My Musings on Jurassic Park

A few weeks ago, after seeing Jurassic World, I posted this on facebook:
I thought that movie was going to give me "Chris Pratt, raptor whisperer" but instead it gave me something even better "Chris Pratt, positive reinforcement raptor clicker trainer." Swoon.

Now I have seen the movie a second time and have a more solid opinion formed.  I would like to expand on that Facebook post a little bit.  Last month, in anticipation of seeing Jurassic World, I sat down and watched all 3 of the other Jurassic Park movies.  Me and my husband are such big fans, I was way, way, into dinosaurs when the first one came out and I remember going to see it in the theater and thinking it was just the coolest thing.  I am so glad we re-watched them going into Jurassic World, not because any of that previous plot really mattered in regards to this new movie, but because it really made me think about how far we have come when it comes to how the scientific community views animals.

I had seen the previews of Chris Pratt hunting bigger dinosaurs with a pack of velociraptors and jumping into their pen pulling a move that I expected to be Caesar Milan like in his control of the dinosaurs.  I was excited for that more than anything else really.  Little did I know that the movie really was going to deliver something even better.  When I saw a movie star pull out a clicker and a bucket of meat I just about died of excitement.  Did I really just watch someone look cool controlling large, dangerous predators with POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT?  I did.  I did see that.  I also like that they almost ate him a few times, but that didn't really shake his trust of them.  He was always worried they were going to eat him so it wasn't much of a surprise.  Obviously there were a lot of inaccurate things because well, this IS Jurassic Park after all.  Besides the fact that there are dinosaurs walking around there were other things like the actual execution of the clicker training being a little off, also they do reinforce the alpha thing a little bit, I'm not sure that is totally inaccurate based on the imaginary group structure they gave the animals, but whatever.  As I walked out of the movie a friend of mine said "Maybe now people will think clicker training is totally bad-ass."  I hope so.

It seems to me that despite lots and lots of scientific evidence in the other direction that trainers alpha rolling dogs is getting more and more popular.  I am not saying I am beyond using whatever works for your particular dog, or there is only one way to train, but lets base these methods in modern, scientific fact.  As a positive reinforcement trainer I know I get criticized because in limited situations I am not beyond interrupting a behavior with something like a spray bottle, but that is a far cry from this constant punishment crap.  Come on people, every behavior is not explained with "they are trying to be your alpha" in fact most are not!  Even if your dog thinks they run your house alpha rolling them is not going to convince them otherwise.  Can't we see that positive reinforcement works?  Just yesterday me and my husband spent twenty minutes defending our position that Nova does not in fact think she is our "alpha."  Also Copley does not like rolling over at all, but I assure you the last thing he imagines is that he is my boss.  He dislikes being on his back because he has messed up sinuses from being a poorly thought out cross between a flat faced breed and who knows what else and whenever he is on his back he sneezes violently. The bottom line is we need more positive methods in the pop culture and this movie does that for sure.

One other thing I am curious about is wither the film makers were trying to make a connection to the Navy's dolphin program.  Owen, the trainer played by Chris Pratt, had recently come out of the Navy.  Were they implying that he had come from the dolphin program?  Also the raptor head pieces were very reminiscent of the ones that movies tend to portray on dolphins.  If that is the case it is very interesting to me that Owen was so against the militarization and exploitation of his raptors.  Food for thought for sure.

Happy Adoption Day Nova Bear!

I can't believe it has been two years since Nova came into our lives.  Two years since she was handed to me at a vets office as they warned me not to take her.  Two years since her bony little body shivered in the back of my car crate and I put on gloves to get her out.  Two years since we realized she was not adoptable, she was not a foster dog- she had landed in her forever home.  Two years ago we wondered if she would ever stand up straight, if she would ever eat in front of us, if she would ever pick up a toy.  Looking back on that time I'm not sure exactly what we were thinking was going to happen.  Personally I did not have a lot of faith in what kind of dog she was going to turn into.  I just knew that there was something about her that I knew deserved a chance, I knew Copley loved her immediately and more unconditionally than any dog he had ever met before and I knew she was family.  Not even metaphorical family- she was found within a mile of where Kerri was dumped and other than her height they look identical so who knows?

