Desensitizing a Dog to the Bike for Jogging

I recently discovered the joys of biking with my dogs, through use of a Walky Dog. As I have herding dogs, this tool has been a blessing for me - I never realized how much exercise they WEREN'T getting until we began jogging regularly. My dogs are all happier, I feel less like a lazy person, and I've seen health improvements in my older dog as well. Walking is a wonderful form of exercise, but I have a cattle dog, who I was walking 3-4 miles a day, and no matter how far or how long I walked him, he had scores of energy to spare, and I never felt like he got all he needed, and it took SO much time!

Getting your dog to the point that they can jog comfortably beside your bike on the Walky Dog might be a bit of an issue, particularly for fearful dogs. I took a few steps to ensure that my Dax would have a successful introduction to it before I even received it, so I'd like to share that information for anyone else who might have a similar issue. Most dogs you can just hook up and go, but it never hurts to slowly introduce something totally new, particularly if you think there might be difficulty. This is intentionally a very gradual process I outline below.

Step 1 - Introduction to the bike
For this step, simply wheel the bike into the backyard, park it, then let your dog come up to it. Stand or sit beside it, not on it, and whenever the dog shows interest in it, reward. If you use a clicker, click when the dog is even looking at the bike. When the dog is clearly comfortable with the bike, not moving, go to the next step.


Step 2 - Sit on the Bike
With the bike not moving, sit on it. Reward dog for interest. It's amazing how simply sitting on the bike can totally change the dog's emotions toward it. Again, if clearly uncomfortable, go back a previous step. Be very casual about sitting on the bike - it's a nonevent, no big deal.

Step 3 - The Moving Bike
For this exercise, you are simply walking the bike slowly around your yard. As with the first exercise, treat the dog whenever s/he is close to you. Don't give any commands, let the dog approach at their own speed. If clearly uncomfortable, go back to the first step and reward heavily for interest in the bike.

Step 4 - Ride the Bike
Get on the bike and slowly walk it (with your feet) around the yard. Reward dog for interest. Do not reward for any tire biting or barking. Once the dog is comfortable or indifferent about it, try pedaling very slowly around the yard. You might find it hard to treat your dog while going very slowly - put some cheese or something your dog likes in your mouth and blow it out into your yard for your dog, if necessary. You can also stop and reward, but we don't want the dog to get the idea that stopping the bike is what's getting them the reward.

Step 5 - Hook the Dog to the Bike
Now, for this step, you actually need the bike jogger. Hook the dog up, with a harness, to the bike, and reward heavily. When comfortable, begin walking the bike around the yard, rewarding the dog for being calm and walking with the bike. Mount the bike a few times and reward, but don't actually take off until the dog is clearly comfortable. You might have to mount the bike from the same side the dog is on, sometimes swinging your leg over towards the dog can be scary for them. We don't want bike riding to be scary, it should be lots of FUN!

Step 6 - Riding With Your Dog
This is the step you've been waiting for - hook up the dog, walk beside it for a little way, and when your dog is comfortable, get on the bike and pedal. You may want to add periods of getting off the bike and walking it if your dog is especially timid. As you bike more and faster, remember that your pooch needs a warm-up period and a cool-down period on each ride. The ideal speed is a fast trot for your dog.

I don't recommend any sort of shifting with a fearful dog. Even now I ride in first gear, only very occasionally shifting to second. The noise of the chain moving around can be quite traumatic. Only try a shift after you've gotten your dog extremely comfortable with the bike. Make sure your bike is adjusted correctly so it shifts quickly and smoothly.

I hope you have great success with these steps, this is what I used to get my own fearful dog Dax comfortable with a bike jogger, and now we very much enjoy our time biking together. The important thing to remember is to not push your dog too fast, or it may take even longer to get them used to it, as you'll have to start all over again!

As with any exercise regimen, ask your veterinarian before you begin if bike jogging is right for you and your dog. It's not recommended to bike a dog under one year of age or under 20 pounds.

A fun Dax walk

Fun Dax walks are few and far between, I'm sad to say.

He's incredibly fearful and reactive towards people (the main issue) and dogs (less of an issue to me since I have another one like that (but not quite that extreme) and I'm used to avoiding dogs on walks). Whenever we get within sight of another human being, Dax goes into frenzy mode. Bark bark bark bark lunge bark bark insanity bark bark bark. And by sight, I literally mean sight. His threshold for strangers on walks can be as far as the eye can see, when they're coming towards him. He actually is LESS reactive towards dogs. If I walk him with Popper, he can actually get closer to people (around the neighborhood), but I can't really work on anything when I'm walking him with another dog because my hands are tied up with two dogs.

My friend Trish asked me last night, as we walked Dax with his best buddy Raleigh, why I don't click Dax as soon as a person comes into sight, and just rapid fire click-treat until they're gone.

