Video of Bri and Magoo Earning Their Last Legs for Companion Dog

Not perfect runs by far.   Bri had the best run of the two, and a good run for her pinkness.   Magoo was a bit distracted by the horses in the beginning, as you can tell, because he only hits one auto sit (a sure sign that the dog is distracted).   He stayed with me nicely during the heels, though a couple of times on leash there was some tension in the leash mostly in the about turns.

Very proud of them, it's been a hot long summer so far.  Magoo got his three legs in six trials total.   Bri got her two legs in 2008.   I think that took 5 trials then, before she "turned on".   Then this time it took 3 to get her last leg two years later.  I will never ever stop in the middle again.   It took a lot of work to get her back.



What's next?   Well I would like to train and enter my own dog, Boris, into the UKC.   I may take Magoo into Open.   Finally now that I have done a large dogs, I would love to take a toy dog into the ring:)

Next directly is to get my application into the IACP for my CDT:)

Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Blog

Max's and His Owner's Mission to Spread Info about IMHA

Many years ago, I had Max and Maggie as both training and boarding clients. Sadly I received news of Max's death from the disease that she talks about here. I am helping her spread her information through my blog. I've never heard of this myself.

My friend and client writes:

Dear Friends

As many of you know, my Max was diagnosed in early May with an immune system disease. The disease called IMHA is a very serious condition that causes the animals system to destroy it's own red blood cell. For approximately six weeks Max was on prednisone to help his immune system overcome the disease. However, in the early hours of Sunday June 20, the unthinkable happened, Max passed away. He did pass peacefully. He was only six years old but his little body could not continue to fight the disease.
IMHA is a very destructive disease and is called a "Silent Killer" and indeed it is.



Our mission in Mac's name is to inform people about this disease. It is not very well known. I have included two sites for you to share. Please share with everyone that you know who has cats or dogs. Educating is empowering! We hope by sharing this information and educating we can save the lives of other dogs or cats.

Maggie and I are working hard to adjust to the new chapter in our lives. Although Max is missed terribly we know that he is at peace and not in pain. We will continue to work hard at sharing the information about IMHA knowing that Max ins helping in heaven.

Thanks for your friendship and support spreading this information.


Click here: Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia Frequently Asked Questions AND
Click here: IMHA

Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Blog
E-Mail Mannerly Mutts with Questions

Two Brand Spanking New Companion Dogs

Introducing Magoo CD!!   Magoo earned his third leg at yesterday afternoon at the Penobscott trials in Cumberland Maine.   Magoo is a Great Dane (male one and a half years old) that we borrow from a client to compete with.   Almost no work is done with him at home, but he comes to daycare 5 times a week.   About a half an hour a week day has gone into maintaining his training between trials.   Magoo's first two legs had been earned in May at the Vacationland trials.   Magoo was trained and handled by Robin Rubin of Mannerly Mutts.

Good job big boy!!!

Introducing Bri CD!!   Bri is owned by some friends next door, who allow us to borrow her for competition.   Bri is an American Staffordshire female of six years old.   At home she doubles as sleeping beauty with a lot of couch time, unless there is a pond around.   Bri was almost on the same schedule as Magoo, except she was dropped if time was run out of during the day:(  Even so, we managed to pull it off this weekend.

Robin Rubin of Mannerly Mutts trained and handled Bri at the trials.   Robert Rubin handled Bri during the stay portion of the trial.

Good job teams!!!  Don't see much of either breed in obedience competitions.   It was awesome being out there with these great dogs.

Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Blog
E-Mail Questions

Flea Market Gone to the Dogs?

This last Saturday, we set up at a flea market in York Maine on Ridge Road (towards the strip mall where TD BankNorth is located). Course the wife had dogs boarding, dogs training, dogs boarding and training, so she got out of a full days work (at the flea market LOL, sorry honey). When she came to check on us, Leon and Boris had come along. This is Leon's favorite place for socializing with the humans. He gets a lot of attention.


We were set up next to a couple of nice gentlemen who own The Seacoast SoapCompany. Not only did they have a great product, but they allowed us to borrow two tables and offered a collapsible water dish to our dogs:) Very nice guys, and their products smelled wonderful. We were there to make some extra dough from our junk and not spend it (right then, though I think I saw Robin sneaking online earlier).












