Lessons Learned From Dogs

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 16-24 “Around the House”

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:45:23 +0000

I apologize for not posted anything about Echo for the past week. With the stress of back to back residency dogs combined with more clients than I have ever had (something I am definitely not complaining about) we have been spending some quiet days around the house. Or at least as quite as it can be with six dogs . I also have been without a computer during this time as the sevice department where I purchased it from had to keep it for an insanely long time. But that’s neither here nor there .

Even at home there have been numerous opportunities for Echo to learn. Lesson one: the blender and hair dryer are not scary. One morning several days ago we used the blender for the first time since getting Echo. When Patrick first turned it on Echo jumped slightly and backed away. We immediately started our motivational method by using treats to coax Echo towards the new noise and praising him when he investigated the object. Hunter probably wasn’t helping matters though, for he had a look on his face that clearly answered our “What is that?” question with “The devil.” I had to repeat this whole routine about a half hour later when I turned the hair dryer on for the first time with Echo in the bathroom with me.

Lesson two: the neighbor’s dog, Strider, is still not going to put up with your schananigens. On another morning we took Echo, Foxy, and Hunter on a walk around the neighborhood. On the way back we stopped to talk to our neighbor who was outside with Strider. Echo was contemplating greeting Strider until he issued a low growl. That’s all Echo needed to remember his manners and decide to just lay in the grass instead.

Lesson three: the vet is still an okay place to be. Echo did have an outing yesterday morning to the vet for his next round of shots. Since we worked so hard on his last trip to ensure that he did not feel any anxiety over the vet’s office he was completely at ease being there. In fact, as soon as I placed him on the exam table he promptly laid down and fell asleep .

Lesson four: mommy may lose her mind if you do not stop trying to eat everything. Yesterday afternoon the stress of having so many dogs finally caught up with me. While my Min Pin, Chihuahua, and Rhodesian mix are pretty easy going, low maintenance animals, when they are combined with a residency dog that needs five training sessions a day, a foster dog who is very high energy, and a puppy who needs constant supervision, it gets a bit overwhelming. All of this stress culminated when Echo’s worst habit of putting everything he can in his mouth outside reared its ugly head. After fishing rock after rock out of his mouth it was all I could do to semi-calmly walk him to his crate and leave him there until I regained my composure. Luckily, I have an amazing husband who came home from work about this time and took the little bugger off my hands.

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 15 “Here I come”

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 13:35:42 +0000

Following the Leader

Today we took Echo to a local park called Glenwood Gardens with Foxy, our Finnish Spitz. We decided that we would do the whole one and a half mile loop trail which would make this the longest Echo had ever walked at one time. When we first set out Echo was a bouncing ball of energy; hopping along, nipping at Foxy, and trying to cause trouble anyway he could. Since both Echo and Foxy needed to burn off some energy we quickly decided that a short jog was in order.

Since we did not want to jerk Echo around with the leash, we dropped it on the ground allowing him to drag it behind him. We then began to run ahead and Echo took on the challenge to keep up with gusto. Every time we looked back there was Echo, about 10 feet behind, clearly loving every minute of this new game. Since Echo is still programed at this age to follow his pack wherever they go we had no fear that Echo would take off in another direction. However, every time we passed another dog we would pick up his leash. We did this because, with his outgoing personality, Echo would have gone up to this strange dog and we didn’t know how the unknown dog would act towards him. The last thing we want is for Echo to have a negative experience that will impede his training in the future.

When we reached the turnoff for the longer loop we decided to take it because it lead into the woods and would afford us more opportunities for exploration. By taking this longer path Echo got to experience walking on gravel, climbing over falling logs, running through leaves and weeds, and even being placed in a tree.

Up in a Tree!

By the time we were heading back to the car we realized that we had traveled over two miles, which was longer than we had planned. However, Echo was still trooping right along; panting slightly but happy as could be. After getting a long drink from the doggie drinking fountain, Echo hopped in the car and immediately settled in for a long nap on the way home.

The Quest for the Perfect Dog: Day 14 “Hey, There’s Food in This Box!”

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:55:29 +0000

10 Weeks Old

Today we took Echo’s tracking training a step further. Since grass is very fragent in itself it is the best place to begin tracking; the smell of the crushed vegetation helps to lead Echo to his prize. In order to further test his nose we decided to have him follow a trail inside where he would have only the scent of the food to rely on.

Before we took Echo downstairs, Patrick took his meal and placed one piece at the beginning of the trail. He then drug a piece along the floor and placed another one about five feet away. He then made a ninety degree turn, dragging the same piece across the floor another five feet, and placed the rest of his food inside of a box with the flaps laying closed.

