Gear for Kaylee

I’ve begun shopping around for a backpack for Kaylee. Wings wore a Wenaha Jogger pack, which I really liked, but which is proving impossible to find in the size (XS) and color (purple, please! I guess red would be okay but.. I really like purple. Teal or dark blue would be my second choice, but it doesn’t even COME in those colors, and it USED to be available in purple.) I want. I could re-use Wings’ pack, but I just don’t want to. It was Wings’. It’s special. It stays on the bookshelf. There’s a real dearth of packs that have all the features I want.

• Not too bulky, with less than 4″ of added clearance on each side of the dog’s body from the panniers, nor too big- I need to carry around my meds, some (folded) brochures, poop bags, my cell phone, and a water bottle. The packs need to be short enough not to go too far back over her shoulders, but still have a girth long enough to accomodate her (quite deep) chest, and the panniers should not get in her way if she lies down.
• Comfortable fit- a padded chest strap is a bonus, and a minimum of places for hair to catch and hang up is preferred. Unlike a recreational backpack, she’s going to be spending a fair amount of time lying down or sitting with the pack on, so that needs to be comfortable, and she’s going to be wearing it every day once she’s working.
• Easy to take on and off. The Wenaha chest strap can be left fastened and the pack dropped on over her head and then the girth fastened (like a Wolfpack ID Cape).  I like this style, but it needs to be adjustable and also something I can slip a fleece or neoprene keeper over once it’s adjusted to keep it from tangling in her hair.

Today at City Life Pets, I tried the Ruffwear Approach Pack on Kaylee. I *loved* the way this fit her- the Webmaster harness that forms the foundation for the pack is incredibly well designed, and even without the girth fastened, a good shake didn’t move the pack at all. The size is okay- it’s at the top of my preferred range, but within it- the panniers are excellently sized, just wider than I want. It looks reasonably professional. There’s just one drawback- I *hate* the way you put it on the dog. One of the things that makes it fit so well is a Y-style yoke on the chest rather than a straight-across breastplate. The dog has to step into it. This is a SERIOUS pain enough that the pack is off my consideration list. I think. Unless I can find a way to modify that, anyway. I think we’re going to keep shopping for now.

Today was not a good day-  my apartment was broken into this morning (we’re all fine, nothing was taken, Mal chased him off before anything happened but it was scary as hell) and I didn’t accomplish any real training today. I only went out once today to buy dog food (why is it I can get things done for them that I can’t for myself?) and took Kaylee with me to City Pet Life over in Preston Royal.

We did some basic leash manners work- a little bit of LLW and luring into a straight sit (groundwork for future competition heeling) and practiced sit-and-waits while I read lists of ingredients. Mal is a very picky eater and I’m constantly trying to find a food that he likes well enough to eat consistantly that also doesn’t upset his stomach. (Picked up a bag of Fromm’s Surf N Turf; he did well on the old formula that was Whitefish & Potato, but this is grain-free, apparently. We’ll see. Last week we picked up the Taste of the Wild Gamebird formula, but a 4# bag ($13.95) didn’t go far at all among the three guys, and is just a little out of what I want to spend when I’m trying to save money for other things. A grain-free food seems to agree with Mal- maybe it’s time to try raw again- or I just need to suck it up and put him on one food and the girls on something else.

Kaylee’s Training Log - #6

In case anyone’s noticed? The “Days” on the training logs refer to training days, not how long Kaylee’s been here. I’m changing this now, because well, it’s confusing. I don’t bother to record days during which we do less than a solid half-hour of focused training, mostly since well, I’m lazy. Ish. (I can’t be THAT lazy, or I wouldn’t be getting so much (HAH!) done.) Kaylee has been here two weeks as of tomorrow (Tuesday) tonight.

Today (Monday), we took the train down to Lancaster. Worked on sitting and waiting politely at the station and then general ’staying-out-of-the-wayness’ on the train itself. The nice thing about travelling at the end of rush hour is that you get the benefit of the more frequent trains (40 minute trip vs 1 hour) but it’s not super-crowded. Kaylee did very well and I shaped the behavior of sitting between my feet and facing outwards and then backing in to put her butt under the seat and down between my feet. She’s not truly operant* yet, but she’s beginning to catch on that her behavior IS connected to the click. Her strongest established behaviors are all stationary- stacking for the show ring is her default behavior and given attention to the person holding the leash, followed by sitting.

Had dinner (sans Kaylee) at Chili’s with Lindsay and her SO, caught a movie, and then did one more quick training session with Kaylee before heading home. Worked on recalls (on a long-line) and introduced “away” meaning to go away from whoever is sending her- we’ll introduce a target to that same cue later on- right now we are just building a reinforcement history for speed on recalls- she’s not sufficiently bonded to me yet to use drive alone, so we’re doing it the long way.

