Sunday, December 30, 2007
What's up with the dirty treats?
KD had a rawhide that she had taken outside the other day and it was softer today. She ran around with it and chewed on it for a while and then she buried it in a hole that the other dogs had dug in front of the pond. Later in the evening, she dug up the now dirt covered rawhide and was running around with it and then was laying down to eat it. She gave it to me in the house and I washed it clean and gave it back. I don't understand the eating of dirt, but I guess we have moved a long way away from the animal state that dogs still live in and if we humanize them, we are wrong.
How are the adopted dogs doing?
Hey, if any of the adopting families of any of my 2007 dogs are reading this, please drop me a comment to the blog to let me know how things are going.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Happy New Year
Just got back from a short run with KD (about 2 miles). I changed her collar to the Martingale collar that I picked up at the shelter when I picked her up. I put on the running belt/leash that I had bought back with Hermes and let the leash out a bit so that she had some room to run and off we went. Within a block or so, it became obvious that too much leash was just a good way for her to become tangled, so I shortened the leash back up. She fell in behind me and ran with me the whole way. We took it nice and slow. I had taken KD out on the flexi-leash the other night to run off some energy and she was off like a shot. I ran along behind her and after about 3/4 of a mile, she was running alongside me instead of off in front of me. From that, I knew that if I kept the pace slow and even, we wouldn't have any problems.
I was somewhat inspired by what I have been reading in Cesar Millan's first book that I am now reading. He takes his pack out for about 4 hours of exercise each morning to get them in tune with him and to run off their excess energy. I haven't been getting up early since I am on vacation, but with no where to be, I figured that we would start off the morning (after a bit of lazing around and checking my email) by running off some energy. KD is a low to medium energy dog, so 2 miles is about the distance for her, at least at this point. KD fell in behind me just under the leash length and there was enough slack that I wasn't pulling her and she was "migrating" behind me. I stopped twice to let her sniff a bit and then we got back to it. She never challenged me for the lead, she just took her place behind and followed along. We came inside and she grabbed some water and wandered the house for a minute and then laid down on her dog bed.
Yesterday, after the cleaning ladies came and all the dog toys were piled up in one spot, KD found a bone in the pile that had been lost since before she came to the house. She seemed to like it a lot. She wanted to take it outside, so I let her. She ran around the yard with it looking for a good spot to bury it and then decided to bury it under the tree behind the pond (which is dry for the winter). The area under and between the 2 trees directly behind the house is dirt covered with crushed limestone. She dug a spot at the base of the tree with her front paws and then set the bone in and adjusted it a bit and then started to cover it over by pushing piles of stuff on it with her snout. She would bury her nose into the ground/rocks and push a pile of stuff onto it until it was mounded over. I was surprised that her nose wasn't more sensitive.
Yesterday, I also found an outside toy that she likes. We had played ball a bit with the tennis balls in the backyard and she would run after it, dash back and then carry it around a bit near me and then drop it. She played a bit, but didn't seem overly enthusiastic. Well, yesterday I was working on the grill and I noticed that I still had the little green squeaky football on top of it from when Watson was here. I took it down and squeezed it so it squeaked and her head turned and she perked up. I squeaked it a few more times and then threw it and she dashed after it. She picked it up and squeaked it while she ran and brought it back near me but wanted me to chase her or play tug with it, but I wasn't having any of that. Finally she let it go so that I could squeeze it and throw it again and we went on this way for a while longer. She also played with it later in the day. This seems to be the first outside toy that grabs her interest. The toy is the green (small or medium?) Toy Shoppe Rubber Football. When you squeeze it, it kind of sounds like a duck. (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750767).
I was somewhat inspired by what I have been reading in Cesar Millan's first book that I am now reading. He takes his pack out for about 4 hours of exercise each morning to get them in tune with him and to run off their excess energy. I haven't been getting up early since I am on vacation, but with no where to be, I figured that we would start off the morning (after a bit of lazing around and checking my email) by running off some energy. KD is a low to medium energy dog, so 2 miles is about the distance for her, at least at this point. KD fell in behind me just under the leash length and there was enough slack that I wasn't pulling her and she was "migrating" behind me. I stopped twice to let her sniff a bit and then we got back to it. She never challenged me for the lead, she just took her place behind and followed along. We came inside and she grabbed some water and wandered the house for a minute and then laid down on her dog bed.
