Jackie and I at York Maine's Art in The Park

Hoobie One Week Anniversary At Home

It is with relief that I report Hoobie has had a successful week one back at home. Even when I work so hard on a case, I don't feel like anything has been accomplished until I hear that things are working at home. By no means is any one's job done just yet, but I have been pleased with the three reports on Hoobie that I have received in the last week from his owners. Even more importantly, the owners seem pleased and comfortable with the tools that I have given them.

Hoobie sounds like he is very happy at home. He is settling into the changed rules regarding his sleeping arrangements, and the behaviors that will no longer be tolerated. It's important that the owners keep this all consistent, as he is likely to "test the waters" during the next few weeks and months. I don't think that he can beat the positives in his own doggie life that have been made (and that will be an incentive to him):

• Hoobie has an area where he can sleep undisturbed (as do his owners LOL). With a chronically ill dog, it's important that they get rest and relaxation. A dog that gets unrealistically angry when awakened, IMO, is a dog that is not getting his ZZZs that are needed.



• As with the above point, Hoobie's daily schedule allows for down time for him to get rest during the day.



• He is no longer on sleeping pills to get through the night, and does not need to tolerate any adverse affects of those. (such as grogginess during his awake hours)



• He no longer has incidents of vomiting and diarrhea. One can only imagine that this makes him feel healthier and more active. (and more tolerant) We may have eliminated the need for one of his other three medications as well.
  



• He is able to be out more, and enjoyed a lot more by his human and canine friends.
  



• He is able to start making friendships with the canines that come into his home.
  



• He is able to enjoy walks outside the house around strange people and canines.
  



• His owners are able to take him for car rides now, without the fear of him trying to jump into the front seat with them and be out of control. He is able now to learn to behave in the car under his own steam, rather than have to remain behind the metal grate and separated from his family.
  



• He enjoys being petted now!!! Not just on his own terms because he is afraid humans are going to be unpredictable every moment now.

• For both physical and mental health reasons, Hoobie can now be groomed at home instead of having to be sedated at the vet's office.

And so now Hoobie gets to start his second chance at a stable dog's life in a human family. This has not been an easy case. I am very proud of Hoobie's owners for being the dedicated and responsible people that they are. You don't often have the privilege of working with clients like this.

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Days Off With The Boys

I have been spending a ton of time with my Red Boys, Jack and Leon. Pictures should be coming via my husband's cell phone of our outing at Art in the Park on Saturday. Such gorgeous stuff is there every year, and this year was no exception. Jack was very well behaved around the other dogs there. He gets very upset if he looses sight of his brother, Leon, however.

Sunday, we started by going to Paneras. Their training has gotten sloppy, and they were totally crazy together yesterday. They kept breaking their downs, and Leon did his woeful crying thing. Of course, they got tons of attention and compliments as we sat there. I was alone, so what I did was get my Chai and Pecan Roll first, then got them from the car. Leon's such a mother's boy, that he gets upset if my attention is not constantly on him LOL. Eventually, he and Jack just cuddled together and calmed down. We also took two long walks in the woods yesterday. Leon just likes to trundle along smelling stuff or race after his brother, Jack. Jack is all about movement and hunting in the woods. You have to watch him, as he is especially talented at finding things both alive and dead in the woods. Perhaps not as talented as my deceased dog, Jazz, however who would find and fling snakes at us in the woods LOL. Leon wants to be friends with all living creatures and does not automatically think of them as a snack.

In order to get their training back up to par, I am going to need to work them both separately and together in public. Also make sure the commands are in good form in the more quiet and less distracting situations.

We are going to the vet today as I found a rash on Jackie's stomach while during our beauty session this morning. I have noticed also that he has begun itching his ears a lot lately. Additionally, there has also been a change in the time that he goes to the bathroom. Lately, he has needed to go at 3am in the morning. It's no big deal to wake up with him, I am just worried that this change might be a symptom of something going on with him. Individually it might not seem like anything, but I always like to be safer than sorrier. Jackie is very healthy generally.

