I Need A Forever Home

Girl Peanut has been waiting for her forever home for a long time.  She has had many interviews but each time her shy nature is more than the adoption family can handle.  I have worked with her for several months and made so much progress.  She trusts me with every aspect of her being.  We go to Pets Mart for walks on Sunday’s.  She interacts with humans and dogs.  She looks up at me with those loving eyes with so much trust.  She hears my truck and starts to jump all over as I walk to the kennel.  When she trusts humans she is such a different dog. The entire staff at PA has work wonders with her trying to get her out of her shell.  She has come so far, now she needs your help.

I posted a note on the Volunteer Board asking volunteers to walk her and sit with her on the bench, talk to her, pet her, let her know that all humans are good.

Girl Peanut did not have mush human contact before she came to PA.  She has never been in a real home.  She needs to look into your eyes and know she can trust humans.  Please help her.  She is very shy and does take some time to get to know.  If you go into the pen and just sit on the dog house for a while each time you visit she will come around.  Yogi can be a pest but he quickly quiets down. Let her come to you, once she does she is your friend forever.  Talk to her when you pass the pen, offer her a treat each time (Yogi gets treats also..:).

We want her to have a forever home real soon…Thanks Nancy

There are several steps that cat owners should take when introducing the new dog to the resident cat. A pet owner cannot simply throw the cat and dog into the same room and expect harmony; the dog-cat introduction process will take several days, even as long as several weeks.

• Create a “safe room” for the cat. Place the cat inside a “safe room” that can be closed off to the dog. A spare bedroom is ideal for this purpose. This safe room will be a place where the cat can feel comfortable and safe; as the dog-cat introduction process progresses, this room will be somewhere the cat can go to be away from the dog if the need arises.

• Bring the dog to the door of the cat’s safe room. During the first few days, the door to the cat’s room will remain closed. Bring the dog to the cat’s door and allow him to become acquainted with the cat’s scent. Reward good behaviors on the dog’s part with treats or praise; discourage negative behaviors like barking with negative reinforcement like verbal correction or a spritz from a water bottle.
• Perform a scent exchange. Place a towel or blanket in the cat’s room for a day or two. Place a towel or blanket in the dog’s bed or favorite sitting area for a couple days as well. Then, switch the towels or blanket; giving the cat the dog’s blanket and vice versa. This allows the dog and cat to become familiarized with the other animal’s scent.
• Allow supervised visitation with the dog and the cat. Once the dog’s excitement about the cat has worn off (usually after a couple of days), it is time to allow the dog and cat to spend time in the same room. Two people will be required for this exercise, which should be performed several times a day. One person must supervise the dog, while another person must supervise the cat. Sit with the dog and the cat in the same room. Begin by sitting on opposite sides of the room and reward calm behaviors in the cat and in the dog. If the dog begins to bark or get excited, he should be given negative reinforcement like a verbal correction. The key is to promote peaceful co-existence. As the dog and cat become more comfortable, lessen the distance between the dog and cat until they are sitting side by side.
• Allow the dog and cat to interact. Once the dog and cat are peacefully co-existing and they’re comfortable sitting side by side, allow the dog and cat to interact. These interactions must be supervised, especially in the beginning. Be ready to separate the dog (have a leash on the dog) and the cat if signs of agitation or fear are observed (i.e. hair raised on the cat’s back).
• Allow unsupervised contact between the dog and cat, but maintain the cat’s safe room. Place a baby gate (or two if the dog is large and able to jump over one baby gate) at the doorway to the cat’s safe room. Leave the door open and allow the cat and dog to interact through the baby gate. As the cat feels more comfortable with the dog, he will venture out of his safe room. Always leave the cat’s safe room open and accessible. With time, the cat and dog will learn to peacefully co-exist.

How can you help a dog overcome thunderstorm anxiety?