I was worried about her, and worried she would never adjust to living inside with humans.  I talked to our trainers and they helped, our vet came the house and had so much faith in her- maybe the most of anyone.  Still, the first week we had her this was what we saw-

Then she started standing up and walking around so we expanded her world to this pen-

Where she made a best friend

 

Then relaxed just a little bit and celebrated her first Christmas inside with a family.  She had a stocking and her Grandparents sent her gifts.  More importantly to her she was warm, and safe and full

 

Then tail tucked, backed into a corner she started eating in front of us

Four months later she played with me for the first time- with that green bone.

Slowly but surely she made progress.   Every day we worked on clicker tricks and she got more and more confident.  Then one day she let me pet her.  Just a little scratch under the chin.  Then a little later she sat next to me on the couch.  Then I pet her some more and before I knew it she was coming over to be pet every day.  Finally one day about a month later she realized she was not just a feral dog, she was a chihuahua!  And my lap has looked like this ever since-

With her nickname being changed from "Cheney" to "Snuggle Muffin" she celebrated her second Christmas with us.

 She even had a Secret Santa-

 

Then she started taking fun trips to the park

She took her first vacation- where we broke down and everyone got a little bit hot

Next she graduated obedience class

And finally she is all snuggled up ready for her third Christmas as a member of our little family

Some things are still a struggle for Nova but every day she gets better, even now two years later.  These days more often than not she is frolicking with her sister, cuddling on my lap or dropping all the toys in the house behind the couch.  She knows many tricks and loves learning so much I have to hide the clicker when we are not using it.  There is barely a trace of the scared little dog I brought home that first day.  I am so grateful to be Nova's person, she has taught me so much as we worked together to turn this scared dog-

 Into this silly, happy, smart and beautiful one!  (Who is perhaps a little pushy when she wants to play with her sister)

So happy adoption day Nova!  Also thank you to everyone with A Home For Spot (who still know her as Tire Store Chihuahua) who helped trap her and get her to me, particularly Diana, who trusted me with the more difficult dogs like Nova.  I am also forever grateful to my husband who slept on the ground in her pen for a month when she was too scared to go upstairs but unhappy when she was alone and loves her just as much as all our other dog even though she still wont let him pet her.

P.S.- For more adorable Nova pictures follow us on Facebook or Instagram @doginthedesert  In addition to being cute in real life Nova is very photogenic and gets a lot of posts dedicated to her adorable face on there!

Basic Obedience Success

I am so incredibly happy with how Nova did at obedience class!  She was better than I expected and that is something.  She stood up straight, engaged with me, responded to the clicker, and showed curious interest in the world around her.  For most of the class I sat on the ground with her between my legs (it was our first class so there was a lot of talking).  Most people in class sit in a chair, but if I sat in a chair I know she was just going to hide under it.  In my lap she was forced to face the world a little bit but also was more comfortable because she was close to me.  That is a win-win I think.  I was pleasantly surprised when she at one point hopped out of my lap and went over to sniff around and look out the window.  What a brave little one right?  The best part was on our way home, she passed out in the crate and I looked over, she looked just like Kerri.  Totally worry-free and sleeping like a baby in there.  I wish I had a picture of that, but I was driving and it seemed a little unsafe to photograph and drive.

Brave, but still tail tucked.

"I see you have treats over there, maybe I could have one????"

I am excited to see how she progresses.  I think that overall it was a good experience and she enjoyed herself, although she was a little worried the whole class.  I will update you next week too!

What's in your training bag?

I always see people (me included) lugging bags full of stuff to training class.  Some people even carry giant toolbox like bags around with them.  So it got me thinking, what does everyone have in those bags?  I am probably a bad example because I 1) loose bags all the time and leave stuff places, so my bags tended to be a bit of a mess and 2) Get  free stuff that is a little bit useful but I would never buy on my own if I didn't have a blog.  However I just got a new bag and packed it up for Nova (she is starting obedience class tomorrow!) and I wanted to share it's contents with the hopes that you guys would share too!  

