Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

When Life gets in the way…

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on August 7, 2012| 4 Comments »

Little Bear the Mini Schnauzer

Little Bear

I’m thinking of writing a stiff letter to Life.  I think I’ve been incredibly tolerant up until now but something really has to be said about the way it relentlessly interrupts my training plans. And please, don’t even get me started on its effect on my blogging schedule…

I’m joking of course, but it’s a nice thought isn’t it?  ‘Excuse me Life, but can you just butt out for a while? I have dogs to train. We’re on a schedule you know.’

Curve ball

My mother was taken suddenly and critically ill recently and in the space of one phone call everything changed. Life jumped on us from a great height and we had no choice but to let it.  Thankfully she made a remarkable recovery and when I returned home nearly two weeks later, (to a thorough telling off by Little Bear and what I can only describe as a giggle dance from Annie) the dogs and I picked up where we left off.

Surrender

I’ve used Churchill’s famous quote about ‘never ever giving up’ many a time and it’s still something that inspires me and spurs me on when I’m tired and down-hearted. I’ll never stop striving for the best for my dogs, but I am willing to give up on something – the idea that I have to do it all perfectly and that if I don’t, then I’m somehow letting them down.

If you have a reactive dog, let alone two, you know what hard work they can be.  The dream is something most other dog owners take for granted; a quiet stroll in the park, a coffee at a pavement cafe without it causing a scene. It’s not a big dream but getting there takes a lot of work.

Little Bear and Annie have come such a long way. The work is working and we will persist, but I’m going to tear up that draft letter and tell Life that it’s okay. I understand. It has to do its thing and that’s fine. Whatever it throws at us, well, we’re just going to work around it.

 

Read Full Post »

T-Touch Bear

Posted in Uncategorized on July 2, 2012| 4 Comments »

Chilled out Bear

A few weeks ago, Little Bear got a haircut. We’d had a couple of hot days in between the torrential downpours that I’m really hoping don’t end up defining our summer and I’d decided to clip him myself.  The best I can say about it is that it was quirky, if you like the tufty look and didn’t notice the bald patch on his left bum cheek. Ooops!

I called the groomer and asked for some remedial help, before he became the laughing-stock of the neighbourhood.

The proper haircut (as opposed to my pitiful effort!) seemed to have a profound effect on him as the next day he was like a thing possessed. His usual routine of napping most of the day between walks and then playing around dinner time vanished and he just zoomed around the house like a toddler on e-numbers.

Working from home is a dream, but not when you’re on a deadline and have a hyper Mini Schnauzer bringing you half of his toy box and whining at you to play all afternoon.  I had to bribe him more than once with a peanut butter kong so that I could lock them in the kitchen just to get some work done. Annie was thrilled by this of course, she always loves a freebie.

Slightly baffled by the new joie da vie, I put it down to his new haircut, thinking maybe he felt a little cooler and this was the reason he was suddenly so much more playful and full of fun.

The penny drops

On Saturday, we took him for his second T-Touch session. He loves the therapist and was obviously extremely excited to be back in the treatment room.  We were half way through the session when Toni commented on his smart new haircut and  suddenly the penny dropped. The day before his haircut, he’d had his first T-Touch session!

So for weeks I’d been putting his new zest for life down to his haircut, even though he’s never reacted like that before, while completely forgetting about the T-Touch. And that wasn’t just doing Toni out of her great work, but my home spun efforts as I practiced the touches with him too.

I’m going to blame my hectic life for that bout of amnesia or perhaps it was a practice run at a senior moment. Either way, der!

On a serious note, the T-Touch is certainly helping. Little Bear has always loved cuddles and he’s responding well to the touches, particularly the ear rub and the Springbok, both of which are easy to do and very handy when walking a reactive dog.

I use them to help calm him if we see another dog in the distance or if something’s frightened him, to get him back to a calm state.  A couple of times in the park this week he’s rubbed his side against my leg and then stood while I practice the touches; it’s as close to actually asking as he can get I think!

He’s still a lot more playful than he was, but seems more chilled at home too. He’s ever the lap dog but even that seems to have increased of late. Now that I know to look for it, I’ll keep a closer eye for any more changes and as a haircut is still a month away, I shouldn’t get confused this time!

More details about T-Touch in the UK can be found here

Read Full Post »

Birthday Bear….swims!

