therapy dog will be accepting of almost everyone. If you think your dog has what it takes, and you have the time to give, here are some steps you can take. 1. Start with obedience training 2. Take the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC)test. While this is not necessarily a requirement for all Pet Therapy organizations, it is a good gauge for you to know how you and your dog are doing. 3. Find an organization that fits you. Doobie and I are with Pets On Wheels. They are a good, easy going, caring organization.

Please consider becoming a therapy team. You will help to make someone's day a little better.

The Joy of Dogs

ahhhhhh

Do you know what joy looks like on your dog?  I mean pure joy.  I see it every once in a while and it's just beautiful.  I bring the dogs to an area where I can let AnnaBelle and Doobie off leash and Percy gets the 20 foot lead so he can at least feel like he's free and run with them.  Belle runs across the grass, from tree to tree, hoping for squirrels or rabbits to chase.  She investigates every hole she finds and follows every scent.  I swear if she could smile, you'd see it stretch from ear to ear.  One whistle or call of her name and she comes running back to me for her treat.  Okay, so maybe sometimes it takes two or three whistles or calls - but not very often.  Then as we start to head back home, she'll find a nice patch of clover and stretch out as if to say "ahhh, this is the life."  Seeing them able to just be dogs and do what dogs do for a while, brings me joy too.  I wish it was something we could do all the time.