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Mandy October 5th Update

Mandy is coming soon for an overnight. It's always exciting when we see our previous training clients from FAR AND AWAY (in this case Canada) come back so we can see how they have been progressing at home. In the meantime, I wanted to share the latest update on Mandy where her owner was excited that she had retrieved, and seems now confident enough to keep Mandy. She was actually considering doing the expensive training here so that it would be possible to re home Mandy later, but instead found the right partnership. Mandy is in the field a lot with her owner overseeing parks and such, and so it would have been impossible for her owner to be able to properly care for a dog that could not come along with her often. It is also an ideal life for a dog to be able to do this.

So here is Mandy's owner's update:

"We had a big 'first' this evening.

Until now, Mandy hasn't had any retrieving interests from either her Golden or Lab sides...unfortunate for me, as that's a prime way to exercise her four legs without wearing out my two.

This morning she had a dog walk/romp with a friend's Nova Scotia Tolling Retriever. We found a tennis ball in the local school yard and the toller retrieved with GREAT enthusiasm, Mandy taking note and somewhat joining in.

Tonight, after a few tosses, she caught on and retrieved admirably a number of times all on her own. What a thrill!

The toller will get treats in the morning. And I now have a new way to exercise my dog.

Just wanted to let you know.

Phyl, I'll be sending a one-year adoption update on Mandy on October 16. This year has been a learning experience for both of us, with some work still ahead, but we are now definitely a bonded pair.

Robin, this wouldn't have happened without your expertise and interest.

Mandy now wags and grins all the time, as she should.

Lee"


These are the results that keep me at it:)   Also these results CAN NOT happen without a committed owner.   It's a lot harder than you think, because it involves an owner learning to mask their own insecurities when working their dog.   The owner needs to behaviorally modify themselves in order to behaviorally modify their dog, and it's no easy task especially when they live so far away from me.   It's not like I can personally swing by if they are having a problem.

Congrats to my human and canine students!!   Thank you for making my business my dream job.

To see more about Mandy, just click on her name on our blog.

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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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Wonderful News About Mandy

At Mannerly Mutts we go on a journey with both our canine and human clients.   It's sometimes a hard and scary journey that is filled with stress that this might not work out for the team.   Our success rate is high (in the 90% and above), but still every case involves new individuals and new circumstances.   Mandy was a dog that came from an unusual circumstance, as much of her life she was tied to a garage before she was rescued and finally adopted by her wonderful owner.  Her situation and reactions to the new life were not easy.   Compounding that was the fact that Mandy is a very powerful Lab/Golden Retriever mix.   She is responsible for me loosing ten pounds in her two weeks here.  Mandy's desire for freedom and thus her bolting were entirely understandable.   Plus she was attacked and impregnated while tied to the garage by her previous family.

Mandy was one of the harder cases due to her sheer strength and determination to get to a dog in order to attack it.   Very high defense drive due to her previous living conditions.   We only had two weeks with Mandy.   The main areas were to get her walking on leash controlled in normal circumstances, and to start her education that all dogs were not out to attack her.   Also, to teach her that when on leash with her owner, she would be perfectly safe.   The garage did not take care of her that well that her previous owners had tied her to.

Freedom and exercise were what motivated Mandy towards becoming more trusting and obedient to her human partners.  Here is Mandy's owner's update (Mandy trained here in March 2010):

Robin and Robert:

I'm way overdue in letting you know how Mandy and I are progressing, this because of frenetic happenings with my work that have left little time for personal notes of late. I've just finished working 37 days straight without a break, often long hours, and spent most of this first weekend at home in close contact with my pillow!

I continue to learn new things about and with Mandy as we go through our first summer together. She has recently discovered hummingbirds (with awe), fireflies (quizzically), watermelon (yum) and kiddie pools (having her own). She totally enjoys boat travel, having come on two recent day-long lake trips (see picture), but is still awful in cars.

Recently the two of us looked after a provincial park for three days and she was quite good at greeting people and dogs as they arrived. It was beastly hot (no pun intended) and I knew it was time to take her to the lake for an extra swim when I found her standing with her front feet in her water bucket!