Posted in Uncategorized on June 23, 2012| 7 Comments »

Mini Schnauzer Little Bear in the stream

Little Bear in the stream

Little Bear turned five yesterday.

I can barely believe it. The time has flown so quickly, it seems like only yesterday that he was a teeny puppy, snuggled up in his crate amongst a sea of teddy bears.

We celebrated his birthday with a walk with a couple of his friends in at a nature reserve we’ve not been to before. He grumbled at a few pushy dogs, but came away when asked which was an improvement at least. But the real achievement was that……(drumroll please) he swam for the very first time!

Regular readers might already know that Little Bear, although fascinated by the wet stuff, swims like a brick. After watching him panic and sink once too often, I abandoned the hope that his ‘all dogs can swim gene’ would kick in and took him for lessons last year.

Yesterday evening, he jumped into a stream with his friends chasing tennis balls. It was perfect, about eight feet wide and gently graduated and without much of a current. As he chased the ball, it floated out into the deeper water and he just went for it, doggy-paddling like crazy to reach it.

Face your fears and do it anyway

After happily swimming for a few minutes, he had a slight panic. He found a tiny rock shelf to stand on at the far bank and stood looking petrified with all four feet huddled into what was only about a 3 inch square  space. I don’t know whether the realisation of what he was doing suddenly hit him, but his confidence certainly wobbled.

To a chorus of encouragement, he finally made up his mind and launched himself with great gusto into the water, swimming like a pro to the bank for his hero’s welcome.

It was a proud moment for us both. LB had decided to be brave. To face his fear and do it anyway.  His swagger, as he rubbed his soggy body against all of our legs for a pat and some more praise, told me that he was feeling pretty good about himself. Not a bad milestone for your fifth birthday either.

Read Full Post »

Hands up who’s cried on a walk?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on June 10, 2012| 8 Comments »

Hands up if you’ve ever ended up in tears as a result of your dogs’ behaviour.

If you’ve said no I’m willing to bet that you either have a well-balanced dog & stumbled innocently upon this ode to the reactive dog while getting your canine net hit (you’re very welcome by the way :-)) or you’re a man. Sorry to stereotype here, but our dogs have pushed Other Half to the limit and he’s not blubbed once, so I’m assuming it’s a predominantly female thing.

Yep, today I blubbed.  In public.  As I trudged through the woods while rummaging in my dog walking bag for tissues without bits of dog biscuit on them and failing miserably to put on a brave face.  The incident which sparked this bout of self-indulgence was wholly avoidable, but I got it wrong. So did the other owner but she must have a hide like a rhino as she didn’t seem to give a damn that her dog had just caused utter chaos.

Dive bombed

The scenario played out like this. We’re wandering through the woods when I hear a woman call her dog. I can’t see the dog but call Little Bear to me and seeing her bend down, I assume she’s put the lead on her dog so I did the same.

There’s nothing worse than letting your dog run-up to another one that’s newly tethered – not only is it rude, but if that dog has been put on a lead for a reason, your dog is now in possible danger.

Lead aggression is a common problem and is if you think about it, a logical, if not desirable reaction. We all respond to stress with a split second ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ decision, but leads take away the flight option, which for a stressed dog only leaves one course of action.

Three guesses how Little Bear reacted when a super excited Mini Schnauzer raced straight into his face through the ferns. Yep. He went nuts. Lunging, growling and barking and all the while this little dog kept on coming back. His owner wasn’t a bit bothered and didn’t even try to recall him!

Unable to fend him off, I had to resort to picking LB up, something I hate doing as it’s further confinement, but while being relentlessly dive-bombed I was left with little choice. Said hooligan then started jumping all over me while his owner just puffed on her cigarette and shuffled off without him – charming!

Getting it wrong 

There are so many things I did wrong. I should have turned tail and headed in the other direction. I should have called to her to check if she’d put her dog on the lead. If she hadn’t, I would have let LB off the lead as he’s met this dog before without incident. I should have thrown some chicken on the floor for the marauder and run with LB the other way. I should at least have given her a piece of my mind… but of course, in the stress of it all, I did none of those things. Instead, I ranted and raved and then cried hot tired tears while wondering if I was ever going to be able to get my darling boy to a state of calmness.

The whole incident is in such stark contrast to the progress he’s been making lately that I think it was even more upsetting than it might have been. It’s left me under a cloud and kicked off a headache that looks like it’s settling in for a long stint, but we’ll plough on. I may get it wrong frequently, but the biggest mistake I could ever make would be giving up.

