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For the Love of an Old Dog

May 4, 2015

I’ll do almost anything for the sake of my dogs.

This year, I’m giving up something I love dearly: raising service dogs. When we started raising puppies for service work back in 2001, I was a newlywed. I’d never owned a puppy ever and was a relative newcomer to the organized, specific training required of service dogs.

The second puppy we raised, Lily, our sweet now 13-year old, didn’t make it through the service dog program — and neither did the next two puppies we raised (Tango and Nemo). In the span of about three years, we went from one dog to four dogs! It was a fun time — we had a houseful of young dogs and always had a puppy in rotation. The dogs enjoyed the puppy, they helped raise him, entertain him, and teach him dog- and people-skills.

We hummed along happily, raising and loving the latest service puppy in training.

Over the years, our lives changed. I quit my Federal job and started Smart Dog University. I loved the job of puppy raiser. A new puppy every year, watching those young dogs learn and grow and turn into fabulous working dogs who were worth their weight in gold. I enjoyed every aspect of puppy raising, even house training.

“Puppy Raiser” became who I was.

It’s what I did. It became part of my identity. I was the “lady with the service dog puppy.” Raising a puppy didn’t slow me down, personally or professionally. I showed up for meetings, conferences, seminars, and talks with a puppy in tow. Often, I was the presenter and the pup would be my co-presenter. I don’t think people knew my name, but recognized me because of the puppy who was always with me, rain or shine.

Over the past few years, as our dogs grew older, we began to realize that our dogs seemed to be enjoying the puppies less. I still loved puppy raising, but our dogs didn’t think too much of it. They were snippier, it took them longer to accept the newest addition, they played with one another less, Tango wouldn’t chase his ball if the puppy was nearby… It was an endless number of things that had crept up on us silently, but once I noticed it, there was no denying it. Our dogs were done with puppy raising.

After Levi’s turn-in, I had a lot of travel on my calendar. I wasn’t going to get another puppy for at least three months. Good, I thought, this will give me a chance to see how our dogs do in a puppy-free house. The change in our dogs was clear after the puppy left. Overnight they began to play more, wag more, have more energy. They seemed happy to be retired from puppy raising. Lily, our matriarch, is thrilled with the decision. Tango loves our afternoons in the backyard now, where he can retrieve his tennis ball without being chased by a puppy, and Nemo has sole custody of my husband’s lap every evening.

If they’re happy, I’m happy.

Do I miss raising a puppy? You bet! But, my dogs have worked hard for 13 years raising pups — they’ve earned their retirement, I think. We’re now walking together every day, I have a chance to teach them new skills, and we have the time to just hang out under the shade tree together, enjoying this lovely spring here in the mid-Atlantic.

It’s taken a few months to get used to not having a puppy with me. I’m no longer “the lady with the service dog puppy,” and I’m a lot more ok with that than I thought. It’s likely that we’ll raise a puppy again, but not while we have our current menagerie. Hopefully, it’ll be quite a few years before we get back in the puppy raising routine, no matter how much I love it. Having my dogs happy and carefree is a little more important to me.

Talk back: have you altered your life or your home for your older dog(s)?

Help Your Dog Adjust to His New Home

April 28, 2015

Being the new kid on the block is just as difficult for dogs as it is for people.

Schooner lived with us for only ten months before he left to go off to service dog finishing school. He was gone longer than he was here (he was at the service dog organization for 15 months). When he returned last week, we had to do a little bit of juggling and shuffling to help all the dogs adapt to the change.

Adjustments

There are the obvious changes: Schooner is a large dog. All three of our dogs (Tango, Lily, and Nemo) could fit on the couch at the same time — and if I situated myself just so, I could fit, too. With the addition of Schoons, two dogs can now fit on the couch (and I’m iffy). So immediately I saw a need for more beds. More cushy beds. Great Danes are big and heavy and smush cheap beds quickly. They appreciate a thick, deep dog bed, so I bought two. In a house with four dogs (and a cat, who often finds dog beds awfully comfortable), it’s hard to have too many beds.

Food and Water

Great Danes eat a lot of food. Our dogs eat a total of three cups a day between them. Schooner eats three cups three times a day. I had to run out and buy another bag of food after about a week of having Schoons home. And of course, what goes in must come out. The backyard becomes a minefield in one day now that we’ve added a fourth dog. If we’re not picking up after the dogs everyday, it becomes disgusting quickly.

The water bowl is slimed every single time Schooner gets a drink. He’s not a big drooler except when he drinks. Our dogs are water snobs — they won’t drink if there’s even a little bit of spooge in the bowl, so I’ve found myself washing the water bowl every time Schooner drinks. I don’t blame the Labradors for being grossed out, the slime factor is off the charts.

