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The 3 Essentials for Your Dog: Teach. Play. Love.

June 5, 2013

Everyone knows that dogs need food, water, and
shelter to survive. I’m here to
tell you three more things you can provide for your dog that will take their
life with you from good to GREAT! Your dog needs you to teach, to play, and to love. You’re probably already doing
some of these, but this newsletter will give you new ideas for ways you can
truly meet your dog’s needs.

TEACH.

A little training goes a long way. You don’t need to spend a year in a training class
with your dog (although there are some really fun training classes out there, such as K9
Nose Work which every dog can do,
that’ll make you want to keep going back!).

Most dogs need a class or
two so you can teach them good manners. Good manners are the way dogs get more
freedom in life – the better behaved they are, the more places they can go with
you. The more places they can go, the more fun the two of you can have
together.

Teaching can go beyond (far beyond!) good manners.
You can teach your dog really
useful things like getting you a cool drink from the refrigerator, finding your
car keys, pulling your laundry basket to the washing machine. I’m talking about
really cool tricks!

Don’t stop there! Your dog is capable of learning almost anything. You can teach your
dog how to be calm during veterinary visits, how to accept having his nails
trimmed and his ears cleaned. And all of those things can be taught (and ARE
taught at Smart Dog U) with dog-friendly clicker training.

Smart Dog U works with a service dog agency to
teach dogs how to be service dogs.
These dogs can pick up a credit card and hand it to a cashier, bring the phone,
pick up the remote control, indicate high (or low) blood sugar, and provide
balance to a person. The dogs we work with aren’t any different from your dog –
these dogs start out in Puppy Charm School, move onto K9 Building Blocks, have
a little fun in K9 Nose Work, and then learn even more advanced skills specific
to what service they’ll be providing.

Teaching your dog new things – any new things – is
great for his mind. Teaching new
things can tire your dog out. A thinking dog is a happy dog!

PLAY.

Playing with your dog might seem like a no-brainer. Everyone knows how to play with his or her dog,
right? Yes. And no. Some dogs make it easy to figure out what toys they prefer
and what games they like to play. But what happens when your dog tires of that
game or that toy? Then what?

There are some really fun and interactive toys
available to pet parents these days.
Twenty years ago, we had to be creative and inventive– there weren’t many
options on the supermarket shelves for dog toys. From toys that can be filled with
food to toys you can make
at home, the options are as varied as they are plentiful.

Some dogs enjoy learning new games to play. Instead of fetch, try hiding your dog’s toy – see
if he can use his nose as well as he can use his eyes. If your dog loves to
retrieve, get a “Chuck-It.”
It’ll launch the tennis ball a lot farther than you can throw it
yourself – and it’ll give your dog a lot more exercise, too.

If your dog is young, healthy and active, see if
your dog is interested in agility.
Agility is sort of like an obstacle course for dogs. There are tunnels made out
of fabric, jumps (tire jumps, jumps with bars, etc.), A-frames, poles that the
dog weaves in and out, and all kinds of fun stuff. You can make your own
equipment, too. Until the agility bug bites you and you need to find
competition-grade equipment!

The best part about play is that it’s fun for both
you and the dog. And that’s what it’s all about.

LOVE.

This one’s easy – you wouldn’t have a dog if you
didn’t love him. But we go past the basic love idea. We’re talking about
things that go past just the emotion and get deeper into how you can keep that
dog you’re crazy in love with healthy and happy for as long as possible.

Safety falls under the Love category. Do you
know what common
household items are toxic to your dog? Know these items, know the symptoms,
and know
what to do. You’ll also want to program this number into your cell phone
contacts: 888-426-4435 (ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center).

Health is a big rock in the Love category. Lots
of people equate food and treats to love. If you do this, you could be loving
your dog to death, literally. Do you know how many calories a day your dog
needs? Do you know what an overweight dog looks like? Is your dog at his ideal
weight? If he’s not, you can help him find his svelte and athletic figure
again. Ask your veterinarian to show you the Body
Condition Chart and help you identify where your dog is on that chart.
Getting your dog’s weight into the normal range can be the best way to love
your dog. Put the treat down! Go out and take your dog for a walk! That’s
something both of you will love and it’s good for your dog’s waistline (and
yours, too)!

Teach. Play. Love.

Applying even one of the ideas in this article can
help you and your dog have a happier life together. All of the ideas are easy. They’re all fun. And
they’re sure to enhance the bond and the joy you share with your dog. Have fun
with your dog – he’ll love you for it.