The answer is simple and sad: because when he's out on a walk, he's already over his threshold. He won't take treats, he's not interested in them even a teensy bit. Steak, hot dog, even his favorite duck - they're not important. I can't *not* walk Dax. I suppose I could continually drive him to my parents' big yard to play lots and lots of ball for exercise, but right now it's muddy so that's off limits. Dogs over their threshold aren't supposed to be "training" because they won't learn anything. I can vouch for that. But I can't stuff a young cattle dog in my house and tell him he has to be a perfect angel with no hope for exercise, either. A little bit of cat teaser isn't going to remotely tire him, or some Nina Ottosson games. He needs simple, sheer exercise to be satisfied. He'd also never leave the house if I waited until he took treats from me.

The reason I mention it is because today, for the first time ever, Dax was so entirely relaxed that I was able to train correctly on a walk (no half-assing it today!!). I met with my parents and their two confident cattle dog mixes for a walk in the park. It took a mile in, but Dax starting responding to clicks, looking for treats (has NEVER happened on a walk, I usually have to shove them in his mouth), offering behaviors. He was a different dog. And it enlightened me to how freaked out he normally is on walks. Which makes me sad. Because walks should be fun for both of us, not torturous. Not scary.

Dax was able to confidently walk past strangers (except for one jogger who was too too close - next time he came by I moved Dax over four feet and Dax didn't even pay him any attention) without barking at them at all. He was still pretty barky at other dogs, but I felt like if I really wanted to press the issue (and I didn't at that time, I was thoroughly enjoying the stranger-barking-free walk) we could have had some success to build upon in the future. And I've never felt like he could have that issue in control.

I wanted to go on forever, but my parents are old and their dogs are fat, so we called it quits after a couple of slow miles.

I've discussed this weird reaction with my friends and trainers before.. Why does Dax NOT bark at strangers when walked with my parents and their dogs? Everyone suggests that the two dogs are confident enough that Dax doesn't feel like he needs to go into berserker mode. I wonder something else entirely, and a bit more ominous.

Dax has never been walked with another man that I can recall. He's slightly spooked of all men, even my husband. I kind of wonder if it's my dad that Dax is responding to, and not the dogs. Because when I walk Dax with Raleigh and Trish, I don't get the same reaction. And Raleigh is fairly confident around strangers and other dogs (at least, his threshold is a good deal higher than Dax's).

Easy enough to test, I suppose. I'm going to haul hubby out with Merlin the corgi for a short walk with us to see what happens, clicker and treats at the ready. Unfortunately it's going to rain for the next few days, but I really want to see what happens. Maybe it is the two older, wiser, secure dogs sending him good vibes. Or maybe Dax is afraid to "misbehave" in front of Grampy. I don't know. Maybe I'll never know for sure. But I'd love to know what secret ingredient it is, so I can be sure to include it on all our future walks!

Making Nail Trims Fun

Well, at least "less likely to have gaping bloody wounds after angry cattle dog mix ravages your hands."

That's a pretty good intro. :D

See, when I got Popper at 6 weeks old, he was insanely insane about his feet. Insane. Being the good little dog owner, I massaged his little tootsies daily so he'd learn that it was okay. I also daily was chomped, bitten, and maimed. Usually, I am sad to say, with broken skin. He was a very small puppy. With very sharp teeth.

As time wore on, I had my husband wrap him up like a mummy in a blanket, and then we put a muzzle on him. He turns into little Cujo and froths at the mouth, but I get all his toenails cut and dremeled. If he were any bigger (he's only about 26#, keep in mind) and he acted this way, I have NO idea how we would trim his nails.

Then my friend Trish shared this video. It was a similar story (except I am not intimidated by Popper - I am bigger, I am stronger, and daggonit I'm smarter!) though it didn't sound like the dog had nearly the foot aggression that my dear little buddy does. I've seen a lot of clicker videos for the issue, and this particular one struck a chord with me. Everything was sooo slow. I decided to give it a shot.

So today, I took 30 minutes and played the nail clicker game.

First off, I discovered that Popper is indeed much, much worse than the dog in the video. If I would try to get my hand REMOTELY near his feet, he skittered off instantly. I could get about 8-10" away, and that's it. So we had to try a new tactic just to get to the first part of the training.

Popper loves to play. Popper loves to target. And Popper love love LOVES food!! So I would throw my hand down beside him (palm down), and he would POUNCE on it. If he pounced with his paw, click treat. He loved the game. So after he was awesome at it, which didn't take too long, I changed to slamming my hand down palm UP. He handled the switch just fine. The key here is that he is GIVING me his paw. He WANTS to play. The next step was to just lightly grab his paw, starting with a little thumb stroke and working up to a full grab. He was shocked. Mom grabbed his PAW. Click treat. :) Oh, wait... I got a treat. So we played that game for a looong time, just getting him comfortable with me grabbing his foot for an instant. No toe playing, no massage. Grab and go. He started rolling on his back and batting at me - honestly, any foot grab was my goal. I'd grab, click treat, and he'd bat me again.

That took quite a while. When I left the game, after 30 minutes (and Popper's tail wagging madly once he understood the "rules"), we had worked up to grabbing AND holding his paw for 2-3 seconds. Without rolling over. Popper discovered that he could just lay there and let Mom do all the work and get a click treat. As he is always looking for shortcuts, he was perfectly fine with the new way the game was going. With his right foot I can even massage it a little bit. Unfortunately, I kept playing with one foot more than the other, so his left foot he is still kind of dodgy on, but I CAN grab it. Without so much as a snarl. Which I can tell you I never thought was remotely possible.