Does your pooch bury his head into your side every time it thunders out? Does he dive under the bed whenever rain starts to fall? From your point of view, this may seem like cute and endearing behavior, but it’s a sign that your dog is terrified of storms. Some owners are willing to simply put up with symptoms of storm phobias like hiding, trembling, whining, drooling, and pacing. In more severe cases, however, panicking dogs have been known to chew furniture, tear drapes, break windows, and more during thunderstorms. In either case, the behavior is a sign of a terrified, unhappy dog

Causes
Storm phobias are one of the most common behavioral problems dog owners face, but their cause is not entirely clear. Behaviorists are not yet sure what part of the storm frightens dogs most, whether they’re reacting to lightning flashes, the sound of thunder, wind blowing around the house, or the sound of rain on the roof. Some dogs even start to pace and whine half an hour or more before a storm. They may be reacting to a sudden drop in air pressure or the electrical charge of the air.

Nature or nurture?
An article in the July/August 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association describes an Internet survey of the owners of storm-phobic dogs. The authors discovered that some breeds may be predisposed to a fear of storms. Herding dogs, such as collies and German shepherds, and hounds, such as beagles and basset hounds, seem to be more likely to develop a storm phobia than other dogs. The phobia is also common in sporting and working breeds. The study suggests that this tendency may be explained in terms of the dogs’ genetics. For example, herding dogs have been bred to react quickly to stimuli, such as a calf wandering away from the herd, but not to be aggressive. It could be that herding dogs have a strong reaction to the startling noises and flashes of a storm, but they repress any aggressive response to it, causing anxiety.

The JAAHA study also showed that rescued dogs–dogs adopted from shelters or rescue organizations–may also be more likely to develop storm phobias. The article suggested that these dogs are more likely to have had unpleasant, scary experiences prior to being adopted. They may have been abused or abandoned by a former owner, or they may not have been well socialized or exposed to a wide variety of sights and sounds. These kinds of early-life experiences can make dogs more anxious and prone to all kinds of phobias.

What to do

Some dogs become increasingly afraid of thunderstorms as they get older (these phobias most often develop in sound sensitive dogs between the ages of two and four years). Mild cases can be helped by teaching the dog to associate something they love with the beginning stages of a storm. For example, if you have a dog who loves to play ball, start playing ball at the beginning of a storm, long before the thunder starts. That way the dog can develop a learned association between the signs of a storm (the wind coming up, the sky darkening, the barometer dropping) and feeling relaxed and happy.

Once the thunder starts, continue playing ball, but stop if the thunder gets too loud that the dog becomes frightened. Don’t try to coerce the dog to play, if he’s too frightened to play, stop and let him settle down beside you in a quiet place. If you can, find a place in the house where the thunder is not so loud, and then sit quietly with him, using long, slow massage-like strokes to help calm him.

Behavior modification is another method of desensitizing the dog and gently helping him adjust to storms Technically called “systematic desensitization,” this involves exposing the storm-phobic dog to some gentle reminders of a thunderstorm, such as a very soft tape recording of thunder or a flashing light, and rewarding the dog with lots of treats, attention, and other positive reinforcement only if there’s no evidence of anxiety. Over time, the intensity of the stimulus is increased (turn the volume up gradually), and only calm behavior rewarded. This is a slow process and must be done over time.  If you introduce frightening stimuli too quickly or don’t see signs of fear your dog may be showing, you could possibly end up making the phobia worse.

Of course, you can’t do this if you’re not home, but many dogs with mild cases respond to these methods even if you can only do them part of the time.

Be sure to consult with a Veterinarian or a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist before treating anything more than a very mild case — it might make the difference between a successful intervention and years of problems down the road. If your dog panics and exhibits panting, dilated pupils, drooling and /or frantic actions to hide or get away, you should consider more than behavioral therapy and discuss and/or alternative medicine with experts to help develop a customized plan.

Your veterinarian can prescribe one of several anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications to help your dog remain calm during storms. You can also make sure your dog has a warm, safe “den” to retreat to when the weather gets too scary. You can try padding a crate with blankets or clearing a space underneath your bed. Just make sure that it’s somewhere your pup can get out of whenever he wants. A panicked dog can do a lot of damage to his crate and himself if he’s confined.

Most important, though, is that your treat your dog gently and kindly when he is afraid. Don’t cuddle and reassure him, because that will reward his scaredy-dog behavior, but definitely don’t punish him for it either. Instead, just be calm and provide him with a safe, familiar place where he can feel secure and ride out the storm.

