Cinder's New Job and Service Dogs

     Last week, I posted on Facebook that Cinder’s been exhibiting a new set of behaviors I want to foster.  I am profoundly deaf without my hearing aids and remain well below the normal hearing range with them. In fact, one evening last spring, while I was showering, Cinder absconded with one of my less than nine month old hearing aids and chewed it to unrecognizable bits.  Luckily, my hearing aids came with an incredible one year warranty/replacement policy and the $4500 hearing aid was replaced a few weeks later!  That escapade makes her among the most expensive Border Collie puppies ever!  However, maybe she’s decided she should make up for it by learning to help me around the house by alerting me to sounds I can’t hear.  This week I've been having a hard time sleeping and decided I should use my flashing alarm clock in case I didn't wake up in time for work.  Usually I don’t need my alarm clock-we’re up by 4:30-5:30 every morning without alarms. I've awakened well before the alarm each morning. Since I don’t usually set an alarm, I've forgotten to shut it off each morning.  Each morning, the alarm went off while was in the living room, drinking coffee and watching the news. Cinder began racing between me in the living room and the bedroom.  Each time when I've followed to see what she was trying to tell me, I've gone with her to the bedroom and she’s jumped on the bed, looked at the flashing, beeping alarm; and yipped at it, then looked at me.  That’s exactly the behavior of a Hearing Service Dog trained to alert someone to a noise-get the person’s attention and alert them to the noise and its cause by taking them to it.  Hence I posted on Facebook that perhaps Cinder’s behavior indicates a talent which I had not considered-to help alert me to noises and alarms around the house as my Hearing Dog.  ***Please note that I am not in any way intending to claim her to be a working, registered Service Dog, but more like a personal home helper Hearing Dog.  Real Service Dogs are intensively trained and registered.
     In response to my Facebook post, I've had several inquiries about my experience with a Hearing Dog or Service Dogs and information about Service Dogs.  This is my response, and I apologize for the delay:

     Yes, I've had a couple of Hearing Dogs. My last one was actually also raised and trained by me, my son, and canine behaviorist friends at Purdue University while I was an adult student there.  We trained a variety of Service Dogs of different breeds, ages, and goals.  I acquired my last Hearing Dog as an eight week old puppy from a friend who gave him to me as a gift for that purpose.  Normally people do NOT acquire and train their own Service Dogs so this was all by special circumstances and my association with behaviorists specializing in Service Dog training and research on different aspects of things that pertain to training quality Service Dogs.  I also happened to be one of the only people my behaviorist friends knew personally who had dog training experience and also needed a Hearing Dog.  My puppy became part of the program and study as my Hearing Dog.  He never retired - cancer took him at eight years old.  He was a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the dog for whom my current Border Collie, Gilley, filled the void in my heart.  Gilley was never supposed to be a Service Dog for me-just my new “BFF.”  As it turns out, Gilley’s equally as intelligent, special and helpful to me – but not as a Service Dog.

      Qualities desired in a Service Dog vary. The most basic qualities are a dog with a pleasant and unflappable personality, possessing good health, confidence, stamina, intelligence, desire to please, and the likelihood of a good “work ethic.”  Other qualities are also required, but those are the basics.  Other qualities desired are generally characteristics that relate to specific Service Dog types and duties.  You don’t want to use a Chihuahua as a Guide Dog because they’re too small, but they may make excellent Seizure Alert Dogs.  When it comes to Service Dogs, there is no singular suitable breed because there are so many different jobs for Service Dogs and so many dogs that can fit the need.  Many programs make a point to use rescue puppies and young adult dogs too.  By using rescues, they achieve meeting program goals while saving dogs’ lives. 

     Service Dog puppies are generally raised by breeders and foster families who specialize in raising puppies intended for Service Dog work. Many Service Dog programs have a list of “approved puppy raisers” to whom they send available puppies to be raised until they’re ready to enter their program of specialized training. Puppies are raised by foster families until they're 12-18 months.  All Service Dogs are well socialized, obedience trained; and generally have their Canine Good Citizen certificates before they ever begin their specialized Service Dog training.  Some will go on to become Guide Dogs, Hearing Dogs, Seizure Alert Dogs and many other specialized Service Dogs. Others are “cross-trained” to be Service Dogs for people with multiple disabilities requiring a combination of skills. 

      Each type of Service Dog is trained based on their size, personality, and particular characteristics needed for a specific type of service. Most Guide Dogs are taught the same basic skills of assisting their visually disabled human partners, but many are also taught added skills specific to helping partners with multiple disabilities.  Service Dogs are truly, “tailor made” with training for some “generic” skills and tailored training to fit the needs of human partners they will serve.  This ensures a disabled person obtains a Service Dog that truly provides things they need in ways that work for them with their disabilities and lifestyle needs. 

     By the time a Service Dog is fully trained and ready for a human partner, there is a huge investment of time, training, maintenance and expense involved.  Every effort is made to match dogs and humans that  are a good match together as working and life companions.  The average age of most dogs when finished with their Service Dog training is around three years old. Their expected life of service is generally five to seven years; and they are generally retired between 8-10 years old.  When retired, they usually are placed with someone else in another home.  The reason for retiring them to live in another home is that if they remain with their disabled partner, they often do not understand NOT working for them after a life of service with them. Retirement is meant to take them out of service and give them a pleasant retired life for the remainder of their elderly dog life.  