So we are not going to progress at the same rate as the dog in the video. But that's fine. I never thought Popper would willingly give me his paw, so I am willing to be unusually patient with this new game. :)

Dax Breaks Out - Again!

Dax broke his crate. Again. Pulled the front wire off from their supports. While it's not really a "necessary" wire, and a major flaw in the Midwest Lifestages crates, IMO, he pulled off the weld with it too so there are sharp bits, so I have to have my dad weld it back. Again.

This is the second time he's broken this particular crate. I had him in Roofus's old crate before, to give him more room - but it just gave him more leverage, apparently, because he broke out of that one pretty quick, and it was a crate designed specifically for large, powerful dog breeds. Ripped the entire front panel off, including many welds.

My dad sees this is a challenge to his intelligence, taking it personally that Dax has yet again broken a crate, and swears that he's going to weld a 2" bar of steel there so he can't mess with that particular weakness again.

Dax doesn't break out of his crate because there's nothing to do in it - I leave all his favorite toys in there, at least two different nylabones, at least one thing freshly stuffed with peanut butter, a dog bone... but he won't play with them. At his ex-owner's house, he was abused while in his crate, left in it for extremely long periods, and he also has separation anxiety. We don't have these issues at night - he trots in happily and starts chewing on a bone or toy. He doesn't try to escape. But then, I'm right there beside him too.

I've tried working with him by putting him in it randomly for short periods, with a chew or a peanut butter stuffed toy. He's fine with that. But if I leave the house, he doesn't play with anything, doesn't chew on the peanut butter toy... he grabs the front of the crate and tugs backwards as hard as he can to escape. I've tried DAP collars, calming music - but he panics and wants out. NOW!

If he weren't an insane puppy, I'd have no problem leaving him out while I'm not at home. But now that I've seen what he's capable of doing to his crate, I'd hate to come home and see what he's done to my house!!

Don't mess with my stuff!

Today, I started giving my bedroom a much needed going over, throwing lots of stuff away, organizing, and otherwise leaving my room looking like a hurricane went through it.

Merlin, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, always gets a little freaked out when we clean or move things, and will usually find a "safe spot" to hide until we're done.

Dax, our Australian Cattle Dog, well, gets more than a little freaked out. But he was handling it remarkably well.

First, he dashed in and out of my room looking at everything I was tossing. Then, he decided the best place for him to be was in the center of my bed, snuggled around all the piles of junk I was throwing out, and watching me carefully.

That bit was fine.

Then I had to move his crate for a few minutes. I think the little dog went into full-out panic mode. First, he kept slinking in and out of the cage. Then he began sneaking out all his toys (I keep his crate well-stocked with his favorites) and piling them up near the door. When I put his crate back in its original position, he started moving all his toys back in, and settled down inside to chew on his nylabone, keeping an eye on me while I tidied up a few last things.

While I don't follow his logic, thankfully I am finished for now with my cleaning. He's tired from being watchful and worrying, so he's napping comfortably beside me on the sofa.

Playing Agility with Roofus

Yesterday I took Roofus, my Old English Sheepdog, outside to see if I could get him started in agility. He's freaking humongous (30" or so at the shoulders) so I don't really want him doing most things in agility. Like contacts. Or weaves. And if I run him in CPE, he can do 16" as a specialist, so the jumping part isn't too bad. The only thing left that I don't really like is the tunnel - it's 24" tall, so giant dogs like Roo have to literally crawl through them, while every other dog can take them at a run. I'm still waiting for a "Giant Dog Breed Agility Association," but one does not look forthcoming. :( They have teacup dog agility, why not giant breed? Lower jumping heights (it is NOT necessary to jump a dog at 24", I'm sorry), bigger tunnels, wider dog walk and teeter, 30" weaves, and maybe a lower a-frame with a longer contact.

Anyhow, Roofus can be a dim bulb. And I say that in the most loving way imaginable. I wouldn't change a thing about him (except his recent leash aggression issue), I picked the breed knowing he was not going to win any IQ tests.

After he got used to the first jump back and forth a few times, I tried to step it up by running beside him. Going from one direction, that was fine. But going the other direction, he would run around the jump, no matter how nicely I lined him up or made it so the jump was impossible to run around. I started laughing because he's just a big fluffy goofball and he was having a great time running around the jump. :)

Eventually we worked it out, and I added in a tire jump, because I don't currently own more than one 16" jump (my other dogs jump 8" and 12"). Santa brought me a competition tire jump for Christmas, but it is at my in-laws, and alas, I had to use my cheesy, piece of crap tire jump that is roughly the same size around as Roofus is.

Our sequence looked like this - an enormous bunny butt running at the first jump, doing a tiny little hop, galloping towards the tire jump, EEEERK, slamming on the brakes, and walking daintily through the tire jump one leg at a time. :)

I love my Roofus!

One step forward... two steps back.

Now that the holidays are over, I'm hoping to blog a big more.