Smokey is one of those dogs you just fall in love with when you look at him.    But he did have one problem behavior. Resource guarding, this dog would guard any stuffed toy and then destroy it in seconds.   His behavior was due to fear,  which lead to anxiety.  Smokey would chew up anything that squeaked

The first time I worked with Smokey was on January 18, 2010.  He demonstrated resource  guarding to a very high degree. In Smokey’s case it was any squeaky toy.  I suspect his prior owner may have encouraged the behavior.  This is a common human problem.  I say human problem because humans think it is funny or entertaining to tease a dog that has a compulsive behavior.

Smokey was able to control his resource guarding behavior after just a few lessons using the leave it cue.  Leave it is the cue given to train a dog to not go after a specific object.  Smokey is a smart dog learn the cue quickly.

I got involved with Smokey’s adoption because Keith was new at dog ownership and wanted to talk about Smokey before he took him home.  He also wanted to know what he could do when he first brought Smokey home that would set Smokey up for success.  For about four weeks I had phone and email conversations with Keith about Smokey.

Keith was probably the most excited person I had talked to. He loved this dog even  before he took him home and he was determined to make Smokey successful.  Keith wanted to do everything right and at the same time he was a little worried about being a DOGGIE DAD.

Smokey went to his new home and spent the weekend having a great time.  Monday came and Smokey was alone in his crate.  When Keith came home he found Smokey out of the crate and he had, ripped the door molding off the door frame.  Keith e mailed me and we talked that night.  Keith was upset but mostly worried that Smokey would hurt himself if he continued to brake out.  Now I can tell you this is one real good doggie dad.  All he wanted to talk about is how he could help Smokey.

I explained that many dogs are full of anxiety and fear when they leave the shelter.  Smokey had just acted on his anxiety and fear.  This is something we can work on.  We talked about how many times a day to walk Smokey and for how long.  We also talked about what we could do to make Smokey less fearful resulting in less anxiety.  Keith set up a walking program and became more aware of the triggers that caused Smokey to become fearful.

Jan 29, 2010

Nancy,

I could really use your help!!! I got home from work today and Smokey ripped open his crate, luckily he was in my room, but unfortunately he also ripped off the molding around the door trying to get out.  He didnt go to the bathroom at all or chew up any of my clothes or bedding.  I dont know what to do, from what ive read its seperation anxiety.  Ive tried a couple of different things to alleviate it….not giving him so much attention when leaving or when i get home…leaving him in the crate while im home and going in there everyonce in a while and saying ill be back….i threw a big raw hide in there today and put in a one of my tshirts so he could smell me…is there anything else i can do or anything that i am doing that i can change…i would really appreciate your feed back…Thank You!!!!!!!!!

After this E mail Keith and I had several phone conversations to discuss how he could set Smokey up for Success.  Smokey did not like the crate and Keith was really getting worried about him.  Smokey had scraped several pieces off his nose trying to escape from the crate.  We talked about how Keith could leave him alone in the house…..

Feb  6, 2010

….sooo im working this morning and left smokey out…my roommate was home till about 9 so smokey will be alone for about 2 hours, then my parents are going to take him for a walk at 11…my mom has already walked smokey and he was great for her….then my roommate should be home shortley after….but i wanted to let you know i recorded him yesterday when i left for about 40 minutes, and for the first 2 minutes he walked around then laid in his bed and played with his kong and then slept the rest of the time….i even noticed that when i got home he was more relaxed, listened to my commands better, and also didnt follow me everywhere i went so much…Im sooo happy smokey was a good boy and i can start to let him out of his crate, cause man he really hates it

The next day

HEY NANCY!!!!!!!

So I left Smokey roam the house today after my break for about an hour and a half today knowing that my roommate would be home early…so my roommate just called me and when he walked in………..he found smokey sound asleep on his bed with nothing chewed on and no messes………PHEWWWWWWW…just thought id update you.

A few days later

.Smokey really has done great, I had a bunch of people over for the super bowl last night and the whole night people just kept saying what a great dog he was and amazed that ive only had him for 2 weeks….people cant fathom the fact that he was in a shelter for a year, and neither can I…..Why wouldnt anyone else have taken him, I just dont get it…Hes beautiful, soft, and well behaved…Girls absolutely love him haha!!!!