Sleeping Arrangements

All our dogs have bed privileges. And they have preferred sleeping spots. Nemo and Lily like to sleep on the bed, Tango prefers one of the dog beds on the floor. Schooner was a bed sleeper when he lived here and when he was at the service dog organization. Lily’s our senior (13) and has recently begun to relish sleeping on my pillow right next to me on the bed. Schooner also likes to have his head on the pillow. Lily’s our matriarch, I’ve been protecting her spot on the bed, but discussions occur in the middle of the night apparently because when I wake up in the morning, I’m staring into Schooner’s big face, not Lily’s.

Kongs + Departures

My dogs have no problem at all with my departure from the house. They actually look forward to my leaving because they always get a frozen stuffed Kong. Our dogs all use the large KONG, but Schooner’s way too big for those and I’m afraid he’d choke on a large Kong. I’ve found some larger KONGs that are appropriate for a giant dog and I’ve started stuffing those for Schoon Maroon.

Fun + Games

Schooner is so big that he intimidates some dogs when he plays with them. He’s quite appropriate given his size, but Nemo (our next largest dog at 85 pounds) wanted nothing to do with Schoons. Nemo would get defensive quickly and shut down play almost as soon as it started. When Schooner was at the service dog organization, he played with lots of other dogs of all ages and everyone had a great time. So I was thrilled when I saw Lily reciprocate Schooner’s play bow invitation to play. Normally, it takes my dogs about three weeks to accept a new pup in training and to respond to play solicitations. Since then, both Tango and Nemo have played with Schooner, although all the dogs seem to enjoy outdoor play more than indoor play.

Walks + Exercise

I really enjoyed having three senior dogs — I could walk all three at the same time with ease. One walk and each dog got their exercise. With the addition of a two year old, massive-sized dog, I’m now doing double walks each day. I think we’ve gotten into a good groove: Lily and Schooner walk together (the largest and the smallest, it’s quite a sight) because they seem to really crave the three mile walks the most. Occasionally, I’ll get Nemo and Schooner out together, as they’re both very good walkers together and all three of them need as much exercise as I can offer. Tango, the sole gimpy dog with his elbow troubles, is the only one who likes abbreviated walks and prefers spending his time lying outside in the sunshine (now that spring is finally here in the mid-Atlantic).

The adjustment has been relatively easy so far. I’ve worked hard to ensure that each dog (especially Tango, my favorite boy) gets the same individual attention they’ve always received and it seems as though each dog has settled into our new normal fairly easily.

Talk back! What has worked for you when you introduced a new dog into your family?

Service Dog Training: Turn-In Day for Levi

January 30, 2015

Dreaded turn-in day.

The minute you get your new charge, that lovely and naughty little pup, you know — KNOW — the countdown to turn-in day starts. I’ve done this more times than I can remember and I’m still surprised how hard it is — and how the date sneaks up on me — even after 14 years.

Today, of course, was Levi’s Big Day.

For him, this is a fabulous day. This is the day he’s been waiting for (without even knowing it). Today’s the day he goes off to college! Late night parties, studying for tests, making new friends, finding out what he’s going to do with his life.

For me, turn-in day is a mixed day.

I’m happy that he’ll get to learn more, do more, see more, play more, work more. I’m sad that he won’t be doing that with me. It’s totally selfish. My dogs are happy — no more teenager in the house who jumps on their heads, butts his way into everything, interrupts their sleep, steals their couch space, etc. You get it: the only sad one here is me.

Turn-in itself went well.

We ran Levi through his paces, talked about his current level of each behavior so the organization has reasonable expectations. Levi did fine through all of that, even though the last time we’d worked together was before Christmas. He got some fun playtime in with our previous service dog, Schooner, which, of course, made me double happy.

All was well until they leashed him to leave. (I hate leaving the dogs, so whenever possible, I prefer for them to take the dog on a field trip or something so I’m not literally walking out on them.) Levi’s a happy guy, willing to do anything, but when they went to take him out of the building, he looked back at me and gave me a “Huh?” look. A “Shouldn’t you be coming with us?” look.

“Kill me now,” was all I could think.

I gave him a happy smile, kissed his head, and they cheerfully called his name. He wagged his tail, caught up to them, got a treat, and trotted on out to the car, happy as a lark. He didn’t think twice. I was panicked.

I hope you’ll forgive me for not having a dog-training video ready this week.

It’s ready, actually. It was done a few weeks ago. I just don’t have the umph to put it up. You’ll see it next week, it’s about out-of-sight stays. If you haven’t guessed, Levi is the star. I’ll be ready to see it next week, but to see it today — that’d be a tough one. Hahaha, such is the life of a puppy raiser.

Budweiser’s Super Bowl Commercial – Another Dog

January 27, 2015

Another Budweiser puppy commercial for this year’s Super Bowl!

