DINOS

Posted on 12/12/2011 by Jen

Ever feel like you are the only one in the whole wide world who is experiencing what you are experiencing, even though you logically know you aren’t/can’t be the only one experiencing this? That’s what it often feels like dealing and working with a reactive dog: everybody else’s dog is well-behaved and can handle being around other dogs.

But maybe that’s because all of us with reactive dogs are doing the late night walks, the walks on the most deserted trails we can find, sticking to playing with the dog out in the backyard because you aren’t in the mood to deal with his/her reactivity, avoiding any situation where you might encounter a dog. All of this is so very limiting, exhausting, emotionally draining. It’s frustrating that 99.9% of the people we encounter don’t get to experience the sweetness, the goofiness, the fun-loving dog we get to experience when we are tucked away in his/her safe place: home. Instead, they get the barking, lunging, Tasmanian Devil on the other end of the leash.

Dog Tired Doggie Daycare sent out an email on Friday about a movement that blossomed from a blog posted on Notes From A Dog Walker. The writer, Jessica Dolce has hit the nail on the head when she describes in her post My Dog is Friendly! A Public Service Announcement the stress that is caused when people allow their dogs to approach, run up, try to meet a Dog In Need Of Space (DINOS). She terms these sometimes well-meaning but oblivious dog owners My Dog Is Friendly (MDIF).

We have run into many a MDIF out on the trails or even walking in the neighborhood. And, what astounds me is when people just don’t get that my dog, Pongo does not want to meet, need to meet, or even like (GASP!) your dog. We try to make it as clear as possible by turning and walking the other direction, and if that doesn’t work we resort to verbal attempts (“Please put your dog on a leash!”); that’s when the judgements come flying and now we’re the bad guys. It’s not a good feeling.

Click HERE to go to a larger, more readable version.

Created by artist Lili Chan www.doggiedrawings.net

We were at Denali Park Strip on Saturday to try out Pongo’s new Freedom No-Pull Harness. As we were getting out of the car, a woman came running up the road with a dog. Pongo reacted. She turned around and went down another street. My first thought was, “Does she know about DINOS?” Then I wondered, if she was avoiding us because Pongo can look pretty scary when he reacts. As we walked around the Park Strip, we could catch glimpses of her and her dog running down different streets to avoid us. It makes me feel better if I make the assumption that she was thankfully giving us space because she knows about DINOS, and not that we were scary.

I am super excited to know that there are others out there. We can support one another, empathize, and share our stories and tactics for working with a DINOS. I think what is most important though is Pongo has helped us realized what it is like to own and to love a DINOS. It’s not an easy job at times but he is so worth it!

A Letter To Miss Sue

Posted on 12/04/2011 by Jen

Dear Miss Sue,

When I see my Papa’s big red bag packed and sitting by the door, I know what that means: he’s leaving. I know he always comes back but I just get so sad and crabby knowing he’s going to be away from us, for I don’t know how long.

My Mama knew I might have a hard day at daycare, on Wednesday, when she dropped me off; that’s why she texted Miss Peg to let her know. But, you had already guessed my Papa was out of town when I started picking fights with my doggie friends and was being an all-around grump. I may act all tough and rough but if you haven’t already noticed, I am a sensitive soul who wears my heart on my sleeve.

I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me about choices because I knew my doggie daycare day was on the line. My Mama wants me to behave and will not put up with me being a bully to others, even if my feelings are hurt. I tried really, really, really hard to pull it together, put my happy face on, and have fun. I think I did a pretty good job of bucking it up.

I should warn you, Miss Sue and all of my patient and loving daycare teachers…my Papa came home last night but I can hear him and Mama talk about him leaving again on Monday. I don’t know when Monday is but I’m already worried about it. I promise though I will try my best to be a very good boy for everyone. It’s just so hard sometimes…

Love,

Pongo

Intro To Treibball

Posted on 11/05/2011 by Jen

We been taking our first Treibball class the past 6 weeks and just finished up last week. It’s a herding sport but instead of herding ducks, sheep or cattle, the dogs herd different sized and colored balls. You use the same commands as you would in a true herding situation. We thought this would be a good alternative to herding actual animals because Pongo already has a hard enough time refraining from chasing (i.e. herding) our kitties.

I do have to be honest, this was a pretty frustrating class for both of us. You have to be coordinated, which I am not. Plus your dog has to have enough impulsive control to not bite or pummel the balls which as of now, Pongo does not. I think this will develop with age but right now, Treibball for Pongo is all about attacking the balls.

