Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Roast Beefin' in the Rain (Day Ninety Six)

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Last night Chet and I watched a video called Really Reliable Recall by Leslie Nelson, a dog trainer in Manchester, CT (ok, Chet fell asleep, so it was really just me.)  

Ms. Nelson’s method involves having some really tasty treats with you and rewarding your dog whenever you are out on the trail or in your home or yard and your pet “checks in with you.”  Obviously the younger your dog is when you start the better, but it should work on adult dogs too.  The trick to this is to call your pet and reward them when they return to you, HOWEVER what you must keep in mind when training your dog is never call your pet if you think they will not come.  Ah, the catch.  So if your dog turns and is heading your way, call your dog.  You already know he/she is coming, right?  Now they arrive and boom, you reward them.  You should choose a word that is easy for you to remember when you are recalling the dog, Chet uses “come” with Sampson; I use “here” with Delilah, some people use “front.”  Once you have the dog returning to you when you call, you want to find a word that will carry if your dog is a distance away from you, but will be easy for you to remember in an emergency or serious situation.  One of the words that they used on the video was “Yahoo.”  It is a great word because it really carries outside.  I had also considered using, “NOW.”

Whenever I read or hear about a humane training method for dogs; I am all for it.  So it was no surprise how anxious I was to get out on the trail with my dogs and see how it works.  Chet had plans today and I had plans this morning, so it had to wait until this afternoon.   It had been raining lightly on and off for most of the day, and the sky was really overcast.  I figured it was a perfect time because there wouldn’t be a lot of people out today, so I should have no interruptions.  I had plans to grab get my boots, grab a hat, my camera, and my half a pound of shredded Roast Beef and hit the trail for about an hour.  Things didn’t go exactly as I had planned.

Before I let the dogs out of the car, I gave them each a tiny bit of the Roast Beef, then I opened the door and said, “free dog.”  They took off at a run and I began the slow trek in, trouble is I forgot my boots and hat and as soon as we stepped onto the trail, it began raining.  No problem, this is doable.  The dogs are running and every time one of them turned back to me I would call them and get so excited when they were running towards me, then I would give them little bits of Roast Beef.  You will be amazed at how many times your dog “checks in” with you when you give them Roast Beef.

We started up the hill into the field and it really started raining; the snow was soft and there were times I was sinking in, but I soldiered on, intent on getting my dogs to come to me whenever I called.  The snow had actually totally melted in some spots and you could see grass; and puddles.  I stepped in one; and soaked my sneakers, my glasses were covered in rain and water poured off my head, but still I was determined. 

Finally the dogs got far enough away from me for me to try; I took some Roast Beef in each hand and as loud as I could I yelled “YAHOO!!!” Both heads snapped up, both dogs turned and both dogs RAN to me!!!  Success!!  I cannot wait to continue with this method, of course it means I will have to carry some food with me, but to me it is more important that my dog return when called, you never know when you will need a reliable recall.

Sampson Stone Trail Dog

 

Wet but happy.

My dog is afraid of the nail clippers (Day Ninety Five)

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I talked to my sister this morning about clipping her dog’s nails.  Laura has three dogs, Bandit (a Jack Rat); J.D. (a Jack Russell) and Gordon (a big doofy Golden Retriever that I absolutely adore!)  Laura’s question had to do with clipping the nails of a dog that absolutely HATES it and freaks out (J.D.).  In fact, the last time Laura and Ron clipped his nails, Laura had to hold him while Ron clipped; and J.D. bit her.  Ron stated that J.D. would have to have a muzzle which Laura vehemently opposed, Laura understands that J.D. is not biting to be vicious, J.D. is biting out of fear; the dog is terrified of having his nails clipped.  Naturally Laura would like to be able to clip his nails without him being fearful. 

Now I am not an expert on dogs by any means (yet) but I did have some ideas which I shared with Laura about clipping J.D.’s nails.  First I would begin by trying to desensitize J.D. to the clippers.  I would do this by pulling the clippers out and showing them to J.D. and giving him a treat and tell him he is a good boy.  I would do that for at least 10 to 20 times, then I would take the clippers out and open and close them, again rewarding J.D. with a treat.  The goal here is to make the clippers less fearful for J.D. 

When the time comes for J.D. to have his nails clipped, I think she should hold him and distract him with a bunch of treats; every time he looks at those clippers I would put the treat in front of his nose and entice him to look away, the goal here is for J.D to be looking to Laura for treats and not even worrying what Ron is doing with those clippers!

What would I use for treats?  I would probably get some hotdogs and slice them and then quarter them, or little balls of raw ground beef, something which would really grab his attention and not something he gets routinely.

I hope this helps for any of you that may have a dog that is fearful of the nail clippers.

On another note, we had agility class today and because Sampson really hates it; I told everyone he was a judge; here is a picture of Agility Judge Sampson.

Sampson very generously gave everyone "8's"

Saving time and money (Day Ninety Four)

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Last night at obedience class I watched as two dogs got their nails clipped; both dogs required two people to perform this task.  We are lucky that neither dog fights us during the nail clipping process.  When we first got Sampson we took him to puppy socialization class and one of the first things we learned was to touch his feet and get him use to us doing so, this would turn out to be a blessing in the long run.  With Delilah we just got lucky.

Sampson is a bit harder to clip; even those his nails are lighter colored and you should be able to see the quick (a little vein in their nail that is very sensitive and can bleed if clipped too closely.)  The sensitivity of the quick is probably the biggest reason some dogs don’t like their nails clipped.  Sampson’s quick is very close to the end of his nails especially in his back feet, so when I clip him I only do his front paws.  Delilah’s nails are black like a beetles but for some reason, she clips much easier than Sampson does.

When it is time to do nails, I gather my supplies; a nail clipper, a Q-tip, some Kwik stop styptic powder and a handful of treats!  These are the clippers I use (sort of small for my big dogs but they work)  notice how the clippers have a guard in the center of the scissors, it is important to use the guard because this will help insure you don’t clip too close.

Notice the blade guard in the center

 

I start with Delilah for two reasons 1) she knows I have treats and if I don’t start with her she will jump all over the place acting like a lunatic until she gets the treat and 2) Sampson hates it so bad that he likes to go and hide.   I start with one foot at a time and clip just the curve of the nail off.  Once the foot is finished, I reward the dog with a treat.  I repeat this with each foot.

Mama's princess on a "spa" day!

Once the princess is done, I move on to the big boy, I try to be especially gentle with him because he is very easily bled.  If the quick bleeds too much it can become a serious issue with the dog and both Chet and I have clipped Sampson good, so I always have the styptic powder (designed for dogs, cats and birds) and the Q-tip, if I clip him and he bleeds I pop the Q-tip in my mouth and dip it in the powder.  Then you push the powder into the dog’s nail and pack it; which helps stop the bleeding.  You do want to try to keep the dog off his feet at least for a little bit.

But Mama...they aren't long, I'm honest.

If you have successfully clipped the dog’s nails, you have just saved time (from taking him to the groomers or vets) and money; the bonus is you have also probably saved your dog an enormous amount of stress.

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