They are doing construction down the street from my house, in this lovely, big field that will now be filled with cookie cutter, overpriced houses. Joy.

The best part is that I can clearly hear all of it from my house. We had a nice hiatus with the holidays, but they're back in full-swing, and Dax is going nuts.

We had finally gotten to the point where he might stand on my chair once or twice in the morning, and a repeat in the afternoon, just as a little "check-in." He'd lay quietly or entertain himself, and then when work was over for the day, happily participate in whatever was planned (or happened).

Now with all the machinery moving around, he's nervous and hyper. He continually stands on my chair and slurps me in the head. He's bringing me all his favorite toys, dropping them into my lap or nudging me with them. Whether he's trying to bribe me to get the noises to stop, or just get me to play so he can forget his troubles, I've no idea.

Hopefully he can adapt to the new noises (which irritate me as well), otherwise it's going to be a very long year until those houses are built.

First Snow!!

Dax: (while pawing at my arm while I work) Mooooooooooooooooom, I wanna go outside! Outside! Outside! Outside! Now! Wanna go outside Now! Now! Now! Now! Mooooooooooooooooooooooooom NOW! Outside! Mom Mom Mom Momma Mommy Mom Mother Mum Mummy Mooooooooooooooooooooooom PLZ!!!!

Me: OMG!!!! OK!!!!!!!!

(lets dog out)

Dax: What, you're not coming too? Let me in!!

Me: GAH!!!!!

(repeat scene fifteen million times)

Dax... unleashed!

Today was Dax's beginning agility class.

Today, he performed obstacles off leash.

Today, I had to trust a dog that I've only had for a little under 4 months.

He actually wasn't bad at all. He's fairly obedient, and since he is very people-shy, the fact that every dog had a person beside it helped tremendously, I'm sure. I just called him whenever he ran off (which was only a few times, and not very far) and he came back and sat like a good boy. :) I was pretty proud of him, because I expected much worse!

The dog walk was an interesting experience - I've never run him off-leash over it before, and I do control him a bit better with a leash ON since he thinks the dog walk is a race. Switching from physical control to voice control is always an issue with me. :) Especially when you don't fully trust your dog yet!

We had much more serious issues, like how Dax loves to jump up and bite me in-between obstacles. Or how he'll go on and perform obstacles without me.

I actually think part of his biting issue is that I'm not keeping him occupied enough. What I mean by that, is I'm slow. I'm chunky, short, and I am not a marathon runner. I have a slow amble that doesn't sit well with cattle dog darting. So as I catch up to him, he turns around, and he jumps up, grabs my shoulder, my sleeve, whatever, and then I have to stop, regain control, and continue on. Now, if I set up a series of jumps fairly close together, so he's continually busy, I don't have that problem. Until the end anyway.

Unfortunately, however, I will never be as fast as Dax. So in the meantime, when he bites, I stop, until he controls himself, and then we continue on. The fun stops when the biting begins, fun resumes when it ends.

Every day I am irritated at his ex-owner for not teaching him bite inhibition. I love Dax to pieces, but my next cattle dog WILL be an 8 or 9 week old puppy so I can stamp these issues out from the get-go, because they're almost impossible to get rid of in an older dog.

Menagerie Mayhem Black Friday Blowouts!

Our Zazzle store is having a HUGE Black Friday sale that you won't want to miss! Now's the time to stock up on your doggie Christmas Cards, dog lover apparel, and other great pet gifts!

Note that the times are in PT!

Time	Deal
12:01 AM	Half Off All Mugs
2:01 AM	$10 Off All Avery Binders
4:01 AM	75% Off Harry Potter T-Shirts
6:01 AM	70% Off Holiday Cards and Invites
8:01 AM	50% Off Ornaments
10:01 AM	$20 Off iPhone & iPad Cases
12:01 PM	75% Off Business Cards
2:01 PM	65% Off All Posters
4:01 PM	$8.80 Off $0.44 Postage Sheets
6:01 PM	Half Off All T-Shirts
8:01 PM*	Friday's Favorite Deal Repeat
10:01 PM*	Friday's Favorite Deal Repeat

Friday's Favorite Deal will be a repeat of the two most popular deals of the day!

Remember, this is only good at our Zazzle store!

School Spirit - And the Consequences

We got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit - oh crap, run before we get suspended!

It's amusing, yes, but recently happened to a high school student.

One high school in Massachusetts recently suspended a student for riding a horse to school.

I would love to say there's more to the story, but really, there's not much. The school was having a "spirit week," and each day was a new thing to get the kids revved up about high school. One day, they encouraged everyone to dress like a knight. Now, who's a knight without a noble steed?

One kid got permission from (and was accompanied by) his parents to ride to school, dressed as a knight, on his family's horse. After an impressive entrance, the principal suspended him on the spot. Why? Because according to this deluded educator (this guy is teaching our children, mind you), riding a horse to school is the equivalent of bringing a loaded gun into a classroom.