We are going to stick with it though because he is one tired out pup, mentally and physically, when we get home and that is so worth it! Our next Treibball class starts at the end of November. We still have some time to really practice with Pongo so that our next class is less frustrating and more enjoyable for the both of us.

Our trainer, Liz Williams of Alaska Dog Sports took this video on our last day of class. This is the best class Pongo had; he really was getting the “push” command down, which I will eventually change to “drive” so it doesn’t sound like we’re trying to have a baby!

Fun Police Pongo

Posted on 10/30/2011 by Jen

I am really dragging my feet writing this post. I’ve been hemming and hawing on whether I should tell the real story because almost 24 hours later I am still focused on the events of yesterday, or just stick to the “happy” version out of pure embarrassment. But, this blog is about the trials and tribulations of raising a Cattle Dog so I need to be transparent.

Last year’s Howl-O-Ween party went so well: Pongo was a happy-go-lucky pup running around playing and visiting with all the parents and his doggie friends. This year I expected the same but I think that was biggest problem–I had expectations. I was excited because Steve was in town and was going to see Pongo in daycare action for the first time; plus, Pongo’s Howl-O-Ween costume was pretty darn clever, if I don’t say so myself.

Recently Pongo has been receiving a lot of dings for fun policing on his daycare report card.

So, I went with that theme and was able to find a K-9 cop costume that I altered.

We arrived at Dog Tired Doggie Daycare around 2:00. We put Pongo’s costume on and headed into the building. First obstacle down-no problem. We were ushered into the back where the door to his classroom is. The staff member looked in the classroom and gave us the go-ahead. WAIT! I thought. Pongo still has his collar and leash on and we are entering, for all I knew, a classroom full of dogs. But, did I speak up? Did I say, “Can we take his collar and leash off before he enters the classroom?” Nope. I figured they had a protocol for this special party so I kept quiet. SHAME ON ME! I need to advocate for my dog and set him up for success not for failure.

Steve and Pongo enter the classroom first with me following. There is one dog, one parent, Miss Peg and Miss Kari in the classroom and Pongo has honed in on the one dog. He starts his barking, lunging, growling routine. Steve pulls him off to the side and tries to get his attention. Pongo is having none of that. Steve was instructed to take his leash off. As soon as the leash comes off, Pongo goes full throttle for the other dog and a dog brawl ensues. Thankfully, Miss Lindsay is right there and grabs Pongo. It’s all over within a couple seconds.

Pongo has gotten in a few fights at school but I’ve never actually seen him in true action. I’m a mess: shaking and on the verge of tears trying my best to hold it together. I’m apologizing to the other parent thoroughly embarrassed by our dog’s poor behavior. She thankfully appears to be understanding. My greatest fear though is some other parent is going to demand that Pongo be removed from daycare because of his behavior. What many people who witness this leash reactivity don’t understand is that this is not the only side of Pongo. He’s 99% sweetness with 1% of pure scrapper attitude on top.

Miss Kari and Miss Peg distract Pongo by taking his picture in front of the Halloween decorations. We take off his costume and collar and off he goes to be with his other doggie friends that have joined the party. We can tell Pongo’s still stressed and is trying to control the situation by barking. One epiphany we had yesterday, through observation, was that there is some protective factor in Pongo’s behavior. When another dog approached us, he was right there to herd the other dogs away from Steve and me. A year ago, he was not herding the other dogs away from me. He was off enjoying himself.

Even though Pongo took his job as Fun Police to the extreme yesterday, he was finally able to settle down and hopefully enjoy himself.

Mr. Crankypants

Posted on 10/14/2011 by Jen

Really, it was a good plan. Today was a grading day for teachers, which means no kids. Which means I could take things a little slower this morning. I was going to drop Pongo off at daycare and then take Steve’s truck to get an emissions test before heading into work.

Lately, Pongo has been battling getting into the car and into his kennel. I don’t know what’s going through his mind; he’s done it a thousand times but has decided he doesn’t want to load up. I was expecting a battle so I was prepared: I had Pongo’s kennel all ready to go in the truck and told him in a happy, excited voice that he was “going to daycare today!” I took him out to the truck and oh boy was he excited to be getting in-tail wagging, even whining a little! Who was this dog?!? I was very confused. I went with it though. Usually, he settles in and lays down for the ride to daycare but today he sat up the whole way looking out the window.

