Maybe clip that leash instead of hitting your dog with it?

Hanging out by our mailbox

Me and Copley were out for a short walk around our neighborhood and had a terrifying experience.  I live in a suburban community, but it is still pretty tight quarters.  There are no sidewalks in my homeowners association and the houses are packed together.  The thing you need to take away from this information is that it is an on leash area for sure.  I am all for letting dogs run around in rural areas where it is appropriate, but my neighborhood is not one of those places.

Well I had Copley on a leash and we were headed to the mailbox down the street.  Between my house and the mail boxes there was a man standing with two large dogs, one tan and one black.  I'm not sure what they were, but they were tall.  Perhaps giant shepherds of some kind or something crossed with a big sight hound maybe?  The breed is not important to this story, the size is though.  As we approach the man starts yelling at the dogs angrily and pulls his leash out of his pocket.  I stopped to give him a chance to leash up the dog closest to him, it was sitting right next to him in easy reach.  Instead of clipping the leash to the easily accessible dog collar he starts angrily yelling at the dog and hitting him with the leash.  Not a gentle attention getting tap or anything, but hitting him.

I think this is the time I should say that based on what this guy and these dogs were wearing, I would bet this man fancies himself a "dog trainer."  These two were in vests with handles, and wearing around their necks the pinch collar/large black flat buckle collar combo that you might see on a police dog.  If you need all these thing to control your dog, why isn't a leash attached to at least one of them?  The man had cargo pants and a pouch that I imagine were not at all full of treats- as he clearly was using other (obviously ineffective) methods here, but still screamed "tough man trains tough dogs!"

Well the tan dog that is being hit with a leash finally runs away from his person and over to us.  He stopped facing me and Copley about 5 feet away, staring Copley down.  It was the frozen, terrifying stare that you read about in books.  Meanwhile the guy just continues his angry screaming.  I tried to assess my options here.  Picking Copley up was not going to work, as bending forward was only going to provoke an attack I figured.  The dog was huge, it's giant muzzle was level with my chest so if this fight happened I was probably screwed too.  I didn't have the mace I carry on walks because I was just headed to the mailbox.  This really could have been a disaster really quick here.  The fur was starting to go up on Copley's back and this tan dog ever so gently and silently began to curl his lip.  In what had to have looked comically opposite to the other mans method here I just calmly and cheerfully said "Copley!  Come on."  I have to give Copley some credit here, that dog always comes through for me in a pinch.  I want him to get his feet off a chair and you would think he was deaf, but in case of imminent dog attack or pigeon in the house he listens like a champ.  As I said Copley he looked at me and as I cheerfully asked him to move along we stepped sideways out of this dogs glare and walked away briskly at an angle.  By this time the man came over to grab the tan dog and was angrily yelling at it and glaring at me as I was saying "good dog!" to Copley.

Then here comes the black dog jogging down the street at us.  Luckily this one was much friendlier and assumed the "I sniff your but you sniff mine" position with Copley.  I was not thrilled about this as Copley's hackles were still up and he was clearly a little uncomfortable from our last encounter.  This dog was so tall that Copley fit all the way under him and as I was trying to figure a way to pull him out without us getting tangled up (I only had a 4 foot leash to work with and I didn't want to drop it if I didn't have to) I look down and see Copley comically wincing as this dogs giant balls hit him in the face.  It was the only hilarious part of this whole experience.

We took a quick turn around the corner and loitered at the mailbox for a long time to give the dogs a chance to move along.  I have not seen them since and it has been a few days.  Hopefully they were just visitors to the neighborhood. 

P.S.- A few resources if you are either the guy hitting his dogs for no reason in the name of "training" (indicating you might want to learn a little about the real science behind dog behavior) or if you think you might run into someone like that on the street (at least one of you will have some read on what the dog is thinking).  My favorite behaviorist Particia McConnell has some great books The Other End of the Leash and For The Love of a Dog  Those two taught me a lot of what I know about dog body language and have helped me so much in my interactions with our dogs and dogs out in the world over the years.  

Or find a local positive reinforcement based trainer and take a class.

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.

Nova's New Year Resolution

Nova may have made a New Years resolution she didn't tell anyone about.  Or perhaps she just woke up on the right side of the bed on the 1st... and again every day since.  On new years eve she was relaxed and comfortable with strangers in the house, then the next morning she sat inches from Ben gazing lovingly up at him and excitedly wagged her tail when he moved.  

In true Nova fashion she made all of this progress at once, on her own, when I least expected it.  Let me paint a picture of what exactly happened.  We were having three people over for New Years dinner.  As usual with a small number of people who I trust not to engage with her I didn't crate Nova.  I do always make sure when people come over she is wearing a shirt and often I give her some Anxithane- a pretty mild and relatively natural anxiety pill.  On this night fireworks were going off so Copley also got a pill, but Nova seems to care less about fireworks.

