datachie, Author at Smart Dog University

Book Review: Laws, Policies, Attitudes and Processes That Shape the Lives of Puppies in America

June 7, 2017

Book Review

I was contacted by the editor of the Journal of Law and Social Deviance and asked if I would like to receive a copy to do a book review of Laws, Policies, Attitudes and Processes That Shape the Lives of Puppies in America by Carmen M. Cusack. I love to read and it was about dogs, so I accepted the offer. Book review, sma

It’s not my normal reading material. It’s quite the scientific tome. I’m interested in sociology and how we fit dogs into our lives, so it wasn’t a hard read for me.

I learned some things I wish I could unlearn, however.

While dogs are afforded a fair amount of legal protection and compassion here in the United States, that is not true in other parts of the world. In the U.S., dogs hold an important status in our society. In China, however, dogs are raised not only for their fur (yes, people actually wear dog fur coats), but also for meat. Their lives as fur dogs are not pleasant, neither is their manner of death. Because it pained me to learn the details, I’ll spare those here so you can avoid the same fate I wish I could.

There was quite a bit of psychology mixed in with the sociology in the book.

For instance, the book asserts that there are several theories of crime that explain why criminals who steal puppies may also be involved in other cures such as dealing drugs. The book goes on to suggest that police, while not necessarily interested in investigating puppy theft on it’s own merits, are quick to take on a puppy theft case because it gives them a pretext for gathering evidence of other crimes.

I found it odd that the author referred to canines as both dogs and puppies interchangeably.

As a professional dog trainer, puppyhood is a specific developmental stage. After about 16 weeks (roughly), a puppy is more of an adolescent than a puppy (both developmentally and in size [breed dependent, of course]). A 6-month old dog is definitely not a puppy, but the book uses the terms interchangeably, which I found a bit off-putting, as I think a scientific publication should recognize the developmental stages of canines.

The book covers many topics involving dogs that range from cultural, to legal, to the education of dogs.

Some of the chapter titles include: Art, Transportation, Wild & Exotic Animals, Killing, Puppy Fur, Property, Fear & Neurosis (which includes my favorite piece — puppy training), Drugs, Babies & Puppies, Food, Technology, and Civilization & Society.

Overall, the book is a fascinating read.

It’s a book that you can open and begin reading anywhere . I skipped immediately to the Fear & Neurosis chapter first, of course, as that’s the chapter that contained the training section, but I found something interesting in almost every chapter.

There’s something for everyone in this book.

While not an engaging novel, or “here’s how dog’s think” book (both of which I love), it was nonetheless an interesting read. The book includes a robust bibliography for any science-lovers who wish to delve more deeply into any of the topics presented in the book.

Review: The Honest Kitchen’s Single Serve Cups

May 31, 2017

The Honest Kitchen’s Single Serve Cups

It’s been a whirlwind of traveling for work.

I worked two weeks straight without a day off — and that was bad enough! But to add to the misery, I had to work both weekends, too, and those were traveling weekends. I actually started my vacation on Friday, but was working in Atlanta, GA until that Sunday. When I arrived back home, we all jumped into the car and headed off for a week’s vacation. (More on that in another post.)

With all the travel and all the work (and zero time off), I was really happy The Honest Kitchen (THK) sent me some of their Single Serve Cups to review!

When I travel, I get the dogs’ food all measured out so it’s really easy for my husband to feed the dogs. These single serve cups made at least part of my job super easy — I just stacked those cups up in the pantry! That’s it! No scooping out food and putting it in a baggie, making a label for the bag, putting the label on the bag, and arranging them by dog (and by meal!) in the pantry.

These single serve cups made my job super easy — I just stacked those cups up in the pantry! That’s it! No scooping out food and putting it in a baggie, making a label for the bag, putting the label on the bag, and arranging them by dog (and by meal!) in the pantry.

I wish I had a photo of the cups. Here’s my tip for any other bloggers who are reading this. Take the pictures first! Don’t say “Oh, I’ll get the pictures later.”

Schooner, the Great Dane, sort of <ahem> taste tested a couple of the single serve cups on his own.

He volunteered and did a bang up job. Someone (who shall remain nameless) left the pantry door open while I was out teaching classes. I didn’t see anything amiss when I got home from teaching. It was the next morning when I noticed the mess of cardboard and then, as I got closer, I saw the dried bits of food all over the sofa.

Apparently, Schoons thought the food didn’t need any water at all and helped himself to two cups of the stuff. ?