I'm sorry. It's not. You are massively mistaken. I'm not aware of anyone stuffing a horse in a backpack, pulling it out in homeroom, and massacring all his fellow students. Please, if I've made an error there, and someone has snuck a horse into school and performed a mass homicide, let me know. I actually think this would be offensive to anyone who has been victim to a gun in the classroom, and I feel the guy ought to apologize for his stupidity.

There are, I have been informed, still many places in the US where kids can legally ride their horse to school, particularly in rural areas. Not one of those children have been suspended for going to school.  Nor has anyone found a rule that says this teenager is NOT allowed to ride a horse to school. It appears his parents were going to take the horse back home after he arrived, so it's not even an issue of a horse hanging around all day at school.

So apparently, students, you should not go "above and beyond" in anything at school, particularly school pride, because you may end up on the wrong side of the horse.

Parents can breathe a deep sigh of relief, even though we are suffering through falling test scores, incompetent teachers, and  increased use of drugs, our schools are being kept horse-free. Isn't that a comfort?

Blossom Goes Raw

Blossom is my dalmatian/border collie mix. When I adopted her nearly eight years ago (she is now almost 15 years old), I took her to the vet several times because I couldn't put weight on her. She was perpetually skinny. After numerous tests and exams, the vet told me that she'd never be a chubby dog. The mix of two hyper dog breeds had made her a nervous, picky, energetic dog who would always be thin.

Two or so times a year, however, she'll go through a period of time where she doesn't want to eat. Anything. I'm one of those people who tell customers that they just need to wait it out - eventually the dog will eat, because they won't let themselves starve to death. Blossom would. When this happened the first time, I served her the same bowl of kibble for four days - and she didn't eat a single piece. She got nothing else at all - she simple refused food. On the fifth day, I caved in and gave her canned food, which she daintily lapped up.

Since that time, when we have these periods, I'll go out and buy her whatever she'll eat - which usually means going down in quality. Blossom tends to prefer the most disgusting, crappiest dog foods on the market, and as a rule, in canned form. I cringe when I feed her this disgusting smelling crap that I wouldn't even give to a stray dog. This will continue until she's no longer interested in the junk, and I switch her back to what everybody else eats.

This time, however, Blossom wasn't very interested in horrible food either. She'd pick out a piece or two, and leave 9/10ths of the bowl behind. All the weight I painstakingly put on her melted off, until her hips stuck out. She'd never been this scrawny. It was time for action.

One of my agility instructors feeds a raw diet called Honest Kitchen. It's human grade, and weirdly, it's dehydrated. I figured I'd give that a shot - I could just mix it in with her kibble like canned food, and since it was such a high quality, maybe she'd like it. I ordered two different kinds, and when they arrived, I mixed her a large bowl and happily set it in front of her. She looked at it, and she looked at me. She poked it with her nose. Blossom let out a huge, exasperated sigh, and left the kitchen. And that was the end of Honest Kitchen. She did eat a mouthful of the other flavor I prepared later, then kicked her food bowl as she marched away. Clearly, this food wouldn't cut it.

I then got the brilliant idea of feeding her raw. I'm not too terribly into raw foods, for one, because with six dogs, I'd have to get another full-time job to pay for it, and for two, I would be absolutely terrified of forgetting some key vitamin or something that the dogs would need for good health. However, Nature's Variety makes a frozen raw food so that you don't have to remember anything. Defrost, serve, you're done. It is, however, insanely expensive. I calculated that for the weight I would LIKE Blossom to be, she'd need to eat around 8oz a day of the raw diet. That would cost roughly $64 a month. While I do buy premium dog food for my dogs, all six of them together can live on their kibble for that same price. That's quite a cost issue.

I bought her the food, defrosted it, and decided to use a few less patties and stick them over top of a small amount of kibble, hoping she might eat the kibble so I could at least save a few dollars by not going totally raw. Normally you would want to slowly switch a dog over to raw, but when your dog isn't eating ANYTHING, you don't have much of a choice.

Blossom had that meat gulped down before I had gotten more patties out to defrost for the next meal.

Today, a few days after starting, she actually licked her bowl completely out. I can't recall the last time that has happened. She is eating the kibble (I put 1/2 cup in with each meal, and 3 medallion patties) without a problem. I really don't want to stop feeding the kibble, I want her crunching up stuff as long as she has teeth. I do squash it around a bit so the raw stuff touches all the kibble.

It's too early to see many benefits of a raw diet, but then, I didn't switch for any of those reasons. I just wanted my dog to eat. And if she wouldn't eat raw meat, I had very little hope that she'd eat anything else, either. I will say that she made the switch without any digestive problems, amazingly, and her poop is now roughly the size of rabbit pellets, which is fairly impressive. It would be nice if she gets better smelling breath.

So hopefully she'll start putting on some weight, and stop looking like Skeletor. It's pricey, for sure, but if she'll eat it, and KEEP eating it, it's worth it.

Roofus + Rally = Success!!

Day 1 Success!

   Roofus, my Old English Sheepdog, had an APDT Rally Obedience trial this past weekend. It was the second time he has trialed, and after the disastrous first one, I was pretty nervous. I'm an extremely competitive person, and when it comes to dog sports, it takes a tremendous effort on my part to stop, realize that the whole point is to have FUN, and shake off setbacks. At first, my goal for the weekend was to get one Q (or qualifying score), but after some serious thinking, I decided a more reasonable goal was to have at least ONE run (he was signed up for four) where I did not haul out the treats and NQ.