Then it hit me. This was Papa’s truck. This was the car we took to drop Steve off at the airport. And now, Pongo was anticipating picking Papa up from the airport. He was going to be sorely disappointed when we pull into the daycare parking lot.

I dropped him off seemingly happy to be at daycare, quickly get the truck’s emission tested, and head to work. I had settled in for the day and hear my phone buzz with a text message. I see a message from Miss Peg:

Jen, your boy seems unusually cranky today. It isn’t a big class and we can manage him. Just letting you know that if you are doing things after work, a long day might be more than he can handle.

Uh oh. I had set up our boy for a bad day. I let Miss Peg know I could come pick him up early if she needed me to but she said that wouldn’t be necessary. I tried my best to leave work to pick him up early but it just wasn’t happening today-too much going on. I worried about him all day; just hoping he could hold it together. And, he did…for the most part…

I sure do hope Steve is able to make that plane out of Dillingham tomorrow afternoon because I’m dealing with a very sensitive soul, who really misses his Papa!

Dock Dog!

Posted on 10/08/2011 by Jen

This was our whole intention for going to visit Papa in Big Lake back in September. It was not to turn the evening into a very exciting and scary adventure with a porcupine!

Count Your Blessings

Posted on 09/27/2011 by Jen

…if you have a dog that you can walk any time of the day, anywhere, and your walks are actually pleasant.

…if you have a dog that calmly exists around other dogs without going absolutely berserk if one looks at him funny.

…if you don’t have to do U-turns when you’re out walking your dog because another dog is coming toward you.

…if you don’t give a sigh of relief when you pull into an empty daycare parking lot.

Which is what I did when I pulled into daycare today–gave a sigh of relief because the lot was empty. I was going to get Pongo into daycare and off to my early morning meeting stress-free. But, we all know things don’t necessarily go the way we expect them to. As I was unloading Pongo, I realized someone had pulled in to our right. The driver and I made eye contact and gave me a little nod, which I read as: go ahead and finish unloading your dog; I’ll wait. I unloaded Pongo, walked up to the door and all of sudden Pongo was going nuts. I thought he had noticed the dog getting out of the car that had pulled in. I think I’m pretty good at reading non-verbals but I guess I was way off today because when I turned around, the dog and owner were less than 2 feet from us waiting for us to go in the door. There was NO way Pongo was going to make it in the door calmly so I walked down the sidewalk, telling the owner and dog to go ahead. While Pongo continued to flip-out, a car pulls into the parking lot with two big dogs barking at him through open windows. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There was no reeling Pongo in; no getting his attention in attempts to calm him down. So I awkwardly scooped Pongo up, got him into his kennel, and told him, as I backed out of daycare and drove to work, he could spend the next couple of hours in the car thinking about his poor behavior.

Living with a reactive dog is frustrating and exhausting at times. What is most frustrating is not knowing what’s going to set him off and then not being prepared for the reaction you get. It is very apparent Pongo chooses when to be leash reactive and when not to. If he’s working (i.e. Nose Work) or has other distractions, he is 95% OK with being on a leash around other dogs given he has enough distance between him and the other dog. If we are just walking or he sees another dog out the window, he immediately amps up and is out of control. It’s embarrassing and I’m more than sure pretty scary for others to watch. He spins, he lunges, he growls, he barks all out of pure frustration. But, less than 20 seconds after he’s had his blow-out, he’s fine. I, on the other hand, have to deal with the residual feelings of my own frustration and anger. The self-doubting and ruminating of what I could have done differently, and the constant questioning of WHY? WHY such a sweet, tail-wagging, kiss giving little guy can be hell on wheels when he’s around other dogs?

Just an FYI: Pongo did make it to daycare today and had a good day. I do believe he was somewhat remorseful about this morning’s outburst…or at least it makes me feel better thinking he felt just a little bit guilty.

Take A Whiff of This Weekend

Posted on 09/20/2011 by Jen

Pongo spent this past weekend fully immersed in Nose Work.

On Saturday he took his Birch Odor Recognition Test (ORT), which is a test he must pass in order to compete in any Nose Work trial. The ORT is a basic box drill where there are 12 boxes lined up in two rows of 6. The dog is on-leash and walks up and down the rows sniffing for the Birch scent that is hidden in one of the boxes. Pongo is a pro at this drill and we have practiced it many times both in class and at home; nonetheless, I was still very nervous when we entered the training facility to take our test. As soon as we entered, Pongo knew what he was there to do and targeted the hide within 24 seconds. I gave a huge sigh of relief because that was all he needed to do to pass his Birch ORT. Steve came in with us to video his success but unbeknownst (well, known to us but forgotten-I know, I should have read the rules again the night before the ORT) we were not allowed to videotape or photograph the ORT. Steve immediately erased the video but it was not clear if that faux pas had disqualified us from the ORT. We had to wait a good 45 minutes while the entirety of our group finished the ORT before learning that Pongo had in fact passed! Never, ever again will we go into a competition without first reviewing the rules–lesson learned!