      People often wonder if a breed like the Border Collie, known for high drive and high energy can be a good Service Dog.  The answer is yes, if it’s the right Border Collie with the right training, matched for the right job.  But not every Golden Retriever or Labrador is a great potential Service Dog either!  It’s all a matter of a dog with the right set of characteristics for the job.  Energy level is not a criterion for inclusion or exclusion since energy can be channeled in positive ways.  Attitude and aptitude are far more important characteristics.

      Back to Cinder.  Could she be a real Service Dog? NO!  Cinder’s reactivity immediately disqualifies her from being either a Service Dog or a Therapy Dog.  A dog that’s unpredictable in any way is NOT a good candidate, especially if that unpredictability may also endanger someone.  Why would I consider making her my unofficial Hearing Dog?  I already have her and she is already showing me indicators that I could train her to help ME in MY home situation.  I would never consider any attempt to pass her off as a working Hearing Dog!  That is not the idea at all!  My thought is to capitalize on what she seems inclined to do for me already before I ever try to train her for more.  She is a Border Collie and needs a job so the more she can do, the more her job(s) can expand to give her a greater sense of purpose and expand her repertoire of skills to help her stay busy and have more purpose.  She can learn to tell me about various alarms, phones ringing, appliances making noises, doorbells, cars, and other sounds I can’t actually hear.  It’s not a physically demanding but they’re things she can do within our home to help me.  Since going out in public is generally stressful for her, I need to teach her things to occupy her in any way realistically possible.  Who knows?  Maybe she just really hates my alarm clock and wants me to shut the dang thing off; and she may not learn to alert me to other alarms unless she hates them too!  That could be the whole thing start to finish; and my idea of capitalizing on her as a helper may not be so great.  But I prefer to remain optimistic about adding, “handy momma’s hearing helper” to her list of skills if we can.

      I'm including some links to websites for Service Dog programs that have more information if interested in more/better information:

Assistance Dogs International (ADI)    http://www.assistancedogsinternational.org/
National Service Animal Registry (NSAR)     http://www.nsarco.com/
Service Dog Registration of America     http://www.servicedogregistration.org/
The United States Service Dog Registry      https://www.usservicedogregistry.org/
Seeing Eye-Guide Dogs   http://www.seeingeye.org
Paws with a Cause   https://www.pawswithacause.org
Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind   http://freedomguidedogs.org/
Dogs for the Deaf, Inc     http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/
Circle Tail, Inc.    http://circletail.net/
Midwest Assistance Dogs, Inc.     http://www.midwestassistancedogs.org/

Susquehanna Service Dogs    http://www.keystonehumanservices.org/susquehanna-service-dogs/default.php

St. Francis Service Dogs     http://saintfrancisdogs.org/
Indiana Canine Assistant Network, Inc. (ICAN)     http://www.icandog.org/
Guiding Eyes for the Blind     http://www.guidingeyes.org/ 
Leader Dogs for the Blind     http://www.leaderdog.org/ 
Pilot Dogs, Inc.     http://www.pilotdogs.org/

Again, back to Cinder.  Cinder’s been doing pretty well with her obedience work so far; and the first two weeks yielded no significant reactivity issues.  However, I've intentionally been strategic in where we claim our spot during class so I've been able to keep her view of most of the other pups fairly limited.   This week, I’ve been asked to move to the middle of our class so I can see and hear as much as possible while our instructor addresses the class; and so we try putting Cinder in a position to see more dogs more of the time.  I’m not sure I’m ready for Cinder to more easily see more pups, but we can’t improve if we don’t test ourselves.  I guess we'll soon find out how it works tomorrow evening.  I think we both come home tired after class, but I'm not sure which one of us is more so.  Cinder naps for the 45 minute drive and is still tired when we arrive home.  Stress is a definite energy sapper-for both of us.  I'm just glad that so far, we haven't been kicked out of class because I have a reactive dog that can't control herself-yet.  I'm learning to celebrate every victory no matter how large or small.  Just because we do something well once doesn't mean it will always be repeated so we pray for more victories than non-victories.
     Whatever path we trod, we’ll go together as friends to the end.  Meanwhile, today was just another day in the on-going endeavor Raising Cinder.

Cheers!

Chris

Cinder-Obedience Class Starts & That's the News...

We haven't been doing a lot of training work these last few weeks because I started a new job and I still haven't got my schedule honed yet.  But, that's about to change! This week we start a puppy obedience class for puppies Cinder's age in which none of the puppies are allowed to socialize nose-to-nose during the class.  Even at 15 feet away, Cinder gets reactive so just the idea of other puppies in the same area simultaneously is almost incomprehensible to me right now.  However, our behavioral specialist is the class teacher and she says we can and will work through it.  I hope so - for Cinder and me.  We both need this class to keep us motivated and accountable for making quantifiable training progress.  I do all right training on my own, but Cinder needs the experience of working in company. We also need to break the monotony of our weeknights now that summer is over and the days are growing shorter.  Tuesdays will be our special evenings of work away from home each week for the next nine weeks.  At least one night a week I know Cinder will come home tired and quiet.  It will be good for us both.

Last week may have been our last good week of swimming at either of our favorite swimming ponds for the season.  One pond developed an ugly, thick, green scum covering the entire pond in two days so we don't go near that pond any more.  The other pond seems fine, but our temperatures dove into the 40's by night and the 60's by day with more cloud cover than sunshine.  I'm sure we'll have a few more days we can go to the pond for a little swimming time, but the regular days of swimming for fun and exercise are likely over for this year.  Now I'm working to figure out how I can continue keeping Cinder exercised and fit through what may be another long, hard winter.  Ho hum. 