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What To Do With Myself This Weekend

So here I am on my first official day with no doggies other than my own since February 1st!!! It doesn't seem like having other dogs in the house would take up so much time, but truth is it does and now my day is open for all sorts of things:)

For one, I actually have time to update my blogs now with new articles and content. I definitely dropped the ball at the end of August, but I was getting so burnt out on work that I had nothing left. This gave me the idea that if next year is any busier, I better be healthier and in much better shape. I also just might be looking for an assistant next year to keep my sanity. I could really use someone to video tape sessions, clean the food and water bowls, poop scoop, load pictures and video onto the computer, walk the non problematic client dogs, and set up pre-lessons. It is possible that I might delve into group lessons next year, so it would also be useful to have an assistant for that. Right now the economy is only so so, and my business grew this year but I can't count on that continuing for next year.

Equally important, I have at least two dogs to ready for Novice trials. One just needs to earn her last leg, and one needs all three legs. Jack, I want to advance his training and think about bringing him to Open. Leon, I want to advance his training in the cute things he can do that people love on the beach. He has a hard time with his knees, so I try to stay away from sit stays and jumps. I want to improve his obedience again for when clients see him, but since he is neither aggressive nor a dog that will go into competition, I let him and I slack a bit on that .

Today the human AND canine family will be attending "Art in the Park" in York Maine. This is where various artists set up in a park near here. That should be a nice relaxing and fun time with the dogs. Jackie gets very upset when he looses sight of his brother, Leon, and this will also be one of the training things that I need to work with him on, though I don't know if it will be today.

Tomorrow will probably be devoted to cleaning. Sadly, I have not trained the dogs to do the mopping, sweeping, and cleaning of windows yet. Though I can reintroduce to Leon the concept of getting me things:)


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Hoobie Went Home Wednesday Afternoon

After four months here, Hoobie went home this last Wednesday afternoon. He had a seven hour car ride awaiting him, and a trip through customs. I heard from his owner waiting at home during the last three hour stretch that Hoobie was asleep in the car, as his other owner finished up their long commute.

The hardest part, for me, is over; but I still have a job to do when Hoobie is home in the form of being support for unexpected situations, and commenting on the training an maintenance going forward. I am hoping that news starts coming as soon as the owners and Hoobie are settled; so that I know how things are going. This is the letting go stage, which is hard for a trainer like me. Hoobie was my charge for four months of hard work. While I am so enjoying my mini vacation this weekend, and can feel the weight of everyday care and responsibility for Hoobie leaving my shoulders, it is still my job to make sure everything goes forward at home well. Plus, I naturally worry about my dogs and owners for a good few months after a behavioral case like this. Hoobie being the most behaviorally challenged dog that I have ever seen in my care. Luckily, he was only forty pounds!! He is also bright, able to learn, and the problem was not that he didn't like people (or other dogs).

I should be back to my daily postings, now that "summer season" has officially ended. My dogs training has become sloppy, so I will be concentrating on that. I will also be concentrating on finishing up my training manuals on adult dogs and puppies during this period of time. I will be revisiting whether I think Jack can go through Open reliably next Spring, and hopefully take in some seminars. Also, I am considering doing some group classes next year----possibly. We will see on that.

I will pat my back on the Hoobie case a year from now if his owners are happy and he is still at home:) For now, I wait in anticipation for news of my little monster.

I was very proud that before he went home, Hoobie's owner bathed, brushed, clipped his hair, clipped his nails, et without a blow. This is something any one of which, he needed to be sedated and put to sleep for at the vets. We also watched tv together as my husband popped in and out one night, this is something that Hoobie would race across the floor for to bite the incoming person, whoever it was. Now the trick is, to keep the progress going at home.

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Updates Ending on August

Magoo: I am currently training him on the last official exercie, the finish. I am also enlongating the distance for come front. These two exercises in obedience, you need to be careful of. That is you most likely want to do them completely seperately. In addition, I have found that using the command heel for finish makes it less confusing for the both of us. I personally train finish one way or the other, and others will train both different kinds of finishes. I may change this up with Magoo, though I am undecided on that yet.

For polishing later on, I will want to have people stand in as posts for his figure eight, and strangers "examine" him during a stand. I have a feeling I will have plenty of volunteers for this, as we are going out in public now.