Read Full Post »

Muzzle puzzle: Why are muzzles so taboo?

Posted in Uncategorized on June 5, 2012| 1 Comment »

It’s always puzzled me that some people are really reluctant to muzzle their dogs. I was reminded of this today reading the excellent Fearful Dogs blog and it reminded me of a dog I know. 

An acquaintance of mine has a rescue Pointer cross who can be highly unpredictable with other dogs. I unfortunately have first hand experience of her behaviour as she once attacked Little Bear when he was just a pup having been friendly to him just the day before.

When she was first adopted and the behaviour became apparent, her new owner tried muzzling her so that they could walk her around other dogs. This is great dog walking country so there’s an abundance of great forest walks to be had. Sadly though, they soon gave up on the idea as she hated wearing the muzzle and tried incessantly to get it off, not surprising as it was just put on her one day without any preparation or training.

The result is that for the past eight years she’s had mainly on-lead street walks at unsociable hours and only goes off lead when they’re at the beach on holiday. She’s loved and cared for but I can’t help thinking that for the want of a little preparation and perseverance her life might have been very different. 

Training 

As reactive dogs, I’ve been doing some muzzle training with both Little Bear and Annie for a little while now. After reading Debbie’s blog today I went and got the muzzles which hang next to the (nose level) treat shelf in the kitchen and they both jumped around excitedly as soon as they saw them. Over the months they’ve come to associate them with good things and know that when I unclip them, I also pick up the clicker and the treat jar.

Muzzles Party hats

Incidentally, I don’t call them muzzles. I call them party hats. It was a term I heard from a trainer a few years ago, who did some great  videos – sadly I cannot for the life of me think of his name, but I hope he wouldn’t mind me borrowing his phrase – it works a treat!  

There’s an excellent video on Debbie’s blog for anyone who’d like to start muzzle training. I know the basics, but I picked up some great extra tips, like using squeezable baby food sachets as an alternative to cheese in a tube for example. 

So back to the puzzle. Why don’t more people use muzzles, especially if their dog ‘has form’ for aggression? I think the answer has something to do with what they think other people might think of them. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this journey with Little Bear though, it’s that in the scheme of things, the only thing I care about is keeping him safe and happy. That includes protecting him from himself until he’s able to cope with the situations he’s worried by.  He’s never bitten but all dogs, even the most docile are capable of it and we shouldn’t be afraid to admit that.  

When I give the cat her worming tablet, I take precautions to make sure that I don’t get scratched to pieces and bitten (we wrap her in a towel & use a pill dispenser). I accept that that’s her nature and I work with it, taking the precautions I need to. Denial will just give me lacerations! We really should apply the same common sense approach with our dogs. 

 

Read Full Post »

Blogger’s block

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 4, 2012| 4 Comments »

I write all day. I’m lucky in that my day job is in corporate communications so I’m paid to write speeches; copy; briefings; articles and press releases. And yet when I finally turn off the PC for the day and get on with the usual chores of eating dinner (notice I didn’t say cooking  ;-)) walking, playing and feeding the dogs and then trying to create  some semblance of order in the house, the itch to write is constantly with me, pulling at my sleeve like an incessant toddler.

I’ve often pondered on this. I doubt decorators come home from a long day and get the urge to get the paint rollers out again and I’ve known many a teacher who bolts the door for fear of even seeing another child in the next twelve hours so what’s going on?

Expression

My only conclusion is that most writers are driven by a need for expression.  The need for people to read what I’ve written is nowhere near as important to me as the need to commit my thoughts to paper or pixel.  A purging almost of the mind and soul, it doesn’t need to be read in order to matter as far as I’m concerned – I just need to do it.

I may write all day but on the whole they’re not my words. I’m a ghost stepping into another’s shoes to write speeches; I’m a saleswoman pitching an idea in my copy; I’m a teacher marking the homework of the agencies whose work I edit with a bleeding pen through clenched teeth. I’m many people, except of course the most authentic one – Me.

Writer’s block

I sat down this afternoon desperate to write. Dogs walked; laundry done; ironing ignored for another day, I opened up WordPress and – nothing.  Not a single idea for the Little Bear Dog blog.

My creative writing teacher once told us the only way to overcome writer’s block was to write.  His was a generous take on the problem as he saw nothing wrong in including shopping lists in his suggested cure for the dreaded block.  I’ve not veered that far from the path today, but it has helped – I hope regular readers will forgive the digression.