We then took Echo to the start of the trail and told him “Find it” while pointing at the first piece of kibble. After gobbling up the initial piece Echo immediately began sniffing around the floor; in the opposite direction of the trail. With Patrick’s help he was able to get back on track and quickly found the second piece. Then it was onto the jackpot in the box. Echo was able to find this with all the skill of a bloodhound and dove head first into the box. The next several minutes we spent watching in amusement as Echo pushed the box all around the floor as he worked to get ever morsel out of it.

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 13 “Hey, There’s Food in This Grass”

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:26:16 +0000

Since one of the reasons we got Echo was to train him in as many areas as possible we are doing all we can in the early stages to help him once official training begins. The first step for tracking is getting him used to using his nose to find things. We have started this by using a very simple, and rewarding, method.

Since the first day that we got Echo we have been occasionally taking one of his meals out to the yard and allowing Echo to “track” it. To do this, we take normal steps in the grass and then leave several pieces of his food in our footsteps. As he gets better at it we will start skipping more and more footprints in order to make him search longer in between payouts. Since Echo loves his food more than anything else in life right now, he is very motivated to find his kibble as quickly as possible.

This need to search as rapidly as he can was actually Echo’s downfall the first few times out. He would plow through the trail so quickly that he would run over several piles of food. He would then move back and forth over the food in such a rush that he would end up losing pieces in the grass, thus further frustrating himself.

Over the last few days though, Echo has improved in his skill greatly. He now at least looks like he knows what he is doing with his nose firmly planted on the ground, sniffing away. Although he does miss the occasionally piece and has to backtrack, he has made a lot of progress on slowing down and making a more methodical search. The fact that his long German Shepherd snout and powerful gait are also forming makes him look like a professional tracker already!

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 12 “Let’s Go Exploring”

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:02:59 +0000

Resting with his big brother after a long day of playing.

With the break in heat the last few days, Echo and I have been spending more time outdoors. Before, as soon as he would get in the sun, Echo would begin looking for shade or the kiddie pool. However, he is now able to tolerate the cooler temperatures and has realized that there is a whole world of things to explore in the backyard.

The first thing that caught Echo’s attention were all the apples that have fallen off of our trees. This morning he promptly went over to one, picked it up by the stem, and pranced around the yard for a full minute. I watched him the whole time while wishing I had my video camera with me. He was quite the amusing site with his head held high and his chest puffed out while he high stepped back and forth. You would have thought he was carrying around solid gold, he was so proud; that is until Spence ran into him, knocked him down, and took the apple away. Echo spent less than ten seconds pouting and then it was onto the next thing.

While carrying around an apple is an acceptable behavior, several other of Echo’s backyard past times are not. Most frustrating is his desire to constantly be chewing on something. Whether he is ripping grass out of the ground or trying to swallow pebbles, I am constantly fishing things out of the little terror’s mouth. Due to this oral obsession I am now only allowing Echo to be outside on leash. By doing this I can give the leash a quick tug anytime Echo is about to put something in his mouth that shouldn’t be there. This, timed with a sharp “No”, will hopefully teach him that he cannot eat everything he comes across. This is mainly a safety issue as I do not want Echo to have to undergo surgery to remove a foreign object that’s lodged somewhere.

Echo’s second favorite outside activity is far cuter than his compulsion to ingest everything. This is to go where ever his older siblings are. He would spend hours if I let him trying to keep up with them and you can see his frustration when he gets left behind. For instance, he was following Spence and Foxy today when they decided to start chasing each other. Echo bounded after them for several feet but with his short legs was quickly left behind. Sitting down with a sigh he watched them all the way across the yard. Nevertheless, his aggravation was quickly forgotten when they came back to him and initiated a wrestling match; Echo’s third favorite outdoor activity.

The Quest for the Perfect Dog: Day 11 “Following the Leader”

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:52:11 +0000

Enjoying the View

This morning we took Echo, along with Hunter (our Min Pin), out to Eden Park where we discovered that Echo loves to follow our other dogs where ever they go. While this is useful in some instances, Patrick and I would prefer that Echo was looking more towards us for guidance than our other dogs. This is something that we began to work on today and will continue to in the upcoming days.