What do you do with your dog to teach, play, or love? Share your experiences with a comment below!

Doggie Hide and Seek

June 4, 2013

Not too long ago, a few things went missing around our house. My husband lost a tube of toothpaste. I lost my iPod. Turns out, a lot more than that went missing, we just didn’t notice. Can YOU spot the treasure in the couch cushions?

Imagine my surprise when I found both of these things buried deep in our couch. I happened to find these treasures when we had company over, which made the scene even funnier (and more embarrassing).

I happened to sit on the couch — which is missing it’s cushions (as it was when we had company over) — as Schooner was eating dinner and for no good reason slipped my hand in the crevice and was surprised to feel something buried in there.

I gave the object a slight tug and was rewarded with the tube of toothpaste. It was so unexpected (not the object, but that the object was the missing toothpaste) that I let out a triumphant yell. The missing toothpaste mystery had been solved! It was a mystery: toothpaste doesn’t simply vanish. Usually, we find remnants of the missing objects and our examination of those remnants tells the tale of the object’s demise. Usually, the certificate of death for the object reads: “Death due to chewing.”

I found the toothpaste and then my curiosity got the better of me. What else might I find if I was brave enough to push my hand between the cushions again. I’ll be honest, there’s a lot of hair and a lot of dirt in there, too. And putting my hand into a dark, tight spot is a little frightening — I just pulled toothpaste out of the couch, what else could be hiding in there? Something living, is what I was scared of.

Nonetheless, I searched some more. Lo and behold, my missing iPod. No parts were damaged, it was completely intact. It almost looked like Schooner was using the cushion-less couch as a kind of doggie locker. It’s where he kept his valuables safe from the other dogs (and until that moment, safe from us).

By the way, the cushions are put back onto the sofa every day. And every evening, they’re on the floor again. It’s a game Schooner and I play. It’s a fun game — for him.

Based on my findings, I’ve added a new “to-do” to my schedule every week: Search Schooner’s locker for hidden treasures.

See the hidden toy?

By the way, the hidden object in the picture above is this toy stuffed way down in the back of the sofa.

Tell me: Does your dog have a hiding spot for goodies? Does he like your goodies or does he stash his own goodies? Leave a comment and let me know!

Pretty In Pictures: Nemo’s Nose Work Trial

May 24, 2013

When I detailed Nemo’s and my adventures in K9 Nose Work, I didn’t have any pictures. During a trial, no one except the official trial photographer is allowed to take pictures. All competitors have the option of purchasing any or all of the photos taken during the trial. At this trial, the photographer captured Nemo’s Exterior and Container elements. Here’s a look inside a little piece of a K9 Nose Work trial…

Nose Work, trial, dog, scent work, training

Nemo’s ready to go for his Exterior search

We had great success at the Exterior element. It was a fun search — it ran the length of the building, probably 100 feet or so, and included the sidewalk and part of the wooded section, as well as the porch/ramp behind the building. Nemo located the hide lickety-split and was paid handsomely.

Who’s the nervous one?

The element that worried me the most? Containers. Nemo has a history of looking at all 20 identical containers and just picking one, any one. I was definitely a little apprehensive.

Nemo says: I got this!

This day, however, he was on it! He was ready to go! He picked the correct container with certainty. Another element in the bag!

Nemo’s Bounty

We had such a good time searching, I was over the moon with just the NW1 title (meaning Nemo found all the hides in each of the four elements). I was really surprised — and super excited — to get these ribbons. Talk about icing on the cake! For all his success, Nemo was served a fresh off the grill chicken breast that evening!

What Does Fear Look Like? It Wears Many Masks

May 22, 2013

I think I could get almost unanimous consensus from dog owners that we don’t want our dogs to be afraid.

The problem is that fear looks different to one person than to another. And to further complicate matters, each dog (or person) displays fear in a different way. It’s no wonder that scared dogs get labeled as aggressive, stubborn, silly, or even dominant (a word we hate here at Smart Dog U).

People aren’t good at reading fear in people, even, and heck, that’s our own species!

This morning, I had to give blood. Not for any heroic blood-donation reason — just because it was time for my routine “am I healthy” check.

I realize that no one loves needles, but I have a serious aversion. I’ve actually considered therapy to help with my unreasonable fear. Just thinking about the blood letting (as I call it, which, I know, doesn’t help with my fear) causes fear and discomfort.

It’s going to be bad even if it goes really well. I crossed my fingers, said a little prayer to the blood letting gods, and walked through the door. Unfortunately, as you can tell from the picture, things didn’t go well. It went about as bad as it could go. And when there’s underlying fear to begin with, it makes everything — even the smoothest of experiences — seem monumental.