When our guests arrived Nova did bark when the door was rung, but then ran over and sat near them.  When a group of us were standing outside the kitchen she sat politely underfoot looking up.  On a few occasions I actually had to tell people not to pet her.  The thing is she did look too nervous for my comfort when people reached for her, so I decided not to let them pet her, but never before has she gotten so close to anyone other than me that they would have the opportunity to pet her.  Later while we were playing a board game in the living room Nova literally frolicked on the couch.  She has been known to joyfully bound around in the very soft throws I put out for Christmas, but only when we are home alone.  A week ago I never would have imagined her doing anything other than worriedly starring at guests from the corner of the room.

In the days since then she has even started doing tricks for Ben, not just me.  All amazing progress and I am so proud of her!  I am also pretty excited that we are going back to basic obedience class tomorrow- not because she did bad the first time per-se, but because it really helped her to go out to a class with other dogs and people.  Since she isn't really in a position to do anything other than a mild version of basic obedience I am just repeating that.  Nothing wrong with sticking to what works.

Dog In The Desert's Guide To Treats- Part 1 Training Treats

Is that bacon in your pocket or did I do something right?

Lately a lot of my friends have been either getting new puppies, starting agility, or doing other things that require treats.  With so many out there (and so many iffy ones on the market) it is a confusing topic that I have been answering many questions about lately.  I thought it might be good to put all my thoughts into one place I'm calling DogInTheDesert's Guide to Treats.  Keep in mind I am very careful about what I feed my dogs, I do not support the major pet food companies and I never would feed treats made in China, so you will not find any of those in this guide.

I'm going to split this up into sections as follows-

1. Training Treats
2. Chew Treats
3. Treats to Occupy Time
4. Biscuits and novelty treats for you to let guests hand out in an effort to stop them from giving your dogs table scraps

Lets start with Training Treats

There are a lot of things to think about when you are looking for training treats.  You need a few things in your arsenal ranging from very high value to just ok, they need to be small (or in the case of chihuahuas tiny) and they need to usually be something that your dog can eat a lot of and not get sick.  For me I also want something that I can put in my pocket or training bag without getting too gross.

Many people make their own training treats.  That is commendable and sometimes I will do that too HOWEVER time is precious.  My dogs eat an entirely home prepared raw diet and that takes a lot of my time.  Rarely do I have the extra desire or ability to spend the day baking and rolling and dehydrating training treats.  If you are the make it yourself type a lot of dogs go crazy for plain ole boiled boneless chicken breast.  Chicken is pretty easy on most tummies, easy to break up and really cheap.  On the home made front another popular training treat is string cheese.  Those are easy to store in your pocket, very high value and if your dog is tolerant of cheese it is a great way to go.  Just be sure to do that in moderation as cheese is both fattening and a little hard on the tummy sometimes.  I used string cheese at agility with Kerri for about 6 months before she started throwing it up in the car on the way home but many use it with total success. 

Moving away from cooking required but sticking with "human food" there are a lot of staples that people go to.  Hot dogs are always an option.  Watch out because there is a lot of salt in hot dogs but many of the natural all beef dogs out there at the health food store are actually better for your dog than many sugar and salt filled soft dog treats out there.  They can be an option if you need something really good and don't use too much of it.  Another popular option with little dogs is plain Cherios.  Cherios are a lot of grain for my taste but they are small, visible on the floor if you are looking to throw them and good sized for littler dogs.

As far as pre-made training treats there is one thing that I recommend above all else.  Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch.  For starters it is typically irresistible to dogs.  I discovered the stuff because a friend at agility class had it and all the dogs went so crazy for it we had to borrow some to get our dogs out on the course.  When I took basic obedience with Nova the same thing happened to me but in reverse and the other owners joked I had bacon in my pockets.  The other great thing about S&C is that they are made from pretty much just ground protein, bone and organ (so exactly what I am feeding the dogs anyway).  For a raw feeder they can even replace a whole meal every once in a while without any stomach upset at all.  For those dogs with sensitivities they come in three different proteins for you to choose from and have no added anything.  The only downside to S&C Carnivore Crunch is that they crumble up pretty bad in your pockets.

Now let's talk semi-soft treats.  For the most part (other than the carnivore crunch) dogs tend to like soft training treats more than hard ones.  This can be tricky because so many of the soft treats out there are full of sugar and other things that can really mess with the tummy in high volume.  I used to love Zukes brand, but since they have been bought by Nestle-Purina I am no longer supporting their products.  Some good semi soft treats would be Cloudstar Tricky Trainers, and ThinkDog Alligator Jerky.  One warning with the jerky though- it smells really bad.  I try to avoid anything with "natural smoke flavoring" in it because it makes me want to puke.  In fact I might have actually had to pull over once after opening some of that Jerky in the car.  If you are not someone like me who is bothered by smells you have a lot more options in the semi-soft treat category.  The important thing is to read the label, don't buy anything made in China, stick to things with named proteins high on the list and avoid a lot of treats high in sugar.  Or at least reserve the sugary treats for when you are looking for a very high value treat.  I am not very brand loyal when it comes to semi-soft treats and while I do keep some in my training bag it is often whatever I picked up that looks good.