If you don't train the exercises seperately, it is more likely that the dog will go right to finish instead of stopping at front. I have learned this the hard way LOL, and needed to retrain both of my dogs to do them seperately.

Hoobie Doobie: Hoobie's days resemble the following lately, as far as his training schedule:

1. About one half to one hour of maintence work (depends on how the performance is) every day on the exercises he started on so he remains somewhat fresh for his owners. So these are the sits, downs, stays, "let's go", place, crate, and heeling type of exercises.
2. At least one half hour to an hour of grooming work, which incorporates the obedience exercises. Hoobie operates better when he knows what is coming up. So if I say "sit", and brush him---then he knows this is going to be over soon. Typically, I use sit for brushing, clipping the front nails (with paw command), shaving, toweling, and ear cleaning. I use down for brushing and toweling especially his front legs, which is the area he is the most sensitive of. I use stand for brushing, shaving, and clipping his back nails. We can get through a session of doing all of these now pretty much without a "blow". The front legs are still the thing that he comes close to tantrums on at this point, and I suspect this is where the injections when he was younger may have been given. This is totally done muzzled at this point, and should continue that way for a long while. Hoobie needed to be put to sleep for this process before.
3. At least one half hour to an hour of territorial and guarding behavior work a day. Hoobie guards areas like the back of cars or the inside of his crate (even from the outside when his food bowl or toy are in there. He became very good with me alone with him and the crate, and I have been working him up to other canines (as a prelude to humans) being around the areas that he is territorial or guarding over. He is also a resource guarder, and so working him to not demand the cheese whiz that comes with his meds, but instead learn to "leave it" and "take it" in various different scenarios. He used to have a very hard time when territorial met resource guarding (ie cheese whiz through crate bars which is the safest), but that all came together a little while ago when we were alone. Now I expect him to do it when others are around milling outside the crate. It's the easiest and safest way to do it. He's good outside the crate most times, but I feel it's very important to use the PVC pipe just in case.

So now with Hoobie's homecoming getting close, it's time to coach at least one owner how to keep this moving forward. The trust and relationship that I have built with Hoobie also needs to be built with his owners. As with most couples, it looks like one will be at the head of Hoobie's training. The same is true in my house, my husband enjoys the benefits of the training but does not so much participate. The one problematic thing in a behaviorally challenged dog like this, is that one way or another, whether the other spouse is home less or not, he needs to learn that the more infrequent home inhabitor is just as important as the primary home inhabitor.

There are at least two ways that I envision this going. And I will write about that tomorrow LOL. I need to remember especially about silence and space in this next posting for Hoobie. At home, I think he was getting a bit freaked on being examined so much, and the owners need to remember there is a time and place for that BUT ALSO dogs need to be left alone sometimes as well for their own mental well being.

Akuma: He is starting on his downs and comes. Akuma's owner's left hand has become partially disabled. It's surprisingly difficult to train a young puppy with only one maine hand, even if it is the one that is usually used in training. It makes the molding into a sit or down a bit harder, and I have tried to modify what I can for Akuma's owner. Leash position, holding, and body movement and attitude become even more important when you have less body parts to rely on!!

Akuma does not really have any behavioral issues, other than he loves people and would love to pull his owner over to all people that he sees. Very friendly and sweet dog.

Leon #2: Leon's owner was able to take her first real walk without me. Leon is a lovely boxer but not so lovely on the first meeting of other canines. He can be quite alarming really, and there is a protcol that must be done before he meets other dogs. However, after meeting other dogs, he is a good friend and playmate.

Right now we are concentrating just on the ability to walk past other dogs that are leashed and minding their own business. It takes practice on the owner's part to remember to be calm and in control so that anxiety does not travel down the leash to inadvertently alert that something is wrong. He is not ready to be walked into a pack of strange dogs.

Leon also is a lover of humans in any form. He has two little girls of his own that he loves.

Tucker: Is a new lab puppy client that will be starting next week! I have met him boarding with me at 10 weeks old, and he is quite a little puppy. Love him. He is probably four times the size now!!


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