The last time we had swim time at the farm pond, we were invaded by turkeys.  The turkeys were loose and for some reason, found our pond play intriguing and enticing.  A couple even came up behind me and pecked my leg.  Dang turkeys!  About 10 of them gathered and they were ruining our playtime because they wouldn't relocate and leave us alone.  Ultimately, it was Gilley who had enough and decided they needed a good herding.  In the midst of playing a game of flyer, Gilley seemed to instruct Cinder to quit playing to, "watch and learn."  She ran along with him, but at a little distance as he made his first large circles around the turkeys to begin closing up the flock.  He rounded up the turkeys and Cinder watched, fascinated by the whole scene as Gilley maneuvered the dang turkeys toward a corner pen area.  Several times Cinder thought to try helping, but her version of help wasn't helpful. I was able to call her off pretty easily, which was somewhat surprising.  Gilley got them almost rounded up and Cinder darted over to one before I could either nab her or recall her.  She suddenly slowed, crouched and "assumed the position" of the typical herder on duty, stalking the turkeys.  I couldn't get her to recall or break her focus so I had Gilley do it by having him herd her into the back of my open Jeep!  I'm fairly certain she was strongly considering personally inviting that turkey to dinner - or rather, to BE dinner.  Once Gilley got Cinder in the Jeep, he resumed his duty rounding up turkeys and getting them put where they belonged. Then he ran over and jumped in the Jeep with Cinder, where they both watched the turkeys; and the new barn cat who came to taunt them too.  That was Cinder's first time to be so close to any fowl; and see Gilley at work herding (not hurting) them.  I'm okay with how that went since it was her first encounter.  

Recently we measured Cinder and she has outgrown her Uncle Gilley by about a half inch in height and she's about 3/4 of an inch shorter than her Uncle Buzz. That means Gilley is now my shortest dog.  Cinder's only nine months old, so she could grow even more over the next 11 months.  I feel her current size is pretty perfect so if she's done growing, I'm fine with that. I love the density of her bones - definitely not fine and spindly, but neither is she so big boned she's awkward or masculine looking.  Her chest has good space; and she's pretty proportionate for a pup.  It will be interesting to see what she looks like next Spring.

Cinder's newest interests of late are her die-hard interest in chasing balls and soft Frisbees (we call them flyers).  She LOVES chasing flyers in the field and would do it endlessly.  She didn't have any interest in them at all before she started swimming; and her interest in the fields without the boys has been limited until the last couple weeks.  Now, she's a Frisbee chaser no matter where we play.  However, when she's with her uncles, she habitually races ahead to chase and catch the flyer only to hand it off to Gilley to return it to us.  It's quite interesting that she seems to feel the flyers are Gilley's to return to our hands, but they're all hers to chase and catch mid-air whenever possible.  However, all three dogs chase the flyer so it often becomes quite comedic to watch them all suddenly trying to avoid collisions at the last second; sometimes actually colliding or doing some odd jumps and contortionist moves to avoid each other.  A few days ago, Cinder literally had too much of a power run when the flyer suddenly dove to the ground and she tried to stop to nab it; and her butt went into the air as she slid on her face for about six feet in the hayfield! It was HILARIOUS to see.  She never missed a beat though. She got up and ran back fast enough to grab the flyer off the ground a split second before Gilley nabbed it - only to run half way back to us and hand it to Gilley anyway.  Goofy girl.  Without the boys, she's very good at the game and manages to bring the flyer back to us - or at least within a couple feet of us.  Gilley always hands it to us, but Cinder hasn't got that figured out yet. Perhaps Cinder thinks I need to bend my fat self over and pick it up since that's similar to exercise!

That's pretty much all there is to tell for the last three weeks, since I've started my job.  As you can guess, going to work all day and arriving home between 5:15 - 5:45 means we scurry to get the chores done before dark and that's about all we've managed.  By the time I hone my schedule, it will be dark by the time I get home.  Maybe we'll have to work on more tricks just to have things to do to keep us busy and something to share with everyone.  

Right now, Princess Cinder awaits her "Mom & Me" indoor ball game for the evening.  It's about 20-40 minutes of Cinder & Gilley playing ball while Buzz barks the whole time. Buzz gets tired from all the barking while Cinder & Gilley wish he'd quit being an obstacle in their way - but he catches a few that they miss...and he gives them to Gilley and Cinder. It's just another day in the continuing endeavors Raising Cinder.  

Cheers!

Chris

Cinder & Star Trek-Both about a Mission to Boldly Go...

Sometimes it feels like I should open a post with, “Captain’s Logue, star date 08.12.2104,” as I continue (somewhat irregularly) the tales of raising Cinder.  It seems with our dogs, I am the captain of the ship in charge of all things dog.  Moving forward with updates of the last few weeks, this is Captain Chris advising you to grab a beverage and get comfy. Perhaps some “tea, Earl Grey” would fit this episode of Raising Cinder, a Border Collie Puppy as we journey on the more than five year mission to explore new worlds.

         As of last week, Cinder had a quick trip to the veterinarian on Monday because she had become sick with what I was sure was probably, and in fact turned out to be, a case of Giardiasis.  Since Cinder LOVES swimming and has been swimming most days to that point, Giardia was a pretty likely problem we were bound to encounter.  It’s a common issue with dogs that swim, wade, or drink from natural water sources like ponds, small creeks, and puddles. It typically affects puppies and elderly dogs or dogs with compromised immune systems more than “middle-aged dogs” so Cinder having it without the older boys getting it isn’t a great surprise. Additionally, she’s been given the lion’s share of opportunities for more exposure than the boys because I’ve been taking her on more outings than they’ve been on in an effort to concentrate on her training and reactivity.  Once we got the meds for the Giardiasis, 24 hours later and Cinder was pretty well back to normal, but I didn’t want to take her anywhere until I was sure she was past all symptoms.  Last week was a bit boring for both of us.