Feb 9,2010

Smokey was great for the 4 hours alone….as far as i can tell he hasnt done a single bad thing…..I really am lucky….haha my mom is actually over there right now playing with him…and shes not even a dog person…I have people jumping to help me walk him, its great….thanks again for all the help…I know you keep saying that im doing alot to make it that way, but without you helping none of it would be possible, so thank you, thank you, thankyou !

Feb 10, 2010

Just wanted to let you know that Smokey is still doing great with not being crated…LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!…had the afternoon off so I planned on teaching him paw, but the lil guy learned it 15 minutes….Think he may be smarter then me haha!…I just got my camera back, so ill take some pictures later today and send them to you if youd like

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Feb 19,2010

Just wanted to say HI, and let you know Smokey is doing great…were really falling into our routine….he seems to be very happy, especially since i let him on the couch with me now…LOVES SITTING WITH SOMEONE ON THE COUCH!…I would like to play with him more…anything you can recommend…ive been trying to have him find treats that im hiding in the room by making him follow a scent, but he gives up quickly, so any suggestions would be great….i think im going to take him to the montgomery dog park tomorrow so he can make some friends…i already brought him over to my friends parents house to meet their dog molly whose a labradoodle and they did great, i even let smokey off the leash to run with her and he didnt run away so thats good…he also met his first kid, my friends 7 year old daughter…it was actually very uneventful, he barely paid any attention to her,but did let her pet him….soooo to make a long story short….Smokey is the best and i love him haha

Keith started walking Smokey several times a day and even recruited his mother to come to this house to walk Smokey during the day..  Keith is a great doggie dad. He never gave up and he always believed that Smokey was a great dog.  Here are the  e mails I got from Keith about Smokey’s progress.  Starting with breaking out of the crate to being a Chick Magnet…go Keith..The end result is amazing, Thank you Keith for working so hard to make Smokey a Success.

Jan 24, 2010

Nancy,
I  just wanted to let you know that I am loving Smokey…he is an amazing dog who couldnt be more loving…he is already listening to my sit and come commands…ive walked him twice…the first time he pulled, by the second time we were walking together side by side…He is currently sleeping on my foot…i cant say enough about this dog so far…AMAZING!!!
Keith

Jan 29, 2010

Nancy,

I could really use your help!!! I got home from work today and Smokey ripped open his    crate,   luckily he was in my room, but unfortunately he also ripped off the molding around the door trying to get out.  He didnt go to the bathroom at all or chew up any of my clothes or bedding.  I dont know what to do, from what ive read its seperation anxiety.  Ive tried a couple of different things to alleviate it….not giving him so much attention when leaving or when i get home…leaving him in the crate while im home and going in there everyonce in a while and saying ill be back….i threw a big raw hide in there today and put in a one of my tshirts so he could smell me…is there anything else i can do or anything that i am doing that i can change…i would really appreciate your feed back…Thank You!!!!!!!!!

After this E mail Keith and I had several phone conversations to discuss how he could set Smokey up for Success.  Smokey did not like the crate and Keith was really getting worried about him.  Smokey had scraped several pieces off his nose trying to escape from the crate.  We talked about how Keith could start leave him alone in the house…..Smokey did not have any signs of seperation anxiety…he just hated the crate.  During our conversations we also discussed how many times a day Smokey should be walked, what food to feed him and how Keith could show Smokey that he was a good leader.  Dogs do not like to be in charge.  When they enter a shelter they have no choice and must assume all responsibility for their survival.  This causes stress and the dog will start the fear/anxiety cycle.  When the dog leaves the shelter it takes time for him to learn that the humans are going to be the leaders and will take care of all his needs. During the transition the dog may display behaviors like chewing, peeing and pooping on the floor, showing his teeth, growling, even biting.