The Honest Kitchen, single serve cups, human grade dog food Thankfully, The Honest Kitchen has some great pics on their website that I can use to show you how cute these little cups are. And despite Schooner’s adventure, those cups are really quite sturdy. Just not in the jaws of a 165-pound dog. ?

These single serve cups are perfect for travel.

Whether you’re leaving food behind for your pet sitter or if you’re bringing your dog on the road with you, these cups make packing for your trip a whole lot easier.

As with all of THK’s offerings, these single serve cups are 100% human grade. They are free of BHA and preservatives and are made from whole food.

The one single serve cup that I was able to mix up and offer to Tango was super easy — just add warm water, stir, and serve! Makes things easy for you if you’re on the road (hotelling it or roughing it) and for pet sitters (or husbands) who are looking after your dog while you’re adventuring.

I love THK because of the quality of the food. Now I have another reason — they make things so much more convenient for a busy traveler like me!

Review: The Honest Kitchen’s Minimalist Recipes

May 8, 2017

The Honest Kitchen’s Minimalist Recipes

Regular readers know I’m a fan of The Honest Kitchen (THK) dog food.

yellow lab, yellow Labrador, dog cancer, canine cancer, lymphoma, sarcoma I regularly feed my senior yellow Labrador, Tango, their human-grade dog food, Force. We looooove it. [I don’t get paid or otherwise compensated to say this. I just really like their food.]

Last week, The Honest Kitchen sent samples of their new, limited ingredient food, duck and sweet potato (grain free!) food, Spruce, their latest minimalist recipe. SIX ingredients. Only six. ALL human-grade.

The Honest Kitchen, dog food review, human grade dog food, dog food

Look, no one needs to sell me on THK food.

I am a believer. Tango’s done great on their food for years now. When I added Spruce into the rotation, Tango didn’t skip a beat. He chowed down on Spruce just like he devours his current THK food, Force.

What’s different about Spruce?

Well, first, it’s a limited ingredient diet. Only six ingredients. SIX. That’s it. Grain-free at that, if that matters to you. It matters to us, mostly because once I eliminated grains from our dogs’ diet, their ear infections and troublesome feet problems dropped off fairly significantly. It’s not scientific evidence, I know, but I’ll take it.

So, the really important stuff: did Tango like the new food?

Uh, YEAH! He gobbled it up like nothing was different. It was just as easy for me to make, too. Which is just a bonus. Becuase even if it were harder to make, I’d still do it because it’s such a good food and so good for my Tango.

Spruce is great for your dog if he has allergies or a sensitive stomach. It’s made from cage-free duck and also sweet potatoes. It’s made in a human-grade manufacturing facility with human-grade ingredients. It’s good for your dog. No preservatives, no artificial colors, no fake anything.

How do you make it?

If you’ve never tried THK food, it’s really easy to make. Put the food in the bowl, add warm water, stir, and feed to your dog! It’s that simple. For reals. Made in your own kitchen. By you. Then served immediately to your dog. It doesn’t get any fresher. Or easier.

If you’ve got a picky eater, a dog with a sensitive stomach, or a dog who needs to be on a limited ingredient diet, I highly recommend THKs Spruce food. Their other foods are great, too. Just sayin’.

Living with Old Dogs: Lily’s Cliffhanger

April 20, 2017

Living with old dogs…it’s an adventure, to put it kindly.

A rollercoaster, even.

I’ve been sharing more of my old dog stories lately.

It’s what my life is like these days. I’m thankful for Schooner because while he’s middle aged (4 is getting up there for some Great Danes), he’s still playful and agile.

So my old girl, Lily, is 15 and 3 months.

Lily, old dog, black lab, Labrador, clicker training, Frederick. Smart Dog University Yes, at age 15, she gets credit for every month — when she’s 15 and a half, I may even start giving her credit for the weeks. Her canine cognitive dysfunction is in high gear. Her eyesight is getting worse, and I fear her hearing has completely abandoned her. I have self-diagnosed her with degenerative myelopathy, too. [I’m a dog trainer, not a veterinarian, so obviously, don’t rely on me or this blog for veterinary advice. Consult with your veterinarian for veterinary advice.] I’ll write another blog post about all these issues later, I just want to give you a glimpse into my crazy life and my crazy brain.

Early in the morning, around 5:15a, Lily fell out of bed.