        Last Thursday, Cinder went on her first trek to the "horse house" without Gilley and Buzz.  While it seems simple, you have to know it's not.  There are 340 acres of farm for her to run off and become lost or engaged in bad situations; with an adjacent 200 acres of other farms on one side, 150 acre gun club on one side; and two highly traveled roads on two other sides. It could be disasterous to take a pup on an outing with that much open space flanked by serious dangers of the outside world. The boys have been raised there and have AWESOME recalls from distances so when Cinder's with them, we know she'll stick close to them.  It's a new thing to take a walk without them and be loose.  I had to try it.  We had a lovely little jaunt on the wooded trails.  I took a "flyer" (soft Frisbee) to see if she would engage in playing with it along the way as does Gilley.  I've found that taking walks with a flyer means Gilley and Buzz get about seven miles of running for every mile I walk.  I was hoping that could be true for Cinder too, even though her actually

 

bringing them back to me is a little less than perfect.  As it turned out, about a quarter mile in to our walk, Cinder began tugging at my pocket, wanting the flyer. Throughout our little jaunt, she played the game as I'd hoped-even bringing it all the way back to me, dropping it at my feet.  It was warm so Cinder needed a drink. She had to learn to drink from a plastic baggie since that was all I had to pour water in for her on the trail. We got back to car, parked in a field, and she wanted to continue playing the game
with our flyer. A few throws later and she began jumping to catch the flyer-something I hadn't thought she'd do.  I had to curtail the game because of her desire to do too much high, twisting jumping.  I have to admit, I will enjoy that with her when she's old enough to let her go for it with the jumps!  She has a mission to boldly go wherever she goes!

       Sunday evening, I decided it was time for all the dogs to have real baths, but I didn’t

 

really feel like bathing them in our bathroom because I didn’t want to clean up the mess afterwards.  Instead, I thought it a good time to go to the self-serve dog wash/car wash-it would be Cinder’s first visit.  Cinder’s had many baths so that’s not new. Going to the dog wash is new. It also meant using a ramp into the steel tub and back out; while also experiencing a different bath experience than those she gets at home.  When we arrived at the dog wash, imagine my surprise when I patted my hand on the ramp to the tub and Cinder got right on and up it, into the tub and sat down as if she’d done it many times.  She sat quietly and calmly for her bath and seemed to enjoy it.  I had no idea it would go so well.  Yay!

         Sunday night and Monday, I was deathly ill. I won’t go into detail, but my husband, Brian, was ready to take me to the Emergency Room.  I wouldn’t let him.  I said it takes three days of illness like that before I’m willing to go.  I slept all day yesterday.  None of the three dogs were away from me!  All three were on the bed, snuggled beside me.  When I got up, wobbly and sick, they assumed positions beside me and went with me.  Even Cinder, a seven month old puppy, was glued to me.  Instead of being her normal bouncy self, wanting to play all day, she snuggled on the bed by my feet and never moved unless I got up-for over 16 hours!  Brian had to go to work last evening in order for his overtime to be counted as overtime-something we desperately need with me unemployed. He’d wanted to crate Cinder in his absence, afraid she’d get into things or generally be too needy for me to rest. He called a couple times to check on me; and I’m sure he expected that although I’d said Cinder need not be crated while he was gone, he was sure I’d be crying for him to come home and rescue me from Hurricane Cinder.  I told him each time he called that she was still on the bed with me.  Cinder never left me and didn’t make any messes of any kind anywhere while he was at work.  He came in and marveled that we were all snuggled up almost the same as we’d been when he left.  One has to wonder if it’s just her nature to stay with me of her own accord; or was it the influence of Gilley and Buzz, my constant companions and guardians? Either way, staying with me the entire day without being bothersome and without leaving for even a few minutes to go potty, get a toy, or something is pretty impressive for a seven month old pup. 

        Today I am MUCH better and decided it was a good day to put Cinder back to doing our regular outings to various places in which we may encounter a few dogs in different settings so we can work on her reactivity. After over a week off from our reactivity work, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  First we went to the local farm store.  She was as good as gold with impeccable manners the whole time.  Alas, there were no other dogs there while we were there so it was a good experience overall, but yielded no challenge to test her reactivity.  We then went to PetSmart.  During the weekdays, PetSmart is fairly safe because there is a slow, steady stream of dogs-usually no more than three in the store simultaneously during the day.  That’s doable for us because it means we can find an aisle to retreat to away from other dogs for her to regroup if she is reactive.  They also have doggy daycare dogs in the play room with a viewing glass wall.  That is a good thing for us because Cinder can see, hear, and smell the other dogs but we have complete safety from them with built-in exits down the aisles. 

We went in the store and right away, there was an elderly woman shopping with her sweet Poodle.  Cinder saw the Poodle, but since it didn’t come toward her or bark, she seemed to think it was okay.  We were able to walk within six feet of it several times without her reacting at all; and without me having to redirect her.  Then we went to the harness aisle since it’s about time Cinder gets a larger car harness.  However there was a man and his dog trying EVERY harness style on his dog WITHOUT a leash on his dog while doing it.  We skimmed past that aisle fast! That dog seemed friendly and being off leash, I’m sure would’ve come over to Cinder if we’d gone down that aisle. I wasn’t willing to tempt fate that much. 

