Frederick Archives - Page 5 of 10 - Smart Dog University

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!

Fat Dog to Skinny Dog: How We Did It

June 3, 2013

I was at a veterinary conference when I heard this statement: "By the time your patient is limping, he's already at Stage 4 Osteoarthritis. The single most effective tool to slow the progression is weight loss."

Whoa. Stage 4 is just scary no matter what disease it's attached to. That means it's there to stay. Can't cure it. Intellectually, I knew you couldn't cure arthritis, but I never thought of it this way.

Then, hearing that weight loss is the most effective tool — more than any medication or drug — to keep a dog moving and healthy really convinced me that I had to get Tango, my yellow Labrador above, in tip-top shape.

He's an older boy now and we all know how hard it is to take weight off when you're older. It's true for people, it's true for dogs. My terrific veterinarians were happy to hear I was serious about Tango's weight loss and analyzed his food intake. They gave me the specific amount of food he should be getting to lose weight.

What Worked
Find out how much food your dog really needs. Your veterinarian can tell you how many kilocalories your dog needs every day.

Stick with that amount. Yes, your dog would probably eat more food if you gave it to him. I have Labradors. They'd eat six, even eight cups of food if I let them. So yes, they always look at me as if "Is that ALL? I'll just wither away to nothing with just that."

Measure the food. I got measuring cups. Like the kind you have in your kitchen. If your veterinarian says 1/2 cup of food, make sure it's just 1/2 cup of food.

This is a scant 1/2 cup of food.

Just a little rounded scoop of food at each meal can contribute a couple of extra cups of food per week for your dog. Take an extra second to look at the scoop to ensure that it's a level (or a little less) scoop of food.

This is a rounded 1/2 cup.

Limit the treats. My dogs still get frozen stuffed Kongs. But instead of stuffing those Kongs with peanut butter, I now use canned pumpkin and fat-free yogurt with that peanut butter. That addition alone resulted in significant weight loss for Tango.

Increase physical activity. If your veterinarian clears your dog for physical exercise, get out there and do it! Tango loves to swim and that's super-kind to his joints, so the veterinarian cleared us for all the swimming Tango wants!

Tango is now at an ideal weight for a dog with osteoarthritis. He's on the light side of normal and would be scored at a 4 on Purina's Body Condition System.

Wondering what your dog's ideal weight should be? What a normal weight dog looks like? Check out this really nice chart by Purina. You can download a full-size version at Purina's website.

Weight-loss (for overweight pets) can benefit them in so many ways. I'm looking forward to spending time with Tango for many years — I'd like for him to be pain-free as long as possible. And if leveling a scoop of food can help, you can bet I'll be doing it. It's so easy and doesn't cost a thing!

Of course, always check with your veterinarian before putting your dog on a weight loss program.

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.

Nemo’s Nose Works

May 16, 2013

Our names were called and Nemo and I walked toward the start line. Our first element was Vehicles. There was a nice breeze and Nemo’s nose was working long before it was our turn to come from behind the visual barrier and begin working the hide.

We got the go-ahead sign. Nose twitching, Nemo took off. Past the first vehicle. Past the second vehicle. I was having a hard time keeping up with him! He came to the third vehicle, nose glued to the body of the car, and he nailed the hide in the wheel well.

“Alert!” I called. It seemed like forever before the judge said “Yes! Pay your dog.”

Whew! One element down, three more to go.

Nemo and I were a team in a K9 Nose Work Trial. We were going after the first level: our goal was the title of NW1. The only route to an NW1 title is through four correct “finds.”

Our second element was Exteriors. The hide — birch scented cotton swabs — was somewhere on the outside of a cabin. Our search area included the cabin’s exterior, the sidewalk, and the ramp/porch. It didn’t take Nemo very long to find that birch scent under a dandelion in the crack of the sidewalk. Another successful alert.

Two down, two to go.

Our third hide was Containers. Our nemesis. Nemo had falsely alerted in practice sessions quite a bit in this element. I did my best to stamp out my nerves, took a deep breath and gave Neems the “find it” cue. Two steps in, three steps to the left, Nemo gave me the tell-tale signal that he’d found the birch yet again. Another “Alert!” and “Pay your dog!” scenario.

Just one more and we’d have our NW1. Pressure was really on (on me, of course, this is all just a fun game for Neems).

The last hide was in the Interior element. The search area was inside a kids cabin at a 4-H Camp. Nemo got “in odor” almost right away, and it took him several seconds to really pin it down. In a Nose Work Trial, the dog’s nose has to be on the odor. I need to be able to tell the judge, if asked, exactly where the hide is. The judges are excellent at their job — you can’t see the hide no matter your angle. The only clue you have is where your dog’s nose is.

I made the call when Nemo’s nose stopped moving and his head went up and under. Our last hide and another success!

We had so much fun together — we were really a team and really on it that day. The whole day (and it was a long day — from 8:30a to about 5:30p) felt good. I knew Nemo’s body language, I was confident when I called alert and he was rock-solid on his finds.

At the award ceremony, I picked up Nemo’s very handsome NW1 ribbon. Our first ribbon ever for anything! It was thrilling.

In addition to the NW1 title ribbons, there are also ribbons awarded for exceptional teamwork between dog and handler. These “Pronounced” ribbons are given for the teams that earn their title and only if every judge independently deems the team outstanding. When Nemo and I were presented with our NW1 ribbon, we were also given the Pronounced ribbon! I was floored. The NW runs felt good to me, but I was taken by surprise with the nod from the judges.

In that Vehicle search, the one where Nemo blasted past the first two cars with nary a glance, he was the second fastest dog of the day! We collected a 2nd place Vehicles ribbon!

His quick work on all four elements was somehow fast enough to earn him the Third Place Overall ribbon! He was the third fastest dog of the day!

We left with a lot more than we came for. And a lot more than we ever expected. I was full of pride for Neems — and happy that we spent a good day together. The best thing about the day — and about the entire sport of K9 Nose Work — is the camaraderie. All the judges, competitors, and volunteers are all rooting for the teams. It’s not a win or lose sport — everyone and every dog can come out a winner. Which is the best thing of all.

Stinky Dog

April 25, 2013

Great Danes amuse me for so many reasons.

I think their sheer size is comical for starters.

When you add in their vocalizations, things start to get really funny.

Topping it off are their facial expressions. I can’t take it, they crack me up. Is it just me?

Takea look at the video and let me know…Do YOU have conversations with your dog? What do you talk about? Do they answer back?

Please leave a comment and let us know!

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Frederick

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