She has also had her first dog sleep-over, as a good friend of mine and her golden came to stay for 4 nights. This went wonderfully: Mandy had no trouble with another dog sharing her house space and in fact we were kept busy early and late giving these gals the play time they craved. I'm including a picture of me, Mandy and her golden friend Emma at the beach.

I continue to work on Mandy's attitude toward unfamiliar dogs, with notable gains. She still tends to approach new dogs a bit too quickly but has not done this in "attack mode" in the last two months. She is learning to greet in more proper dog fashion.

A prime goal has been to get past a fenced yard with a very yappy terrier without Mandy ripping me off my feet. I'd hoped to achieve this by fall but have made faster progress. She can now make it by this yard with just minor whines and no bolting, although some days I would gladly strangle the damn terrier myself!

Also she is now good at being within a quarter block of unknown dogs without stress, and recently had a face-to-face with an unknown aggressive and equally-sized dog, and she pulled back on my verbal command. More work to do here, but remarkable progress from where she was just months ago.

She no longer bolts out the door and down the street when I come and go from the house, but instead greets me when I come home and (mostly) takes it gracefully when I leave. My office moved recently, so I can't take her to work with me as before, and we're working that out. She sits obediently for leash and food, with some big wiggles when excited.

I've been admittedly slack on leash "heel" lately, as I've been so bone-weary that we more often go the to ball field, where she can run, rather than walk around many blocks. We do have a daily 20-minute walk date (weekdays at 7am sharp) with an older dog, which she looks forward to, and do some heel work on this.

Once my frenetic summer season ends (mid-September), I'll be more structured in Mandy's daily routines and my own, and will be focusing on leash work.

The electronic collar, while rarely needed, continues to be a god-send. It has allowed her much more freedom, me knowing that I can use it to save both of us if exceptional circumstances arise in her heat of the moment.

All in all, she is now well on her way to becoming a normal dog and wonderful companion, in spite of her difficult past. It has not been an easy journey and we're not entirely there yet, but I am hopeful and the two of us continue to work at it.

Thanks for your support.

No thanks to my client for being dedicated and working with Mandy:)   This is what makes my job and my business the absolute best!!!

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Client Updates at 3/25/2010

Mandy is an adorable lab/golden/hound mix that was rescued from an unfortunate family situation. Mandy came in with what the owner felt was leash aggression. The actual problem appears to be an over reaction to dogs who tell her to back off. Mandy gets so worked up wanting to play, and then her defense drive kicks in if a dog says "uh no, I don't really know you that well". This is because Mandy goes full tilt boogey into a reactive greeting. She is really a very easy dog. This is a dog that has shown a few aggressive behaviors, but mostly reactive behaviors. Mandy is going to be returned home to a more active and free life, and with much more trust in her handlers:) She goes home at the end of next week, and her owner is traveling down from Canada to do a few days of training with us. Mandy's owner had been working it her on socialization at home, but found the very strong Mandy too physically taxing to continue doing it her self and be safe. Mandy was very close to being returned to the rescue before her owner finding Mannerly Mutts. This would have been a real shame, because ultimately dog and owner will be fine together, and they both love each other.

Zoey is a 15 month old GSD female who has gotten about four bites in on dogs. She had a traumatic experience herself early on, so some of what she shows is defense drive. Since the nips have been all around the ears or so, this dog is trying to show some self control. Zoey has displayed resource guarding issues around other dogs, and has only had minimal training previously which did not result in a dog that could be walked easily around the neighborhood on leash. The family has had many dogs in the past, but had just needed to do the minimum in training. Zoey has an optomistic future, as her owner has been working diligently with her. Here is what her owner recently wrote to us after lesson 2 " We encountered some dogs in yards on our walk and I was successful making her sit and down instead of barking and pulling. It was wonderful." Zoey's owner is very committed, even though she was pressured by family to give Zoey up. Due to the committment displayed, we are very optomistic about Zoey's future and remaining within the family (and the family liking her). Zoey's owner found out about us due to a past client recomending us.