The last time Cinder went to PetSmart, she’d done pretty well sitting about 10 feet from the doggy daycare window, but closer presented enough tension that we walked by, but didn’t linger any closer than 10 feet.  Today I decided to push that envelope a bit.  We got about six feet from the window and she sat looking, alert but quiet and non-reactive.  After a few minutes, I moved her about four feet away.  Then a couple terriers just had to start jumping and barking at her.  The moment they jumped, Cinder was reactive so we had to walk away.  It took some work and a few minutes for her to quiet again.  We went back a few more times and each time, Cinder was good until another dog either jumped or barked-even with constant temptation of CHEESE.  I took her back once more and sat her at the 6-8 foot range and moved her away before anything could happen so we’d end on a positive note.  We went back to the harness aisle-guess who was STILL there trying harnesses on! So we bypassed that aisle and went down another with the Poodle on it.  She went past the Poodle again just fine!!! YAY! PROGRESS!  We then hovered on the main middle aisle and a Boxer came by. Cinder was non-reactive until the dog sniffed the tip of her tail, then she was startled and jumped up, but wasn’t reactive about it as the Boxer moved on. Yay!  Next a noisy, spastic Schnauzer came in.  I had Cinder sit and face the dog’s direction so she wouldn’t be surprised by him, but as he strained on his leash, I stepped back a few feet to keep him from getting in Cinder’s “air space.”  She didn’t react, but he’s the kind that would’ve elicited it if I hadn’t stepped back from him.  Basically, the only reactivity she expressed was at the doggy daycare dogs that jumped and barked.  Overall, one very great day at PetSmart for Cinder!  I’m not sure how or why things seemed better today than other visits, but whatever the reason, I don’t really care.  I’m just glad to see ANY improvements so I’ll take them and not worry about it.

Overall, Cinder’s growing up faster than I’d like.  At seven months old, it’s hard to tell by looking at her that she’s still a puppy.  I rather miss the little puppy she was last winter because of course, all puppies are cute and lovable.  But, I also love that even though she’s more like a young adult to look at, she’s still all puppy with gusts of seeming like an experienced old pro.  Her new discoveries and her improving abilities are always fun and entertaining.  Her loving, fun-loving prankster youthfulness combined with her devotion as a companion and friend never cease to keep us laughing.  Sometimes I think she’s got the raw deal, stuck in a family of two aging adult humans with two aging adult uncles. Sometimes I’m equally sure she’s the perfect fit for all of us.  Her loyalty and devotion were proven with my short bout of nasty flu.  Sometimes she is a bit “bossy.”  Most of the time she’s simply wonderful and we wouldn’t trade a minute with her for a minute without her.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Princess Cinder isn’t ALWAYS wonderful.  She managed to swipe and eat a half stick of butter from the counter this morning without even moving the glass butter dish on the edge of the counter!  However, the upside is that at least she didn’t steal and eat the stack of pancakes Brian had sitting beside the butter she stole.  Clearly, we have a counter-surfer on our hands!  I’ve NEVER had one of those so we are embarking on yet a whole other adventure in the ongoing endeavor of raising Cinder.

“Live long and prosper.”

End logue entry, star date: 8.12.2014

Captain Chris-out.

Testing: 1, 2, 3-Do we have Reactivity?

              

           Last night, Cinder and I had a minor adventure.  We went to Marilyn’s puppy class graduation night.  Marilyn wanted us to stay at the “perimeter” of the class, gradually working our way toward them in slow increments; retreating as needed to keep Cinder calm and quiet, focused on me.  The hope was we could get her close to the group and keep her focus on me instead of the other dogs, testing her limits.  We needed to see at what distance she would remain calm and see what activities might stir her up too.  Maybe we should refer to this as, "Testing: 1,2,3-Do we have Reactivity?"

               Initially, Cinder barked a few times upon arrival and I was concerned I’d need binoculars for distance viewing of the class. But, I “worked the program” until we were able to get within about 30 feet of the group.  However, as dogs would peel off from the group to do various things which meant coming closer to us, I had to work at getting Cinder to focus on me and stay quiet.  We’d back away and when she’d quiet down, I’d stop retreating.  Ultimately, we were always about 30 feet away from things most of the evening.  We were able to get closer and even worked near a couple teams for short times, but the closest for any length of time was about 15 feet away.  Even at the 30 feet, it was still a MAJOR improvement over the distances before Cinder would go off even a few weeks ago!

Once the initial phase of the class was over and they moved to some basic puppy agility skills and games, we were asked to do a few things too.  Marilyn had some kids’ pop-up play tunnel cubes with openings on all four sides, connected to form a long tunnel.  This is the way she likes to start pups learning about agility tunnels because the open holes allow the pups to see (and sometimes exit) and not be fearful going through them.  She had us come to about 8 feet from the tunnel and let another woman and her pup work the tunnel while I kept Cinder’s focus.  Then it was our turn.  Easy stuff for Cinder since she already goes through the regular tunnels at home.  However, the hard part for Cinder was when Marilyn took her from me to go to the opposite end of the tunnel to start her run.  You’d have thought Cinder was trying to avoid a killer bear!  She LOVES Marilyn, but when Marilyn tried to take her away from me, it was a huge fuss.  Marilyn succeeded, but not without some fuss.  Each time, Cinder was more than thrilled to come through that tunnel to me like a cannonball shot from cannon.  Then we had to sit close by while several other dogs also did the same exercise.

