Picture and Video Client Updates

Sorry guys, with Thanksgiving slamming into us, and a bevvy of canine guests to entertain, I have slacked off on blogging.   Many of my clients are no doubt wondering what their canines have been up to while they were here:)   So first some photos of our Thanksgiving day guests.




Bella is the sweetest English Mastiff girl.  She is very timid though, despite her large size.

"That's right, I really do sleep on the bed at home.  Er, yeah, that's my story and I am sticking to it"

Magoo hangs out on bed with friends Leon and Boris.  My poor bed, I don't know how it is able to deal with all this weight on it all of the time.

Where oh where did Tommy go?

Friends Tommy and Leon getting ready for a good nights sleep (on the bed of course).

Jake at the left is a dog who recently trained here.   Jake moved to an assisted living community with his owner.  It was great to see Jake on Thanksgiving, and to know he and his owner are happily comfortable in their new home.  Gus is in the middle.   Tommy is at the far right.

Gus Goo came here because he is a bit anxious around other dogs.   He trained here awhile ago, and it's nice to visit with him on Thanksgiving.

Tommy and Buddy become fast friends.  Buddy is Lola's "brother" in that he lives with her.  They both spent Thanksgiving with us.

Tommy is playing with Lola here, who is the lovely black and white girl.   Lola came here because she did not get along well with dogs.   She is doing much better now as you can see.

Tommy arrived from Switzerland a few months ago.   Switzerland has some BSL legislation, and don't know what a fine dog they are missing.   His owners will be visiting him soon, and are excited to see him for Christmas.



 This is a now old video of Tommy at the end of his third training week here.   He was just learning about being outside without the leash and on the e-collar so he could get MUCH needed exercise.    Tommy really appreciates this, and he has a lot of fun everyday with his canine companions now, especially out in the woods or chasing the ball.




Finally our most recent daycare video.   This isn't the whole day, but some introductions and a woodsy walk that is typically done during the day.

NOTE:   AT LEAST IN THE WOODSY PORTION THE DOGS USUALLY HAVE ON ORANGE VESTS, BUT I FORGOT WHEN I WAS VIDEOING THIS, AS I WAS ORGINALLY JUST GOING TO DO THE INTROS IN THE FRONT YARD.   MY APOLOGIES TO MY DAYCARE CLIENTS, I WILL BE MORE CAREFUL, AND USUALLY AM...SORRY ABOUT THAT.   LUCKILY NO ONE HERE ALLOWS HUNTERS ON THEIR PROPERTY, BUT THAT DOES NOT PROTECT US FROM SOMEONE WHO IS NOT OBEYING THE RULES.  



The below picture is just to show that the dogs do indeed relax during the day once we are done with our walkies.   There is snoring and everything.   Hogan is not in this picture, but on Thursday he was where my dog Leon is on the couch in the middle and fast asleep.

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Why For No Blogging Mannerly Mutts?

First of all, apparently I am "over the hill" according to my loving family as I turned "a certain age" this August.

Question:  OMG, how busy have we been?  

Answer (see below also for details):  Got two board and train cases unexpectedly on the same busiest weeks for boarding, as they were both emergency cases.   Historically, August has been a crazy month.   Each week is a months worth of work in August.   Summer is not for the faint of heart here at Mannerly Mutts, and I see now more than ever that I will need an assistant next year, and possibly this fall if I start the group classes (the announcement will be coming for my former students).

I have not been busy training competition dogs, Magoo (client dog training for Open AKC), and Boris (my three legged dog training for Novice UKC).  In fact all the maintaining of training on current dogs goes out the window during the month of August.  So here is what we HAVE BEEN doing:

Computer Crashed and Down During Busy Time:  Granted, I really needed a new computer anyway.  I wanted a laptop with all the ports and attachments to do my work quickly and where ever the dogs are.   My computer was painfully slow even hooked up directly to the DSL line.   Still have not transferred everything that I need to my new Toshiba Satellite (love it).   Perhaps today will be the day to figure out how to plug my camera card and camcorder in.

Jake (a mix of mystery):  Did not take a picture of my new buddY yet:(   Jake came here to train in order to move with his owner to an assisted living situation.   Jake was never properly house trained, and his owner is loosing some memory functions.   Obviously, it's important that the facility remain clean from accidents.   So Jake came here to do house training, a little obedience training, and training to ring the bell to alert the owner.   The owner has remembered (a little too much) to let Jake out, so I may need to visit to reinforce the bell training, so when the memory does not work ---  Jake will.   So far so good as far as the house training has gone for his new home.  

This has been a wonderful case to work on.   His owner and the sons have been so supportive and helpful of being a team in this process.   It's been a very heartwarming case.   Jake is a wonderful dog by the way.   He is very playful and young, but has been a great companion to his less young owner.   So happy that they will be able to stay together.  