Keith worked with Smokey, following the instructions and tips I gave him.  As a result Smokey learned he had a leader and a great Doggie Dad

Feb 4, 2010

Smokey is definitely starting to settle down in his crate…hes no longer barking when i leave or come home, but my only concern is his nose…his nose is cut up on the top from him still trying to get out of the crate….now ive made the crate as tight as possible so he cant jar the crate open at all…but hes still hurting himself….thats my only worry….any ideas on how to get him to stop that, or will that just stop with time and adjustment…..im def getting him enough exercise now….he fell asleep last night in the middle of my living room at 9 oclock with 8 people in there being loud…we walked about 5 miles yesterday….haha ive actually went down a belt size in a week

Feb 4, 2010

I moved the crate into the dinning room for now and always leave the crate  door open with all of his toys in there…if i left him out of the crate during the day i would let him have the kitchen living room and dinning room, with all bedrooms and the bathroom closed (also garbage in the closet)…i was thinking of only giving him the kitchen, but the truth is that if i put up some gate up and he wants to get by, he’ll just chew it out of his way….right now ill leave him in the house by himself for like 10 minutes if i have to go run to the neighbors, and everytime he just goes and lays on his bed….i also leave him alone when i shower and stuff and hes great….we also have a nice big basement, but i dont really want to put him down there cause its on the dirtier side right now, my roommate never cleaned it haha, so im working on it….but smokey actually peed down there the other day, so im not so sure about that….I really dont think he would do anything up stairs, and fortunately i have an extra couch if he chews up one of ours, but i really dont think that would happen…when he first moved in he went after a cushion and a pillow, simply said NO both times and he hasnt even tried to go after a cushion of pillow since.

Im really amazed at how loving smokey is and how good he is with everyone who comes over….it was kind of impossible to keep people from petting smokey like you recommended but, nobody is ever calling him over or annoying him when hes laying down, i asked them only to pet or talk to smokey if he approaches you…Hes really so good, he doesnt ever annoy anyone, never follows anyone as theyre leaving or do anything to someone coming in….he just likes to be around everyone.

Feb  6, 2010

….sooo im working this morning and left smokey out…my roommate was home till about 9 so smokey will be alone for about 2 hours, then my parents are going to take him for a walk at 11…my mom has already walked smokey and he was great for her….then my roommate should be home shortley after….but i wanted to let you know i recorded him yesterday when i left for about 40 minutes, and for the first 2 minutes he walked around then laid in his bed and played with his kong and then slept the rest of the time….i even noticed that when i got home he was more relaxed, listened to my commands better, and also didnt follow me everywhere i went so much…Im sooo happy smokey was a good boy and i can start to let him out of his crate, cause man he really hates it

We talked that night and the answer was yes, let’s try leaving Smokey out of the crate.

The next day

HEY NANCY!!!!!!!

So I left Smokey roam the house today after my break for about an hour and a half today knowing that my roommate would be home early…so my roommate just called me and when he walked in………..he found smokey sound asleep on his bed with nothing chewed on and no messes………PHEWWWWWWW…just thought id update you.

A few days later

Smokey really has done great, I had a bunch of people over for the super bowl last night and the whole night people just kept saying what a great dog he was and amazed that ive only had him for 2 weeks….people cant fathom the fact that he was in a shelter for a year, and neither can I…..Why wouldnt anyone else have taken him, I just dont get it…Hes beautiful, soft, and well behaved…Girls absolutely love him haha!!!!

Feb 9,2010

Smokey was great for the 4 hours alone….as far as i can tell he hasnt done a single bad thing…..I really am lucky….haha my mom is actually over there right now playing with him…and shes not even a dog person…I have people jumping to help me walk him, its great….thanks again for all the help…I know you keep saying that im doing alot to make it that way, but without you helping none of it would be possible, so thank you, thank you, thankyou !

Feb 10, 2010

Just wanted to let you know that Smokey is still doing great with not being crated…LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!…had the afternoon off so I planned on teaching him paw, but the lil guy learned it 15 minutes….Think he may be smarter then me haha!…I just got my camera back, so ill take some pictures later today and send them to you if youd like

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Feb 19,2010

Just wanted to say HI, and let you know Smokey is doing great…were really falling into our routine….he seems to be very happy, especially since i let him on the couch with me now…LOVES SITTING WITH SOMEONE ON THE COUCH!…I would like to play with him more…anything you can recommend…ive been trying to have him find treats that im hiding in the room by making him follow a scent, but he gives up quickly, so any suggestions would be great….i think im going to take him to the montgomery dog park tomorrow so he can make some friends…i already brought him over to my friends parents house to meet their dog molly whose a labradoodle and they did great, i even let smokey off the leash to run with her and he didnt run away so thats good…he also met his first kid, my friends 7 year old daughter…it was actually very uneventful, he barely paid any attention to her,but did let her pet him….soooo to make a long story short….Smokey is the best and i love him haha