After the tunnel exercise, they’d set up a very low, puppy version of an agility dog walk consisting of three 12 foot boards and two solid flat concrete pavers for the elevating points.  The first part of the exercise was to walk across the boards, being sure the pups each made contact with the boards as they crossed them.  Then we made attempts to have each pup walk the length of them, just as you would want them to do for agility, using some kind of “bait” & holding it very low so they could look at the boards as they walked.”  So we stood close by as all the pups did that exercise, keeping Cinder’s focus on me.  Finally it was our turn and Cinder made it look easy. But, I’m convinced she would do ANYTHING for a piece of cheese!

That was the end of the activities so Marilyn had the group gather into a semi-circle around her while she gave the class Q & A time and wound things up with parting comments.  We resumed our place about 15 feet from the nearest pup. Cinder heard one of the other pups bark at something and she began to react.  Quickly we retreated and I regained her focus about 25 feet away and we worked our way a little closer, ending about 15 feet away before I could see her getting a little unnerved again.  At that point, the class was about to break so I took that time to gather our things and take them to the car.  After most of the people and pups cleared way but one, we made our way back to Marilyn and Karen (her assistant trainer for the class).  Cinder did well until we got about eight feet from the other pup and we had to retreat to about 15 feet again. 

We waited while the others finished chatting and were able to join Marilyn & Karen.  Marilyn asked Karen about an evaluation of Cinder from her perspective.  Both feel that Cinder’s young and we’re already working on the issues with some positive signs despite my frustration and our set-backs.  Both feel Cinder’s smart and athletic so capable of learning and doing a lot if I can keep working to gain her focus and attention consistently.  They reminded me readily that there WILL be challenges and set-backs; we will both be frustrated frequently along the way, but perseverance should pay off.  The both feel Cinder’s good with people, it’s other dogs that she doesn’t trust.  They both also said, “She is extremely bonded with you, so you’re her person and there will never be a doubt about that. It’ll be very hard for anyone else to get her to bond with them the way she’s bonded with you.” Marilyn then followed that with, “She gets utterly panicked about leaving you.  She’s getting a lot of her courage from you. It’s both good and bad.  You know why it’s bad, but the good part of it means that you can capitalize on that with her and in doing your training.”  Karen said, “She’s probably kind of a dominant female too isn’t she?”  I acknowledged that indeed, she is a “bossy, mouthy girl” that rules over the boys-to a point, at which time the boys let her know they’ve had enough and her puppy license is going to expire soon.  They both laughed and Karen said, “She’d be a perfect Aussie bitch because we call them ‘bossy Aussies.’” Both went on to reassure me that while many things may not be things Cinder will be able to do because the stress involved is not worth the work for her to try them, there are many other things she’ll be well able to do.  Pet therapy is definitely off the table for her-entirely wrong personality, especially once the reactivity issue became obvious.  Going to certain places and doing some things are not going to be enjoyable-for either of us-so let those ideas of things to do with her go by the wayside.  However, they said some of the top obedience, Rally-O, disk dogs, and agility dogs have reactivity issues so she could potentially still be good and even compete in those disciplines. We just have to go through all the training and take it all one step at a time, knowing we’ll have bad days and set-backs, but we have to keep working our way along.

Marilyn’s having a surgery soon and will be out of commission for an unknown period.  Hopefully by the time she’s back on her feet, I’ll be on a job and in a better position to try one of Marilyn’s group classes with Cinder.  Meanwhile, we keep working at the “homework” she’s given us and keep trying to build on our rapport when she’s out, in public with me.

Last night after the drive home, I opened the hatch of the car expecting Cinder to jump out.  Instead, she was SOUND asleep.  I tried to wake her and she was obviously too far out of it to jump out of the car safely and walk into the house.  I carried her into the house.  Once awake, she was ready to go potty; say hello to Gilley and Buzz; and head for bed.  She was EXHAUSTED.  The stress of being quiet and staying focused on me for two hours around all those people, dogs, and activities was more than either of us banked on.  For once, I KNOW Cinder was completely worn out at bedtime. 

 It felt better to go to the class and see that Cinder can focus on me enough to be nearby other dogs without instantly going off uncontrollably.  It felt good that both Marilyn and Karen feel Cinder’s reactivity is manageable and won’t preclude as many things as I’d initially thought it might-assuming we stay on track and keep working toward improving and managing it better.  It’s nice to know that I don’t have the weirdest dog ever; and many dogs are worse than Cinder.  Not that I want other dogs to have or be problems, but it’s nice knowing it’s a fairly common situation.  It’s nice that both trainers like Cinder and are encouraging me to not give up-letting me know that all the set-backs and missteps along the way are really normal and part of the learning curve. It’s nice hearing all this from people who have more experience with it and have that experience within the breed.  I’ve learned that Border Collies are breed apart from most others and if you don’t know and understand the breed, anything else you know about dogs may not apply to them; and usually doesn’t apply in the same ways.  If nothing else, our adventure to the puppy class taught me that we can learn to manage Cinder’s reactivity if I just keep staying the course of working with her.  It won’t be easy, but I’ve always loved a good challenge anyway!

So ends this update on our latest endeavors testing Cinder’s reactivity progress. This also concludes another day doing our best as we continue the endeavor of raising Cinder.

Cheers!

Chris

Travel Scare & Safety

We had a very scary dog travel experience today, despite everything we try to do to keep our dogs safe in transit.  My hope is you’ll keep reading to the end of this and share it with others in an effort to learn from our most recent and scary lesson!  Sometimes failing to check something simple and routine; getting in too big a hurry; or otherwise getting side-tracked from focusing on something can be the one thing that causes grief later.  This was a day that I didn’t follow up on a small detail that could’ve ended extremely badly. 