Leon and Boris brought along the cuteness factor to help along with our sales. All in all, we made enough for a very nice Sunday breakfast at Merriland Farm in Wells Maine.








All and all a fun weekend that, as usual, included the whole family. PS, you can not sit on the patio with your dogs during breakfast here:( It sure is good breakfast though.

Maine and New Hampshire Dog Training
Mannerly Mutts Blog

Protocol for Longe Line Exercise

PROPERTY OF MANNERLY MUTTS DOG TRAINING AND ROBIN RUBIN. WE ONLY ALLOW PAYING CLIENTS TO COPY THIS MATERIAL FOR THEIR USE ALONE. THIS MATERIAL MUST NOT BE DISTRIBUTED TO OTHER NON-CLIENT PARTIES OF MANNERLY MUTTS WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION.  THIS MATERIAL IS MEANT FOR USE UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF A TRAINER, EXPRESSLY MANNERLY MUTTS DOG TRAINING.

Longe Line Work Follows Sit on The Dog Work:

Equipment Needed for This Exercise:· 15’ cotton canvas web longe line. (See the “Before You Begin” page for the proper way to hold your longe line)
· Training Collar with 2 Metal Rings, Preferably Herm Sprenger. If not a Herm Sprenger collar, check that the action on the collar selected is easy and fluid. It should not stick or be halting along the links. (See the “Before You Begin” page for the proper way to fit and put on a training collar.)
· Three planned points no more than 50’ apart, which we will refer to as points A, B, and C.
· Silence-The handler must be prepared not to give praise, direction, or command during this exercise other than to walk from one area to another.
· Quality shoes, preferably sneakers. No sandals, clogs, shoes with heels, or shoes that becomes slippery on surfaces. I prefer form fitting non-laced sport shoes.
· Practice areas. For days 1 to 3, you might want to identify a large enclosed area, just in case.
· Single handler(I do not mean your marital status) only!! Don’t confuse your dog by subjecting them to inconsistent handling during training.


Explanation and Goal of Exercise: This exercise begins to teach the dog to pay attention to the handler. It also begins to teach the handler how to allow this to happen without nagging the dog by the use of silence and movement.


Steps for Days 1 thru 3:

• Start with confining your dog to a small area (preferably their crate) for two hours prior to beginning.
• Put the training collar on correctly when you let your dog out. Hold the collar by the top and bottom ring. Drop the chain through the bottom ring. Place the collar over your left hand. If you have done this correctly, when you tug on the ring that is not holding the chain (live ring), pulling the live ring will allow it to release. Otherwise, it will just tighten on your arm, and that is not what you want. Once the collar is in the correct conformation, position your dog at your left hand side, facing in the same direction that you are. Put your left hand on top of his/her head, then slip the collar off of your wrist and over his/her head instead.
• Clip the leash to the collar.
• If you are not outside already, you may want to walk your dog outside on the six-foot leash. Then clip the longe line to the collar, step on it, and take off the six-foot leash.
  Slip your left hand thumb through the leash handle. Hold this hand at belly button level with elbow bent.
• From this point on, you are to walk directly to points, and not acknowledge or look back at your dog whatsoever. Leave the length of the leash out, and walk directly to point A without command, praise or any verbal comment whatsoever.
• Now walk straight from point A to point B. Walk briskly and with purpose to not meander or try in anyway to follow your dog.
• At reaching the destination area, stop for a few minutes. Do not praise or talk to your dog. Look at your surroundings and relax.
• At the end of the break, walk purposefully and briskly to point C.
• As before you will rest for a few minutes. Repeat this pattern for either two short sessions totaling 30 minutes, or one long session of 30 minutes.
• Do not walk your dog back to his place directly after the session. Instead, drop the line and end every training session by hanging out for the next 20 minutes. No playing whatsoever or over the top praise should occur. If your dog attempts to bolt or leave the fifteen-foot area, simply grab the handle of the leash, and brace yourself if necessary.
  Once the long break is done, return your dog to their area of confinement for the next hour. Be sure that he is not disturbed, and allowed to rest and absorb the information that he/she has learned.--

NOTE: Handler/owner should start making a list for the next days of things that have successfully distracted their dog. Also be aware at other times of things that distract your dog easily.
Steps for days 4-7 (Italic is different than first few days):
Objective of days 4-7, your dog must watch you in order to be attentive and accomplish the exercise correctly. We are teaching the dog to be attentive to the whereabouts of his/her handler, not the other way around. Since we are not giving a command or signal, the dog has no choice but to watch us intently in order to predict what we are about to do.