This morning, however, we did use Hunter to guide Echo on several occasions. The first of which was to encourage him to walk on top of a rock wall. The wall was only about one foot high; however, Echo was initially a little nervous about navigating on top of it. His mind quickly changed though when he saw Hunter nimbly walking across it. When he saw his big brother was not afraid he scrambled up and began following as close to Hunter as he could. In fact, when Hunter began to run, Echo was right behind him with a look that said, “C’mon mom, let’s go!”

The second instance that Hunter led was to help Echo navigate the playground. We love taking our dogs on playgrounds because they are filled with textures and obstacles that you cannot find elsewhere. For instance, this playground had metal slides and Echo had never before encountered something so shiny and noisy before. Since Hunter is fearless when it comes to things like this we would have him follow us down first. This would, without fail, trigger Echo’s “I can do anything you can do” desire, and down he would come, spread eagle and loving it.

After completing these two activities we decided that Echo needed sometime away from Hunter to learn that he can follow us places too. So, on the way back to the car, Patrick went one way with Hunter and I went the other with Echo. For the first few minutes you would have thought I was torturing the little guy from all the whining and crying he was doing. Although it is natural for a puppy to want to keep his pack together, Echo has to learn that it is not the end of the world when we spilt up and that he will see everyone again. Slowly, Echo calmed down and settled into a low whimper as I continued on my way. I did not allow Echo to reunite with Hunter and Patrick though, until even this ended. By the time we made it back to the car Echo was concentrating so hard on lifting his tired feet that he had no energy left to whine.

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 10 “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:19:35 +0000

One of the things that Patrick and I started to realize over the last few days was that Echo was developing a big head from playing with our older dogs. Although a couple of them will give Echo a disciplinary snap on occasion for trying to take something that isn’t his, they tend to let him run the show during playtime. My Finnish Spitz in particular will fall into a submissive position whenever Echo pounces on her. My Rhodesian Mix, Spence, will also tolerate anything the little guy dishes out. Echo lays on top of him, chews on his tail or leg, and Spence is so laid back that the most he does is give a big sign and gives me a mournful look.

Since we don’t want Echo to think that this kind of behavior will be tolerated by every dog he comes in contact with we knew we needed him to interact with a dog that would tell him enough is enough. Luckily, we have a dog with this personality living right next door to us. Strider, a shepherd/husky mix, is a dog that oozes confidence from every pore in his body. He has a look that would stop the most rambunctious dog or unwanted visitor in their tracks. However, he is also very calm and controlled which made him the perfect dog to teach Echo to respect his elders.

The meeting took place on my neighbors front lawn. She has an invisible fence which keeps Strider inside the yard, so I knew Echo could run to safety if necessary. On the short walk down the sidewalk to their yard, Echo bounced along with his normal puppy gusto; however, as soon as he came around my neighbor’s car and saw Strider standing about 10 feet away he immediately froze. You could tell that Echo was already sensing from this dog’s energy that he didn’t mess around. Nevertheless, after a brief pause Echo decided maybe he could take on this big guy after all.

At first, Echo minded his manners by hunkering low as he approached and submissively licking Strider’s muzzle. After several seconds Echo started to feel more rambunctious though and began bounding around Strider trying to get him to play. While Strider tolerated this for a short time, Echo took it too far when he decided to bat at Strider’s face with his uncoordinated paws. In the blink of an eye Strider lowered his head, gave one low, loud bark, and snapped at Echo. Whether Strider’s teeth actually made contact with Echo or not I am not sure, however, the message was clear. Echo jumped back so fast that you would have thought I had yanked his leash. He then preceded to whimper and cry all the way around behind me. Since Echo was not physically hurt in any way the last thing I would want to do in this situation would be to coddle him and tell him it is okay. Instead, I simply let Echo work out what had just happened and he very quickly calmed down and came back out. This time he approached Strider at a crawl and stayed laying down once he got close to him.

This was the sign of respect that I was looking for and knew that Echo had learned his lesson. All of this happened in less than five minutes; however, it is something that I hope will stay with Echo for much longer.

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 9 “Baby Einstein”

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:30:09 +0000

One of the things I learned when I was gong to school for my dog training certification was that from the time a puppy is 8 to 16 weeks old they can learn four times as much as an adult dog with only one fourth the effort. I am starting to realize just how true this is, especially when it comes to Echo learning his commands. Although I am waiting until Echo is about 14 weeks old to begin official obedience work, I have started to incorporate some simple commands in order for him to “earn” his midday meal.

