One Dog, One Owner

One bored puppy looking for action!

My husband has the wonderful opportunity to crew on a trimaran in a rally down the west coast of Baja. This is the 17th year for the Baja Ha-Ha event. There are 196 boats—mono-hulls, catamarans and tris—participating. What an event! There is a software application that pinpoints the boat regularly in the Pacific, so I can track where they are. For a worry-wart, this is the best thing since sliced bread.

For the puppy, this is really, really boring. I go off to work and there's no one to play with during the day which means our sweet girl is sequestered in the kitchen. She's fine with that as this has been her routine since she was a baby. However, it doesn't make it interesting. I'm finding myself busy in the evenings too because of various obligations. Poor Bella! This is not what an active, smart puppy signed up for. She's still getting two long walks plus her "chuck-it" time. Additionally, I'm trying to do inside things (as our weather is so terrible right now) to keep her entertained, but I know in two days, her patience will be tried, she'll push the envelope, she'll be put into the "nothing in life is free" training phase and then, thank heavens, a Noseworks class will occur. Whew!

I Love My Puppy

Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed how much I love Bella. She's not "perfect," but she's close to that in my book. For 11 years I was on "high alert" for any loose dogs while walking Lucy. My walks were limited by safe routes where I knew there probably wasn't going to be an issue. I couldn't go hiking with new friends who had dogs she hadn't met, yet I didn't feel I could not take her, so I wouldn't go.

After 16 months of living with Bella, a loose dog still puts me en garde—unfortunately! I am getting better about squelching that reaction and can imagine how hard it is for returning soldiers to stifle the knee-jerk reaction to loud bangs. Yesterday, Shari and Amber joined us on a couple of fun treks. There were loose dogs and barking, fenced dogs. Bella was oblivious to them. No reaction. She's diffused a stiff-legged, hackles-up Akita and enticed an unneutered, full-of-himself pit bull to play.

Bella is teaching me to relax. I feel like my years of vigilance with Lucy are being rewarded with smart, funny, friendly Bella.

Noseworks

Noseworks. You may have heard of this class which is for all dogs of all abilities. It seems to have hit this area recently with a bang. The media has been busy promoting it and many training centers are now offering it. Everybody with a dog is talking about it. And we're finally taking it!

My friend, Shari, and I have talked about taking dog classes together and this one in particular. When we finally found a class nearby and fit both of our schedules, we decided to go for it. She got in, I didn't. My email got bounced by a spam filter. Big frown. But the great people who teach this class at Seattle Agility Center bent over backwards to fit us in.

Diana, one of the owners of the center, offered to give us a private, introductory session so that we could join a class that had already started without being behind. What an opportunity! So Shari and her dog, Amber, and Bella and I had our first class last night. What a hoot! This is going to be really, really fun.

Diana warned us that even though the class is only an hour and our "nosework" sessions will be divided among 5 dogs, we'd return home with a tuckered puppy. Bella crashed the minute she walked in the door. It was great. Plus with our weather turning rainy, this will be a wonderful inside game that allows Bella to do exactly what she wants to do (sniff and eat!) and always, always win. No leash or verbal corrections. This is a fantastic dog game. I only wish it had been around for the old, nose hound, Lucy.

Grueling Hike, Lovely Weather

Bella chasing Amber to the pond.

Yesterday was the first nice day in eons—sunny and warm. My friend, Shari, and I decided to go hiking. Shari hikes a lot and knows many wonderful places, so I never question where we're going. After this hike, I might be more conscientious of where we're heading! We were particularly lucky with the weather as we'd planned this hike several weeks ago. The weekends up to this one have had awful weather. Today is typical—it's been raining off and on since this morning.

Shari had done this hike many years ago and remembered it as being tough, but beautiful. We both agreed there were beautiful parts (like this meadow for the dogs to romp in), but very steep and hard—too strenuous for us to want to do it again. There was lots of standing water on the trail which meant mud—lots of mud. The trail was uneven, with irregular, slippery roots and large rocks of high-stepping proportions. Many times we had to hold on to roots to make it up the trail. My friend was kind enough to lend me one of her trekking poles to help with stability. With all the stream crossings on slippery boulders, they came in very handy.