• Start with confining your dog to a small area (preferably their crate) for two hours prior to beginning.
• Put the training collar on correctly when you let your dog out. Hold the collar by the top and bottom ring. Drop the chain through the bottom ring. Place the collar over your left hand. If you have done this correctly, when you tug on the ring that is not holding the chain (live ring), pulling the live ring will allow it to release. Otherwise, it will just tighten on your arm, and that is not what you want. Once the collar is in the correct conformation, position your dog at your left hand side, facing in the same direction that you are. Put your left hand on top of his/her head, then slip the collar off of your wrist and over his/her head instead.
• Clip the leash to the collar.
• If you are not outside already, you may want to walk your dog outside on the six-foot leash. Then clip the longe line to the collar, step on it, and take off the six-foot leash.Slip your left hand thumb through the leash handle. Hold this hand at belly button level with elbow bent.
• Have your memorized internal list of temptations and distractions handy. (opening doors, going to house, going towards car, opening car door, children planted, trained dogs planted strategically, )
• First, walk the dog purposely towards the identified distraction. You want your dog to fully see the distraction, and to go for it if he wants to. If he/she fails to see, stop 20' away and wait until he/she notices the distraction.
• When the dog notices their distraction, be sure you have locked your left hand through the loop with your thumb through the handle and the rest of the fingers locked around. The right hand should lock below left hand for added support.
• The whole length of the line should be dropped (IN OTHER WORDS NO SLACK SHOULD BE TAKEN UP).
• As the dog moves towards the distraction (start moving-RUN NO MORE THAN FIVE STEPS), drive hard in the opposite direction with your hands centered at your belly. You want your momentum to carry the dog with you, so don't hesitate or slow down (DON'T STOP, GO NORMAL PACE AND JUDGE WHETHER YOUR DOG IS NOW PAYING ATTENTION).
• Move back towards the dog with a slack line.
• The moment he moves towards the distraction, repeat and move in the opposite direction from him.
• After about the fourth time, you will see your dog watching you and not the distraction. This is what you want. At first the dog won't be absolutely sure what is required and may hesitate or stand there.
• Once your dog is regarding you and not the temptation, map out a route that you will follow. When your dog starts off in another direction, turn opposite and jog forward about five steps. If your dog immediately follows once you leave the area, that is good and he/she is learning what is required when on and off leash. We are setting the dog up not only for the immediate exercises, but building him/her to learn what is required on the last lessons of the Basic Obedience Training Plan.
• At this point, as in the first three days, provide a couple minute break for the dog of quiet to contemplate these changes and perhaps make a mistake because of the quiet.
• At the end of the session, again drop the line for twenty minutes and hang out with your dog. Be sure to keep the handle in sight in case you have a dog that will bolt. Normally the first three days have taken care of this.
• Finally, put your dog up for an hour to relax and take in the lesson.

NOTE: Increase the draw of the distractions and temptations during the next four days. Still no praise or commands for the dog during this lesson.

The following video has edited out some time.   This is a sample and representation of what you need to do the early days of 4-7 to get the result in day 8.   This is broken into two parts.





Day eight: Do as days 4-7, but keep your dog five feet from you (ie the moment your dog even starts to list away from you, jog the five steps in the opposite direction) Last 10 minutes of this day, move your dog to a six foot leash and practice the same pattern. Still end the session the same way.

