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Lily’s Cancer Update

January 6, 2015

Our sweetest old girl, Lily, was diagnosed with myxosarcoma a couple months ago.

She’ll be 13 next week and I debated about whether to put her through surgery given her age.

When I talked frankly with my veterinarian about it, he reminded me that she was overall a very healthy older dog — no arthritis, mobility issues, heart, liver, or kidney ailments. To be honest, I couldn’t take knowing she had cancer and doing nothing about it. So, the surgery was scheduled.

The surgery was deep and the veterinarian removed as much tissue as possible (trying to get those clean margins) and still give her 100% use of her limb. She was liquored up on pain meds for several days and had some nasty looking drains at the surgical site, but otherwise did remarkably well. And now she’s got a really cool Frankenstein scar on her leg that gives her a little more swagger.

She was given strict orders: no running, no jumping — leash walking only!

I obediently gave the doctor’s orders to Lily, but honestly, she paid me no mind. Don’t worry that I dragged the huge, ridiculously cushy dog bed from room to room so she could be comfortable without jumping onto the sofa. No, no — Lily said to me “It’s the sofa or nothing, lady.” The sofa it was.

We may or may not have spoiled her rotten during her recovery. She wears the badge of Cancer Survivor proudly and no longer listens to anything we tell her.

Seriously, I did my best to keep her quiet for two weeks (veterinarian prescribed three weeks, but I compromised with Lily — she wanted just one week…) and then let her have her way. My husband drives a diesel pick-up truck and the dogs know when he’s turned onto our street. They all go barking and running and jumping out to meet him. This was usually the hardest part of my day: keeping Lily calm and quiet during the mayhem, so she was quite excited when I finally allowed her (after two weeks of sheer hell, she tells me) to join in the fray.

My husband came into the house through the backyard where the dogs are contained and told me Lily was acting like a puppy again — more “puppified” than ever, he said! He joked “Tell that veterinarian to operate on her other leg next week — he shaved 8 years off her age!”

The official results.

The veterinarian said all five biopsies came back with no evidence of cancer, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’re in the clear.

We got an unexpected snow day here today, and that old lady held her own with the boys.

Go, Lily, go!

A HUGE thank you to the wonderful veterinarians, veterinary technicians and all the staff at Kingsbrook Animal Hospital who made this lovely update possible.

Talk back! Do you have trauma, cancer, or injury survivors? Let us know and tell their story — leave a comment below.

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!

Supercharge Your Dog’s Paw & Shake Skills (Video)

December 4, 2014

“Shake” and “paw” are pretty cool tricks, but your dog is capable of so much more!

Wanna supercharge your dog’s paw or shake skills? Teach your dog how to use his paw to touch different things.

Here are some of the cool things paw targeting can get you:

Ring a wireless doorbell to go outside (or come inside)
Turn on a push-light
Play a kid’s toy piano
Give you a high-five (or high-ten!)
Knock a cup over to reveal hidden treats
The sky’s the limit!

Now, doesn’t “shake” seem kind of boring?!

What you’ll need:

clicker
treats
large indestructible target (large margarine lid, plant “coaster”, 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper, etc.”

Here’s how to teach your dog to use his foot:

Gather your dog and the supplies above.
Place the target on the floor and wait for your dog to walk on it with his paw.
If your dog is sitting or lying down, toss a treat to get him up and moving first. (It’s hard to put his foot on a target if he’s still.)
Click the instant your dog’s paw touches the target, and toss the treat a little bit away so the dog moves off the target.
Continue to silently wait for one of your dog’s paws to touch the target, clicking and treating each time.
Once it’s clear that your dog understands that touching his foot to the target means he gets a click and treat, start adding the cue just before the dog touches the target with his paw. Click and treat every correct response.
After 10 – 15 repetitions, begin to say the cue about one second before the dog touches the target with his paw, clicking and treating correct responses.
Continue to gradually move the cue earlier, clicking every correct response.
Then, begin to remove the target and ask for a different behavior (like sit, for instance). You’re helping the dog pay attention to your cues.

We’ll go further with paw targeting in future videos, so get your dog’s foundation targeting skills ready!

Talk back! How do you (or could you) use paw targeting with your dog? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Teach Your Dog to Close Cabinets and Doors (Video)

November 27, 2014

It’s the simple things, sometimes, that make a big impression.

If you’d like a little help around the house, use nose targeting to really up your dog’s “around the house” value. If your dog is good at the basic nose touch, and you’re gone on to a little more advanced targeting, you’re ready for the big leagues. You’re ready to “real life” this behavior. I say real life because that’s how I refer to behaviors that are actually helpful in real life, not just in a training session.