Kitty is a super cute 6 month old Springer. Her owner brought her here because she thought Kitty was fearful, but Kitty just got the puppy jitters when someone scared her at the office. Kitty spends a lot of time with her owner at work. This cute Springer girl actually ends up being a confident well rounded puppy, who is enjoying training very much. She is going to turn out just fine. Springers are so darned cute, no wonder they almost always lord it over their owners:)

Nellie is a hound mix that was a bit fearful, and used to running away from her owners when let loose. She is coming along very nicely, and I see her owners all the time working with her in the neighborhood. It makes me smile just to think about it. Another dog that will do just fine.
Just about all the cases above have something in common, besides the fact that these are all female dogs. None of these dogs were ever formally shown how to follow. Nellie when inside the house or on the leash, actually does follow her owners gladly. It's off the leash when she can be a naughty girl, and scare her owners by running out of sight for minutes at a time. The puppy Springer, Kitty, is just in the perfect place to learn this right now. Zoey and Mandy were very much in need of this to keep their homes. Both dogs are already happier now that the conflict is gone, and the handler or owners can give them more freedom and exercise.

And today, Miss Gigi is coming to board, and give Mandy some pointers on what she has learned about proper canine etiquette!

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New Clients in The Works

Mandy is traveling in today six hours from her home further north. I was thinking that she was an unusual case, but then realized the problem that she has is one that we have dealt with before.

Every now and again, we are fortunate enough to know a rescue's history. Mandy was observed before ending up in the hands of a rescue organization, tied very frequently in the front yard or to the garage on a short leash. One of the volunteers dropped by to have a chat with the owner. Apparently the dog, Mandy, was a pawn in divorce proceedings.


I am sure that we have all been tempted to "liberate" a dog from their home, but most of us don't knowing it's against the law. One day this volunteer passed by, checked on Mandy, and found the owner had moved and abandoned the home (and Mandy!!! tied to the garage). Now the rescue could legally step in and liberate Mandy. Mandy was taken care of during the puppy whelping, and the puppies found good homes. Mandy found a good home as well.


However, the owner has had a problem with the aggression brought on apparently by leashes. As one might imagine, confinement is a source of trauma for Mandy. Recently we also had a case where touching had become a negative for a dog due to his (Hoobie's) medical issues. Sometimes, we are unaware of where the trauma came from, or if it's something that came with the dog's personal makeup or lack of socialization. Every now and again, we are lucky that a good history file came along with the dog.


So now we know that, we need to make this "negative" into a "positive" for the dog. We are meeting Mandy for the first time this afternoon (written on 5/18/2010), and she will be staying with us for two weeks. It's our goal to get a go forward plan in action for Mandy's dedicated and loving owner. The interesting thing about this case is she gets aggressive to other dogs with their leashes on!!! Normally when you hear the expression "leash aggression" you are thinking of a dog that is mouthing and biting at their leash (and possibly anything that gets in their way) OR a dog that gets aggressive when the leash is on (normally by the reliance on holding the dog back and thereby cueing resistance instead of compliance). So Mandy is different in that this a slightly different than normal leash aggression (this is under observation).

The same week we were talking to Mandy's owner, another call came in for a German Shepherd girl, who is 15 weeks old, and being aggressive to dogs. In fact, the reason I got the call is Zoey bit a former client's dog, and happens to be her neighbor!! Zoey's bite on Frankie, was more of a resource-guarding thing (stick). Zoey actually shows signs of being a bit fearful of new people and dogs, but does warm up quickly to humans (ME). Before we start introducing Zoey to the training pack, we are going to be working on a few skills in a non-distracting environment. Once she gets those down, it will be time to bring her around (at least) my dog, Leon, while training her.

We have another GSD girl training here for a similar problem, but an opposite intent. Bristol LOVES LOVES everything. She loves everything so much, that she is quite willing to drag her handler in front of traffic, across the parking lot, so the recipient of her love and devotion (which could be anything) will get what they desperately need. What Bristol doesn't understand though, is she looks like an aggressive GSD when she does this (number one), and that not everything in the world is desperately wishing for Bristol's attention (number two).

Bristol is just a total sweetie though. She is a bit stubborn for her owners, so she is doing a little finishing work here. Every now and again we get a dog here whose friendliness we love, but we need to train them to greet just a tad (or in Bristol's case a lot) more calmly. She can do this with humans now, and we are finishing up her work on greeting dogs calmly rather than dragging her owners over to meet her new friends LOL. Luckily, this is not a dog where aggression is at all an issue.

During this busy week, we have been sick with a really nasty spring cold, which has caused our writing to get a bit behind.  

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