Many small rivulets followed or crossed our trail and occasionally there were even some small ponds, so the dogs had a great time. Plenty to drink and plenty of water to play in. Amber is not a swimmer, but loves bobbing for sunken sticks. Bella enjoyed everything, so she was in and out of the water, trying to get Amber to engage. Amber is almost 8 years old, so although interested for a minute or two, she wasn't really willing to play. The picture is not so much game of chase as it is Bella running after her buddy.

The only really level area of any size was this gorgeous meadow. The meadow had a bank of very small huckleberry bushes that had changed color, so with the sun shining behind them, it was spectacular. Better yet, there were ripe, sweet berries!

And of course like any dog, Bella probably did a 1/4 to a 1/3 more miles than our seven because of all the back-and-forthing on the trail. In the meadow, she met another young dog whose owner was kind enough to wait (and pick berries with us) while the dogs played.

Bella has not moved much today and seems very content to nap through this rainy day.

Leash Logic

If you have a dog, you have a leash. I have many leashes, some I've purchased or been given, some I've found. Some of the leashes I own I never use because the fabric is uncomfortably sharp on the edges. Literally. I have cut my fingers on two of them. Another, a long line someone made for me, is made from a very stiff fabric that does not lay well in my hand. It was great for Bella though. As a puppy, she chewed right through it.

There are leather leashes, retractable leashes, leashes made of chain, from nylon, from soy, even from recycled climbers' rope. Do you want a color or a pattern? What length? Do you want a matching collar? When it gets right down to it, buying a leash is no easy matter; the choices are too plentiful. But perhaps the question to be asked is for what purpose are you using the leash?

Personally I hate retractable leashes. I learned a lot about leashes with Lucy, my lovely, but aggressive pooch. Knowing how to heel and short lines were a must for Lucy. Most of the people walking their dog on retractables, let their dog wander leaving the owner oblivious. I can't tell you how many people I've seen talking on cell phones or chatting with friends while ignoring their dog 30 feet in front of them—or approaching my aggressive old hound. When I'd shout, "My dog is aggressive. Please don't let you dog approach," one woman responded, "That's okay. My dog is friendly." What was she not getting? I have recently conceded that using a retractable in a controlled setting when working on distance training is understandable, but other than that, I have little nice to say about them.

I bought my first leather leash 30 years ago and it has lasted through two dogs and is now being enjoyed by Bella. It started its life as a six-foot line, but over the years, wear and tear, and puppy teeth have shortened it. It's a little over four feet now, but Bella had her way with it as a youngster, so I'll be bringing it back to the shoe repair shop to be shortened again—the latest incarnation will be a three foot leash—which brings me to the purpose of this post. Length.

If you've gone through dog training, the ultimate goal of any owner is to have your dog walk placidly at your side. As a dog owner, you know just how difficult this is to do. (Reality dictates that in some circumstances you want a longer line so your dog can walk in front of you. Hiking is an example; rarely is a trail wide enough for the dog to march along your side. Of course, many people let their dogs off-leash hiking, but that isn't always wise. Ever known a dog to chase a chipmunk—or a deer?)

When you shop for a leash, however, what length do you find? Six foot. Why would you need six feet when you want your dog to heal? If you are an urban walker, a six-foot leash is at least two-feet too long. So you can imagine my delight when I went into a local shop the other day and found a plethora of four-foot lines. Who was the genius who found them and brought them in? I have shopped the big chain dog stores for years and have never seen a four-foot leash there. So hip hip hooray to the local, independent small store who was savvy enough to purchase this length! A six-foot line I can use hiking, but for daily walks, a four-foot leash is much less to hold and makes much more sense.

Leash Update: The shoe repair man said the old leather leash should be retired. A sad day. However I found a killer new one made from leftover climbing rope. The brand is Krebs Recycle which is a little misleading as they state it isn't recycled, but upcycled. None-the-less, the leash is great. It's soft (no deceptively sharp edges), pliant (can comfortably and easily make it shorter by looping it) and four feet long! Additionally, the handle is very comfortable in my smaller hand. Yahoo Krebs!

Diet Changes

When I first brought Bella home, I fed her some type (I don't remember the brand) of puppy food. Fairly early into her acquisition, I took her to my vet for a checkup and asked what she recommended for food. Two things came out of that question.

1. My vet felt for Bella's make-up (1/2 Lab, 1/2 Australian Shepherd), she needed Large Puppy-type kibbles to ensure proper growth.
2. When asked what she fed her dogs, she said she periodically changed their diet in order that they received a variety of nutrition via the different nutritional mixes.

This made great sense to me as it follows the logic of how we should eat. Also, our previous dog, Lucy, was such a finicky eater that I had to vary her diet or she wouldn't eat. As long as I carefully introduce Bella to a new kibble (to avoid stomach upset), she receives variety for interest as well as nutritional benefit. I have also chosen to give her a grain free diet. At present, she rotates through the Taste of the Wild kibbles (bison, salmon, poultry), but I may in the future change to a different brand.

Recently I came across corroboration to this way of thinking in the website Fully Vetted. If you choose to read this vet's opinion, you can start with Part 1 on the subject, although Part 3 really gets the meat of the subject!

With all the marketing for healthy pet foods, with all the variety of pet foods, I still find it amusing that when your pup is sick, it is still recommended to give them low-fat ground meat and rice. I do believe this was Lucy's favorite meal. Bella, bless her little non-finicky stomach, delights in anything!

A Mini Vacation

We no sooner returned from our last trip, (having cleaned ourselves, laundry and van), before turning around and setting out again. Each fall we do an bicycling trip with two other couples. Normally we go later in September, but extenuating circumstances required a Labor Day excursion.

We visited one of our favorite stomping grounds: central Oregon. The mountain biking was par excellence! Smooth, wonderful, just-technical-enough-to-be-exciting trails. Bella, of course, was ecstatic. Not only did she get to camp again, but with her paw improved—run again. By the end of the week, however, a bit of a limp reappeared, so we limited her to hiking. She wasn't quiet as keen on that, but to be in the woods was enough to assuage her need for speed with my husband.

The days were cool—mid 60s—and the nights cold—down to freezing. This makes for a frisky puppy! Lucky Bella! She had four extra people to throw sticks, her ball, and scratch her favorite spots. My husband worked with her on barking. She doesn't do this with anyone but him, but when he stops riding (to wait for me) and then starts up, her excitement is exhibited in obnoxious barking. He finally got her down to a few woofs versus a several minute chorus.

The posted picture is blurry, I know, but still I love it.

Dog Projects

I participate in an on-line dog forum...a couple as a matter of fact...and find the information invaluable. One of the forums, My Smart Puppy, has a "project" that is periodically posted by the host—in this case, the wonderful Sarah Wilson. The projects often build off each other offering the owner some necessary skills in working/dealing with their dog.

For example, the first one covers the owner's ability to hold the dog's muzzle for 10 seconds without your dog moving. This might sound easy, but if your dog isn't used to it, you have a squirming dog on your hands! What I realized with Bella (assuming it would be a piece of cake with her), is that no matter how gentle I was, she preferred I didn't hold on. She wiggled like crazy trying to back out of the hold! I discovered the key was communication. Oh my! How easy is it to forget that! Initially I didn't say anything. Bad owner! By saying, "Wait," she was perfectly willing to obey because she already knew that command. She sat quietly until I released her and gave her a treat for being so good and brilliant.

I will work this step for several more days to assure that 10 second hold is second nature...then on to Project #2: opening the dog's mouth. Again, I assume this will be easy...but will it? Building off Project #1, this second one allows one to easily administer drugs if need be—or remove something lodged in the dog's mouth.

These seem so simple, but if you never have done them, you might find yourself in a situation where it's critical to do, but your dog is fighting you. It is much more fun to build your pup's trust and make a game of it when nothing is at stake!

Great Multi-State Vacation

...or perhaps, Bella's Big Adventure, would be a more appropriate title. This is the first major trip she's been on and it included seven states and miles of mountain biking over three weeks. Now that she is a year old, we felt comfortable taking her on rides longer than a couple of miles. She loved it! Running, swimming, snorting—she got to do it all!

Luckily this has been a rainy year, so there was an abundant water supply on nearly every trail. Although we always carried water for her, we rarely dipped into it. To top it off, because of our elevation—almost always above 7,000 feet and usually around 9,000—the wild flowers were extraordinary. I have never seen so many varieties blooming simultaneously.

We had a a couple close encounters with the wild life, but luckily they were benign. We had a female moose run across a trail in front of us. What a hair raiser! Bella either didn't see her, or didn't react, thank heavens! But the moose saw us and immediately turned back into the woods. Luckily she didn't have a calf with her or I think her reaction would have been different. Cattle were the other issue.

Many of the trails were cattle stomping grounds. We were constantly having to avoid them. This gave me the most concern as they were about as plentiful as the wild flowers. Initially Bella ignored them, but eventually became more curious and would run closer to them. This was compounded by the fact that when this happened, she also didn't respond when we said, "Come!" This could have been disastrous. Luckily, Bella was wary enough and we were able to bribe her with treats (glad I had them in my camelback!) to lure her back. You better believe reworking that command is on the top of my agenda!

The three of us in a van was a bit tight, but we all seemed to find our space and keep to it. Now that we're home, the luxury of space is fantastic. The van is cleaned out—a two day process—and is ready for the next trip...and so is Bella!

Dogs in Cars

I saw this link and felt it important enough to pass along. Don't leave your dog in the car! I know how hard it is to leave those pleading brown eyes when you grab your keys to go, but think of the bigger picture. Nothing is more important than your dog's safety.

Day in the Ocean

Bella, victorious!

My friend introduced us to a new beach quite a bit north of where we normally wander. It's called Picnic Point and best yet, dogs are allowed on the beach. Everyone was quite respectful, cleaned up after their pups and had dogs that were well-behaved.


Bella barely got out of the water. Her best buddy, Amber, who normally doesn't play Fetch for quite as long, was game most of the morning. Bella swam and retrieved for several hours, then did a bit more in fresh water (as a rinse). Today she is still slowed down. Yesterday was too much fun.

Bella and Amber

Water Source

When given the choice, Bella prefers the hose to any other source for drinking. Here she is stopping the stream for a good gulp. That's my pup! If you look closely, her lips are flared to the side for maximum capture!

Quincy Goes Home

My friend re-homed her puppy. The pup, at less than 3 months, showed more and more aggressive tendencies. Biting. Growling. Attacking. And then she'd be sweet. What a hard decision it was to make.

Luckily her vet's tech works with aggressive dogs to re-socialize and re-home. She wanted a young female to work with and so my friend gave her Quincy. The tech promised she would keep the puppy if she wasn't able to re-home her.

For my friend, she'll be able to keep in touch regarding how the dog is doing. Of course she feels relieved, but also like she failed. I told her she's been a fabulous dog mom to three fabulous dogs. Not all dogs are meant to be ours. It is not our job to fit into the dog's life, but the other way around. She leads a very social life with lots of other dogs and children added to an unpredictable mix. It would be continually stressful constantly monitoring an aggressive dog.

4th of July and Hot Weather

We spent the holiday weekend away. Part of it was in the eastern Gorge area (hot) and part of it in the mountains (cool). Bella had several daily rounds of Chuck-it and retrieving sticks from the river. A doggie delight! Although firecrackers were going off, they were still pretty far away and she was completely unfazed. Maybe this is her hunting gene? Whatever the case, it was a huge relief after having nearly 30 years of dogs who were terrified by the bangs and whistling. Bella would look towards the noise and then continue with whatever she was doing.

The trip had a new visitor, Quincy. A good friend lost her dog this past winter to old age and she was ready for a new companion. Quincy is a 10-week old part Red Heeler and we're not sure what else. She has a bit of attitude which concerns my friend, obviously, but she's a great dog mom and reading up on puppies and signed up for puppy classes.

The past several days have been ballistically hot for here. I've taken Bella on early morning walks and afternoon swims in the lake. Other than that, we've barely moved. But this morning. Ah-h-h! It's a typical northwest kind of morning with a thick marine layer. Lovely and cool.

We've got a hike planned with another dog buddy. It should be a wonderful day.

Running

We had a break in weather. To most people that's not a big deal, but for us, it's enormous. We've had rain and overcast skies, chilly weather and NO SUMMER as of June 21. But this afternoon, a hint of sun came out. Yippee!

We grabbed Bella and our mountain bikes and went to the outreaches of an urban trail. No competition and a secluded, wooded path that follows a river. Bella ran nearly ten miles and reached speeds of up to 19 mph. It seems between 8.5-9 mph is her comfortable lope and she's able to sustain that over miles. My husband had to hold her back from going faster.

We got home and he gave her a bath; I gave her a good dinner (with a left over burger from last night thrown in.) She just curled up in her bed and is drying (licking) herself off. Sleep won't be far behind.

Health & Buddies

In the two weeks since Bella was diagnosed with Giardia (and it's been cleaned up), she's put on 5 pounds. She's a whopping 57 pounds now. It makes me think she may have had Giardia for much longer than we suspected. I hope it didn't horribly affect her growth.

Also, just to show evidence of how sweet pit bulls can be, here's Bella with her buddy, Tyce, sharing a stick. Tyce is Mr. Mellow.

Giardia!

Bella has had soft poops for a couple of weeks. When it turned into diarrhea with a bit of mucus-y blood I became worried and took a stool sample into the vet. The diagnosis was giardia. Bella went on a 5-day regiment of Panacur (Fenbendazole) and a packet of Fortiflora once a day, sprinkled on kibbles. It was amusing when the tech said I might want to doctor Bella's food. I asked why only to be told many dogs find the drugs make the food unpalatable. Ha! Nothing is unpalatable for Bella! That is a dog with a cast iron stomach and non-discerning taste buds!

The Panacur started working immediately. The day after her first dose, her poops were more solid. I'm to bring another sample in a week to verify the giardia is gone. Here's an article on those little protozoans.

When we're mountain biking, there is nothing I can do about her drinking in streams. We can't possibly bring enough water with us to satiate both our thirst and hers. But at home, I need to keep her outdoors water bowl more clean (every day) and disallow her drinking from puddles or "community" water bowls placed outside of stores. It seems hard-hearted, but I'd rather she was a bit thirsty and can only get clean water at home than go through giardia again. It also makes me second guess taking her to a dog park where dozens of dogs share a water bowl and not all owners are diligent about cleaning up after their dog.

Training the Trainer

Bella has a habit I find annoying: barking. In general, she is a quiet puppy, but when she's particularly amped up, she barks...and barks...and barks. Like two repelling magnets, moving towards her (i.e., to grab her collar or muzzle) pushes her away. Saying quiet makes her bark louder. Finger to the mouth—even with no noise—has no affect. She barks at my husband when he ties his shoes in the morning. (Somehow I am normally exempt from this display.) When we stop our mountain bikes, she barks when we start rolling again. Recently, she has started barking at a certain part of our morning (not afternoon) walk.

I am frustrated that I don't "get it." Nothing either of us has tried has curbed this. No ignoring the barking, nor putting her go through a litany of party tricks. Nothing. So I wrote into a forum to ask for help. Wow! I got a fabulous, picture-perfect response from one of the members who owns/run a local training facility . She said:

My dog has a "speak" on command. My cue? I take finger to mouth and say "shush..." and she speaks! How did I teach that? When she barked, I cued it and treated it! Talking to a dog when the dog is talking is just talking with her. Think of this. When we teach sit we do so when the dog is moving into a sit. So action = cue/word, we have a sit. Same with "Down" As dog goes down, we lure and we say "down" when they are in the action of going down. But for some reason when dogs bark, we think that if we say words "quiet!" that they will get quiet but the dog thinks "Great, we are all barking, she is on the same page as me!"

All my dogs bark, only one is a nuisance barker and we curbed it by teaching him the word "enough" (it's our word for quiet because our kids burned the quiet word while yelling it when the dog was barking, he was in heaven I'm sure thinking they were all joining him!) so I changed it to "enough." When the dog was not barking but just looking out the window I would offer him some cheese, lure him off the window and as he ate it and licked it, is said "enough, enough, enough" and I did this off and on during the day for weeks. Then he BARKS, I go to him and say "Enough" and he turned off and came to me and I rewarded. I built an off switch that worked great.

What a head slapper. Of course! Why would a dog know that "shush" means the opposite of what they are doing? We will begin today. Results to follow.

Fameless

Could it have been the mention of drooling? Or perhaps it was the limited repertoire. Heaven forbid they did not like her look! We never heard back; Bella was not chosen. She remains an anonymous dog. No Hollywood. No bright lights. It's wonderful her shattered Broadway dreams can be salved with a tennis ball.

Fame?

We have been asked if Bella could take part in a commercial. Someone saw our girl and decided she fit the mood they they wanted to convey. The person in charge of the commercial will have to decide if she's the right one, but the cameraman was in love.

We did warn him she's still a puppy. Oh, and that she drools (he liked that!), but she could come, sit, lie down and wait to eat the biscuit on her paw. Those are her list of show tunes. But you have to admit, she has such a pretty face! (...said the proud mama.)