Feb 21, 2020

Hi Nancy,

Please excuse the delay in emailing.  I’ve been a bit under the weather.  Marty and I both noticed you have a winning personality with a great bubbly voice.  Our trainer that worked with Bosco and a little with Angel had that same personality about her.  Also, you were so kind to spend that much time on the phone with both of us.  We were very grateful for that.

Hope is one great dog.  She is coming over to Marty more and licking his face.  He’s also putting little bits of chicken and sometimes steak in her food.  Also, what we’re doing is lifting her bowl and putting something good in the bowl and then giving it back to her.  This way she learns not to be food aggressive when the bowl is lifted.  I’ve been touching her paws everyday talking to her.  She’s starting to get better with that.  She’s starting to learn what “kennel up” means when we want her in the crate.  She still remembers to go on the wee wee pad.  Sometimes she misses but, not often.  She’s responding to her name more.  Last night my husband fell asleep on the couch and Hope was out of the crate all night.  At some point during the night my husband said Hope and Angel were sleeping together on the love seat.  Angel, the one that growls at her.  Hope licks Bosco’s face and he seems to love that.  I’ve never heard him growl at her.  I’m surprised Bosco doesn’t growl at her because he growls at the boxer next door because that dog is jumpy and Hope is like that sometimes.  Hope is starting to twirl around on her back legs when she sees me.  She still loves watching the TV.  Talk to you soon.

Sue

2/14/2010

Peanut (girl) was real happy to see me.  She comes right over and nuzzles my hand when I enter the pen.  What progress from the first time I met her.  She is a great dog and will warm up to any human that spends the time with her.  She really needs a forever home.

We go for a nice walk in the snow on the doggie path.  Peanut always does poop as soon as we hit the trail.  Good sign, she does not like to go in her pen.  She will be housebroken when her new family gets her.  She loves to walk and she is a pleasure to walk.

We head for the training room.  Peanut knows where we are going and just goes up the stairs and enters the hallway as soon as I open the door.  She leads me up the stairs.  Real improvement from our first time.

Once in the training room we work on the come cue.  She is 100% on that one.  We move on to the sit cue.

In the past she has not really put her bottom on the floor. Today we had success.  When I give the sit cue she did sit and her bottom did rest on the floor.  She is relaxed enough to do the complete sit.  I gave her what I call the Jackpot…lots of treats when she sits on cue.

We worked on the down cue next.  At first she was not willing to lie all the way down on the floor from the sitting position.  Again this is very common in dogs that are fearful.  All the way down on the floor is a venerable position.  After a while she got about half way down.  I held the treat covered in my hand on the floor between her two front legs.  Gently I stroked her front legs with my free hand.  I talked to her and said good girl.  Slowly she let herself lie down completely.  Success…..She starts to move into the down position when I get very close to her head and whisper good girl, good girl.  She loves the close contact and encouragement.

We worked on the down cue for about 20 more times.  She began to anticipate what I wanted and I did not need to assist her any more.

Peanut girl has come a long way in a few short weeks. We sit on the floor and she puts her head in my lap.  She loves to cuddle.

2/15/2010

Peanut really needs to learn to trust people and walk with different people.  Today I found a volunteer that had not walked Peanut.  I asked her and her little girl if they would like to walk a dog that is shy with strangers.  They said yes.  I got Peanut out and introduced them.  Peanut was nervous but ok with them.  I went outside and walked a little to make sure things went ok.  They were fine.  When they came back I assisted them in getting her back into the kennel.  A big one for Peanut, she two new people and she liked them. They said they would walk her again.  They said what a great walker she was, no pulling etc.

2/20/2010

Great day for Peanut, she has mastered sit and down without fear.  She is 100% with both hand cues.  This is big for a dog that has had fear of human hands moving over her head.