Since I don’t have any footage of his ORT, here’s a picture of what a box drill looks like and his scorebook with the most glorious letter: P.

Then Sunday, we spent 4 hours in an Advanced Nose Work seminar with Jean Richardson, who is a Certified Nose Work Instructor (CNWI) from Oregon; she is also the one who officiated our Odor Recognition Test on Saturday. We were able to run our dogs for three different types of scenarios and hides: 3 low hides, 3 high hides, and a paint can drill. The guest instructor used both Birch and Anise for her hides. Anise is one of the three target odors that dogs can search for. What surprised us the most, and really made us proud was Pongo has never smelled nor searched for Anise before and the two rounds that had Anise in them, he found it as his very first find. We now know we can move on to Anise and can hopefully do the Anise ORT in the Spring. Pongo loves Nose Work. It’s his job. What we love about Nose Work is that he has fun while doing it and is completely tuckered out afterwards.

It Could Have Been Worse

Posted on 09/10/2011 by Jen

Everyday, Pongo has been sitting at the front window waiting for hours for Papa’s truck to pull into the driveway; disappointed when it doesn’t. He has really been missing Steve this week so Reid, Pongo, and I drove out to Big Lake last night to spend some time with Papa. Our moping, miserable Cattle Dog turned into a bouncing, yelping, fiend who could barely contain himself when he saw Papa walk out of the rental house!

Steve and I decided to take the dogs out for a short hike after dinner. We chose somewhere where we knew we could let the dogs run free, where no one else was going to be around. We drove to a quiet, deserted area Steve had recently surveyed and walked into the woods. Both Pongo and Reid love being in the woods: running free, jumping over logs (that would be Pongo, not Reid), and exploring all the smells that come with hiking in a new place. It was refreshing to be in the woods, after a long work week, spending time with Steve and watching the dogs enjoy themselves.

As we were hiking along, Pongo began frantically running around in wide, sweeping circles with his nose to the ground. I commented, “He’s on the trail of something,” with images of cute little squirrels foraging in the area going through my mind. We called Pongo to us. He came but caught the scent again, and was off. Then, what was suppose to be a peaceful evening hike turned one of my biggest fears into reality: Pongo + Porcupine = DISASTER!

I look over to where Pongo is sprinting around and see a porcupine, ever so slowly attempting to climb a Spruce tree as Pongo is closing in on his prey. Steve is running toward the tree with the climbing porcupine, in hopes to intercept Pongo. Steve is on one side of the tree, Pongo is on the other, the porcupine is in the middle c-l-i-m-b-i-n-g at turtle speed. Pongo jumps up to grab the porcupine. He misses. He gives one last adrenaline-fed superman jump as the porcupine continues to work its way up the tree. As this whole scene plays out before my eyes, I hear myself screaming, “Pongo, leave it!” And when that doesn’t work, “PONGO, NOOOOOOO!!!!!” knowing well enough that when Pongo is in prey-drive, there is no stopping him: listening ears are off and wild dingo mode is on.

Steve is finally able to grab Pongo, leash him up, and carry him to a safe area away from the porcupine. We check him over not knowing if he was able to make contact with the porcupine. No quills protruding from his face–check. No quills on his underside–check. Then we see it…a paw scattered with porcupine quills.

Steve immediately pulls out his Leatherman and gets to work.

I’m more than sure it hurt like hell having those quills pulled out but Pongo was a trooper–keeping one eye on Steve’s Leatherman and one eye on the porcupine sitting in the tree 50 feet away. He sat quietly as Steve pulled out each quill, for the most part giving an occasional flapping of the paw or yelp. And all I could think of to myself, as Steve pulled each quill out is…It could have been worse.

Labor Day Weekend

Posted on 09/05/2011 by Jen

Sadly, Summer is quickly coming to an end. We are moving into our split-second Fall and then onto our never-ending Winter. We decided to take advantage of the long weekend by packing up the trailer and the dogs, and head down to Discovery Campground in Captain Cook State Park.