There are a few more options I would like to talk about so I'll add those here in no particular order-

• Recently Wellness came out with a line of soft treats for small dogs called Petite Treats and they seem to go over pretty well at our house with all sized dogs.  As a training treat they are actually very well sized for even a larger dog.  Along those lines Wellness Pure Rewards and Just For Puppy treats are great training treats for the slightly bigger dogs.  I get frustrated having to pull them apart into so many pieces for the chihuahuas but for a bigger dog they would be great.  Those are all available at big box pet stores so if you are looking for off the shelf Wellness might be the way to go.
• WholeLife is a company that makes a large variety of quality freeze dried treats.  I always keep their sirloin Burgers in my training bag because they are pretty durable in a pocket, easy to break into small pieces for the chis and are a good higher value treat to add variety to my Stella & Chewys.  For dogs larger than a chihuahua their other treats would be great too depending on what your dogs liked and many are low in fat and calories and would be great for the chubbier dog that is still needing treats for training.  We have tried their sweet potato, liver, cod and cheese treats- Copley has loved them all.  The pickier chihuahuas have preferred some over others- you just have to experiment based on what your dog likes.
• Kibble.  I know- to many raw feeders and people who feed a more natural diet to their dogs kibble is a dirty word but hear me out here.  If you feed kibble (or any other small dried up food like Ziwipeak that may not necessarily be a kibble) then stick some in your training bag!  Particularly for puppies it is great to use part of (or all of) their meal as training treats.  Usually for a kibble fed dog kibble is not very high value but you can always throw in something higher value every so often or just use it for lower intensity training if that's the case.  In our house where we never would actually feed kibble as a meal I will pick up sample bags of premium kibble and use it as treats.  Ziwipeak is great for that, it is a very high quality food that most dogs love and even some raw feeders use it as a backup for the days when dinner is rushed.  Just be careful if you are using kibble as treats because it is very dense, full of carbs and can bulk up a dog really fast if you are not careful.
• Max & Ruffies is a brand that makes all vegan dog treats.  Typically I like to stick with meat based treats for my dogs but these are really a great product.  While I am not in agreement with them that dogs should be fed a vegan diet- their all veggie treats are made with great ingredients that I am happy to feed my dogs.  The mini bites are the perfect size for training treats if your dog likes crunchy things.  I also love that you can just throw them in your pocket if you need to for a walk or therapy visit.  They don't fall apart and you don't end up smelling like meat.

Although over the years a few of these companies have given me free samples I was not in any way compensated for this post.  Having received probably hundreds of bags of treats via this blog I believe I am becoming a bit of an expert on what is on the market.  I decided to share my opinions all in one place and that is precisely what this is- my opinion.

Nova is Amazing

Last night for the first time Nova ran to the door, scratched at it, ran towards me to make sure I saw, waited at the door while I opened it and then barked when she wanted back in.  ALL BY HERSELF.  No Kerri, no Copley, just a Nova wanting to go outside.  She saw a cockroach on the patio and wanted to eat it.

To you this may not seem like a big deal.  For Nova this is a momentous occasion.  So exciting that I have dropped what I am doing to blog about it.

Nova is only housetrained because she goes out with the other dogs and has a DoggieLawn in the house for when she can't wait till someone else has to go out.  I let her out sometimes when I have the inkling that she wants to go, and if I open the door and call her over she will run outside if another dog goes with her and she has to pee.  I have never pushed this issue with her because this is actually not a housetraining problem, it is rooted in a much much bigger Nova issue.  She will not take any action that she believes will cause a person to stand up.  Even when she initiates play with me she does it in a way that she is sure will not cause me to stand up and move around.  If I do she puts her ears back, tail down and crawls into a corner or crate.

She scratched at the door- knowing I would get up.  Happily waited for me to do so then she barked to come back inside- knowing I would get up to let her in.  My mind is totally blown, this is one area that I thought was never going to change and then she goes and proves me wrong again.

I have no idea why tonight was the night she decided to take this leap, however like all things Nova it appears to be the new norm.  It is like she waits until she is ready to do something all the way before she does it at all, because she asked to go out again this morning, once again like it was no big deal.  I have responded by not making a big deal out of it but inside I am jumping for joy every time she trots over there.

Finally I have to share what Ben said about this.  "Are you sure it wasn't actually Kerri?"  I am sure, because she did it again.

A Nova Update

"I am blossoming into a beautiful flower, and using your plants as beds."

The other night I was at a fundraiser for one of my favorite local organizations Incred-A-Bull and I ran into a lot of people who I had not seen in a while and asked how Nova was doing.  Actually most of them asked about "tire store chihuahua" as she is more commonly known.  If you are a new reader you might want to check out some of my old posts about Nova, but to sum it all up she was a totally feral dog living behind a tire store until she was trapped and I got her.  It is hard to really say how she is doing in a few words of casual conversation, but what I came up with is this.  