I have asked different volunteers to walk her as often as they can.  She is really getting use to people and my hope is that she will soon find her forever home.  FYI…..Peanut loves to ride in my truck……she is really moving forward.

2/1/2010

Mukie is a great big boy.  Full of energy and always looking for some fun.  He is ok on the leash once he gets some of his anxiety out.  He stops frequently when we walk to pee, grunt and kick up the dirt…otherwise known as marking the territory.  He does this often.  Each time the give him the “Eh, Eh”, cue and redirect him.

We walk the doggie path two times just to see if he calms down.  Yes he does, so a word to the wise.  Mukie is not a short walk dog.  His new owners will want to walk him at least one hour a day rain or shine.

For now I would encourage the volunteers to walk him at lest two times around the entire doggie path when they take him out.

We go the cat house to see how Mukie behaves when he smells all those cat smells.  I am surprised; he really did not get excited.  Markos has worked with him in the past, bringing him to the cat house and sitting with him.  Thank you Markos.We go upstairs and work on sit, come and try down.  Sit is great every time with both hand and verbal cues.  Come is also a command he knows and responds to each time.  Down is another matter.  We will work on this one.

2/7/2010

We walk around the doggie path two times.  He gets to grunt and I get to tell him “Eh, Eh”.  He is good, responding by stopping the kicking when I give the cue.  By the end of the walk he seems to catch himself after he pees and just moves on.

Today is the day we are going to sit in the Piano Room with the cats.  The guys have done this with him before and been successful. Thank you guys for working so hard with Mukie.   It has been two months since Mukie has visited the cats.

The goal is to desensitize him to cats.  Meaning to have him not think of a cat as something he must chase, bite and shake.

I check out the cat room first and make sure all cats are up and off the floor.   We go into the cat room and Mukie is interested but not pulling on the leash.  We go and sit on the cat couch.  Mukie jumps right up and sits beside me as he looks around the room.  There were eight sets of CAT eyes focused on Mukie.  Not one cat moved.  We sat for about 15 minutes and then some of the cats started to walk around.  Mukie was good, did not lunge or make any move toward the cats.  He did look and stare at them.

We got up from the couch and walked around the room a few times.  We walked within two feet of two cats on another couch.  Mukie got pretty interested when the cat moved but did not lunge.  We walked around a few more times.  Then we sad down on the couch again.  Mukie lay down and asked for a belly rub.  I rubbed his belly gave him some treats and told him he was a good boy.  He was calm.  We left the room as all eyes stared at us.  These cats are so cool. Mukie has made progress with the help of the staff at Pet’s Alive.

2/14/2010

I walked Mukie two times around the doggie path.  He marks by peeing frequently.  After he marks he grunts and kicks up dirt.  I say Ehh Uhh.  He stops.  I am working on changing this behavior which has become a habit.  By saying Ehh Uhh his mind switched from kicking to listening to me.  It works.  He walks and pees less often and  stops kicking.

We go into the cat room and sit for one half hour.  During this time I walk him around the room and stop wherever a cat is down low.  I let him look.  Some cats hiss at him.  He does get a bit interested if they hiss. I say Ehh Uhh and he stops the focus look.  He pants and paces when we sit still.  This is pent up anxiety.  I do not think it is the cats. He keeps looking at the door.

When I get up to walk him around the room, he heads for the door. He wants out.  We leave.  Another day in the Cat’s world for Mukie.  One big step for a dog that likes to chase cats.

Dogs use signals  at an early state to prevent things from happening, avoiding threats from people and dogs, calming down nervousness, fear, noise, and unpleasant things. The signals are used for calming themselves when they feel stressed or uneasy. The signals are used to make others involved feel safer and understand the goodwill the dog is trying to communicate to us. They are used to make friends with other dogs and people.

Many of the signals dogs give are to reduce conflict. If you unleash an exuberant Labrador Retriever with a small Maltese, you may see the Lab offer a play bow. His head will lower while his rear remains raised.  This is an invitation to play. The Lab is lowering his head (and the scary teeth) and making himself appear smaller to the smaller dog, so he is less intimidating. He is inviting the dog to play with him.  If he had wanted to harm, he would have stood on his toes, with hackles raised, and made himself look even bigger.

