Life on the Leash

I accidentally created a monster on Saturday.

Former clients from five years ago invited me back to work with their new puppy, Jordan the 5-month old GSD. (Sadly, they lost their resident GSD in early February to a brain tumor.)

Jordan is a sweet dog …

…but she’s having issues with the four cats in the household. Jordan came from a shelter and was ok-ed to be placed in a home with cats, but that’s proving to be somewhat of a fantasy at this point. She’s rather … interested in the four cats in her new home. With her mouth.

While my clients took Jordan outside for a potty break, I stole a few moments to work with the very amiable, outgoing lead cat, Rocket.

Rocket was all about the action (”Hey – who are you? May I sit on your paperwork?  I think I’ll rub my face all over you!”), so I had a feeling that he’d be up for some clicker training.

Uh, hell yeah:

(Yes, he’s eating hot dogs.)

He was in it to win it, and caught on to the clicker in seconds. “Cool,” I thought, “We can train Rocket to do all sorts of cute tricks!”

Jordan came back in and we commenced with the lesson, only to discover that Rocket had caught on to the clicker all too well. He followed us around the room on counter tops with laser focus (”Hot dogs. Hot dogs. More hot dogs for me.”), forcing Jordan to choose between the fun of training and the lure of cat meat dangling above her. (Rocket was literally reaching out for the treats that we were trying to feed Jordan!)

We put Rocket away until the end of the session. I think Jordan was relieved.

We did some “there’s-the-cat-it’s-all-good” exercises at the end of the session, and Jordan did really well. That said, real life run-ins (four cats, people) will keep everyone on their toes.

Did you have a bumpy dog-cat introduction in your home? How did it work out in the end? Do tell.

Remember this commercial?

I feel like I need to preface this post by saying, “Don’t hate me because I get to train Murray”:

I mean, c’mon. Is he for real with that 10-week old English Bulldog cuteness? He should be made of porcelain and sitting on your grandma’s curio shelf.

I’m speechless. Murray – take it away.

(Turns out he’s not as innocent as he looks … according to his tat, he killed someone in prison.)

KaPOW!

Did that catch you off guard? The cuteness? Get ready, here comes another hit:

Burger the 8-week old yellow Lab was killing me with the cuteness today. I train a ton of labs, but by the time I get to work with most of them they’re typically rangy adolescents. I love hanging out with the wee bebes. They’re fun to train, and they make me want to hug them and pet them and squeeze them.

Burger’s slightly overwhelmed person is a first-time dog owner, so we discussed new puppy questions about stuff like mouthing…

(Exploratory mouthing like Burger is doing is an important developmental stage. Pups need to learn how strong their little jaws are, and how delicate our skin is!)

… and crating.

(Punchy, overtired Burger pitched a fit when we put her in the crate at the end of the session, but I’ll bet that she was asleep five minutes after I walked out the door.)

I’m happy to sit with first-time puppy owners and reassure them that life will get easier, and things that seem foreign will start to become second nature.

If I can’t do it in person, there’s always this. (Oooh, snap – another plug!)

First the leaf blower, now this:

Thanks, Sum. You just never know when a shovel might go rogue.

I received this in the mail today:

It made my day! That’s my former client Pepper on the front of the card. What a likeness – I’m impressed!

(I miss you too, Pepper and co.!)

My friends recently adopted a new dog. Meet Teddy:

(Check out his back feet … he has double rear dewclaws and they’re enormous!)

Teddy is a wonderful addition to their household, but they need some help with two vexing issues: 1. jumping up, and 2. not coming when called. We tackled the jumping up behavior with my typical fix, the magical “arm cross sit,” and Teddy was a natural. We then did a little recall practice and had a serious discussion about Teddy’s behavior.

Coming when called is more than just an obedience issue … it’s all about relationship, or more specifically, the Bond you have (or don’t have) with your dog. In Teddy’s case, the relationship with his people is so new that a Bond doesn’t really exist yet. They told me hilarious stories about how Teddy was more than willing to leave the dog park with a complete stranger (someone who hadn’t even interacted with him at the park), and take off jogging with random folks on the trail.

Thus far they’ve allowed Teddy off-leash freedom when walking in the woods, since resident dog Truman has earned the privilege (meaning, Truman doesn’t take off for parts unknown and he comes back when they call).

After talking it over we decided that Teddy’s not ready for off-leash freedom. They all need time to perfect their “controlled environment” recall (in the house/in the yard/in the park on a long line), and more importantly, grow their Bond, before Teddy can be trusted off leash.

In some households, growing a strong Bond happens naturally. That’s going to be the case with Teddy and his people.

Some lucky people don’t even need to think about growing their Bond – it just happens because they instinctively do everything right. In other households … not so much.

For those folks, may I be so bold as to suggest that help is on the way?

On an unrelated note, a friend of LOTL needs your vote … adorable 4-year old Gracie (human, not canine) is in the running to win the Nick Jr. “Super Fan” contest. Take 2 seconds and cast your vote for her here. (Scroll down, look for finalists and click on the cutie who is leaning over and kissing her doll.)