bad me

I know it's been a full month since I last posted anything on this blog...an indication of how busy I have been. Unfortunately, it is also an indication at how much time I've had lately to spend quality time with the pups.

The past month has been full of exciting happenings at our family...most of all, Jake finally learned to swim!! He's good at it, too...and he enjoys it so very much. I'm sad everyday that passes is a day closer to end of summer. Hopefully, we'll be able to take advantage of every summer afternoon by taking them to the river.

These river trips, however, have also meant that my car has now officially become a two-seater. I don't dislike anyone enough to make them sit on that mess. As much as I want a new car, M and I have bigger plans for the near future...so, the dog-mobile it is!

Between crazy life and visits to the river, we haven't had much time to work on our walks. Nevertheless, we have noticed a great improvement in both Jake and Luna. Ultimately, working with the trainer helped me realize that 80% of the problems were caused by my own reactions. I realized that when I see other dogs, runners, etc. coming our way, I tense up so much that I start creating the situation and Jake and Luna take it from there. Often times now, by taking deep breaths and maintaining my calm, we can walk around other dogs on leashes with no reaction at all.

Coming to this realization has brought us more peaceful walks and a new family attitude!

jake's new bed

i'm so incredibly excited today. for the first time in WEEKS, maybe MONTHS, jake slept on his own bed ALL NIGHT.

i don't think i can accurately convey my excitement through this post...he's a big dog -75lbs- and since his old bed was put out of commission by bruno and luna, he had taken over my bed...every night, i would wake up with a paw in my face, or two, or a cold nose in my stomach...i would be boxed in and trapped under the covers. it sounds crazy, i know most of you would have kicked him out of your bed, even your room way sooner... but those big, brown eyes are hard to resist.

alas, tonight i celebrate! i no longer have to sleep in strange alphabet shape positions...no more S, no more C, no more L! i can sleep in whatever position I want! and while i'll miss his warmth, it's not winter for another 4 months.

"THE POODLE"

Walking Jake is getting easier and easier every time. Well, as long as I'm walking him alone.

He's very responsive to the "Halti" we've been using and, because of his size, it's easier for me to control him with it on than with just a flat collar or even the prong. Lately in our walks, Jake is going back to being relaxed and focused. We've even learned to deal with runners and bikes....as soon as we see them, we click and treat, and if Jake still gets excited, we just turn around and walk in the direction the runner or biker is traveling. Even though he continues to be curious, he's much more relaxed as they pass by us. A very different reaction from the explosions he goes through when they're coming directly at him.

my little ham

However, we're still struggling when the "distraction" is of the canine variety. Jake can spot them miles away, and his "threshold"- the point at which he can't even take treats as a distraction, requires me to stand in Decatur while the dog looks at him from Alabama. Well...kind of. However, with the work we've been doing, when it comes to most dogs, we can just go up a driveway while the other pup passes. EXCEPTION: THE POODLE.

"THE POODLE" is an 80 lb, white poodle that lives in the neighborhood. Not only is this dog big, blindlingly white and puffy, but "THE POODLE" is the running partner of one of my neighbors. Therefore, everytime Jake sees it, it is coming at him at VERY fast speeds...even I get a little freaked out.

A couple of days ago, as Jake and I had started our walk, I saw a white, comet-like vision out of the corner of my eye. You guessed it, it was "THE POODLE." It was just turning the corner but, before I could even finish my thoughts, Jake was already loosing it. Fortunately, the house next to ours has a really deep driveway and I ran with Jake to the bottom of that driveway so they wouldn't meet face to face. Even then, Jake was ready to de-fluff that giant cotton ball.

I FREAKED...but then, pulling myself together, I began, cheese bag in hand, to click and treat. Jake was not responding, so I began shoving cheese in his mouth as fast as I could. Anything I could do to get him from not exploding, I was trying to do. Everytime he opened his mouth, I shoved a handful of cheese. It was the most comical sight I had ever seen.

Even THE POODLE and the runner stopped to watch Jake, sitting at the bottom of the driver, foaming with cheese!

Once they went on their way, we started our walk again. Unfortunately, Jake was so nauseated by the cheese, the click and treat thing was going nowhere. We turned around and headed home. I feel we accomplished a victory against THE POODLE...but I also learned a big lesson...don't just bring cheese!