Although I generally don’t use treats to reward adult dogs for following commands, a puppy’s ability to focus is very limited and the food I use as a lure helps him to pay attention to the task at hand. Also, using his meal as a reward has several benefits. First of all, Echo is forced to slow down and not inhale his food; a task he manages to complete in about 30 seconds if allowed. Also, he learns that he has to work for his food; it is not just handed to him. Lastly, by using his normal meal instead of additional treats I don’t have to worry about creating an overweight pup.

The last two days I have been able to really start to see Echo grasp things more easily. Although he has been doing well with Come, Down, Stand, and Sit for about four days he has always needed to be lead in to position with a piece of food. However, yesterday Echo did a down after hearing the verbal command and today he learned to return to a sitting position from a down just by hearing me say “Sit”.

Even though Echo cannot hold these positions for more than a few seconds (he is just too antsy to move onto the next thing), his progress is very encouraging. When I feel that he is ready for official training I will be removing the food and replacing it with my praise and affection. However, the steps we are taking now will make the process that much easier when the time comes.

The Quest to Raise the Perfect Dog: Day 8: “Becoming a Gracious Guest”

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:31:11 +0000

Yesterday was Echo’s first trip to someone else’s house, as well as the most people he has encountered at one time. Since we wanted to stay longer at our family gathering than we would have been able to leave Echo alone, we decided to bring him with us. This was also a good experience for him because he learned that he must remain calm in a more chaotic atmosphere.

When we first entered the house, the first one to great us was Princess, Patrick’s cousin’s Yorkie. Echo immediately backed away from her; partly to show respect for her turf and partly because of the overly excited way she approached. Next, came Chance, an older husky mix, who Echo had no problem going right up and politely greeting.

Next came all the people and Echo was patted and rubbed all over his body. Everybody cooed and fawned over him; however, not one person tried to pick him up. This made my job so much easier and even with all the commotion Echo never jumped up on anyone.

After making the rounds and meeting everyone, Echo curled up on the floor in the kitchen to sit back and watch everyone. When someone would come over to visit him he would graciously lick their hand and then return to taking everything in. About ten minutes later he was sound asleep, oblivious to the movement and noise happening around him.

The rest of the evening Echo alternated between exploring his new surroundings, getting all the petting he wanted from the guests, and snoozing where ever he passed out. Although we brought his crate in case he needed a quite place to go, we never needed to use it. Since Echo was so calm and well behaved the entire time he was able to stay with us. However, had he seemed to get anxious or overwhelmed we would have taken him to his kennel since he has learned that is his safe place that he can go and relax when he needs to.

On our way home Echo spent the entire trip sound asleep in his crate in the backseat. Every so often you could hear a soft yip and his whole body twitched; a sure sign that he was dreaming something good. Perhaps he was reliving the fun adventure he just had!

The Quest To Raise The Perfect Dog: Day 7 “A Little Bundle of Joy”

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:07:37 +0000

Echo Exploring With His Pack

As the first week with my new puppy ends I am sitting here with Echo curled up at me feet. He has had a long day, full of fun adventures. This morning we took him to the park for the first time. Although there are mixed feelings and information about whether or not you should take a puppy places before being fully vaccinated, I feel that the benefits of socialization far outweighs the possibility of catching something. Besides, the way he ran through the field we took him to without a care in the world made it all worth it.

Although Echo has been a lot more work than what I am used to with my adult dogs, he has bought me a lot of joy as well this week. There are times, especially in the evening, when Echo runs around the house with such exuberance that you just have to laugh. He will go from dog to dog enticing someone to chase him and, when that doesn’t work, he will go bounding through the kitchen by himself. He is also working to develop his technique on “killing” his toys. He will pick up whatever is handy and shake his head back and forth with such force that he tends to knock himself over. He then gets up and looks around to see if anyone witnessed his embarrassing moment. It is on these occasions that we politely look away to spare him the humiliation of getting caught.

Today, however, was probably Echo’s happiest moment. When Patrick and I went to the park we took our Miniature Pinscher with us as well and called him back and forth across the field. Echo, not wanting to be left behind, followed behind Hunter as best he could; his short legs causing him to trip and tumble but not give up. Watching him, you could plainly see that he was loving life in that carefree puppy style. He would get so excited upon reaching Patrick or I that his whole body would wiggle and he would lick whatever part of our body that he could reach.

Most often though, Echo makes me laugh simply by walking into the room. His feet are growing so fast that he has trouble lifting them to walk. Due to this, you can hear him coming a mile away as he plops along. He also stumbles quite frequently which is enduring, especially when he picks himself up with an exasperated look on his face. It’s the little moments like this, combined with Echo’s wonderful behavior, that are quickly making me fall in love with my new little bundle of joy!