Example of what Day 8 would look like:



Maine and New Hamsphire Dog Training
Mannerly Mutts Blog

What Longe Line Days 4-8 Looks Like

First Clip Lola Part 1 of Longe Line from Prev Week:



Clip Part 2 of Longe Line with Lola, which includes the dropping of the leash.   (5 of the 20 minutes of dropped leash captured):



Magoo demonstrating what Day 8 of Longe Line should look like:



Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
Mannerly Mutts Blog

June 21st Date Fearfuldog Challenge is Due=$$$s to My Animal Rescues

June 21st of 2009, I had a very tough case of a dog named, Hoobie. He is an English Springer who was trained by me, and returned by his owners. This dog was biting or charging at his owners weekly. Hoobie had serious medical issues as a very young puppy, that caused him to mistrust humans. Humans were of course trying to save his life, but at such a young age he had not as yet learned to trust hands. Years later, Hoobie was out of control.

Hoobie was one of the most extreme cases of human aggression that I had ever had. A previous trainer who believed in treats offered Hoobie three cookies, and gotten bitten three times for offering from his hand.

As with many trainers that have been sold on a "one fits all process", fearfuldogs felt free to make negative comments to me not even able to answer questions on the methods I used that she supposedly knew so well.

" Would someone please rescue this dog! Koehler, molded downs, 2-4 hour training sessions, eegads! " D Jacobs http://www.fearfuldogs.com/

Clearly someone who also does not understand that not all training is formal training, but molding behaviors in everyday circumstances. Feeding, crating, walking, and interacting with Hoobie were all opportunities for training and correcting behaviors. It was not an easy journey. When asked what D Jacobs did not like about "molded sits" or " molded downs" in the Koehler method, the information shared back was typical of this political dog training movement:

"It is not because I am disinclined to debate the merits of the work I do with fearful dogs or how much I know or don't know about dog training, or the relationship I have with my own dogs. I will not read or contribute because it causes me too much distress to hear about how this dog is being handled."  D Jacobs http://www.fearfuldogs.com/

Oh, okay.   My personal opinion is that like all members of this political dog training cult, actually knowing what you are talking about and being able to talk specifics is of no value.   Understanding the science fiction of certain "scientific studies" funded by the political dog movement, who shock dogs on high levels randomly o collars not known about or used in the USA.   That is because it is unimportant to know how training occurs much less how electronic collars can be used on low levels humanely.   This is about the feeding frenzy for the dollars paid for dog training, and securing part of the market without requiring trainers to know much to anything about results.  Dodman and Dunbar are two of the main beneficiaries of this strategy.   Dr Dunbar, however, has recently been talking about the lack of standards in the dog training industry, that he himself has spearheaded!!!

Sadly his proteges do not feel this is referenced to themselves.   The damage has been done, and those that can not train to a standard have no idea how to recognize it, even if it's their own dog that does not improve or learn with their methods.   Blithely, they go on talking about theories and science, and can not recognize what the living breathing individual dog right in front of them is telling them, unless they react like a scientific laboratory experiment or communicate in just the way the general dog population communicates.

The APDT does little to dissuade their members that knowledge in the form of results is necessary to hand out CEUs to the professionals in their organization (meaning that CPDTS need only pass a multiple choice test, and then upkeep their education by, well, just any member *not a professional member in anyway* that is willing to put on a seminar.   Awesome, how great for the general dog owning public and the naive "trainers" who drank the sweetly poisoned punch when it was offered.

This "trainer" was quite brave in issuing the following challenge, which I can only guess she thinks that I did not keep:)  I guess that is she is ignoring requests for confirmation that she is keeping her end of the deal.   In the wrong assumptions that she has made about methods and me as a trainer, she made an equally wrong assumption if she thought I would ever let this go.   I am most like a terrier who will not give up until I have cornered my rat.  The truth is that I copied the whole web posting from http://mainepets.mainetoday.com/, including the below challenge made by Deb Jacobs of fearfuldogs.