Today was Nightmare on Laurie Street. I couldn’t count the number of times the needle went in and out of my arm before the lady said “I’m sorry, we’ll try the other arm.”

“The OTHER arm?!” Sweet criminey, just kill me now. I don’t think I even have another arm, do I?

Still laughing and chatting like an idiot (because that’s what I do when I’m scared), I managed to find that other arm and offered it up to her. If it’s possible, the procedures performed on other arm hurt worse than the first arm. I’ve only panicked two other times in my life (once when I was skydiving and the other when I thought a serial killer was in my house), but I could feel the edges of panic starting to tickle.

Which, I know, is ridiculous. Absolutely ridculous. I wasn’t going to die from this. I wasn’t even going to be in exruciating pain. It wasn’t going to last all day. There wasn’t going to be permanent scarring. I was being unreasonable. I get it.

However, that didn’t change my physical reaction. My brain processes. My biochemistry.

When it was over, the blood letter actually said to me: “Careful, don’t step in the blood on the floor.” Oh sweet Sally, today’s going down in my book as one of the biggest, baddest nightmares of my life.

What does this have to do with a scared dog?

Everything.

So often, I hear people say “It’s just so silly that he’s afraid of people! All our friends are really friendly, they love dogs, and they just want to say ‘Hi’ to him. Why does he have to be so silly?”

Or sometimes it sounds like this: “He’s afraid?! Really? So why does he go after people if he’s so scared? Shouldn’t he be running away from them?”

Occasionally it goes like this: “But I make sure the vet visit is fun for him. We always go to the dog park afterward so he knows the vet is a good place.”

Ah, if it were only that easy.

If it were that easy, I would be donating blood at every chance. I wouldn’t give a rip that I had to get stuck 12 times to draw a measly two vials of blood. I’d be checking my cholesterol every week!

It ain’t that easy, believe me. I don’t want to be afraid. I don’t like the panic. I despise the discomfort.

As I was leaving the blood letting, I thought to myself: what WOULD be rewarding enough for me to go back and have that done every year? For me, it would either be money (no less than $50,000), a month in Tuscany (free, of course and with my dogs [traveling in the cabin, of course — which would probably cost a whole lot more than $50,000]), or the superpower of eating anything I want and not gaining weight.

And that’s it.

So for your fearful dog, here’s my advice. Think long and hard about what your dog loves. Not just likes, but I mean really goes ga-ga over. If you don’t think your dog should have people food, maybe people food is exactly what your dog would find rewarding enough in a bad situation. And not just any people food. I’m talking filet mignon. Or sardines. Or tripe. Don’t jugdge your dog on his preferences, just get him what really matters.

Don’t judge your dog on his fears. If he’s scared of a table, then he’s scared of the flippin’ table! Don’t discuss with him how silly that is. Just accept it. Tables are scary. Period. And go about the business of helping teach your dog that either the table is pretty darn rewarding OR teach him ways to cope with that scary table.

Know your dog’s triggers. Maybe it’s moving objects (joggers, strollers, motorcycles, etc.). Maybe it’s noise (kids playing, thunderstorms, fireworks). It doesn’t matter what the triggers are — just know them.

Now that you know the triggers, avoid ’em! Don’t take the “well, he’s gotta get used to it sometime, might as well be now” approach. That would be like having someone forcibly take me into the blood letting room and holding me down during the entire blood letting.

Yeah, that will never work. I promise you. For me or for your dog. Abandon that line of thinking right now. It’ll save you a lot of frustration and it’ll save your dog a whole lot of fear and possible resentment toward you.

Back to me for a minute. I had a couple of really good blood letting experiences in the past. So much that I wasn’t dreading today’s as much as I normally do. This one bad experience has now set me back even farther than where I originally started. I might forgo this torture for five or ten years.

Never forget this: one setback can make the problem lots worse than where you started. It’s up to you to protect your dog from the scary things even when he seems to be improving. You can do some real damage if you let your dog’s fears realize themselves.

It’s not worth it. Protect your dog.

Dogs: Pets or Family?

February 8, 2013

I am an only-child. Growing up, I thought our dogs were my siblings. I’m not kidding. They were fantastic brothers and sisters though. We were as thick as thieves — we’d set out on a new adventure everyday. Sometimes I would lead the way, other times they were the trail boss. We always found good stuff to get into, no matter what. We’d all come back filthy, hair rife with hitch hikers and briers, much to my mother’s dismay. But, ooooh, was it fun!

