Heart Like a Dog

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

I Know You’re a Lab

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Thank you all for the suggestions you left in the comments regarding how to handle the situation with the dogs (mostly Sampson) and the new puppy.  Besides asking for your thoughts, I reached out to a fellow blogger experienced in fostering and introducing new dogs.  I will write more about this in my Follow-Up Friday post, but I will tell you we are managing with crates and gates. 🙂

Back before Delilah joined our pack, Hubby, Sampson and I hiked together every weekend.  One of our favorite spots was the local reservoir.  You may remember I posted some beautiful foliage pictures from it back in October.

Our local reservoir.

Our local reservoir.

 

To take the dog’s minds off the puppy invading their territory, Hubby and I decided to take them to the reservoir as there are some really nice hiking trails over there.

I had Delilah on the long leash to start, as the reservoir is bordered on the front side by a very busy road.  There are also some houses along one side and I wanted to make sure we were past a trouble spot before I turned her loose.

Delilah hadn’t been down to this spot in years so she was pulling me like crazy.  Once we reached the spot where we had to cross a stream I knew it was time to let her off.

I didn't feel like starting the walk with a dip in the water.

I didn’t feel like starting the walk with a dip in the water.

 

The pond was off to our left and it was protected by some downed trees and some shrubs, I didn’t think she could manage to get in although as soon as she SAW the pond she did try.  Hubby and I kept walking though and called her to us and she came a running.

Back when it was just the three of us, I managed to snag one of my favorite pictures of Sampson.  He had run ahead of us on the trail and when we rounded the corner, there he was.

One of my favorite photos of Sampson.

Already posing.

 

We kept our eyes peeled for the rock and thought we’d stage a little reenactment.

Delilah wasn't quite as comfortable posing on the rock as Sampson was.

Delilah wasn’t quite as comfortable posing on the rock as Sampson was.

 

There was a tree that had fallen across the path, it had two branches that were about 1 1/2 to 2 feet high and about 3 to 5 feet apart.

The dogs were running ahead and my jaw dropped as Delilah cleared the tree.  Notice that Sampson jumps, landing between the two branches but Delilah doesn’t.

We hiked in about twenty minutes or so before turning around.

The dogs were having a blast, at one point they found a small puddle and got their zoomies on, so they were both muddy.

Delilah was off-leash for almost the entire walk, she ran back and was treated so often, that I ran out of treats.

I was leery about the pond on the way out, I knew she wanted in, so as soon as it came into my sight, I leashed her up.  Truthfully she probably could have stayed off-leash for a couple of minutes longer, but I wanted to err on the side of caution.

I forgot about crossing the stream though, as soon as I unclipped her….she found her way into the pond

She’s a Lab, through and through.

Can You Spare a Stamp?

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Before I get to showing and telling you what Delilah and I learned at Tricks Class last night, I’d like to ask a favor of you.

There is a young boy in Kentucky who is dying of Cystic Fibrosis, his dying wish is to make the Guinness Book of Records for receiving the most Christmas cards.

Can you spare a card and a stamp to help make a dying child’s wish come true?

Dalton Dingus
HC 62
Box 1249
Salyersville, KY 41465.
 

You can send it to the above address.  My card is going out in today’s mail.

The last night of tricks class.

Boy am I glad I told our instructor that I’m a blogger, now as she walks around the classroom observing us, she happily picks up my camera and snaps some pictures.

The first trick we learned is back-up.

You train this by standing in front of your dog with a treat in each hand, place a hand on either side of their face, then slowly walk towards them.  If they sit down or don’t back up, try again.  If you get a tiny step backwards, praise and treat.

Most dogs can be trained to back up using this method.

Ariane tried it with Delilah as the model.

Aren't I cute?

Aren’t I cute?

 

She ended up having to put her hands behind her back and work with one hand, two treats is just one more than Delilah can handle.

What worked best for her was when I put a treat in front of her nose and pushed it towards her.  Sometimes she sits down and I just lure her up again and start over.

She has stepped back in this photo, I can tell because I'm smiling.