This will be my third time sending a dog through basic obedience so I like to think I have a little bit of an idea of what I am doing.  My bag for agility or for Copley would be a little different but this is what I thought Nova will be needing.

For starters dog bigger than bag.  I think that is pretty normal, even for the border collie people.  Excuse the blurry picture, Nova is hard to photograph.  

Now here is the contents of the bag.  Nova has a lot of new stuff, mostly because I was so excited that she was finally starting class and I went a little overboard.  Kerri mostly went to class with free stuff out of referral barkboxes and hand me downs from Copley.  Funny how it worked out that I am blogging about the bag that is neat because I haven't used it yet and that I actually put time and money into putting together.  No one wants to see it once I am digging treats out of pockets and Copley has chewed a hole in the corner.  Er... I mean my training bag always looks JUST like this.  Well moving on, here are the contents of the bag...

1. The bag.  A free bag Ben got with his gift membership to the Sierra club from my Mom.  They accidentally sent two so the dogs got one.
2. A bowl.  Ya know, for water.
3. Slip lead.
4. Leash signs.  Probably wont need these for class, but I do use them walking.
5. Folder with shot records and other paperwork.
6. Yellow lanyard (that I made) and yellow ribbon on a leash clip- because Nova is a Yellow Dog!
7. DAP calming pheromone spray.
8. Moist towlettes.  I would just have baby wipes if I hadn't been sent these for free in a subscription box I reviewed.
9. Clicker
10. Treat pouch (I got a washable, silicone one and I am oh so happy about it)
11. Extra collar, cause Nova wears a breakaway and harness.
12. Treats.  Carnivore crunch (aka Dog Crack) and beef treats.
13. Poop bags
14. Licks calming goo stuff.
15. An off brand thundershirt (she has a thundershirt too)
16. A tube thing for the dispensing of liquid treats.  I will be filling it with baby food before we go in the morning.

Of course Nova will also wear some gear to class.  Her breakaway collar, buddy belt harness and a leash.  I got her a new leash to go with a collar she got for Christmas.  It says ""Judge me by my size, do you?" and has a picture of Yoda it.  I hope she channels a lot of Yoda energy at class.

 So what's in YOUR training bag???  Blog about it or just tell me in the comments!  I am actually really curious!

Good Job Nova!

Identical twins from behind

 This week my parents, aunt and grandfather were all in town.  They didn't stay at the house, but they visited  lot and we had a few meals here.  I was a little bit worried to start with that it would be a lot to have this many people over for Nova.  Well I am happy to report that it went amazingly well.  Nova did not bark or growl at any of the guests ever.  She was a little skiddish, as normal, and she did not allow anyone to move towards her, but on her terms she let everyone pet her.  A few people pet her under the chin, a few on the back and a few even got to rub her chest a little bit.  I was beyond amazed at how well she did.

In other good news it is starting to be a comfortable temperature out at a reasonable hour of the day.  For oh so many reasons that is a good thing, but in particular it is going to give me the opportunity to work with Nova outside a little bit.  She has been reluctantly following me and Kerri down the block as long as nothing crazy happens along the way, but is no lover of the world outside my house and backyard.  My goal for this month is to make her like the outside a little more.  Since her highest value activity is clicker tricks I have decided every day we are going to go out on the leash, but only to the concrete step by the door.  There we will do our regular clicker training session then go inside.  I am hoping that this will make the outside a little more fun for her.  

 

Our first session was a success by Nova standards.  She walked out the door because I had the clicker and a bag of treats.  She was very overwhelmed by the idea of listening to me outside but did "touch" for a click and a treat twice.  Then the neighbor opened their garage door and it was a bit of a disaster.  I had about 5 bits of treats left in my hand so I just said her name and she got a click for looking at me.  I only got brief glances but by treat number five she was excited about the click and not just concerned about being outside so we called it a day and went back in.  The whole session was less than two minutes.  Slow and steady is going to win this race.