Oh My Dog!

Lucas and Cady love the early spring weather!

“The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be.”
– Konrad Lorenz

Whew! What a whirlwind few days! It started out on Friday with Emmett and I visiting three kindergarten classes. That means lots and lots and lots of 5- and 6-year-olds! Emmett did spectacularly, patiently sitting while 75 grubby hands patted him, giving the occasional high five, and demonstrating how easy it is for boys and girls to read to their pets. The only hiccup was when, in the first classroom, the bell rang… Emmett started barking, which frightened a handful of the children, though I explained to them that he thought their classroom had a doorbell. They thought that was funny (“Classrooms don’t have doorbells, Emmett!!”), so we were able to move past it.

On our way back from kindergarten

On Saturday, the boys had a puppy play date with Cady, Lucas’ best friend in the whole world. It was unbelievably gorgeous outside. Dare I say, spring has sprung! Then on Sunday we all went on a hike together for about an hour around Griffy Lake. The weather was perfect, and the dogs had a blast! I think the boys are a little bit out of shape from less exercise over the winter because at the end of the hike, they were wiped.

Tired Emmett

Tired Lucas

Tired Cady

And, lastly, we’re now into the second week of March. I fully intended on setting some training goals for the boys at the beginning of the month, but last week just flew by. So now, so that I am fully accountable to you, my goal for the month of March is to solidify our door training. That means: when the doorbell rings, they can bark a little bit, but then when I give them the “place” command, they run to the place we’ve established (the tile in front of the fireplace) and maintain a “wait” until the visitor is inside of our house.

This plan is the exact opposite of the train wreck situation we currently have whenever someone rings the bell. I’m so glad to finally start implementing this training, and our fabulous neighbors have agreed to help out by ringing the bell when they get their mail in the evening. I’m excited! I’ll keep you posted on our progress!

Do you set training goals? What are your plans for March training?

I feel like I might be the last dog lover to read this book because I’ve seen it mentioned all over the interwebs, but I finally got around to combing through Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

Over the past six months or so, ever since Emmett’s cancer diagnosis, I’ve been sort of obsessed with researching dog food, nutrition, health care, alternatives, everything. I spent a lot of time perusing the dog shelf at my local library, and ultimately ended up checking out Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

Well, after accruing a $0.75 late fee (I’m hanging my head in shame), I ended up purchasing it for myself!

This isn’t the type of book that you would want to sit down and read cover to cover. Although I read several of the chapters all the way through, I think the real value in this book is to be familiar with what it contains and have it on your shelf as a reference when you have a specific question. For instance, even though I was primarily focused on the food and cancer sections, I recently pulled it off the shelf to see what he said about dry, itchy skin when I noticed Emmett had some dandruff.

I firmly believe that being a pet parent means choosing what is going to work best for you and for your pet. This book presents a number of alternative or natural options. Whether you choose to follow, to ignore, or to customize the suggestions, there’s great value in having extra information at your fingertips. We’re not going to start feeding his suggested diet to the boys for a number of reasons, but we are incorporating some of his supplement suggestions.

The condition-specific sections are useful for the same reason: When you’re facing a disease, it’s best to have all the information and options you can gather to make sure you make the best decision for you.

Overall, Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats is a really great resource that any dog lover should have on the shelf. While it’s not something you probably want to curl up with at night, it’s a great resource, chock full of condition-specific information and tips for your pet to live a happier, healthier life.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear what other dog lovers have incorporated from this book. How’s it working?

Note: The links above go to my Amazon Associates page. Check out my brand new tab (Disclaimer & Guest Posts) for more details.

My co-workers

“No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog.”
–Stanley Leinwoll

So here’s a little secret: John and I talk for Emmett and Lucas. Not to them. Not about them. For them. As in… we’re emptying the dishwasher at 5:30. Emmett is sitting in front of his bowl, huffing. John will say in his Emmett voice, “Stop doing that, people. Feed me my damn dinner.” Or Lucas will be whining because his toy is under the couch, and he can’t reach it. I will say in my Lucas voice, “Life is so haarddd. Lady, get me my toy right noooowwww.” And so on.

Last night we got to talking: Are the things we say for them accurate? How much of what we make up would they really, truly say?

I would venture to say we’re pretty close. Yes, that’s a big leap, but I would also venture to say that I have a very solid understanding of their personalities. Here’s a quick snapshot:

Emmett

Oh, Emmett. Emmett is stubborn but so sweet, a little Velcro strip stuck to my pant-leg. He’s lazy and has serious food-hoarding issues. But he’ll do absolutely anything we ask of him, especially if there’s a treat involved. Emmett loves being the center of attention, loves meeting new people, loves going new places. Emmett is completely and utterly fearless. He tolerates what he doesn’t like – puppies, not being fed on time – with heavy sighs. But he’s happy, oh, is he happy. He wags his curly tail with his entire body. All he wants out of life is a good snuggle, a tasty snack, and a nice, long nap preferably outside, in the sun, on his back.

Lucas

Lucas, my little Lucas. Oh, have we had a long road with this one. He’s incredibly smart but so terribly anxious. New things threaten Lucas. He’s ever-vigilant. While he’s terrified of the broom, plastic bags, the vacuum, construction equipment, and so on, he guards this house and us with his entire heart. I am confident that he would overcome his fear of the vacuum if it meant keeping us safe. But he’s impatient if he can’t find his toys. He howls when he doesn’t get his way. But he’s also playful. Put a puppy in the room, and Lucas will play until he drops.  He jumps, leaps, spins, and flings whatever plaything he can find. He hates hugs but implores us to rub his ears and scratch his butt. He’s independent at home, moving from room to room to guard us from every angle. Lucas loves a walk, loves to sniff, to run… oh man, does he love to run. All he wants out of life is to keep everyone safe, slices of American cheese, and lots of scratchings.