She has stepped back in this photo, I can tell because I’m smiling.

 

Another way you can train this trick is by creating a sort of tunnel for your dog by using one wall and some chairs, you want it big enough for your dog to fit, but not large enough for them to turn around.

I think I’ll try this in my hallway.

Dance, Stand or in Delilah’s case….Hop.

Take your treat and hold it up high, your goal is to get your dog up on their hind legs, where they can either just hold a stand, or take a couple of steps or hops.

If you’ve trained your Target or Touch command and your dog is comfortable with it, you can use this.  I like the treat because I want her to learn the verbal cue I will be using which will probably be hop.

Give me the damn treat!

Give me the damn treat!

 

You want to make sure your dog is not touching your body with their paws…that’s cheating.

Weave

The last trick we learned was Weave, as in between your legs.  You know it and probably some of you showoffs dedicated trainers have already taught this to your dog.

This is the trick where you walk and your dog weaves in and out of your walking legs.

Finally, the last night of class, the last trick turns out to be the one I wanted most to learn.  This trick will come in handy when we take our Freestyle class next year.

To teach this trick you start with your dog in a heel.  It doesn’t matter which side as long as you remember to lead with the opposite leg.

Delilah’s on my left, I step forward with my right foot and place my right hand behind my right leg, luring her through.

KEY COMPONENT: toss the treat away from you, this lets your dog know they are to go completely through your legs.

I step forward with my left leg and lure her back, again tossing the treat.

No-one said teaching it looks pretty, BUT note, I have no shirt that imitates stomach flesh this time!

No-one said teaching it looks pretty, BUT note, I have no shirt that imitates stomach flesh this time!

 

We practiced this a lot and by the time we had finished I would have to say we probably took about six to eight steps before I made a mistake and had to start over.

Now THAT looks better.

Now THAT looks better.

 

We learned a lot of different tricks.  I know that I won’t be working on training all of them, but there are a couple I’d really like to focus on.

What kind of tricks do you do with your dog?  Have you ever taken a tricks class?  Would you?

 

 

Mental Stimulation is a Good Thing

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Winter brings its own set of challenges for exercising your dog.  Around these parts it’s dark by the time I get home.

Sometimes we get really icky weather (last night was misty and foggy.)  I’m pretty stalwart when it comes to walking the dogs but sometimes it’s just not possible to get out and walk them.

What do you do?

I’ve written in the past about how I like to deviate the dog’s exercise schedule.  Personally I feel it’s important that they not only get walks, but they get different types of physical and mental stimulation as well.

My dog is just as tired after an hour of obedience, agility or tricks class as she is after a nice long walk.

On weekends when we are home all day and Sampson and Delilah are awake more, or on holidays when we have family around they get less sleep than they do during the week, which means they are just as tired as if they’d walked for hours.

Mental stimulation can be equally tiring.

Just as I find exercising during the winter challenging, I find it equally challenging to squeeze training into my already busy day.

Which is why I try to add a little bit of training to our daily routine.

My dogs are really great at sitting.  We make them sit on the edges of the kitchen while we work in the kitchen either preparing their meals or ours.

We make them sit when a car approaches while on our walk.

Delilah’s always been a challenge when it comes to the down command, for some reason she’s reluctant to down and has a problem staying there as well.

I work her down, in the bathroom while I’m getting ready for work in the morning.

Fine, I'll lay here, but I don't have to like it.

Fine, I’ll lay here, but I don’t have to like it.

 

This past weekend I decided to try a paws up on one of the fallen logs on the trail.

I stood on the opposite side of the log as her, and held the treat down low.  She tried to grab the treat without putting her paws on the log, but I pulled it away.  We worked this for about a minute before she understood what I was requesting of her.

The next time we approached the log and I said, Paw’s Up, she actually held it so I could take a picture.

This is what you wanted? Well why didn't you say so?

This is what you wanted? Well why didn’t you say so?

 

I’m not quite sure what’s up with that expression, she doesn’t look happy to me, but then again paws up wasn’t HER idea.

How do you deviate your schedule when weather just won’t let you do what you want?

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