Yesterday, after the cleaning ladies came and all the dog toys were piled up in one spot, KD found a bone in the pile that had been lost since before she came to the house. She seemed to like it a lot. She wanted to take it outside, so I let her. She ran around the yard with it looking for a good spot to bury it and then decided to bury it under the tree behind the pond (which is dry for the winter). The area under and between the 2 trees directly behind the house is dirt covered with crushed limestone. She dug a spot at the base of the tree with her front paws and then set the bone in and adjusted it a bit and then started to cover it over by pushing piles of stuff on it with her snout. She would bury her nose into the ground/rocks and push a pile of stuff onto it until it was mounded over. I was surprised that her nose wasn't more sensitive.
Yesterday, I also found an outside toy that she likes. We had played ball a bit with the tennis balls in the backyard and she would run after it, dash back and then carry it around a bit near me and then drop it. She played a bit, but didn't seem overly enthusiastic. Well, yesterday I was working on the grill and I noticed that I still had the little green squeaky football on top of it from when Watson was here. I took it down and squeezed it so it squeaked and her head turned and she perked up. I squeaked it a few more times and then threw it and she dashed after it. She picked it up and squeaked it while she ran and brought it back near me but wanted me to chase her or play tug with it, but I wasn't having any of that. Finally she let it go so that I could squeeze it and throw it again and we went on this way for a while longer. She also played with it later in the day. This seems to be the first outside toy that grabs her interest. The toy is the green (small or medium?) Toy Shoppe Rubber Football. When you squeeze it, it kind of sounds like a duck. (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750767).
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Happy Holidays
I took KD to the shelter on Friday as we are out of town for the weekend. I was taken aback by seeing Watson at the shelter. He seems to have gotten noticeably taller since I dropped him off on Tuesday. He is starting to get some of that lanky hound dog look to him. Everyone at the shelter really likes him and he seems to be doing fine. I brought bones for Watson, Valerie and KD. KD didn't seem pleased to be put in her kennel at the shelter. She looked at me as if she wanted to know what she did to get returned. I will pick her up on Monday and she will be happy to see me.
I read Cesar Millan's second book this weekend. It is pretty good and I especially like a couple of tables to analyze what is normal and what is problem behavior. I am having some difficulty visualizing what he means when he talks about calm-assertive. I understand the concept, but visualizing it in myself is the difficult part. I know that we could have done better with Watson and that KD needs some work on meeting new people. I can see that I need to use his no touch, no talk, no eye contact rule for having new people come in the house that the dog hasn't met and let the dog approach them on her own terms. There is some good stuff in the book. Next on my reading list is Good Owners, Great Dogs. I checked them both out of the library and I will start reading through it tonight after we get back from the library.
I read Cesar Millan's second book this weekend. It is pretty good and I especially like a couple of tables to analyze what is normal and what is problem behavior. I am having some difficulty visualizing what he means when he talks about calm-assertive. I understand the concept, but visualizing it in myself is the difficult part. I know that we could have done better with Watson and that KD needs some work on meeting new people. I can see that I need to use his no touch, no talk, no eye contact rule for having new people come in the house that the dog hasn't met and let the dog approach them on her own terms. There is some good stuff in the book. Next on my reading list is Good Owners, Great Dogs. I checked them both out of the library and I will start reading through it tonight after we get back from the library.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Sweet little girl
KD is a sweet little girl (she is only about 15" tall). I haven't had a little dog in a while in my fostering. She had some minor adjustment getting used to being here, but is doing great. The first day that she was home, she growled at Ben and Sam when they came back after school and she paced around them. She just needed to get used to them and we didn't have any incidents. What I remembered about KD that she likes to get on the furniture. We are working on that. She also growled/snapped at Lori on Tuesday night when she went to get KD off the bed while Ben / Lori/ I were working in the dining room. So, 2 incidents of her snapping (one at Ben when he startled her), but those seem to be over. I have taken her in the car a few times (Petsmart, school, etc) and she seems ok, but not totally happy. Sometimes she curls up in the back corner, sometimes she sticks her head out the window.
She really loves to be out on a leash for a walk. I haven't figured out what she likes to play. She likes to hang out in the back yard if I am hanging out back there or if I have the back door ajar. She happily wanders around sniffing, etc.
Tuesday, the day I brought her home from the shelter, I tried to let her sleep on the doggy bed on the floor in my room. She hopped up on the bed and I put her back down. She hopped up again and I took her to her crate and put her to bed there. She slept in her crate at the shelter every night and I didn't have any issues with her getting in. Last night, when she got tired, she went in the back of the house to my room and laid on her doggy bed. When I went to bed, she stayed in her spot and stayed there all night. We are still working on staying off the furniture, but I think it was a good first step. She likes to curl up in my lap (or really lay across it) and she loves to give kisses. We just need to make a better match for her from the shelter and get her a forever home. I will be taking her to my Petco adoption day weekend after this.