   It's not that Roofus doesn't know the signs, or that I get nervous and he doesn't listen - it's that Roofus is new to the world of trialing (he does not do agility or anything like my other dogs), and that he's an Old English Sheepdog. Roofus does rally to please me, not because of any personal desire to be a particularly obedient dog. There are a lot of new sights, sounds, and people at trials, and Roofus does not yet have that "ring mentality" where he focuses on Mom instead of wanting to go check out everything.

Our first run, well, I was having a tough time getting his attention even outside the ring, with chunks of hot dog. When it was our turn, he discovered that one of the ring crew, right outside the gate, had a breakfast sandwich. It took a long time for me to get him at the start line, sitting, and ready to go. Amazingly, we walked out of the ring with a 187 - which is a Q - and a 3rd place. The second run of the day went similarly - except I felt I had his attention more. We again scored a 187 and grabbed 3rd place. Roofus had already doubled my expectations for the weekend. One more Q and he'd have his level 1 title - but was I being unrealistic to hope that we could get it tomorrow? Was I jinxing myself to dare to hope? I decided a more reasonable goal was to simply break the 200 score barrier.

Apparently not. The first run on Sunday, Roofus marched into that ring like a pro. He was extremely attentive, to the point that I became a bit unnerved by his focus. It was a beautiful run, though, and my handsome boy walked out with a 201, second place, and his level 1 title - RL1. I actually jumped up and down with joy, the judge snickering at me. I didn't care. MY Roofus, the one everyone calls slow, dumb, unable to learn (I unfortunately sometimes fall into the habit as well) - he had just achieved what none of my other dogs have - his first rally title.

After that run, it became clear that Roofus wasn't amused at being crated any more, and he would much rather go home. He had only one more run, and the trial was moving pretty quickly, so we waited out for his first level 1B run.

It wasn't pretty. Roofus's attention was gone. There was no focus. Every once in a while he paid attention to me, but boy, was it dirty! He eeked out a 185, ironically having our lowest and highest score on the same day.

And so our Rally Obedience weekend ended - Roofus had a perfect weekend, going 4/4, and far exceeding my expectations with his performances. While I dare to dream what may happen at the next trial, I have made up new goals for him: I want to score consistently in the 190s, and I want to get his RLX title. Roofus, of course, doesn't care - as long as he is provided with plenty of hot dogs and bear hugs.

Roofus Goes to Jail

Last night, I took Roofus, my Old English Sheepdog, to jail. But not because he was bad.

Roofus is part of a new program called BARK - Books And Reading for Kids. The program sends dogs and their handlers to a local juvenile detention facility, where the kids (usually teens) read to the dogs. The goal is to promote literacy and confidence in the kids, and as we all know, doggie therapy is also extremely beneficial.

Last night was the first night of the program, so we had a lot of "get to know you" time. I had actually wanted to make Roofus a therapy dog, because he has the most wonderful temperament, as well as being extremely fluffy, cute, goofy, and extremely eager to love everyone. Unfortunately for him, he is a little overenthusiastic about sharing his affection, so comforting the sick or physically injured is something I decided it would be best to put on hold. However, showing these kids that he loves them regardless of where they come from or what they might have done is right up his alley.

He was amazing. Roofus does have a leash aggression problem, but he did not bark at a single dog all night. He even met his old friend Magnum, a yorkie, whom he has not seen in quite a while, and was a perfect gentleman. Two shelties came within biting distance, and while he was interested in them, he said not a word, nor showed any signs of displeasure at their closeness.

When we got our first kid, as soon as she sat down, Roofus climbed onto her lap and washed her face for her. That was pretty much the trend for the evening. At one point, he had several girls hanging on him - bear hugging him, scratching him, squeezing him - he looked up at me, absolutely ecstatic, like his most wild dreams had finally come true. No one was allowed to walk by Roofus without giving him a scratch or a pat. He simply didn't allow it. The one thing this dog has in scores is love - and he made sure everybody got some. Everyone laughed at the gigantic "lap dog" - but who wouldn't want a giant, living teddy bear smothering you with adoration?

The night was over much too soon for Roofus. You could tell he was walking on cloud 9 as we returned to our car. I thought that all that love and attention might have worn him out, but he sat in the back seat all the way home with the silliest grin on his face.

Dax Goes Hiking

Are we there yet??!

Today I decided to try out a trail someone recommended to me, with Dax, my pint-sized Australian Cattle Dog. I wanted to also try out Merlin's pack on him, in a rather feeble attempt to tire him out, as well as give him a "job" to do while we walked. He's not quite 13 months, and the pack doesn't hold much, so all he carried was one liter of water.