Those are my at-a-glance descriptions of the boys. I could go on and on (and on…) about the many facets of their personalities, their habits, their strengths and weaknesses, everything. I truly feel like I know these guys inside and out, to the point where I can predict their behaviors and reactions, and, thus, John and I can speak for them!

But what about you? How would you describe your dog?

I would LOVE to hear how you all describe your dog’s personality. What are his or her traits or characteristics that make him or her uniquely yours?

Separation anxiety is a contentious topic. Often, what’s described as separation anxiety is simply boredom or bad manners or a combination of both. With Lucas and Emmett, while they both displayed similar behaviors when we left the house, with Emmett is was full-blown separation anxiety. With Lucas it was mostly that he was an ass. But we worked on both, equally!

A bit of a digression: When we first adopted Emmett, the shelter said we could not crate train him, that he freaked out, but that he was totally fine with having a small area to himself – in fact, a shelter worker had left the door open to Emmett’s run by accident one day, and he never tried to leave! When the shelter did our home visit, they suggested that we baby gate him in the kitchen.

Emmett and one of his special toys

The front door to our condo was off of the kitchen. We had a number of incredibly fabulous, patient neighbors who kept us posted: Emmett cried for the full four hours you were gone today, Emmett cried and scratched at the door the whole time you were at the grocery store, Emmett cried and paced when you went to get the mail, and so on. We would leave, he would lie down in front of the door and cry, pace, whine, scratch. When our neighbor Lou finally met Emmett he exclaimed, “THAT is the dog you have in there? I thought you had a teeny puppy!”

All this is to say, I’ve read a handful of pet blogs lately that have been talking about their battles with separation anxiety. And while I would caution anyone to talk to a professional trainer first, I wanted to share what worked for us in case it helps someone who’s dealing with similar issues.

It was all about the routine.

Every single time we left the house (EVERY single time for the first few months, even to run out to get the mail), we performed the same series of steps:

Emmett went into the kitchen, and we latched the baby gate. We turned on the radio to a low volume. We reached into the cupboard and pulled out two or three of his favorite toys that were special toys (they ONLY came out when we left the house. Stuffed Kongs work great, Busy Buddy, etc.). Then, what turned out to be the most important step in the process for our food-motivated Emmett, we pulled a biscuit out of the cupboard, led him to his bed, said “Be good, we’ll be right back” then gave him the biscuit. Then we walked out the door. When we got home, we’d unlatch the baby gate, turn off the radio, pick up his special toys, then give him rubs and hugs and tell him what a good boy he is.

The trick was repetition. We performed this same series of steps 100% of the times we walked out of our front door, even if it was to run to a neighbor’s to borrow a cup of sugar. Every. Single. Time. Yes, it was tedious, but it worked. Within a few weeks, Emmett caught onto the routine, and our neighbors reported a significant decrease in his crying. After several months, when we would get ready to leave, put our shoes and coats on, etc., Emmett would dash to his bed and start licking his lips, awaiting his special biscuit.

When we adopted Lucas, he did bad things when we were away, but even though he was a puppy, he never once had an accident. And once we helped him learn what was appropriate for him to chew (NOT the arms of our furniture), his bad behavior ceased entirely. Even though Lucas didn’t suffer from separation anxiety, I feel confident saying that the routine helped him as well because he was very quickly able to learn what was going on and to assimilate into our specific routine.

Lucas, the first weekend with us!

WHEW! Long post! I hope this helps, and if anyone has any questions about our routine, the steps we took, or whatever, fire away!!

Anyone else faced separation anxiety? Any tips or strategies to help pups overcome their fears?

Tank, Otto, Buster, and Lucas enjoyed the weather... last spring

“Dogs are miracles with paws.”
–Susan Kennedy

Lucas spends a big chunk of his day guarding the house from his perch on the chaise in our bedroom. Lately, though, with the gray, icy, snow-covered days, he’s been sleeping more than guarding. We are all so ready for spring, so ready to resume our normal, active lives, so ready to wear shoes instead of boots and to see grass instead of ice.

I received 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog for Christmas, but haven’t really had time to dig into the book yet. I think this week is perfect to start some of the more challenging and engaging tricks to get the boys active again!

How about you? How do you beat the blues during this homestretch of winter?

Every evening at 5:00, Emmett stops whatever he’s doing wherever he is in the house and comes into the office. He plants himself on the bed next to my desk, reminding me of his presence with heavy sighs.

Then, about 15 minutes later, he moves into position under my desk. As if I hadn’t noticed his loud, dinner-demanding presence already.

And if I still persist in not getting up to feed him, well, he gives me no other choice.

And that is how Emmett gets fed by 5:30. Every. Single. Day.

My Valentines

It’s been a rough few days around here, which is why it’s been a little quiet on the blog! Last week I had a little bit of a cold, and just as I was getting better over the weekend, John got slammed with the flu. Both fortunately and unfortunately, we were a couple hours from home, spending the weekend at my parents’ house. It was pretty fortunate because Emmett and Lucas spent the weekend playing with Tank and Buster, my sister’s dogs, and Otto, my mom’s dog. By the time we got back yesterday, and I settled John in the guest room with movies and Gatorade, the boys were so tired from their two-day snowy play-a-thon that they were able to help John recuperate!

So I spent Valentine’s Day – one of my favorite holidays! – taking care of hubby and snuggling two very sleepy dogs. I hope you had a wonderful, love-soaked Valentine’s Day.

Good things are coming this week: Photos from our indoor/basement agility course, make your own eco-friendly dog toys, and possibly a review of a wonderful book (if I get around to finishing it).

Hope today has been a great start to your week!