Click, click, click

Clickers are powerful tools and dangerous weapons...and I must admit I've used them for evil.

It has been two weeks now since we started using the clicker. Meredith, the Canine PhD trainer, recommended that we use it to create consistency in the praise the dogs get while we're out of the house. It turns out, she told us, that the reason the puppies react the way the do while on the leash is because they're scared. They feel less able to protect themselves and, therefore, their behavior escalates to get rid of the "threat." Then, the reaction is reinforced because, in their heads, by barking and lounging they get exactly what they wanted -- the truck is scary, so they bark and lounge as it goes by. While you and I know the truck kept going because it meant to kept going, to them, the truck went away because they barked and growled at it. Makes sense to me!

So now, the plan is to condition the dogs to associate the things that scare them with positive things...read, "delicious treats." The clicker is a consistent way to reinforce the good behavior. A great tool if you know how to use it. It was amazing how on the first hour of working with the pups, she got them within a foot of a cat and no one lost any fur!

On the other hand, the clicker can be used to accomplish many other things, like, a small dose of revenge. Take for example night number two of our clicker training. M had been a pain in the butt ALL afternoon...one of those grumpy, menopausal days guys go through; so, I thought it would be a great idea to do some clicker training in the room, under the light of the lamp, with smelly hot dogs as M was about to go to sleep, at midnight.

It wasn't so mean. I wanted to make sure he felt involved in the experience..after all...we're supposed to all be working on this together, right?

click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click

the breaking point

I'm a firm believer that a responsible dog owner takes the training of his or her dogs seriously. At the very least, he or she recognizes when his or her dogs need a little more schooling that the average mutt. My mutts, they need all the help they can get!

Ok... I over-exaggerate. All in all, they're good puppies...and I'm grateful we had the opportunity to enroll them in an excellent obedience class when they were very young. The trainer at the Atlanta Humane Society, Mailey, was incredible. Through her classes, I became motivated to see my puppies become good canince citizens and gained confidence to become a strong leader. The training, however, is only as effective as the human and I recognize the very human vices of lazyness and complacency have gotten in the way of my consistency.

As a result, my lovely dogs are often tazmanian devils when we leave the confort of our home...especially when a leash is involved! My desperation to get the little monsters under control reached red zone levels when Jake started turning suicidal and running at trucks and moving lawnmowers and dragging me and Luna along with him. A great student, Luna quickly caught on that trucks and lawnmowers and squirrels and other dogs on leashes and cats and runners and motorcycles and bikes and roller-bladers are evil things that must be barked at and chased at so they go away.

I reached my breaking point when I picked them up for doggie daycare a couple of weeks back. The trainer was teaching a class and I wanted to wait for her to see if I could enroll Luna in agility classes. While we waited, Jake and Luna turned the place upside down. They barked and pulled and lounged and almost knocked over a table at the sight of the other dogs walking by on leashes. Near tears, I scheduled a class with the Canine PhD instructor, Meredith, and went home determined that the afternoon's events would never repeat themselves.

Enter, the CLICKER!

Say what you will

My dogs are my children. Ok...so, I don't have any two-legged children, and -- as so many of you say -- the feeling is going to be different and things are "going to change" when I have little humans pitter-pattering around my house. But today, as things stand, Jake and Luna are my babies...say what you will...

I love waking up in the morning and seeing two sets of big brown eyes staring up at me. I love that when I come home, they jump and wag and twirl like my return is the one thing they have been looking forward to all day. I love that they're always happy to see me, whether I've been gone 5 minutes or 5 days. I love that when they're scared they run to me. I love that when Mario and I sit on the floor to chat, they sit right in the middle, watching and listening to our conversations intently.

And alright, I may go overboard sometime dressing them up for Halloween, planning play dates and caring more about their diet than I do mine, but just like human babies, these two furry ones depend on me for everything in their lives. Their vulnerability overwhelms me sometimes and it makes me strive to provide even better for them.