Read Full Post »

Annie’s leg: the saga continues

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on May 27, 2012| 3 Comments »

After the trauma of Annie’s TPLO last year to repair the damage caused by the ruptured cruciate ligament in her knee and the long and achingly slow recovery process, we were nothing short of delighted the first time we saw her off lead, bounding through the woods like a normal dog.

We’re realists so we knew there might be times when she’d be a little stiff in that leg and of course there’s always the risk that the other cruciate could degenerate at some point meaning we’d have to go through the same process again on the other leg, but we were prepared for that as a possibility. What we weren’t so prepared for was for nearly 18 months later, her to have a bout of seemingly unexplained lameness on the TPLO leg.

It started after a normal and pretty uneventful walk in the forest. She came home, laid down and got up holding up her leg. That was six weeks ago and the vet has drawn a blank. The metal work is all in place, he’s manipulated and palpated and can find nothing seriously wrong. There are days when she’s absolutely fine, but then days when she’s hopping lame.

We’ve refused another XRay as even the vet is pretty sure that it won’t tell us much and with his support, have opted instead for chiropractics. Luckily, the McTimony chiropractor we see also treats horses and dogs. She had her first treatment on Friday and although it went well, she’s on house rest for three days. Have you ever tried telling a walk obsessed Labrador that she can’t go out for three whole days? I’ve been trying to sneak Little Bear out so that she won’t see but I feel so mean!

Hydrotherapy is also on the list so these dogs will be keeping us busy in the coming weeks and months.  When I think about what they give us though, it’s a no-brainer – they’re worth every penny and every minute of our time. All I want is for my dogs to be happy and healthy and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Read Full Post »

How to help a reactive dog (and their owner!)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 14, 2012| 4 Comments »

Mini Schnauzer Little Bear sitting in a field

Little Bear in his Spring clip

As anyone with a reactive dog knows, a walk is anything but relaxing.  I go out kitted up with clicker (+spare clickers should the first one break or get lost), treat bag (+ back up treats just in case) squeaky balls (+back ups) and a pet corrector for real emergencies.  Thats as well as the poo bags, ball chucker, wet wipes etc etc. I know all of the fields and parks in the area and a bit like Jason Bourne in the Bourne Identity, every exit and roughly how long it will take us to get to it should we need to.

I can also spot an ‘It’s okay, my dog’s fine’ owner a mile off. Maybe you know the type? They’re the ones with the big lumbering dogs that flatten yours while their owners laugh and say things like “It’s okay, he’s only playing.” Gee thanks, but what about mine?!

They seem oblivious to the fact that you might be trying to avoid them or that in letting their friendly lummox of a dog ‘play’ with yours without checking first, they might be putting your behaviour training back weeks if not months.  For all they know, they might even be putting their dog at risk of serious physical or emotional harm.  Even when you call your dog, pop him on a lead and walk quickly in the other direction, they STILL don’t get the hint!

Real treat

So, today was a real treat!

As we went into the field, two Huskies bounded up to the gate. Little Bear froze and whined and then looked at me which in itself was a fantastic result as he looked to me instead of kicking off!  His reward was a swift retreat away from the thing that was worrying him.

The owner looked a bit miffed and said a bit tersely ‘It’s fine! They were brought up with Schnauzers.’ We get this a lot.  People we big dogs or bull breeds often assume I’m being a breedist in avoiding them and I don’t usually get the opportunity to clarify, but with LB at a distance he was comfortable with and happily hoovering up treats from the floor, I was able to explain over the fence that it wasn’t his dogs I was concerned about, but my own.

Penny dropped, he walked his dogs away from the gate so that we could come in. With LB in ‘stuff your face with treats mode’ he was happy to focus on me and we passed the Huskies without incident.

Great manners 

We had a lovely walk, LB exploring and snacking on grass here and there, then chasing the ball and working on his retrieve.  Whenever I see another dog I don’t know, I pop him on a lead.  I do this partly because of his bullying towards timid dogs but also because it’s just good manners.

To my delight, another other dog walker on seeing me pop LB on the lead as they approached immediately called his dog and popped its leads on too.  A mutual round of ‘thank yous’ later and we went our separate ways.