"You are right, there was no need for me to be snippy, I am not by nature a snippy or confrontational person. I read your post later in the evening, actually I could barely read your post, it was so troubling to me. I have to think that you believe you are doing what is best for this poor dog. I will not be reading your posts or commenting again. It is not because I am disinclined to debate the merits of the work I do with fearful dogs or how much I know or don't know about dog training, or the relationship I have with my own dogs. I will not read or contribute because it causes me too much distress to hear about how this dog is being handled. I will credit you with being honest in sharing how you have managed this dog for the past 5 weeks. My guess is that after this dog is returned to his owners he will bite someone. The owners will blame the dog and you'll blame the owners. He may be euthanized, rehomed, given up, or kept isolated for the rest of his life. But I am willing to put my money where my mouth is and say that if in a year this dog is living happily and comfortably with his current owners, I will gladly donate $100 to your preferred animal rescue. I will also be willing to question my belief that most of the techniques you are using have no place in the modern age of dog training. I apologize for my rudeness. p.s. You can find my email address on my website at www.fearfuldogs.com should you want to get in touch with a year from now. I hope you prove me wrong, for Hoobie's sake."  D Jacobs http://www.fearfuldogs.com/

Well, Deb, I am in touch with you.   You seem to be ignoring me.   Don't think that  I am not armed with the orginal correspondence if legal action needs to be taken on my charities behalf for your payment.   That would just be another sad mistake on your part.

http://www.mannerlymutts.com/ Maine and New Hampshire Dog Trainer
http://mannerlymutts.blogspot.com/ Mannerly Mutts Blog

Her Name Was Lola, She Was A Showgirl

Our newest residency student's name is Lola. She is a female Pit X. She looks like she may have a fair amount of lab in her.

I will write a little history about her here. She was adopted at six weeks. Just so people know, if you can avoid removing a puppy at before 11-13 weeks from their mother and litter, this is the best thing for the puppy. That being said, there are situations out there where a puppy is being ousted in a non-breeders home OR finds themselves motherless for whatever reason early on.

Puppies who are removed early often will have special needs in order to grow into a balanced dog. There are many situations besides early removal from the litter and mom, where a dog will need extra special care. Early removal is just one of many situations that will most likely require special care and consideration. Of course, in my opinion, a well planned training program is always necessary for a dog, but truthfully some dogs are going to be more naturally bomb proof than other dogs. The dogs that are removed from their litter and mother too early are often not the bomb proof dogs that are going to sail through life fine without a good leader.

Lola's problems have been manifesting themselves in reactive and aggressive behavior towards dogs (especially when on leash), and an uncomfortableness around children. Also there are resource guarding issues.

Day one for a dog like Lola is comprised of a lot of things. For one, she will be tethered to me while out and about in the house. Freedom is a resource that I control. Right now she is not equipped (behaviorally speaking) to have that freedom in the house. When she is not tethered to me, she will be in her crate. There is a lot that I can do while she is tethered to me in addition to training though. It's really important for her to be out and about and learning the rules of the road right now. Structuring a day for a dog like this is very important too. You want the dog to be able to predict what is going to happen during the day, as you guide them through the appropriate behaviors. So for instance every time I stop or come to an opening, I put Lola into a sit. Since she has the very beginning understanding of what a sit is (and wasn't smart enough to hide this from me LOL), getting out of the crate only happens when she is in a sit.

Last night, she went into a sit very willingly to leave the crate. After being fed and let out this morning, she had a more belligerent look on her face (once her immediate needs were met) when asked to sit. So I went away, had some coffee and breakfast. Went back down and said "sit". She almost did it once, but did not do it after five times of the command. Therefore, I went upstairs and enjoyed a bit of the today show with the other dogs. Guess what happened the third time I went down? Lola was already in a sit . Thems the rules, to get out of the crate you must be in a sit (oh and quiet too).   If you have a reactive and resource guarding dog, you should check with a trainer on how to do this safely, especially if there is a food bowl in the crate. I always leave my face out of the crate, for instance. I have them stay in a sit so I can easily slip on the collar. If the dog does not know any form of the word sit yet (is entirely green in other words), you can form the leash first into a loose lasso (clip end through handle) and slip it around the dog's head. I've had about 10 years of practice with this, so it's always best to have a trainer talk you through this with a reactive, possibly aggressive, or feral dog. Lola hasn't needed this, I just thought it would be a good mention in the crate rules scenario when you are working with a dog that you hardly know yet.