Dogs have many signals to reduce conflict. Have you ever known a dog who took it upon herself to act as “peacemaker”? In a family of dogs, there may be one who seems to always intervene when others are in conflict. She may get in between the conflicting dogs, or try to engage them in another behavior, such as play. Dogs don’t always limit their signals to other dogs. Ever have an argument in front of your own dogs? Some may leave the room. Some may come to you, act clingy or clownish, or start whining. These dogs are trying to help you reduce your conflict. Since they can’t talk to us, dogs will use other signals to help you understand what they are feeling. When they are stressed, they will use their body language to tell you. They may also whine, growl or bark. Learning to recognize  a dog is in distress before he feels the need to defend himself will set your dog up for success.  It’s true, there will be cases where dogs can lash out very quickly, offering you no warning. In the majority of cases, however, you should be able to see that a dog is reaching his tolerance level.

There is no reason to push a dog to his breaking point just to see what will happen.  For example, Let’s say your dog has resource guarding issues. He has a stuffed food toy.  You reach for the toy and he stands over the toy, lowers his head and starts to lift his lip. What is this dog telling you? He’s saying the toy is mine, back off.

You don’t want him to do this. You want him to be comfortable with people reaching for his toys and to happily give them up when asked. So what do you do next? Deliberately going after the toy will likely elicit a growl or even a bite response. What’s the point in that? What will you accomplish?

If you think you’ll be showing him that you’re “alpha,” or “the boss,” there’s a lot more to being a leader than being able to take a toy away from a dog. Plus, if you are able to do this without getting bitten, will the toddler or another family member be so lucky?  Not likely.

Think about what the dog will learn. He now thinks that it’s a bad thing when people reach for his prized possessions. If you force him into displaying aggressive behavior, you’re really convincing him he was right all along! People really are a problem.

When you push a dog to elicit undesired behaviors, you’re giving that dog the chance to practice those behaviors. Practice makes perfect. It’s much better to teach the dog to offer other, more desired behaviors, instead. For example, you could toss a high value treat across the room. When the dog goes after the treat, you mark “yes” and pick up the prized toy. When the dog returns, ask the dog to sit or down, then offer him back the toy as long as he complies.

You’ve just taught the dog that leaving his high value item is rewarding, and that he got it back anyway. So there’s no need to guard it, because no one is threatening to take it away. You also got him to successfully leave the toy, which you can put on a cue to “leave it,” and you got a sit or down out of him, which means he is learning that in order to get what he wants, he must first give you what you want. This is much more effective, safer leadership training. No growls, no bites.

Did you know that there are over 31….yes 31 signals that dogs use to communicate how they are reacting to the world around them?

Watch for them in the next few weeks and learn more about HOW DOGS COMMUNICATE.

We had room this week.  Carmel is now at Pet’s Alive. Safe and waiting for a forever home.

Remember him, we wrote about him last week (Jan 29).  His owner decided to surrender him because he nipped.  The owner knew he was afraid of the dishwasher sounds but grabbed him and dragged him into the kitchen.  WHAT’S  A Dog gonna do when this happens.

His owner feared  he would bit again.  Dog must go was the mandate given by the owner.  What a tragedy.  When training could have helped him.  They did not want to talk about training him.

I know he can work through this and can be desensitized to the dishwasher sounds.  It will just take some time and effort.  Can you help….will you take the time?

Training Needed For:   Napoleon Complex, Does not like some people and sometimes lunges and nips

2/1/2010

Mufasa does not have the skills to interact with strangers.  He has lots of fear and anxiety.  His fear drives him to lunge and bite at strangers.  Can we fix this…YES we can.

Today I walked Mufasa around the entire dog trail.  Yes it was 25 degrees and as long as he kept walking he was in no danger of freezing.  He did great, he actually started jumping over little sticks and his tail came up just a little.  I think he enjoyed his nice brisk walk.

I believe that walking a dog is one of the most important things a human can do.  It is the best way to show you are the leader, have control over the situation and it is so good for bonding.  The dog must look to you for direction with each turn, stop and start.  You become his soul source in the universe.

I have asked the volunteers to walk Mufasa every day.  I am expecting a change in his attitude next week.