No worries, the mattresses are directly on the floor to ensure she can still sleep on the bed and to be sure that when she does get out of bed (onto the carpeted floor) she doesn’t hurt herself. I heard her and I waited for her to get up and walk into the hallway, which is my cue to get up, follow her, and let her out to go to the bathroom.

But there was no noise. No movement.

I throw the covers off, flip the light on, and there she is, lying just as she fell. I go over to her, put my arms under her shoulders (at which point she usually rights herself and I then help her up). Nothing.

She still doesn’t move.

She’s breathing, she’ll even blink if I move my hand toward her face. But no movement. I call for my husband who is getting ready to leave for work. He gets on one end, I’m on the other and we lift her up. I’m sure she’ll start to move, stiffen her body, or somehow show some sort of indication that she’s aware of what’s happening and will try to help.

Nothing.

living with old dogs, Lab, labrador, black lab, Smart Dog University She’s breathing regularly, her gums are nice and pink, she blinks as I move my hand toward her eye. I watch her for another 15 minutes before the other dogs come in and tell me it’s their breakfast time. Confident I’m going to be calling my husband later in the day to tell him Lily has died, I reluctantly take care of the other dogs and get their breakfast ready.

Before I’m finished getting their breakfast ready, here comes Lily, be-bopping into the kitchen looking well-rested and ready for the day.

I laughed and laughed. That’s Lily. We joke that she’s like a Timex — takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. She’s a tank: she’s not fast, but there’s nothing that can stop her. We know her time is coming, and it’s not too far in the future. But I believe that right up until that very minute, she’ll be trucking on — over and through anything that’s in her way.

So until that time comes, I’ll still check her breathing (at least) five times a day while she’s sleeping to make sure she’s still alive, I’ll clean up after her (the degenerative myelopathy contributes to her incontinence), and our house will look like a wayward home for throw rugs and runners (to help her keep her footing on our hardwood and tile floors).

Are you living with an old dog? Leave a comment with your adventures and roller coaster rides. I’d love to empathize with you.

A Decade Ago, This Happened

April 14, 2017

A decade ago, I left my super-secure, good paying, super benefit providing federal government job.

The only real job I’d ever had in my adult life. I was a federal employee for over 18 years. I basically grew up in the government — I started working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) when I was a high school student. We had a class that allowed us to get out of school half-days if we had a legit job. I think I actually got the job through the high school class.

Anyway, I started out as a clerk, graduated high school, went off to college, and still continued to work at NIST.

When I graduated from George Mason University with an M.A. in psychology, I went back to the government.

At some point, I found that I really loved working with dogs.

Australian shepherd, clicker training, Smart Dog — Freckles, my first clicker trained dog

I had an Australian shepherd and just happened into a clicker training class. The dog made me look good — she was amazing. The instructor noticed how well my dog did and asked me if I wanted to help her teach dog training classes. I ran with it, spending as many evenings as I could helping her with classes. I continued to take classes with my dog, too, and immersed myself in learning about how dogs learn.

It dovetailed perfectly with my formal education, psychology, because it was all about teaching and learning. I was good at it and it was interesting and fun. Does it get any better than that?! Not for me, it didn’t.

I started working my federal job during the day and the hobby dog training job in the evenings (and weekends).

At some point, I was packing way too much stuff into one day. On a good day, I had 15 minutes between getting home and heading off to teach classes. If traffic was bad, I’d call my husband and ask him to put my Lean Cuisine french bread pizza (so easy to eat while driving) in the microwave, so I could just grab it on my way out the door after changing my clothes.

Eventually, after several years of living like this — seeing my husband and dogs for about 15 minutes a day — someone suggested I just quit one of those jobs.

Make a choice! Imagine that! That someone was my husband, who was probably tired of living with the grumpiest version of me he’d ever known.

So I started planning.

I couldn’t just leave the federal government and strike out on my own. Not yet, at least. I had to build up a customer base, I had to prepare to replace my (cushy) federal salary with a self-employed salary. It was heart-stopping, let me tell you. I formulated a plan, implemented that sucker, and in about three years, I left my federal job.

Exactly 10 years ago.

I was really scared to leave a sure thing. A known thing. An easy gig! I mean, at NIST, I was able to combine both my federal and my dog training world because NIST allowed me to bring a service dog-in-training (SDIT) to work with me. I wasn’t training a dog at work, mind you — NIST merely allowed me to bring that SDIT to work each day. There’s an entire blog post in that one little sentence. Maybe one of these days I’ll recount that adventure.