"She is very comfortable around the house, very smart and she has taught me a lot."

All that is true, but it is so much more complicated than that.  Nova has come so far in the last year that I can barely believe it but many things are still a big challenge for her.  She has brought challenges to me as a trainer that I had never seen before and more than that she opened my mind to a lot of new ways of doing thing, and proved that what I before would have said "works every time if you do it right" I now realize is just a great place to start.  If nothing else at least every dog that enters my life from this time forward will benefit from the things I learned from Nova and the partnership we have (it truly is a partnership) in navigating the scarey world.

As far as day to day life, Nova is nearly a normal dog around the house with only a few accommodations.  She is potty trained 100% but because she will not ask Ben to open the door we have pee pads inside that she uses if he is the only one home.  She participates in barking that Kerrigan starts, but she is not an excessive barker at the outside world.  When people come over she does hop around nervously and will do some aggressive barking if she feels trapped in a room or needs to get past them for food but mostly is not at hassle to visitors.  She will take food from people, and even sit or touch for food from strangers and visitors.  She has never gone after a person aggressively, and it is obvious she is acting out of fear, but I always lock her up when kids visit.  She has proven that if she is actually cornered and grabbed she rolls over and goes to a submissive scared place, but I don't think I will ever trust that she would never go to an aggressive place.  Because of that I am never going to let her near children loose in the house.

She does do a lot better out in the world.  We have a regular walking route we take and she happily does that with me and Kerrigan.  If people approach us she sits by me as Kerrigan is petted and while on a leash generally looks to me for guidance.  Any change to our route however is a reason for panic the first time or two, then she goes with it like she is an old pro.

A few weeks ago we "graduated" basic obedience class.  She did not participate in everything at class, but was actually excited to go and I did not try to push her too far.  She LOVES her clicker and with it's help she accomplished a lot of things at class.  She walked around with other bigger dogs very close to her, she walked for a short while with someone else (our instructor) holding the leash and she did a lot of her clicker tricks in public.  Also on one day she tried to instigate play with another tiny little dog at class.  The owner was kind enough to let them go for a minute then moved on.  I am so proud of how well she did and I plan to take the class again.  Nova is a very smart dog and while nervous at parts I think she appreciated the challenge of class.

Speaking if smart, Nova has learned a LOT of clicker tricks and is enjoying going through Kyra Sundance's book 101 Dog Tricks and learning even more!  She really gets the idea of the clicker and it is so easy to shape behaviors with her this way.  The unfortunate thing is she will not "perform" for anyone but me!  I am thinking I should get a tripod and video camera then make her a you tube star.  I was thinking of getting her to act out an entire Shakespearean drama or something like that.  I say thinking about it because the odds of me having enough time in my life to actually do that is rather slim, but we can dream.

So in conclusion, Nova is very comfortable around the house, very smart and she has taught me a lot.  She continues to improve in her relations with people every day, she loves Kerrigan and Copley and she is just a joy to clicker train.  Nova may never be a totally normal dog, she certainly is not ever going to run up to strangers like Kerri does but every day she gets a little less scared and figures out a little something more about living with people.  She is a lot of work, and I can't say I recommend adopting a feral dog but for me she has been a joy.

There is a Nova update for everyone!

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!

One Year With Nova- December and January

Happy Adopion Day Nova Bear!!!

I can't believe it has been a whole year since we got Nova.  I've decided to re-cap her story month by month to celebrate and look back on the past year.  Mostly I want to say she is an amazing dog who has taught me so much about training, how dogs brains work and areas where I wasn't quite doing things right.  BUT if the person who bred her mother then let her puppies end up on the street is out there I want them to know they have done a horrible thing, and no matter how great Nova is today, she never should have existed in the first place.  The reason I ended up with a quivering disaster of a dog in my house is because I was cleaning up other people's careless messes and I wish I never had to do that.  I do however, still love her and here is our story, part 1 of 6.

 

When we first got her home she wouldn't even stand up.  She just crept along the ground and huddled frozen in any corner she could.  She was totally shut down and we had no idea what dog was under there.  So we put her in a crate, put a thundershirt on her and ignored her completely.  We would leave food for her when we left the house and it got eaten, but never when we were home.  Copley cuddled with her and Kerri whined a lot, but the people pretended she wasn't there.  The first little bit was pretty rough for her.  Being plucked off the street and put in a house had to have been like an alien abduction for her.  I do believe all she ever knew was the outdoors and I have serious doubts that she was ever owned by anyone.  It was rough too because she had to keep going back to the vet for dressing changes on her rear feet where half torn off dew claws were removed all the way.  I began to think she would huddle in the back of that crate for months.  Then about a week later I saw this.

I honestly could not believe it.  That really was the first moment I saw her stand up straight.  I'm glad my first thought was to take a picture so Ben could see how short she was.  I really had thought she was taller.

Now we had a dog who stood up.  Great.  Lets see what the next step is.  That is how we tackled everything, particularly in the beginning.  I couldn't think about next month, or next year, or how I was going to live with her, I just had to do one thing at a time.  What is the next step after crawling around on the ground in fear?  Standing up straight with her tail tucked between her legs.  Great.  Mission accomplished. 

Now that we had a dog who stood up I expanded her world a little outside of the crate.  She was in the living room right next to the Christmas tree and to be honest sometimes I thought she would live in that pen for the rest of her life.  I still could only touch her by cornering her (something that made me more than a little anxious) but she was warming up to the world.  I sat in that pen and spent hours getting her used to a collar, or at least associating good things with it.  She got a grasp of the clicker in there too.  That clicker was the only thing she connected with early on.  It was consistent, she controlled it and it was not human.  To this day it is our primary tool with her, and her list of clicker tricks is growing by the day.

You may notice a pillow in that pen.  It was there because my amazing husband was sleeping in there at the time so she could get used to people and wouldn't be alone at night.  We didn't yet realize that Nova hated him any more than she hated any other person and he thought it would be a good way to bond with her.  It was then that I realized my husband was in fact the most incredible person on earth and I could not possibly be luckier to have found him.  How many people would sleep on the ground of a dog pen for three weeks so that a chihuahua who you could not touch wouldn't be lonely?

Over the next several weeks I managed to get a collar on her.  Unfortunately she managed to get it right off again.  Or even worse stuck on something or in her mouth.  I saved her from strangulation on two occasions before we realized that collars were not something Nova would be wearing.  Or at least not dog collars.  I wanted her to wear a collar because she was a flight risk, but obviously it was not safe for her.  I got the great idea to get a quick release cat collar.  So I put it on her, she pulled it off, I put it on her, she pulled it off, I put it on her, she pulled it off and in we went for the next few months.  Did I mention that literally every time I cornered her to put it on I cringed, afraid that this would be the time she bit me?  In all the time we had her so far she never snapped at me, that is truly a testament to her temperament.  In case you were thinking of plucking your own traumatized chihuahua off the street I want you to know cornering a scared dog is a bad idea, you should never do it.  I cringe to think of some of the situations I put us in together early on, and I don't know I would do it again, and certainly not ever with a dog any bigger.

December brought us a dog who stood up in our presence, but never left a pen in the living room.  It brought us a dog who would eat while we watched, but would not sleep, or even close her eyes with us in the room.  She was scared all of the time.  Scared when the other dogs ran too fast, scared when anything new was in the house, scared of anything she saw us do.

This was during the two days we tried umbilical training.  Ben almost lost a toe and Nova nearly broke her neck.  It was a great idea for most people but you sometimes need to recognize when you are not "most people."

Near the beginning of January I tried working with her to take food from my hand.  It was not going swimmingly but she was getting closer and closer.  Then a friend came over and Nova decided he was the person that she trusted.  She ate right out of his hand and I informed him he had to move into my spare room.  Unfortunately he had his own place and wasn't looking for a job as a full time dog rehabilitator, but was over a lot and every time he came he gave Nova a handful of food.  Every time she took it.  By the end of the month she was taking food from me, and Ben if she thought she was actually stealing it from him.  If Ben looked like he WANTED her to have the food she hid.  But if he was giving treats to another dog, or eating a bowl of cereal she would try to steal that.  Baby steps.

Maybe...

 If I just...

 ABORT, ABORT MISSION

January was a pretty rough month.  It was when we discovered Nova was not a dog.  She was in fact a Ninja.  First I would come home and find her out of the pen.  At first we thought she was burrowing under it.  So we piled things around to weigh it down.  She still got out.  Then I thought she was going on top of the crate to get there so I relocated her to the spare room with the pen in the doorway.  That was when I saw her climb it.  She climbed that pen like it was not even an obstacle.  In fact she started climbing anything she wanted to get over or out of.  She was getting braver and her smarts were starting to show.  This made me happy, but it also has led to endless frustration.

The only other exciting development of January was when I was upstairs on the computer (we have a loft that at that time was blocked off from the dogs but I could see down) and I think she forgot I was home.  I looked down as her and Kerri played with a toy they got for Christmas.  It was a Martha Stewart Elf that had no stuffing but made a crinkly noise.  They full out played, we are talking play bows and throwing the toy up in the air and the whole bit.  Then Nova saw me and ran back into her crate and started to shake.  That was the day that I knew this was going to be ok.  If she can play with Kerri we have her!  She is not so broken that she is non-functional, we just need to manufacture more circumstances where she can function.

So there is December and January for you.  I will update on the next 10 months this week.

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.

Socalizing a Puppy- In Slow Motion

There are no books or resources out there about rehabilitating a dog like Nova.  Everything about dogs who are total wrecks talk about teaching them to trust AGAIN.  Helping a dog who was failed by people, abused, who LOST her owners, who was ABANDONED by people.  Or a dog who was LOCKED UP in a puppy mill by people, or who was STARVED by someone.

Nova can not learn to trust AGAIN when she did not do it in the first place.  She didn't LOOSE people, she never had them.  To be ABANDONED you need someone to abandon you.  Being STARVED implies it was done to her, she was starving because she was on her own.  It was a state of being not something a person imposed on her.

I grasped at straws when we got her.  I tried to read more books, talk to every dog trainer in my life (and in my circles there are quite a few) and while they were helpful to a point- no one had a real solution.  This has been a learn as you go process for everyone.  Nova must feel like she was abducted and is now on an alien planet.  All she knew was living on the streets, eating cockroaches, doing all she could to survive.  While we do not really know what happened to her as a puppy I strongly suspect she was either born on the street, or dumped there at 8-12 weeks.  How does such a little puppy survive out there like that?  If you met Nova you would know.  She is smart, cunning (a trait I previously thought dogs were not capable of), strong, brave and resilient.  That is what makes me so sad about her puppies- she must have tried so hard to keep them alive.  I try not to anthropomorphize dogs, so I really don't think I am by saying this- but loosing that battle had to have been hard for her.  But for all that hardship there was no abuse.  She has no memories of bad people.  So often it is a struggle for me.  

Do I push her in this situation?  Do I hold back in that one?  From a training standpoint it is not exactly easy to make a game plan here.  That is until I figured it out.  I am socializing her for the first time.  I don't need to get rid of bad habits and experiences- for the most part I need to just add new ones!  As far as living in the human world she is a blank slate.  So I am going about socializing a puppy.  Just in SSSSLLLLLOOOOOWWWWWWW motion.  Her brain is developed, so she is not as open to new experiences as a puppy is, but she is young, and for the most part game for new things, so there you go.  Since gaining this new perspective Nova has made leaps and bounds.  In my next post I will get into what exactly we are doing with her.

Nova's Clicker Training Progress

I am beginning to think that no one believes me when I say I have been clicker training Nova.  This is perhaps because she won't even begin to perform when anything out of the ordinary is going on or when anyone else (including Ben) is home.  She needs it to be calm, just us, no kids playing outside and no traffic in the street.  She also does better when talk radio is playing and when she is full.  So for anyone else to witness this miracle (and for Nova it truly is a miracle) I needed to film it.  Oh, I had to hide the camera too- she hates the camera!

So without further delay here is Nova performing for you "sit," "down," "touch," and "high five."  Sit is going well, down she is very good at so I am only clicking for all four elbows/knees down and a moment of stillness, touch we are moving from a lick of the hand to an actual nose touch, and high five- well that one is pretty easy- any paw to palm action gets a click there.

Then of course at the end she got a bit of dehydrated beef something for a job well done.  I have been trying to reinforce the end of training because it was getting a little stressful for her having me get up and move around a lot (something she does not like) and I want this to stay fun, fun, fun.

(If you would rather watch on youtube click here)

Also excuse the radio in the background- for some reason Nova does better with a little SiriusXM Left playing.  What can I say?  I guess she is a democrat like the rest of the family.

Nova's New Outfit

Nova's sporting a new outfit around the house these days.  She is wearing her beautiful and stylish XS Thundershirt and while we are home she will be dragging behind her a matching shoelace!

That is Nova giving me the evil eye for making her wear this ensemble.

Why am I torturing her so?  Well our trainer came by the other day and we decided it was time that Nova was forced to be a little more involved with the family.  Right now it is hard to force her to interact with us because as soon as she sees we want her to do something she runs and hides.  In order to be able to work with her more we are going to attach a long line to her collar when we are home (only when we are home, because it obviously is a huge strangulation hazard).  That way when we want to do something with her I don't have to go chasing after her and grab her.  I think it will actually help her be more independent in the long run because she will be forced to do a lot more on her own this way.  For instance when we go up to bed she will be able to walk with me up the stairs instead of me carrying her.  That brings me to the thundershirt!  With this new way of reeling Nova in I am now able to put the thundershirt on her without a long stressful chase.  If everything goes well I am going to have her wear it for most of the day because it really does help. 

We are using two boot shoelaces tied together for the long line.  It is about 6 feet long and seems to be relatively unobtrusive.  I have had to untangle it a time or two but overall the shoelace seems to be good at not getting caught.

This is a good step in the right direction for Nova.  It is good news that she finally is comfortable enough for us to force her to do more on her own but it is also a lot more work for us.  Not to worry though- I am happy to put in the work for this little one.

The Yellow Dog Project

You may have seen this graphic making the rounds on social networking sites lately.  I think it is a pretty clever idea.  Wouldn't it be great if we had a signal that said "woah there- don't come running up to me and my dog."  Even those of us with even tempered calm dogs have days when we are training and don't want other dogs running up to us.  Once Nova is brave enough to walk out the front door I am going to be implementing this.  With my neighborhood though I might invest in a giant blinking sign that says STAY AWAY SCARED DOG.  But that is another story.  Spread the word- if enough people find out about this it just might work.