Huntington Commons is a retirement community that does allow their residents to keep dogs (and so I am assuming other pets as well) given the residents are able to follow some guidelines.   That is a happy thing especially for my future old age, though I hope to still be training well into my eighties.

Rocko (Maltese and Shih Tzu):  This two year old is a dynamo.   He came here after a second incident with a child.   Interestingly enough, this is more of an inappropriate play thing, it would seem, than an aggression thing.   I did not see the incident, but the parents report it's much like what they see when Rocko is playing with the dogs.   Dogs have fur though, where human beings do not.   Rocko being a small mite of a thing with uber confidence and not that much socialization, has trouble seeing the difference between any human who is playing with him and a dog.   His teeth are still young, white, and sharp, so catching something in the air at the right angle on the way down can cause a mark or bite wound.   Rocko is just needing work on self control around humans who play with him, and also more socialization and real world experiences.   Though a small dog, this is a dog that gets bored easily and needs a lot of activity.  He needs this activity in more of an outlet than just play.

Rocko is the classic case of the cycle that can go on in dog ownership.   First as a puppy, his barking, charging, was cute (well still is truth to be told, but...).   However, as human owners we need to look into the future and realize there are things coming down the pike that we must prepare our dogs for.   Like that children have soft skin without fur, and if we want our dogs to play with children (or be controllable around children) then we need to prepare them.

So then when Rocko was barking (a previous cute behavior that was inadvertently rewarded) in public or in the yard, the owners started to avoid those activities that would make Rocko bark.   Rocko goes out less, but still needs mental and physical activity so the now unwanted behaviors increase instead of being channelled correctly.

Rocko is a really good guy and very fun loving.   His owners have a hard time believing what an incredible obedience or agility guy this munchkin would be.   However, it's true:)  Rocko loves to work, and he loves to go on adventures.  Now it's about pushing his owners out there with him.  It's also about training the owners to control the environment for Rocko to learn how to be self controlled and calm.

Lola (thought to be Pit bull X Female and Housemate of Buddy):  Lola came here after an incident with he owner's niece.   However, she had always been hard to handle on lead in public around dogs.  Lola is a sweetheart with those that she knows.   She can show a bit of resource guarding with her other canine housemate.   She does like dogs, but her lack of socialization seems to have made her very wary, and she likes to go on the defensive first to be sure the other dog doesn't get to her first.   It matters little what the other dog is doing at the time.

Lola also was taken in at a much younger age than is advised.   So she missed out on much of the nurturing and sibling interactions that a dog should have.  

Buddy Cocker Spaniel Male (and Housemate of Lola):  Buddy and Lola adore each other.   Buddy is now taking private coaching lessons with his owners, so that they can learn how to train him as well.  It does make life much easier when all dogs in the household are trained on basic obedience and manners.

Alyssa (Husky):  OMG, such a cute Husky puppy.  Alyssa is here for daycare and training.   The training is limited as her knees are fluctuating improperly.   Surgery may be necessary to correct this for her.   She is coming into just one years old now.

Jake German Shepherd 10 Month Old Male (Sibling to Roxy):  Most breeders will not adopt out two siblings.   This pairing happened in a sort of accident.   One of the human siblings was holding the other puppy for a surprise later for the other family.   However, the holder fell in love with that puppy too.   (as well as the one that they totally planned to purchase for themselves)   Hence, at 10 months, the classic problems that arise out of this are rearing their head.

Jake is the more confident and larger of the two siblings.   He came up and sniffed me right away at his first lesson.   He gets reactive to sudden and movements from a distance.

Both siblings get anxious when they can not get to each other.

Roxy German Shepherd 10 Month Old Female (Sibling to Jake):  Roxy is more fearful and timid than Jake.  She did not elect to sniff or greet me the whole first lesson .  

Both siblings get anxious when they can not get to each other.

Salty (German Short haired Pointer Female):  Salty had an incident related to her invisible fence.   She also has not been trained to be confident and calm around her boundaries, and so we have started the coaching with her owners to get her back to enjoying the freedom of her yard:)

Daycare and walking:  Alyssa (the Husky female puppy mentioned above) is our most recent daycare client.  Ollie (a hound mix of some sort, I assume) has been my walking client since late this winter or early spring, and is now a daycare client here.

Boarding, boarding, and more boarding:  Boarding during August has been historically busy and crazy for the month.  We easily do every other month's work in a week.   We did have a few new guests this year Carlus (beagle and housemate to Bachus), Bachus (Great Pyrenes),  Polly (Chocolate Lab), and Lucey (Golden Lab and housemate to Fenway, Standard Poodle).   We also had regular guests Petey (Giant Schnauzer who recently passed away due to some health difficulties), Magoo CD (Great Dane and Petey's housemate), Roxy (Great Dane and Harley's housemate), Harley (Great Dane and Roxy's housemate), Bogey (cutest Beagle that you will ever meet), and more.   Plus we had all of the above going on as well.

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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:



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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.

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