So anyway. I planned. I worked. I marketed. I burned the candle at both ends. I loved it. I eventually was miserable trying to live both lives. And I had a really good husband who actually said to me “Pick one.” Before that, I’d never (ever) considered leaving the federal government.

But I finally did.

And Smart Dog University was born.

(I need to write another entire blog post on how I settled on the name — wasn’t my first choice, let me just say that.)

I jumped into Smart Dog U — I had to make it work!

Laurie Luck, Smart Dog University, yellow lab, clicker training — One of my first set of professional photos.

I got a logo, business cards, professional photos to put on the website. I got a website! I networked, I joined a couple Chambers of Commerce, I marketed, I recruited. I did it all.

And ten years later, I’m happy to say I’m making a living doing what I love.

Smart Dog University teaches people how to be good dog owners. How to help their dog learn good manners, to love going places with their well-behaved dog. I am so happy I listened to my husband and took that leap into the scary work-for-yourself life because this is how it should be.

Helping people who love their dogs. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Whether you found me a day ago, a year ago, or a decade ago, thank you. Thank you for reading this blog, watching the Smart Dog University YouTube channel, and hopefully even coming to Smart Dog U classes with your dog. This really has been a fabulous adventure for me.

Tango Update: Cancer, Cancer

March 22, 2017

It’s been a little crazy around here the last few months with all the cancer talk.

I’m getting tired of writing that, actually. Too much crazy, too much roller coaster. We need some boring around here. Some seriously boring boredom.

Back in January, Tango had an ultrasound due to some abnormal blood results.

(People, heed my warning: do the blood work — just do it. This probably saved Tango’s life.) His globulin numbers were up which can be an indication of cancer. We had done a chest x-ray earlier and that was clear, so I really thought the ultrasound was just a precaution.

yellow Labrador, lab, yellow lab, splenectomy, — Tango recovers from a splenectomy

Hahahaha, no. Tango underwent surgery that day to remove his spleen and it’s gigantic growth.

The thing was sent away for biopsy and that set off a six week mystery that has just recently been solved. Initially, one type of cancer was found. But then a second opinion found a different type of cancer. So more tests (i.e. more $$) and more reviews by a panel of 25 pathologists.

Still disagreements between “the authorities” about which of the two different cancers Tango had.

Finally, all of Tango’s medical records were sent to a cancer genius in California at UC Davis. Even he wanted to run more tests! Clearly, this was a complicated case.

Some six weeks later, the final results were in and we headed to the oncologist in Leesburg, VA, for our consult. We have an answer at last!

Tango has two different types of cancer. That’s the reason for all the disagreements — both conclusions were correct. He has lymphoma and sarcoma. That’s definitely not the result I’d been hoping for.

canine cancer, oncology, sarcoma, lymphoma, yellow Labrador, yellow lab, dog training, — Tango meets the oncologist.

Here’s the good news.

Both of the cancers have been classified as “low-grade.” I’m not a veterinarian, all I know is that we’re celebrating this “low grade” classification. Low grade means no chemo! Low grade means no treatment! Low grade means we monitor and watch and test.

Every three months, Tango has to have an ultrasound to make sure there’s nothing growing in his belly. Every 6 months he has to have chest x-rays and blood work. Expensive? Yes. Invasive? No way. And that’s the most important part.

We are getting back to normal here now.

Notice I didn’t say “we’re back to normal.” I’m still guarded, not willing to believe yet that we’re out of the woods. You don’t worry yourself silly for six weeks and then <poof> it’s all gone instantly with “good news.” I watch Tango like a hawk. Is he panting? Why is he panting? Is he drinking more water? Is he sleeping more than usual? Has he lost the pep in his step? It’s constant surveying and cataloging, and monitoring. I think he’s growing weary of me. Because I also kiss him nonstop as well. It’s the price you pay when you have a crazy, over zealous, protective owner like me.

I have a couple of short out-of-town work trips coming up that I was stressing out about.

I didn’t want to leave for more than a couple of hours if he had to start chemotherapy or any other kind of treatment. The oncologist has assured me that he’ll be fine for these two trips (the two trips will be over in a couple weeks). Right now, he’s sacked out in his chair, just like normal. Everything has been fairly normal, so I’m going to hope that it’ll stay boring and normal. Normal and boring. Ahh, that sounds divine.

I’ll still worry.

It’s what I do. But at least I know that it’ll be worry for worry’s sake, not worry for a real reason.

Menu

datachie