Like the Yellow Dog Project on Facebook
Visit The Yellow Dog Project on the web

PoochieBells Product Review

Last month the people over at Poochie-Pets contacted me about reviewing a few of their products.  I could not have been more excited because they are the makers of PoochieBells, the dog doorbells!  I have been thinking of buying bells to train the dogs but for some reason or another never got around to it till now!

I don't know why I waited this long because it was so incredibly easy to train the dogs to use the bells.  My dogs are already house-trained so I just hung the bells on the door and every time they wanted to go out I brought them over to the bells and had them nose touch them before I opened the door.  Foster dog George (who was adopted last week YAY!!) caught on to the bells in less than an hour, he was ringing consistently by that night.  Copley took more like three or four days to understand he should ring bells not just scratch at the door like before.  Kerri was a little harder to sell on the bells.  At first she was not crazy about the noise and didn't want to go near them.  I put the bells on the floor with some treats around them and soon she was happily rummaging around the bells to get the treats.  Then I hung the bells on the door and just like I did with the other dogs I would see she wanted to go out then lead her over to the bells. I have to admit it took Kerri almost a week and a half before she was consistently using them, but now that she is I am so happy!

What I love about PoochieBells-

• PoochieBells are made in the USA with custom, lead free USA manufactured bells.  If you read this blog regularly you know I am all about responsably manufactured products made in North America!  The bells even have a cute little paw on them to let you know they are authentic PoochieBells.
• When we go out of town I will be able to bring the bells with us!  This is a HUGE plus for me.  We often travel to cabins and other peoples houses creating a real quandary for the dogs.  They never know what door to ask to go out and it is usually up to us humans to predict when they need to go.  I can't wait to travel with them, it will be so easy!  I will be able to hang the bells and the dogs will have no question about what door to go to.  Skeptical?  Don't worry dear blog readers, I will be sure to let you all know how it goes the first time we go out of town.
• They work for my tiny dog.  Kerri weighs less than 6lbs and she has no problem at all reaching the bells.
• I can finally hear the dogs wanting to go out 100% of the time!  Copley was trained to scratch the door to go out, Kerri was trained to bark (because I could not hear her tiny little feet scratching the door) but also would get frustrated when I didn't notice THAT is what she was barking about and would start pawing at the door.  Foster dog George just sits by the door because I didn't want him pawing at and scratching it up!  With 3 dogs doing three different things it was very confusing and I often went to let dogs out only to find they were just playing near the door and had no interest in going anywhere.  Finally we have a consistent way for our dogs and any future foster dogs to all communicate to me in a clear way.
• The bells are attractive on my door.  Now that the dogs are trained I am thinking of moving the bells to a hook next to the door. My main reasoning for that is my door is glass in the middle and from time to time Ben closes the door a little hard and I am worried about the bells hurting the glass.  Luckily Poochie-Pets carries a selection of really nice hooks too!

Wow!  I had so much to say great about Poochie-Bells that I didn't even get to my review of the To-Go Pet Towel!  Look out for a post about that next week.  In the meanwhile if you would like some PoochieBells of your own visit http://www.poochie-pets.net/

Poochie Pets sent me my sample of Poochie Bells and the To-Go Pet Towel to review. however all of the opinions are my own.  I would still be saying great things about their products even if they hadn't sent me a sample!

Good Job Kerri!

Sigh

Wally came to visit again!  We had a good time for 6 of the 8 hours, but the last two were a little rough.  Here are some photographs of the end of my evening.  I think they say it all.

  Click to enlarge for captions^  Rated PG-13

 Here is the 50 lb- 4 month old puppy on the other side of the divide

 We tried switching sides once

But doesn't he look so cute when he is sleeping!

Seriously though- Wally is a great puppy.  I would gladly watch him again, Copley was just getting a little annoyed with him and he has this thing about chasing Kerri.  Then Kerri wouldn't shut up if I wasn't holding her and Wally kept trying to leap into my lap to "play" with her and Copley became overwhelmed with the urge to hump things while Wally was around.  If Wally's parents are reading- your dog and mine were equally annoying- fear not.

I am going to go now and try to recover from this tornado.  Also I bought a bark corrector thing that emits a high pitched noise when the dogs bark.  I said I would never do such a thing but you say a lot of things before you get a chihuahua...

~Annie

Its Getting HOT Out

I hate to say it, but summer seems to have sprung upon Las Vegas a little early this year.  For the last three days it has hit 98 degrees and stayed there most of the afternoon.  This being my 4th Vegas summer I know what we are in for but I was not quite prepared for it to happen this early!  Kerrigan was not prepared for it to happen at all.

Saturday we went to Pet-a-Palooza (I would link you to the event site but they seem to have ripped it down nice and fast here).  It was an OK time, we got to visit with some of our animal rescue friends and our training place was there but boy was it hot.  It was even a little too hot to enjoy and we only stayed for about an hour.  Copley stayed at home because he is only a few days into his antibiotics and I hear it can make dogs sensitive to the sun.