While I am making her sit every time I stop, we will later be going through the molded sit routine from scratch to get to the one command sit.   Also with any dog that has a behavioral issue, molding is a great trust exercise.   It trains the dog to relax their muscles at their owners touch at first, before going onto consequences and rewards for sitting or not sitting.   When you get to the correction part, most owners make a common mistake of tightening on the leash OR giving the correction before the command is even given.   The right way is to get the dog used to the concept of having a loose leash, so the owner has more control.   This is what a lot of owners are not knowledgeable about how to understand to train to a loose leash, and that this gives them more control (as does off leash training when ready).   So it's loose leash, then command, then correction if not done within a second (corrections are mild after having gone through the molding steps correctly with most dogs), good dog if command is performed, once in a sit (either way) the leash should be loose again, and finally the release word is given.  You need to give the dog the opportunity to weigh there options in order to give them the opportunity to learn.   If you are always going to take control of the situation rather than teach the dog, the dog will never learn control, themselves.   This is a really important concept when dealing with the behaviorally challenged dogs.

Lola hasn't been extremely pleased about going into the crate. So she will be fed in there, have some toys in there, but... In the meantime, she needs to go into the crate when necessary. If I don't need to get confrontational with a dog about these things, then I don't. Lola has responded well to the method where she is on leash, and I walk towards the crate. She will pull back for a moment, but if I just stop and wait, she will come towards me and the crate again. You need the dog on a slip training collar and leash to do this, if they are bound and determined to get away. The worst thing that can happen is she slips her collar and realizes that she could get away. This just makes the training go backwards. This morning putting Lola in the crate has been a lot easier, as I have made it as non confrontational as I possibly can. It's an attitude like this "look it's no big deal", but then you follow through and bring her out later with a little bit of freedom or training (which will feel like a little bit of freedom right now).

Tethering her to me starts to extinguish her first instinct to bolt for freedom as well. Most dogs enjoy actually being with their people, and once she figures out she can relax with her new best buddy (me of course) it will become much easier for her to just follow me around, and not look for the exit at every opportunity. Once she stops doing that, we can start considering letting her off tether in our home. It's not something that you want to do before she is ready though.

When I have a dog that is a possible bolt risk and has aggressive possibilities, there are certain safety measures I put in place.

• I pay attention to the status of all outside doors.   I lock some that friends or family (despite my frequent directions not to) may decide to open and come into unannounced.  The front door that we like to keep open to the screen or glass door is now closed from now forward.
• Be aware, some dogs are very prepared to go through window screens (and sometimes glass windows).  So closing the windows and having a dog that seems that panicked tethered to you is a very wise idea.
• Since we have a pen for going outside made of chicken wire, if I have a possible flight risk, I bring them out on lead personally to go to the bathroom in the pen.
• Even if there are no other dogs or people around, she will remain tethered to me when outside the crate right now.
• I make sure she is in the more well made thick wire crates.   Some crates are shockingly cheap, and Lola would be able to dismantle them quite readily, where other dogs would not even think of trying.
• Always have her on a slip type of training collar when outside of the crate, so as not to slip her flat collar.
• Always take the slip collar off when going into the crate (and put flat back on) so it doesn't get caught on a wire and choke her.
• Clothing should be leather shoes, thick jeans, bulky sweatshirt, when dealing with any dog that you think may deflect on you.   Often dogs that are going to turn out okay, will still panic and use their teeth in the moment.  We all want to protect ourselves, our clients, and the dog from making an unnecessarily bad mistake in the beginning of training.
• I try not to use muzzles on most dogs, but in the beginning and especially if the quarters are going to be tight with the object of their angst, I find muzzles are helpful not only for prevention but also to calm the dog down.   Once they realize they are not going to be able to take the action that they would like, and that you (the handler or owner) have things under control, the dog can relax and go with the flow.   Remember, it's totally important that the dog training have nothing to really worry about.  We use our trained dogs here, and people familiar with taking direction from me to start and win the dog over (and habituate them to things that previously frightened or concerned them in some way).

When you are entrusted with someone Else's dog, you need to be extra specially responsible and careful.   Someone is trustingly handing over their beloved family member to you.  My yard remains unfenced as I do a lot of off leash training.   Therefore, while I may drop a longe line at the end of training (meaning longe line is still attached but handle not in my hand), she will not be allowed off leash (really) outside, though she may be prepared to get a sense of it.

Today, we will be focusing on "let's go" and "sit on the dog training" which will be loaded into Lola's blog (with this posting) so her owners can follow along with what we are doing.