I love the ad agency who created the award-winning Budweiser Super Bowl commercial from last year. Remember it? Puppy Love? I’m sure you saw it (who didn’t?), but click here to see it again.

I’m not a naive consumer.

I know these commercials are created specifically to grab me. You know what, these are so good, I don’t really care — I look forward to it. This year, Bud’s social media campaign is kicking it up a notch. Check out this teaser for the 2015 commercial (with the hunky guy from last year and one of those gorgeous Clydesdales).

So, now, apparently the puppy is lost.

I’m guessing the horses are going to help save the day and find our little lost pup. Yes, we’re being manipulated. Yes, we’re advertising for Budweiser by talking about and sharing the videos. Yes, yes, yes. But, again, I come back to this: I love that puppy, that handsome guy, and those beautiful horses so danged much, I’m ok with it. I’m getting something, Budweiser’s getting something. January 28 update: The new commercial has been released: we have it here.

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In addition to the Super Bowl commercials, they also have “don’t drink and drive” commercials like this one. I LOVE all the dog-centric advertising? The real reason I love these Budweiser commercials is that someone really gets it. They understand just how important our dogs are to us. How connected we are. And whoever’s in charge of these commercials (whether it’s the ad agency, the Bud execs, or the film company) deserves a lot of credit for capturing that emotion.

I still can’t watch this horse-trainer Budweiser commercial without bawling. It’s exactly what it feels like when I get to see one of the service dogs I’ve had for a year after I’ve cried like a baby at turn-in time, then get the privilege of seeing that dog doing what he was bred for — and the love that never goes away between dog and trainer (or in that commercial, horse and trainer) no matter how long we’ve been apart.

I say “Don’t stop, Budweiser!” Even if you’re manipulating me.

I get it. I’m glad they do, too.

Talk back! What’s your favorite Budweiser Super Bowl commercial ever? Leave a comment!

Gift of Snow: Levi’s Turn-In Rescheduled

January 13, 2015

Service Dog Turn-Ins are the Worst

I had written several “goodbye and good luck” posts to Levi at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, my computer was busted and my iPad kept losing the posts. Tuesday, January 6 was supposed to be Levi’s last day with us. I loaded him in the car before dawn and started the three-hour trek to the service dog organization. A light dusting of snow was forecast for our area, but central Virginia was supposed to be fine.

The snow saved the day.

Our roads were awful. Interstate 70 is a major highway that runs from Maryland to Utah, surely it would be snow-free, I thought. Nope. The highway was completely snow covered, no lane markers could be found. We were going about 45 miles an hour and slipping up the hills. It was ugly.

We went about 10 miles before I decided to turn around and get the heck off the road. If I did make it there without getting busted up in an accident, it would have taken double or triple the time. Three hours one way is bad enough, I didn’t fancy double or triple that!

We got back home, snuggled up in a blanket and called it a day. Schools had been cancelled, accidents snarled traffic, and we watched it all from inside the warm, comfy house. Later that day, after the snow stopped and the sun was this peachy, glowy, lovely shade of yellowish orange, I took my camera outside to get some of these “found” moments with Levi.

New Turn In Day

So, naturally, the snow didn’t change anything except Levi’s turn-in date. He still has to go back, I still have to say goodbye, but not until the end of the month! I’m hoping we get a few more days to play in the snow. We’ll certainly make the most of our extra “found” time together!

Doggie Stocking Stuffer: Winter Warmers by The Honest Kitchen

December 11, 2014

Do you buy Christmas presents for your dog?

We do, and even have a doggie stocking that we love stuffing with all kinds of little goodies for all four of our dogs.

Here’s a cool idea for a stocking stuffer: The Honest Kitchen Winter Warmer Broths.

What Are They?

Warm, wintertime beverage treat you can give your dog anytime. There are three flavors in a pack: Chicken
Consomme, Beef and Bone Broth, and Turkey Stock.

Why?

When you come in from the cold, whether you were goofing off in the snow or trudging through slush and ice, a hot mug of cocoa does a body good. But our dogs can’t have cocoa, but they don’t want to be left out (in the cold, couldn’t resist!).

What’s In Them?

Human-grade ingredients like (Chicken Consommé): dehydrated chicken, goat’s milk, chard & parsley. YOU can sip on this if you choose!

How Much?

You get three 5.5 oz jars (one of each) for $19.99. Two tablespoons makes an entire mug! There’s a lot of product in each container — this isn’t one of those “one and done” treats. These will last you into spring!

Coupon Code — Save Money!

You can save $2.00 on each set of Winter Warmer Broth. Use this code at checkout for the $2.00 discount: BGWW14

Limited Holiday Edition

If you’re interested, buy ’em quick! The Honest Kitchen didn’t make a bunch of these — just enough for the holiday season. So if you want some for your doggie stocking, best get that order in soon!

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