I’ve traveled dogs all of my life.  It doesn’t make me an expert, but does make me experienced.  Growing up, we always had station wagons and cargo vans to transport our show dogs in their crates.  Now, my husband and I drive a Jeep Patriot and Ford Ranger truck – neither made to transport dogs.  If you haven’t got a cargo van, odds are, you’re traveling your dogs in your family vehicle and probably uncrated.  Most people I know frequently travel at least one or two dogs uncrated. 

I’ve traveled extensively and I’ve seen many things in my life.  I’ve had the displeasure of watching several dogs allowed to hang their heads out windows be seriously hurt and killed.  I’ve seen dogs jump out half open windows going down highways.  I’ve seen car accidents in which the dogs inside were freed by opened or partly opened doors and hatches; only to be hit by other cars.  I’ve seen people who’ve had heart attacks or seizures in their cars with their loose dogs inside, snarling at police and rescue crews trying to save their humans-which never goes well for the dogs.  That doesn’t begin to span the list of ugly dog travel scenes I’ve personally witnessed, but you get the idea-stuff happens and it’s often quite ugly. My thoughts are to try to avoid some of the nasty things I’ve seen and heard about whenever possible.  Nothing is ever totally safe; many things are safer in some ways and not so safe in others; but some safety is better than no effort made at all.

I’m not a fan of dogs being loose in a car for numerous reasons-I don’t care how good the dog is because safety is my concern. We’ve found that since we can’t fit crates in the Patriot for even two of the three dogs, we don’t use any crates.  We make use of the Patriot’s cargo design.  Buzz travels in the back passenger seat because he’s the biggest and constantly shifts around to see out the windows. Gilley and Cinder ride in the far rear cargo area together because they both fit perfectly and they both lay down once we’re in motion.   In an effort to keep them from bounding out should a door or window suddenly be opened, I decided they would always wear harnesses and be secured in the car. It also keeps them from jumping around inside the car.  In the cargo area, Gilley and Cinder get fastened to tethers secured to the steel cargo tie-downs, designed to keep cargo from shifting.  In the back seat, we attach Buzz to the seat belt shoulder strap with metal carabineers fastened to his top harness rings; and the seatbelt is fastened through and under his harness strap.    None of the dogs can randomly escape just because the doors open.  They can’t hop over seats and move around inside the car either.  It’s been a good system in many situations.  Many have asked me why we do it and it’s strictly out of my own paranoid efforts to try to make traveling with them safer for all of us.  If nothing else, it keeps them from jumping out the minute we open their doors.

Today, we truly had an unscheduled test of the system that was absolutely scary.  As we were returning home from a jaunt with all three dogs this morning, we were nearly stunned by narrowly escaping a potentially awful incident.  As we neared a turn in town, I noticed the “door open” light on my dash popped on.  I told Brian and as we pulled to the traffic light to stop before turning, Brian yelled, “It’s Buzz’s door! His door popped open! Stop the car and stay stopped!”  In my mind, I can’t tell you the horror I thought might follow.  We were in the middle of traffic with three cars behind us, two beside us; at a BUSY intersection.  Brian wrenched himself around in the passenger seat to grab Buzz and try to shut the door.  After about 20 seconds, he was able to accomplish the mission.  As we turned, I pulled into a parking lot for us to get things situated.  Buzz had somehow managed to pop the door handle with either his flat collar or his harness as he’d been nose-printing the window.  The door must not have been locked and when he popped the handle, the door popped open.  That wasn’t the worst part.  The worst part was that he’d somehow gotten OUT of his harness (which has NEVER happened before) and he was loose in the back seat when the door popped open!  If the door had opened while we were at full speed on the highway-a half mile back, he might’ve fallen or jumped from our moving vehicle with two lanes of high speed traffic on a narrow state road.  If the door had opened even 30 seconds later, we’d have turned the corner, the door might’ve flung open and clipped a street post; and Buzz may have escaped from the car into one of the busiest intersections in our town!  LUCKILY, it happened as I was already slowing, nearly stopped, at the traffic light! Brian was able to get hold of Buzz and shut the door while the light was red; AND there was a parking lot to pull into to get everything squared away again.  I assumed that Brian locked Buzz’s door when he loaded Buzz in.  We’ve done it often enough I rarely have to think about it because it’s such a habit. Brian doesn’t do it as often, but I still thought it was habit for him so I never thought to double check.  The whole thing worked out okay, but what a minute of utter terror to discover the door popped open and Buzz was loose in the car while we were in motion – two things that NEVER happened before!

My caution to you is to always think about the safety of yourself and your dogs while traveling.  Use some kind of harness system to fasten them into your car so they can’t freely exit if a door or window is opened.  LOCK all your doors that your pets can possibly get close to-just like you should lock all doors with small children.  As we experienced today, you never know the weird, unforeseen things they can do that could lead to disaster.  If you have health issues, it’s a good idea to secure your dog in a rear seat, away from you while in transit so that if something happens and you require a rescue squad to extract and assist you, you don’t lose valuable time because they have to first secure your pet to get to you safely.  

Another thing to consider whether traveling around the block or across the nation with your pet is putting together a doggy “go bag” or travel kit you can leave in your car.  It should contain a spare collar, leash, bowl, and a couple bottles of water.  I have one that includes added things like: a baggie of dry kibble; empty Ziploc baggies; some basic emergency items; a couple old towels; and some old toys.  You never know when your vehicle could break down or you could be away from home longer than expected.  Having a few extra things in your car for your dog could come in handy-especially in the summer when it doesn’t take long for anyone to get hot and thirsty.  However you travel with your dog(s), just try to stay safe out there!