Maine Dog Trainer, New Hampshire Dog Trainer, Massachusetts Dog Trainer, and sometimes Canada Dog Trainer

Mannerly Mutts Dog Training Blog

How To Be A Balanced Human

I talk a lot about balance in dog training or creating a balanced behavior in a dog. Balance means not too much of one or the other. Or not too little of one or the other.




I try to translate this to my personal life as much as possible. My unbalance in life is that I either do tasks at a 100% level or I relax at a 100% level. For instance, if I relax too much and get behind, then I try to catch up on every little thing on one day (cleaning, taxes, finances, vendor correspondence ET). If I exercise I either exercise for an hour (or worse much more) everyday no matter how I feel, or I can't bear to exercise at all.



Recently, I have been trying to apply what I do in dog training with a mixture of "have to", "want to", and "should do". By doing a little of everything, I am more up to date and less stressed. Course I haven't totally caught up yet. Today though, after biking to clients and working many dogs, and knowing that I have about three residency cases coming in soon, I have elected for a little alone time with my dogs, Gigi and Magoo this morning of nothing other than relaxing.



I have been fighting off the impulse to work into every second every little thing I could multi task, because that is going to happen from tomorrow and through the next several months.



When my business gets like that, what we do is take "our or hour" - cations. Mini family breaks where we stop everything, leave the house and enjoy each other. We might go to the 123 for a lunch out with the dogs in tow on their outside area, or to Fox's for ice cream with the dogs, or the Cherry Tree----or perhaps a bigger trip to Cape Elizabeth, Fort Foster, or Fort McClary. It's just a time for me, my husband, and our dogs to unwind just a bit as if we are on vacation.



Enjoy balance in both your dogs' and your own life!!



New Hampshire and Maine Dog Trainer

Mannerly Mutts Blog

Frisbee Fun

Our first Doberman, Jazz, was magic with a Frisbee. Neptune, Jack, and Leon never had the knack. Both Neptune and Leon loved the Frisbee idea, but could only catch it in their mouths at short distances. Both loved to either chase it or the one getting it. Our newest addition, Boris, shows some promise.

Thanks to Jazz, we have investigated several types of Frisbees for large dogs that tend to rip apart anything they are able to (toys wise that is). Here are some pros and cons of our finds.

The Nylabone Frisbee:

Unless you have a puppy named Boris, this is a pretty indestructible toy. If you do have a puppy like Boris, be sure that you play with this only as a Frisbee and not a chew toy. I must admit in desperate moments, we let Boris chew on this. So now one side has a dent.

Cons: Hard on human hands when catching it, as far as I am concerned. Especially sharp after Boris has chewed on an edge. Dogs like to chew on this, and this may be a con for some owners.

Pros: A very hardy Frisbee toy that can not be pulled apart or chewed up that easily. It actually needs pretty concentrated chewing in order to get damaged. Seems to fly better than your standard human Frisbee despite the weight factor. Does double as a chew toy if you would like. The least likely to be an ingestion danger if left alone with the dog.

Rubber Type Frisbees:

I really like these frisbees a lot.

Pros: Easy on human hands! Easy on dogs mouths, as well one would think. Tough, not so easy to rip. The very edge of the frisbee is usually the first to go. Dogs don't seek to chew on this Frisbee so much.

Cons: Does not fly as well as other Frisbees. Less tough than a Nylabone Frisbee, but adequately tough. Not a large danger, but could be an ingestion danger if left alone with the dog.

Nylon Cloth Frisbees:

This was the first Frisbee that worked well with Jazz.

Cons: Can rip easily and be punctured by large breed canine Frisbee enthusiasts. You want to get this Frisbee quickly away from your dog so they don't have their way with it. Definately want to use this only for Frisbee type games. Could be an ingestion danger if left alone with the dog.

Pros: Very easy on human hands. It flies far very easily even for those of you as hopelessly Frisbee challenged as my wife .

Human Plastic Frisbees:

Cons: Tends to break just from a canine catching it, never mind if they try and chew it. It tends to break into sharp jagged pieces as well.

Pros: None that I know of as far as playing with canines. The cheap ones don't even tend to fly that well.

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