When you real life a behavior, you take it out of the training room and you put it to use in a helpful way in your real life.

Here’s how you’re going to real life nose targeting.

After teaching your dog how lucrative it is to touch your hand with his nose, and after transferring the touch to another target, you’re ready for the real life targeting. Here’s how:

Put a large target on a slightly open cabinet door. Targets can be clean margarine lids or even a couple pieces of painter’s tape.
Click and treat your dog when he touches the target with his nose, whether the cabinet door closes or not.
If you think the noise of the cabinet door closing will startle your dog, you can catch the door before it closes (be quick!), or put a towel between the cabinet and the door to help soften the noise.
After the dog is reliably touching the target on the open door, refine your criterion so that you’re clicking only when the door actually moves. Always click and reinforce, of course.
Continue to systematically raise your criterion so that the dog eventually earns the click for actually shutting the cabinet door.
When the behavior is solid, meaning when you’re ready to be $100 that the dog will do the behavior, go ahead and put that behavior on cue.
Invite your friends over and show off your dog’s brilliance!

Talk back! Tell me (or show me with a video!) how you’ve real life-d targeting with your dog!

Loving an Old Dog

November 24, 2014

As I type this, our sweet old girl, Lily, is in surgery. For cancer.

In all the years I’ve had dogs, Lily is our first cancer diagnosis. Our sweetest girl is almost 13 years old and has myxosarcoma. I had two choices: leave it there in her leg or take it out.

Initially, the decision was easy: TAKE IT OUT!

Over the weekend, though, I had second thoughts. Maybe I was rushing to surgery for selfish reasons. I don’t want to extend her life at all costs — I want her to live as long as she can while she’s happy and healthy. Was I putting her through surgery for selfish or selfless reasons? I want to be selfless when it comes to making decisions for her, but I realize how hard it is to be objective when you’re deeply in love with a dog.

I mean, she’s already a senior girl.

How many good years would she have left if she never got cancer? I have always hoped for 15 good years, but now that it’s only two years away, 15 seems so young. Would she likely die of other age-related causes before the cancer could take her? In other words: was I doing this surgery to make her life better? Or mine?

The weekend prior to her surgery, I had to go to Charlottesville, VA, for Levi’s neuter. I would be gone for a couple days so I took all the dogs with me. My home base for the jaunt was my parent’s place about an hour east of Charlottesville. After I dropped Levi off for his surgery and returned to the lake, I took my dogs to the water and had the pleasure of watching Lily turn into a puppy again in the warm sunshine at Lake Anna. She jumped, she spun, she butt-tucked it all over the yard, and gave Nemo a run for his money.

I laughed at her until my sides hurt and my face was sore from laughing so hard.

Back to reality: She’s an otherwise healthy dog — blood panels look good, no significant arthritis, or other compromised systems, which makes me think maybe we are doing the right thing. So, she’s undergoing surgery. Hopefully it’s the right decision, but good golly it’s hard to be the one making the decisions!

Talk back! Do you have any advice for those of us with older dogs and who are trying to make decisions for their well being? Please leave a comment!

How to Transfer a Cue (Video)

November 14, 2014

Wanna see what it looks like to transfer a cue in real time?

In November’s newsletter, I featured an article about how to transfer a cue.

I’m on business travel and was browsing through my iPad video library and ran across this terrific, albeit short, video, I took when I was in England earlier this year.

It’s such a great example of exactly how to transfer a cue. (Transfer cue = changing the way you ask for a behavior.) It was timely, too, so I thought I’d take a break from my produced videos this week and show you some training done by a regular dog owner, in real time.

Our students in England were regular dog owners; they aren’t trainers or professional handlers. Several months ago, when I began the Dog Training 101 series, I asserted that dog training isn’t rocket science. It is definitely science, but it’s easy to learn the nuts and bolts and this video proves my point.

If you recall from the newsletter article, to transfer a cue, you give the new cue first, then the old cue

Click and treat when the dog gets it right. After several repetitions, begin to separate the new cue from the old cue by a second. When the dog gets it right, click and treat, of course.

When done correctly, the process can happen quite quickly. The video shows just how quickly you can transfer (change) a cue for your dog.

When you watch the video, you’ll hear two different clickers. We had several dogs and trainers in the room working on transferring cues. It’s a bit distracting, but it’s easier if you watch the woman more and listen to the clicks less. There are also a few conversations happening while I’m recording, so again, pay attention to just what the dog and the woman are doing (as opposed to trying to make sense of the audio).

What I love about this video is how quickly and easily this woman teaches her dog to sit when she holds up a piece of paper with “SIT” written on it, even thought he already knew (very reliably) the word.

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