Dax loves walking of any kind, so I knew that no matter what the day would be a success. We drove to Darby Creek Metro Park. I didn't have a map, of the park, so we walked around it at first just finding out where all the trails were. For some odd reason, every single trail said "No Pets." Oooooooookay. I knew there was a pet trail somewhere, so we kept walking. And kept walking. After almost a mile, we found it. And I don't think it can legitimately be called a trail. It's a path. A gravel path. About 10 feet wide. In its defense, it is over four miles long. Unfortunately for us, I realized about 1/3 of the way in that I forgot to wear my walking shoes, and I that I drank way too much water with lunch.

We did end up doing three and a half miles in all. Dax did go into a "working mode," where he was quite obedient (not that he isn't always), kept his ears pointing back at me (normally he does not - so he's finally paying attention to me!!), and did exceptionally well at a totally new place without a "comfort dog" of any kind. He did bark at one set of strangers, avoided some others, but the majority of them, he'd wait until they walked by, then run up behind them and sniff their shoes. Then come back to me and expect a treat.

Dax's tiredness usually only lasts 10-15 minutes.

What I especially love about his backpack is that I don't see how he could squirm out of it. He can get out of his collar without batting an eye, and a harness with barely any effort. The pack fastens a bit more securely, so I imagine it would take much more to squiggle free. The only time he tries to escape is when he sees other dogs. Being a bit more proactive than normal, when he would start his "frenzy fest" when he saw a dog, I would grab the handle of the pack (ironically, placed there so you can easily help the dog up the trail), and if he started trying to slip free, I'd raise him off the ground slightly. Now, I'm positive that does nothing for his doggie body language. But it keeps him safe and secure, because he can't even try to get out of it if his legs aren't touching the ground. :)

Another interesting thing of note is that he apparently wears a smaller size than my corgi. I had to tighten everything to its smallest, and the chest was still too large for him.

Chlamydia and other Zoonotic Parrot Diseases

Some of us may remember a few years ago with PetSmart birds suffered an outbreak of Chlamydiosis. One of the more alarming pieces of information about this disease is that it is zoonotic, which means it can be transferred from animals to humans or humans to animals. The elderly, and the very young (infants, toddlers) are most susceptible, and therefore it is extremely important to have your bird(s) tested before they are brought home. A responsible bird breeder should already have done the test. before you purchased the parrot. Even scarier, birds may not show symptoms of the disease themselves, but simply be carriers - giving the illusion of a perfectly healthy bird that can infect people. Chlamydiosis may also be referred to as Psittacosis, or parrot fever.

This particular disease is shared in any number of ways - with dusty birds like Cockatiels and Cockatoos, most humans inhale the particles from feather dust. The symptoms in humans are similar to that of the flu. It can be treated for both parrots and humans with a trip to the doctor or avian vet, but prevention is the best policy. Have all new stock tested and quarantined (we recommend at least 45 days) before adding to the aviary. Keep cages clean, keep an appropriate ratio of bird to cage space, feed a healthy diet, and see your avian veterinarian regularly, especially for breeding birds. The incubation period in birds for Chlamydiosis can be years, so simply quarantining a bird is not an adequate step by itself.

Another zoonotic disease parrots have is Salmonella. It's much more common to obtain Salmonella from eating an infected bird than from your personal pet bird, but there is still a risk, so it's worth mentioning. And it's not an unusual disease in pet parrots like you might think. Salmonella is treated with antibiotics, and can be difficult to diagnose in parrots, because you won't find it in every dropping. That just reiterates the idea that you need to regularly see the avian veterinarian, to establish baseline readings and to keep checking for diseases that may not show up the first time. Birds can and do die from Salmonella, and symptoms are similar to a human's, with diarrhea (bloody or not), vomiting, lethargy - pretty much like food poisoning.

One zoonosis I've had experience with is Colibacillosis, or E. coli. People tend to get themselves worked up about E. coli, but E. coli is found in the intestinal tract of animals. Including humans. It's completely natural. The problems begin when you have an overabundance or an infection of E. coli. Symptoms in birds and people generally start with diarrhea. Of the diseases I've listed, this one is probably the most common, and frequently overlooked as so many bird breeders don't properly check their stock.

Other zoonotic parrot disease of note include:

• Avian Tuberculosis
• Campylobacteriosis
• Newcastle Disease

Most of these diseases are easier to simply prevent in the first place - checking all new stock, quarantine, routine vet visits, sanitary conditions, and avoiding overcrowding are all key in prevention. Unfortunately, mass breeders, backyard breeders, and on more than one occasion, pet stores, are unlikely to responsibly test their birds for overall health, let alone specific diseases, particularly in the case of "low cost" birds like budgerigars, cockatiels, lovebirds and canaries. It is therefore the smartest course of action, whenever bringing any new pet home, to have it thoroughly examined by a proper veterinarian, which in the case of birds, is a certified avian vet.

Gone Hiking!

This past weekend, my husband and I took our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Merlin, and our Old English Sheepdog, Roofus, to Hocking Hills to do some hiking. We've never really taken the dogs hiking before, but we were excited to find a pet-friendly cabin (Good Earth Cabins) and happily spent three days exploring various caves, cliffs, and woods.