So, yes. Perhaps the day a "little me" comes along things will change a bit...Jake may no longer be able to jump up with us in the bed in the mornings, or I'll be singing songs about fingers and toes instead of Luna-princesses...but for now, I revel at the lessons of unconditional love and never-ending joy I receive from Jake and Luna every minute I get to spend with them. I can't imagine a better way to prepare myself for little ones than learning to appreciate how much someone or "something" depends of you.

Say what you will...I have two beautiful furry children... and when you pull out the pictures of your little baby at the pool, I'll show you the one of mine at the lake...when you tell me your nursery-stories, I'll be happy to give you my report of their last day at doggie-day-care...when you boast about the great deal you got at The Children's Place, I'll make sure to let you know of all the sales at Petsmart...and if you want to schedule a play date, let's make sure there is a fenced in yard!

and then there were four

From the first day he came into our lives, Jake became our best buddy. We spent every free moment loving him, training him, and learning from him. However, every time I looked at him I felt something was missing. Dogs are pack animals and I hated that he would spend the days alone while I was finishing school. Besides, I still wanted my little girl!

Mario wasn't so sure, though. First of all, having Jake was a big responsibility and second, he was terribly afraid getting a little dog meant having a "girlie" dog.

Now, if you know me, you now I'm about as persistent as it gets. Getting a second dog, a little girl-dog, became my mission. I spent every free moment on Petfinder.com. I was so obsessed I had to give Petfinder up for lent!

And it was right after Easter that I found Save-a-Pet's website and a litter of patterdale little girls. EXACTLY what I had been looking for. Patterdales, if you don't know, look a bit like labs shrunk after being thrown in a dryer, which means I get my little dog and Mario doesn't have to have a "girly" dog.

The litter had 4 puppies...all different...all too cute for words. Originally, I had chosed a black and tan puppy named Faith. She looked like a miniature version of Jake. But the universe had different plans. We arranged a time and place to meet halfway between Forsyth, GA and our house. This was going to be Jake's puppy, so of course, whomever would come home would have to pass the "Jake test."

The four puppies (Faith, Hope, Sissy and Joy) were all under 5 pounds and 5 weeks old. We put them all down on a grassy area and brought Jake out to meet them. Jake, at 70lbs, looked like a tank next to them, so naturally most of them weren't so sure what to make of him. Hope (Luna) didn't seem all that interested...and when he came up to her and startled him from behind, she turned around, and with all of her 5lbs slapped Jake accross the face. Without even looking at each other Mario and I said, "That's the one!"

That afternoon, we also learned why her name was Hope. You see, black puppies are the hardest to adopt, which subsequently means, they are the most likely to get put down. The bigger and blacker the dog, the less its chance for survival. Her name was Hope because the rescue group really "hoped" she would find a home. Well, Hope...which became our little Luna, didn't have to hope anymore. We left her with her sisters until she was 9 weeks old...and then, she came to our house to complete our little family of four!

So it begins...

Jake, our first dog, came into our lives in November of 2007. We had talked about getting a dog but it was just that...talk. Then one day, my then-boyfriend-now-fiance Mario came over to my apartment and said, "we've got to talk." Now, everyone knows those are 5 dreaded words...and I had no idea they would change my life forever.

"Please don't be mad," he said. Uh-oh, I thought. "I know we've discussed getting a dog and I told you we weren't ready for one...but I've been looking...and I've found THE ONE." Double uh-oh. "I went to visit him earlier today and I fell in love...but if you don't like him, I can deal with it." -- Yeah, right!

our first picture together

Lucky for both of us, Mario's new love was a beautiful black and tan rescue dog named Echo. The people from the rescue group told us we could "try him out for the weekend," but I knew what that meant...if that dog got in my car, he wasn't going back. I took a look at Mario...and I took a look at that 35lb pup with long ears and sweet eyes, I closed my eyes and I said "let's do it."

Echo wasn't what I had imagined for a dog. I wanted a little dog, tan or white, a female -- he was a black, male dog with lion-sized paws. But through those big brown eyes I could see the most loving heart.

So it began...on our way to Petsmart to get him a collar and a bed, I named him Jake. That cool, laid back dog was definitely a Jake. In that 15 minute car ride, we knew we had made the most perfect decision...and just like that, Jake became the glue that holds our little family together and our best friend.