She really loves to be out on a leash for a walk. I haven't figured out what she likes to play. She likes to hang out in the back yard if I am hanging out back there or if I have the back door ajar. She happily wanders around sniffing, etc.
Tuesday, the day I brought her home from the shelter, I tried to let her sleep on the doggy bed on the floor in my room. She hopped up on the bed and I put her back down. She hopped up again and I took her to her crate and put her to bed there. She slept in her crate at the shelter every night and I didn't have any issues with her getting in. Last night, when she got tired, she went in the back of the house to my room and laid on her doggy bed. When I went to bed, she stayed in her spot and stayed there all night. We are still working on staying off the furniture, but I think it was a good first step. She likes to curl up in my lap (or really lay across it) and she loves to give kisses. We just need to make a better match for her from the shelter and get her a forever home. I will be taking her to my Petco adoption day weekend after this.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Welcome back to KD
Watson has completed his meds for kennel cough and has a slot at the shelter so I took him to the shelter this morning. He didn't seem to happy about being left there, but he needs some time with other dogs and he will be very popular at the shelter. When I took Watson, I said I really wanted to give KD a break from the shelter and that is what I did this morning. You may remember KD from her sleepover with Hermes here at the house (August 11th blog post). She is a cute little basset mix who is now the dog at the shelter for the longest time. She did get adopted out twice last month, but came back in a day or so. The first time for chasing cats and the second time for being aggressive over toys. She is a real sweety and the only issue I had with her before was that she is insistent on getting on the furniture (sofa and bed). I washed all the toys and dog comforters to get rid of any hint of kennel cough germs (bleach, bleach, bleach). We may go out of town next weekend to visit my mom and KD will have to spend the weekend at the shelter, but she will otherwise be with us until we get her adopted out. This month is a 5th Saturday month, so I will be taking her with me to Petco Great Hills.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Separation Anxiety
Hermes went home yesterday. I went by the shelter when they opened and hung out in the office with him for about 20 minutes but then had to go because it was rainy out and I wanted to be available to pick Ben up at school.
I experimented more with leaving Watson inside by himself with all the doors in the back of the house closed so he didn't go into those rooms and it went fine again. The first time I went out, I came back to find him just laying on his comforter resting and the second time I went out I found him laying curled up on the couch. I don't let him on the couch and so had to go shoo him off, but from a leaving him by himself aspect, it was successful. No hints of destruction of any property. I am not sure that there is serious separation issues with him. He doesn't like to be closed out of the room that you are going into, for instance, the bathroom. He whines and howls. But that isn't the destructiveness associated with separation anxiety and I don't hear him whining and howling when I head out the door, so I don't think he just cries himself to sleep.
Since Watson has been eating so much, I decided to weigh him yesterday and he came in at a whopping 60 lbs. That is 10 pounds more than a week or so ago. He isn't getting fat, must just be filling out. I wasn't sure if he was getting too big for his breed, so I did a google search on Black and Tan Coonhound and aside from the reference to breeders (which I don't support, there are too many dogs in need of rescue already), I found it to be a good reference website:
http://puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/blktncoon.htm
I experimented more with leaving Watson inside by himself with all the doors in the back of the house closed so he didn't go into those rooms and it went fine again. The first time I went out, I came back to find him just laying on his comforter resting and the second time I went out I found him laying curled up on the couch. I don't let him on the couch and so had to go shoo him off, but from a leaving him by himself aspect, it was successful. No hints of destruction of any property. I am not sure that there is serious separation issues with him. He doesn't like to be closed out of the room that you are going into, for instance, the bathroom. He whines and howls. But that isn't the destructiveness associated with separation anxiety and I don't hear him whining and howling when I head out the door, so I don't think he just cries himself to sleep.
Since Watson has been eating so much, I decided to weigh him yesterday and he came in at a whopping 60 lbs. That is 10 pounds more than a week or so ago. He isn't getting fat, must just be filling out. I wasn't sure if he was getting too big for his breed, so I did a google search on Black and Tan Coonhound and aside from the reference to breeders (which I don't support, there are too many dogs in need of rescue already), I found it to be a good reference website:
http://puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/blktncoon.htm
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