I only took a few pictures-

Hiding from the sun while we enjoy some lemonade

 

 

Hot.  Look at that cure little tongue panting!

I am beginning to question the wisdom of getting a black dog.  She gets hot so easily poor little thing.  To help beat the heat I have pulled out some of my favorite summertime treats for the dogs.  I made goat stock ice cubes, froze some kongs with yogurt in them and bought a kiddy pool for splashing in the yard.

We also are happy to enjoy some good ole air-conditioned indoor fun, like chewing on bully sticks!

I am in the process of teaching Copley to go to and stay on that pink blanket so I have a more portable option than the crate for when I need him to stay put somewhere.  Right now he only gets his bully stick on that blanket and he has to stay on that blanket to keep it.  Things seem to be going well in that department.

You may notice the new snazzy collars they are wearing too.  I am going to make a post about it once Kerri's final tag gets here.  They are really cool collars and really cool tags, I can't wait to get everything in!

My little graduate

Kerrigan graduated Basic Obedience class last night!  Not only did she graduate, but she also got that fluffy bone for winning a sit/down contest at class.

Whats next for us?  We still have a few months until she can take her CGC test.  I am anticipating it going well but we still need to work on supervised separation.  She does fine with me leaving, but knowing that I am just in the next room over can elicit some whining.  The rest will be easy.  Just like the CGC, agility has to wait until she is a year old.  In the meantime we are just going to be working on learning lots of tricks and socializing with lots of other people and dogs.

Happy Friday to everyone!

Kidney Brownies

Have you ever heard of liver brownies?  They are a super easy home made treat that dogs love.  Because they are cheap, easy and good for training they are a favorite of those of us who are high volume treat users like trainers and obedience people.  Well today I set out to see if the recipe would work with kidney.  Why kidney you ask?  I happened to get 4 pounds of local, pasture fed-finished beef kidney for very little money.  It has been sitting in a giant 4lb glob in a bag in the freezer taking up way too much space and I really needed it to go.  If I were to put this in to dog food (even if it was the only organ other than liver I used) it would take months for it all to get eaten.  Right now I am not short on organ and frankly the other stuff fits in the freezer much better.

So here is the recipe I improvised for kidney brownies-

4 LB of Beef Kidney

1 1/2 Cup Corn Meal*

1 Cup Flour

1/2 a Wedge of Parmesan Cheese

4 Cloves of garlic**

*Read what I have to say about corn if you want to.  If your dog is allergic or sensitive to corn you could use regular flour and an egg but I think it will be more crumbly like a traditional brownie and not a rip-able, pliable bar like I got.

**From what I read garlic can cause anemia in dogs if used in large quantities.  This recipe uses only 4 cloves to make an amount of treats that will last two dogs months.  I hear that dogs like the taste of garlic and it also made the cooking smell of this a little more bearable for me so I am glad I used it.  It is certainly not necessary if it makes you uncomfortable or if your dog can't have it for some reason.

First I assembled all my ingredients-

Then I preheated my oven to 350 degrees.  Next I covered a cookie sheet in foil and greased it (I used olive oil, but any cooking oil would do).  I put the cheese in a food processor with the peeled garlic.

And zap, zap, zap- tada!

I don't have any pictures of chopping and blending the kidney.  It was too gross and I just wanted it to be over.  My only advise is if you value the motors on your kitchen appliances use a blender, cut the kidney up small and pour all the blood from the bag into the mix.  Once it was all processed I mixed it with the cheese, corn meal and flour.

Spread the mixture into your greased and foiled cookie sheet.  I made it about 1/4 inch thick but I now see that either thicker or thinner would both work although it would be a different consistency treat depending.  I like my 1/4 inch and at that depth I got several cookie sheets worth.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Once it cools a little I turned the slab over onto a cooling rack and carefully peeled back the tin foil.  Without the foil I can't imagine I would have gotten it off the cookie sheet.

Because of the consistency of the sheet it was easiest for me to cut it with scissors once it was completely cool.  I cut it into strips and then cubes like you see in the first picture.

These treats need to be either refrigerated or frozen.  I froze most of mine because I made a lot of treats.  I do have a tip on freezing though.  If you first freeze the treats laid out on a cookie sheet THEN put them all into a bag it will help avoid clumping.  You should be able to just pull out what you need without having to thaw the whole bag.  This method works for veggies and most other cooked then frozen items too.

I got a LOT of treats.  Previously I had been buying Welness Pure Rewards for about $6 a bag.  This recipe made about 12 bags worth of treats and cost me $6.*

*I calculated $2.50 for 1/2 a block of Parmesan cheese at $4.99, $2 for the kidney, 25c for the garlic (although I did get it for free from a farmer we know) and $1 for the corn meal and flour then to make it a round number I pretended it cost me 25c in gas to run the oven.  Total- $6

These were a big hit with both Copley (who would eat anything) and Kerrigan (who it a little bit more picky).  They are the perfect consistency for training and once done don't really smell like kidney any more.