When the home agility course got overgrown from all the rain this summer, we missed training. So, we’re working on a few core elements a bit each day, including the weave poles and tight (or bounce) jumping. Since we’ll be spending most of today celebrating Tom’s birthday, here is a quick agility video for your entertainment. Yes, we’re a novice/green team, but still. …
When Lilly and I took our first in-the-ring “obedience” exam when she was about 9 months old, we lost a few points because she sniffed the ground during HEEL. She still took first place, by a LONG shot, but looking back (knowing what I know now about dogs and training), I have to laugh. I understand that in such a formal setting doing anything other than the task at hand is akin to a balk or refusal in the agility ring, but seriously, sniffing is not a crime. With that in mind, I’ve been paying attention to Lilly’s need to …
Our training and blogging friends over at BoulderDog recently entered a new verb into our dog training lexicon. In a post called Please Don’t Blagojevich My Dog, Deborah decries the audacity of a stranger requiring her lovely poodle Sadie to perform an additional task in order to receive the treat meant for straight-forward socialization. In other words, the act of taking a treat from a stranger wasn’t “enough” for this guy. He wanted something in exchange for that treat, a treat that Deborah provided, by the way. …
PERSONAL AD: Fearful, occasionally snarky 5yo, F, BC seeks suitable dog friends for play dates. Must take well to clumsy, sometimes grumpy, and often bossy attempts at social engagement. …
Based on my post Top 10 Ways Veterinarians Can Better Serve Fearful Dogs, I wrote something along the same lines for the Pet Services Journal, a trade magazine for those in the petcare services industry. I don’t have the published issue yet, but I need to whine about my own search for a boarding facility suitable for Lilly and Ginko — both of whom have issues. Right now, it comes down to this: the dog boarding industry (as a whole) is poorly equipped to deal with dogs like mine. That’s why we haven’t gone on vacation …
It’s a crazy time here at the house. When I leave for meetings or class, I NEVER know what I’ll find when I return. One day, Tom had torn down a wall in the basement (which had been done wrong by previous owners) so that he could use the drywall somewhere he needed it. Another day, he tore out all the carpet upstairs. Despite the chaos on two of our three house levels, Lilly is coping with the changes well. We haven’t had any remodeling-related dog behavior issues. …
Back in 2005, researchers from the Animal Behavior Center in Spokane, Washington, and from the Spokane County Regional Animal Shelter published a study on the affects of the sounds of dog laughter on stress behavior in shelter dogs. It got a fair bit of media attention at the time, including this segment from ABC news. Over the weekend, I captured video of Lilly laughing as Tom roughhouses and tickles her tummy. Take a look and listen. Notice in the video that Tom makes the ah-ah-ah dog laughter sound back to Lilly, and she indeed seems to …
Last Sunday’s class posed many challenges for Lilly. We worked alongside (at a distance, of course) several big, young dogs Lilly doesn’t know. On this weird, foggy day, Lilly went into a mild-shutdown funk the minute we moved into the shady park. You’ll see in these photos the worry, in contrast to the smiling face you’ve seen lately. …
About a month ago, my sister had surgery to remove an aggressive breast cancer from her body. Today, she begins a year of chemotherapy. Recently, she invited friends and family to join her at Mass in preparation for this journey. By coincidence or divinity, the day’s readings had to do with physical healing of some sort — the blind being able to see, the deaf hear, and so on. When the priest began his homily, he essentially said that he had trouble with such passages and that likely most of us don’t really believe in such miracles. …
Last week our training and blogging friend KB waxed poetic about how much she loves the smell of her beautiful, brilliant lab K. I chuckled because I feel the same way about Lilly. Don’t get me wrong. After a day playing outside in the pastures, creek, and pond, she definitely smells like a dirty, mountain dog. BUT, her day-to-day scent is sweet. It must be individual, though, because Tom could not disagree more. …