Seconds later, we saw the Huskies again and as soon as he saw us, their owner recalled them, popped them on their leads and asked for a sit.  Little Bear was fantastic and again passed without even a grumble. I thanked the owner again and we even had time for a quick chat about the joys of training and what a difference well-mannered owners made.

This may seem silly, but this truly made my day.  As anyone with a reactive dog will know, it can sometimes feel like your best intentions get undermined by other people’s assumption that all dogs are friendly and docile. They are also usually the first people to tut-tut and mutter things about ‘always the owners fault’ as your dog gets tipped over the edge and aggresses because they feel so threatened by the situation that the tut-tutter has unwittingly helped kick off.

Nature vs. Nurture 

As I’ve come to learn, nurture can only do so much and nature has a heavy hand in deciding a dogs temperament.  Just like people, some dogs have a shorter fuse than others and try as we might, there’s no way of changing that, we can only manage it as best we can by giving them the tools and support to cope with the things they find threatening or frustrating.  But owners need support too and as I found out today, a little help and understanding from fellow dog lovers can go a long long way.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Feel like giving up?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2012| 3 Comments »

I’ve blogged before about how sometimes it’s easy to miss what’s right under our noses. Changes happen so slowly that we sometimes fail to see the process. Trees are a good one – you drive down the same stretch of road each day and then WHAM! One day you notice that the bare branches are now chock-full of bright spring leaves.

Dog training can be a lot like that. Walking the dogs the other day Annie kicked off at the sight of another dog on the other side of the road. Little Bear woofed a few times, but with a seriously lack of commitment which in no way matched her level of arousal. I walked him away calmly and despite her lunging and barking, he remained quiet and kept glancing up at me – which of course got him a lot of praise, clicks and treats.

Just like the tree, I’d missed the bud stage, but was pleased I’d at least spotted the unfurling leaf so that I could reward and encourage it. I took a lesson from that.  Even when you think nothing’s happening, the time we all, if we’re honest feel like giving up, it’s good to remember that there’s progress being made that we just can’t see.  Little buds of progress waiting to burst forth and surprise us.

Read Full Post »

And so, to bed…

Posted in Dogs, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on January 29, 2012| 6 Comments »

Annie in her beloved bed

Annie in her beloved bed

When we took on Annie her first bed was a folded quilt under the dining table which was her bolt hole of choice after her ordeal.  She soon discovered the delights of the sofas and as we were only fostering her at that point it seemed fine to let it go.

When we adopted her, we bought her a bed.  It felt symbolic, a way to mark her joining the family officially and after months of being squashed between two dogs on the sofa of an evening, the idea of them sleeping in their own beds was appealing.

So we went to the pet shop and she picked out a bed. Or rather, we bought the only one she seemed vaguely interested in.  It was stupidly expensive, but I justified it on the basis that all the bits came apart for machine washing.  “She’ll have it for years” I confidently told Other Half as he scoffed at the price tag.   It fell apart in the first wash.

We got a refund and decided to get her a sturdy plastic bed that we could fill with soft (and washable) blankets instead. Then came her surgery so ‘bed’ became a crate for almost 12 weeks while she healed. When at last the crate was packed away, we put the new bed in its place.  She ignored it.  She’d sit in it occasionally, as did Little Bear and now and then, Camden Cat. She’d even lay down in it if we asked, but you always got the feeling that she was doing it under sufferance.

Impulse buy

A couple of weeks ago I saw a bed I just knew she’d love. I was only in the pet shop to buy cat treats. She didn’t need a bed I told myself, she had two sofas and two arm chairs to choose from for crying out loud. I left the shop and walked to the car. I opened it and locked it again before even taking the key out of the lock.  Minutes later me and the new bed were heading home.

LB was incredibly excited.  He dug out the inner pillow within seconds and then promptly chewed off the tag putting pay to any ideas of returning it, but  he quickly got bored and wandered off to find a tennis ball while Annie, unusually aloof gave the new bed the eye.

I love my bed

That was a few weeks ago now and she’s very rarely out of it. She loves her bed so much she’ll lie in it no matter where it is. She’s even choosing her bed over the sofa. I have some theories of course. Maybe she likes having somewhere that’s entirely hers. The sofas after all are shared and she can and does get turfed off them if there’s no room for anyone else to sit down.  Or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s comfortable. We’ll never know for sure, but she certainly does look like one very happy dog!

Annie snoozing in her new bed

Annie snoozing in her new bed

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »