Friday, February 10, 2012

Epic Fall Dog Walk

See that white line on the drain pipe?
 That is as high  as I go without wigging out.  I
am screwed.
NOTE-
Came back for the second day in a row to give my blog some love and found this unfinished post.  I gave it the once over and bam- two posts in 2 days. Today is Finney's 6th birthday!  If you are a Finney fan, be sure to watch his little Youtube clip at the end where he finds himself out on a log on a pond. Love ya Finn.



Been painting my house. Which is quite a task, since I am a real freak about high ladders and heights.  The dogs, Finn, Beck and latest foster Ginger have all been a bit freaky to. They just don't think it is right that they can see me out the windows, but can't touch me. You would think it they would find it comforting, but no, it is making them nuts.




Anyway, after days of painting the dogs  looked at me all pathetic and whiny and pleading like so I gave in. I took the younguns to school and hit the woods. Hoped they would all chill afterwards.

You know those days when dogs kind of kick up there heels and run with full abandon? Those days that you stick out in you mind of why you like dogs and how much joy they bring you? Those special dog romps that you look back at and can't help but smile?

Yup, it was like that.

First they ran full tilt and crazy like.  Lots of smells and doggie stuff since the last time we were there.


They got crazy stinky at the massive compost pile.







They looked gorgeous among the fall leaves.
There was just that right crisp in the air.
The dogs were getting totally crazy happy fall yucky gross.

Look close and check Beck's toothy stanky grin


We were all contagiously crazy happy.
We didn't see a soul, so I decided to stroll up to  the back of the pond. (yes, dogs are allowed here, but only behind the furthest pond where we were.) We usually avoid this area, as there are usually a lot of people and I try to be a good citizen and respect that not everyone likes dogs, especially  yucky ones.

If you squint  in the very beginning of the video,  you can see that foster dog Ginger is a gold spec just a bit too far away.  I was trying to get a scenic video of her running back to me for her Petfinder bio when.......

Epic Red Neck agility happened.




Finn, as always took a moment to strike a pose and show off how stunning he looks in the fall against coordinating leaves.





Note - Ginger was adopted by a Ginger :))


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Practicing what I Preach



Ok, so the blog went dark for a bit. I am back. I know I have said that before, but we have made some changes around her. Namely, I am taking a foster dog break. We had...I don't know...a lot of foster dogs last year.  Somewhere close to 25.  Me, the kids, and the dogs are totally burnt out.

It was the last foster dog, who will remain nameless, who pushed us all over the brink.  The dog who I shall call "Ben" was barrier aggressive,  and every time Beck looked at him while he was crated -  he attacked the crate. Sometimes Beck and even Finney yelled back, and other times they ignored him.  After a few weeks  "Ben" started to guard half my house from  my dogs.   At around the same time, I was having issues with Beck fence running.  My house is on a cul de sac and we have dogs on 5 sides. It turned into a nightmare back there in a flash. Also at the same time, Beck got ubber aroused at agility class and flew off the Aframe one day and straight for the incoming class who were behind a chain link fence.
That take off in agility was my last straw, and I got "Ben" out of house and put Beck and I on a new training program.  It is just not fair for any of use to live with that level of stress. I think when Beck zoomed off the A frame, he was a little rubber band doggie who just snapped.

After  1 month with no fosters, I am hear to tell you, it is true what I say. If you want to change your dog's behavior, you have to change your own.


I made a lot of new rules for me and Beck and have pretty much have stuck to them.

No more letting my dog out the back door to my fenced  yard alone. At times when my neighbors are likely  to be letting their dogs out, I leash walk.
Lots  of training and exercise and  Beck is on a modified Work to Earn Program.  It is not enough that he does a behavior, he has to do it in a chillaxing kind of a way. None of that quivering OMG!!! she is gonna open a door crap.  Long downs and out of site stays at home. Lots of recall training.  Beck and I enrolled in a  Rally O class (thanks Jill!!) .  He went from a lunging barking FOOL, on the first night of class to a  nice star student.  He may always take a lot of management , but it has been great for us to be in a chill place with nice dogs around.  He has also learned a few new tricks and (brag) holy smokes is my dog easy to teach behaviors to.  Beck is one of the smartest dogs (in some ways, not so much in others)I have ever worked with, but in some ways, mucho stuoopido.  I am working hard on helping him grow a brain and we are training towards, Rally, Freestyle and Agility.


 While I do have mild guilt for not helping homeless dogs, I LOVE having my house back.  In the last few weeks of our foster dog break, we have had a few visitor dogs, but well adjusted, trained , known dogs who do not carry the same level of stress  (and BS) as fosters.  I have contacted the rescue and told them I will still help with various things I helped with before. Beck may or may not be in a place in his wee brain to allow  fostering ever again.    Time will tell.

For now I can tell you that after 1 month of boot camp, I finally didn't think he was going to take off and chase a dog at agility class this week.  It had crossed my mind to pull him from agility until his training was back on track, but instead we went with making it unpleasant for him to chase other dogs. With the help of the other trainers in the room (Liz,  Cindy and Delaney-bless you!) it seems to be working.

Of course I am not kidding myself, Beck's prey and chase behaviors run pretty deep. I do expect a back slide, but for right now, I am happy to be moving forward!




About the photo. Beck and Finney at Dundee Park. They are running the place.