This concludes another update and another day in the on-going endeavor of raising Cinder.  Stay safe out there!

Cheers!

Chris

Spinner Bottle Treat Toy-Cinder Tested, Cinder Approved!

Our Dimensions: 24”Tall X 22” Wide X 10” Deep

NOTE:  You could probably make it with one bottle, but

           2-3 bottles is more fun for the dog.

Supplies:

·    Wood to build a frame–recommend a pine board: 1” Thick X  10 or 12” Wide  X 8’  Long
·    Screws to screw the frame together
·    1 piece of metal electrical conduit
·    2 metal cotter pins
·    2 large, clear plastic bottles with large mouths and screw-on caps. * We used V8 Fusion bottles because they’re PERFECT in size, shape, mouth size (for filling); the're fairly thick, durable plastic; and they’re easily replaceable.  They also have “panels” with dot impressions that make it handy for measuring the PERFECT spot to drill your holes for the conduit to pass through.

Tools:

·   Drill
·   Drill screwdriver bit or screwdriver
·   One drill bit slightly larger than the electrical conduit
·   One metal drill bit to drill holes in the conduit for cotter pins–drill bit size depends on size cotter pins you use.
·   One drill bit slightly bigger than the food or treats you plan to use-for the hole in the bottle cap for food to fall through.
·   Tape measure
·    Pencil & permanent marker

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the Frame:

Based on the sizes of the bottles you use, make a rectangular frame with an elevated bottom “shelf” as the base:  
·       Cut two boards 24” long for the sides; measure 3-4” from the bottom, mark a straight line and that will be the bottom shelf line.
·       Measure and cut the shelf bottom board to a length of 22”; screw the shelf bottom to each side as marked.
·       Measure and cut the top to 24-26”.  Screw it to the top of the upright sides, making sure they are equally spaced on both sides & the sides are square, & equal the width of the bottom.
·    On the outside of each side of the frame, make marks for the holes for the conduit to pass through.  
Based on the size bottles you use, measure from the bottom shelf upward and place a pencil mark in the center of the side boards at the height you want the conduit. That is your drilling point for the hole for the conduit.  * Leave at least 2-4” of space between the bottles on the top and bottom so they’ll spin freely and if you need to replace the bottles, that space should accommodate lots of other bottles.   
·       Sand the frame as needed for safety and/or painting.
·       Paint frame if/as desired.

   NOTE: We used the elevated bottom shelf as the base because it allows for a certain amount of uneven floor or ground without worry of rocking, shifting, or tipping.  We also decided you could use a narrower width board overall, but if your dog is as intent on playing with it as ours, the wider frame provides better stability.

 For the Bottles:

  · Thoroughly clean and dry the bottles & lids with hot water; then remove labels. 
· Using permanent marker, measure from the bottom & place a dot at the approximate center of the bottles. *If using V8 Fusion Light bottles, the side “panels” have dotted impressions with 7 dots across the widest area of the panels-use the center dot of one of the panels and mark another one in EXACTLY same position as the first mark, on the opposite side of the bottle. 
 ·   Using the dots on the bottles, place your drill bit tip & drill cut the holes for the conduit to slide through the bottles.

·   Mark a dot in the center top of the lid to drill a hole for the food/treats to fall out.
·   Using the dog food/treat sized drill bit, drill the hole through the bottle cap.

CONDUIT:

·  Measure the final width of the OUTSIDE of the box frame & cut your conduit two (2) inches LONGER than the box width.

·  About ¾” from each end of the conduit, drill holes for the cotter pins.

  

FINAL ASSEMBLY:

·  Place a cotter pin in one end of the conduit.  Place the conduit through one side of the frame, leaving enough room to put the bottles onto the conduit.
·  Once both bottles are on the conduit, slide the conduit out the opposite side of the frame and place the other cotter pin in the conduit.  The cotter pins keep the conduit from coming out as the bottles spin.

  

 

You should now have a completed Spinner Bottle Treat Toy!

NOTES: Do NOT paint the conduit because it will need to be washed periodically from the oily dog food/treats; paint could flake off into the food/treats & be eaten by your dog.

Please supervise your pet(s) while using this item!  It could be tipped, scooted, or they may chew on parts of it so you’ll need to watch them while using this toy.

Sometimes the food FLIES out and sometimes it merely drops out when the bottles are upturned so you may want to use this toy outside on a patio or on a hard surface floor like your kitchen.  It wouldn’t work well on a deck since food/treats may slip between boards or fly off the deck-with your dog flying after them!

FILLING the bottles: Unscrew the cap, hold the bottle in an upright, angled position and insert food/treats; the reapply the cap.  Weight of the food/treats will keep the bottle upright.  I use a small food scoop to insert the food/treats.  * If you use a small necked bottle with a small opening, you'll have a harder time filling it.  

This is not meant to be a dog feeder! Only fill the bottle with a limited amount of food or treats-enough to be fun for 5-20 minutes. The added food/treats will increase your dog's overall daily intake so you may want to use this toy only a few times a week to keep from adding too many calories to his/her daily diet.

You may have to show your dog/puppy how to get the treats out and help them figure out the “game” a few times.  Cinder learned without help but she’s EXTREMELY food motivated!

Cinder tested, Cinder approved!

Cheers!

Chris