I was never lonely and I never wished for a “real” brother or sister. Eeew. No way! Life was good back then. I’ve had a dog (or dogS) my entire life. And will have them for the rest of my life, I’m sure.

Because dogs are important family members in this house, I pay close attention to the advertisers that use dogs in their campaigns. Being a positive reinforcement trainer, I pay special attention to the dogs (and the equipment they’re wearing, and their body language, and, and, and…) in the commercials and how they’re used. Are they being exploited? Made fun of? Used just for their cuteness? For their badness?

Check out this teaser ad, I think the ad agency knows how to connect to dog people!

Look at those happy dogs! And how well they’re trained. Being a dog trainer, I look for stuff like that. I don’t just want a dog in my commercials — I want a happy dog in my commercials!

For a full look at the commercial that contains the scene above, check this out. It’s one of my favorite commercials. I especially like the last scene — that’s totally a dog I’d have. I won’t ruin it, watch it for yourself. “I have no questions!”

I’m really liking the folks at Subaru — they really get us dog people. They’re making commercials with dogs in them, for goodness sake! How good does it get? They’re to dog people what Budweiser is to Clydesdale people. They really get us.

I found this on the Subaru Facebook page: you can get your dog a driver’s license. It’s not real, of course. As much as I’d like to think that Tango could take the wheel on one of our cross country road trips, just because Subaru gave him a doggie driver’s license doesn’t make it so. Either way, it’s pretty cute. There’s other stuff there that will interest you if you have dogs in your family (matchmaker, dog route mapping system, doggie drivers license, and ask an expert).

Are your dogs considered family members? Or pets? There’s no right answer — no judgement here!

In the spirit of full disclosure, this post is sponsored by Subaru. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the Dog Tested. Dog Approved.™ campaign. Regardless, I’m a Subaru fan and love that they (1) know that dog people are a viable audience and (2) have happy dogs in their commercials without yucky “training” equipment.

Bittersweet: Siena’s Got a Home

October 19, 2012

Sweet Siena, the loveliest spotted Great Dane, has a wonderful new home. Anytime one of “my” dogs (not really mine, by the way — all these dogs are really Service Dogs of Virginia‘s dogs, I just raise them) goes to a new home, whether they’re placed as service dogs or are career changed like Siena, I’m full of worry that their new home will love them enough.

What’s “enough?” I don’t know. As much as I love them, I guess.

I’m not sure why I worry. After all, every dog that I’ve had a hand in raising has found a spectacular new life — either with us (tee hee) or with their new partner. But I guess it’s what parents worry about when their son or daughter is about to get married — with their spouse look out for them, take care of them, even spoil them?

I’m covered all all those fronts with Siena’s new family. They came for a visit to see if Siena was the right dog for them. I liked them immediately. Siena was stand-offish and shy. They didn’t take it personally and let Siena set their pace.

They didn’t mind the dog hair, the dirt, the slobber that is inevitable with four dogs in the house. I certainly don’t mind it, but I’m a dog person and it’s kind of par for the course. Dogs = dirt. At least in my house. But at one point, the woman had a web of Siena’s slobber from her thumb to her index finger and she didn’t miss a beat. Ah, my kind of people!

Siena will be close by, which makes my heart happy. I’m hoping her new family will take us up on our offer to babysit her whenever they need us. We’ve been fortunate with most of the dogs we’ve raised — they’ve all come back at some point to visit and vacation with us.

Rocky, our very first dog (above), so dear to our heart, spent some time with us every year. We were thrilled that his family trusted us enough to take care of the Rock Star while they vacationed or traveled abroad. We would joke that it was Roo’s vacation time, just like it was their vacation time. He did love his visits “home,” and it made my heart sing when he bounded out of my car and into his partner’s wheelchair upon reuniting. That’s the best of both worlds, now isn’t it?

And Big Talos. Oh my. That dog. We’ve been lucky enough to have that big lug back in our lives a few times as well. Again, we feel so fortunate that his new family feels comfortable enough with us that they let him spend some time with us.

It really is something special to share this beautiful Dane girl with another family who gets her like we do. I know Siena will be spoiled, loved, and happy with her new people. She will get everything she needs, and then some. And her new family will be rewarded with the love of this sweet, lovely little girl.

We’ll have her for another week or so, then she’ll transition to her new life with her new people. We’re both excited and, not surprisingly, a little forlorn. But really, in the end, it’s a win-win-win. Us, Siena, and her new family have just won the lottery!

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