I was truly surprised by our corgi. I've always said that they can do anything big dogs can do - but Merlin went above and beyond that. There were plenty of spots where my own short legs had trouble, and as I turned around to tell my husband to grab the corgi by his handle (he wears a backpack like any respectable hiker), there would be a blur of red as Merlin ran past me and on up the trail.

In fact, because Merlin does agility regularly, and Roofus's sport is rally, he was much better suited to all the jumping and strenuous conditions than Roofus. That's not to say Roofus had any trouble - but Roofus was much more tired each day (and is still sleeping soundly, as a matter of fact), than the corgi was. And I would say that Roofus has a higher stamina for exercise than Merlin. That just goes to show how much an active dog sport like agility can condition your dog for activities like hiking. Roofus is no slouch in the exercise department - but being a giant breed dog, I do not do much jumping or climbing with him. However, I believe that some light agility-type of exercise would probably benefit most dogs (always check with your vet first), especially if they do a lot of hiking. The trick is to determine how much is the "right amount," so you don't overdo it, particularly with giant breeds and dwarf breeds.

Pet Ownership versus Pet Ownership

Today, I wanted to blog about the different types of pet ownership, and how some folks hide behind this idea to try to cover up irresponsible pet ownership.

I am the type of pet owner who takes their birds to the vet. I don't see that as super responsible, I see that as the bare minimum of owning a bird. See, birds naturally hide illnesses, often until it's too late to do anything about it, because they have evolved to hide their illnesses to avoid being picked off by predators. So, it just makes natural sense to take a bird to the vet regularly, particularly if it's a brand new bird. Head off problems before they start, ya know?

Unfortunately, then there are people who don't take their birds to the vet. The little birds are fairly inexpensive, and avian vets are pretty darned expensive. I'm not sure if these people think that it's not a good "investment," if they don't see birds on the same level as dogs, or if they just don't know any better. There aren't a whole slew of avian vets out there, after all, and a lot of the older generation didn't take their dogs to the vet, let alone exotic pets.

To me, not taking a pet to the vet (especially when you first get it, regardless of age), is tantamount to neglect. Why *wouldn't* you want to do what's best for the pet? If it's a matter of affordability, I've always been part of the "if you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet" crowd. A brand new animal should always go to get checked out, for peace of mind if nothing else. It's definitely not "throwing your money away," and it should be within the budget before the animal is ever bought or adopted.

Click, Click, Click Away!

With the addition of Dax, I recently began clicker training most of my dogs. Previously, I had scoffed at this training method - I mean, come on, you can use the word "good" or "yes" as a trigger even more easily, without having to know where your clicker is constantly. However, it does work extremely well. I believe it's likely because you use your voice to talk to, and talk around, your dog every day, so you saying "good" is nice, but the clicker is ONLY ever used when the dog is about to get a treat. That makes the clicker a higher value, regardless of the treat used with it. No wonder you can find greater success with a clicker than without.

I've also become a huge fan of kikopup on YouTube. Her videos are awesome - she shows you exactly how to teach tricks and behaviors, from the beginning to proofing the behavior, all with the clicker.

The only dog that's not very "clicker friendly" in my house is Merlin, because he doesn't like being clicked at, no matter how many treats he gets for it. Previously, he was terrified of even being in its presence, so this is a huge step up for him. Today while I was training the other dogs, I was click/treating him with the clicker behind my back, and he was fine. So we may be down to being afraid of the visual of the clicker. I do mute my clicker with copious amounts of masking tape, because clickers are naturally obnoxious and I just don't think that's necessary. :)

Some things my dogs worked on today with the clicker -

Popper - Heel, stay, go touch a target, leave it

Roofus - Heel, sit from a down, leave it, distance downs

Dax - Heel, stay, touch with paw, four on the floor (he jumps and bites when he gets excited), nose targets (for agility), roll over

The girls, of course, do not do training, and couldn't hear a clicker anyway. :)

Clicker training has been especially beneficial with Dax, because he's hyper. Sometimes he'll only perform a behavior for a second, and I can click it before he stops doing it. He's improved DRAMATICALLY in heeling and four on the floor, because I can capture the behavior so quickly.

I don't know if clicker training has helped Roofus at all, he is extremely stubborn and can be difficult to train - indeed, it usually takes him a lot longer to learn things than the other dogs. I try not to use the clicker while we are doing Rally Obedience, because I cannot have a clicker on me during trials, but I can use my voice.

Fido Fest

Today was Worthington's Fido Fest. It sounded like a great time, and they had microchipping for $15 from RASCAL unit, so I packed up Dax and Popper and away we went. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, so I ran past most of the booths. In fact, the majority of them were for services or rescues, and I don't need any services, and six dogs is more than plenty.

I did need to get Dax microchipped though, because he is the type of dog that might get out and then get lost looking for me. I took him over here and back, but he was really quite nervous and I feel like a huge jerk for taking him. He's been clinging to me the entire night, more so than usual, and not his normal insane self.

Popper had a great time. I brought the clicker, and after I got him calmed down and he realized I had treats, he did marvelously. He got to sample some treats, and I bought him, Dax, Blossom and Merlin new bandannas. Merlin's has Brutus Buckeye on it. :)