Total training time: 2 hours
Behaviors worked on: sit, down, placement manners, recall, go out.

*- In clicker training, a dog is considered ‘operant’ when they have made the connection that they cause the click to happen and actively experiments by interacting with their environment to see what things will produce a reinforcing response; most dogs take a fair amount of time to come to this point, and a dog who is trained incorrectly with a clicker (where the clicker is used simply as praise or an intermediate bridge, rather than a proper marker, may never become truly operant.

Kaylee’s Training Log - Days 4-5

(May 10th, 2008 ) (Posting late because I saved this as a draft instead of hitting publish. Oops.)

I worked most of this afternoon, so the dogs stayed home. Around 8, I headed back to the house, walked everyone quickly, and then loaded Kaylee up in the truck for a quick trip to Half Price Books. Most (I think all?) Half Price Books locations allow well-behaved dogs and the largest store in the chain is located on Northwest Highway just east of Central Expressway. It’s HUGE- it used to be a department store (Sterling’s) and is about twice the size of your average Borders or B&N, with an attached (but separate doors and enclosed) cafe and a great meeting area where my craft club used to meet. We worked on sit and (lured) downs with distractions and remaining focused on me with other people moving around. Kaylee did quite well- down is still a challenge for her, but is coming along okay.  I’m beginning to work on capturing a down-at-my-feet/side when I sit down, which she’s started to do fairly automatically, and she’s begun laying down of her own accord when I stop in one place for more than 4-5 minutes or stand and talk to someone for a while. Both these are good things- she’s getting more comfortable with downing in various places, even if it’s not on a cue yet.

I don’t normally take puppies to HPB at all (I’ve taken Lizzie a few times for fun, but this is one of those unfairnesses of being a small dog versus a large one :P), and we run into only a few dogs there. I always hesitate to tell people about it, because it’d really ruin our enjoyment of it if too many people knew about it and badly-behaved dogs started showing up there or (heaven forbid) they banned dogs altogether. So, Dallas people? If you read my blog, you have been warned. My dogs don’t bite but I do, so don’t mess up my favorite training location.

I’d originally gone back to pick up a Freestyle Obedience book I’d spotted on my previous trip with Kaylee to Half Price, but I was really glad I’d gone back- I got new copies of “Bones Would Rain From the Sky” and “The Culture Clash” for my lending library, a tracking book, the freestyle book (which has a picture of a German Spitz in it!)

Skills & Notes: sit & down, attention, manners
Time: 45 minutes.

(May 11th, 2008 )

This afternoon Kaylee and I went to my parents’ house to have Mother’s Day LUnch with my parents. This was the first time they’d met Kaylee and everything went relatively well. Indy (our- by which I mean mine but my parents have stolen him- almost-seven-year-old Cardigan) was not so impressed with her and felt the need to snark at her for daring to get under HIS table, on HIS bed, or near HIS cat and HIS cat’s cat food.  Lots of noise and a little bit of shrieking, but no damage to either Kaylee or Indy (can’t say the same for his ego; he’s now on NILIF for a month.). Indy can be SUCH a brat-dog.

Did some work on leave it and a few recalls since Mom was willing to help with them. Recalls need serious work- Kaylee has a decent informal recall but needs serious proofing against distractions. (Hmm. This may be the excuse I’ve been looking for to order the “Really Reliable Recall” DVD).

This evening we’ve worked more on sits and downs, and done some grooming.

Worked on: sits, downs, leave it, recall
Training Time: 1 hour
No changes on the equipment front; still using the Premier martengale collar. I’m really not happy with it; it’s catching in her hair (it’s an all-cloth model but the seams are not as smooth on this collar (which is about a year old, a hand-me-down from Mal) as on new ones.)

A Halter for Kaylee?

I’m not a huge fan of head halters overall but I wanted to see if the difference in tack would be a good signal to Kaylee that her new job (learning to be a service dog) is very different from her old one (standing very still and looking glamorous), since she was shown on a standard slip collar. It worked fairly well- she wasn’t bothered by the nose loop particularly, but it didn’t fit her very well- the lack of stop meant that if it was as loose as I wanted it, it tended to ride up and at one point she managed to nearly put the nose loop over her pointy little head. I may get some fleece to line it and put a keeper on it so that it fits a little better. I may also order a Canny Collar to try. It’s just another brand of head halter, but unlike most of the others, attaches to the leash at the back of the head. There’s another brand like this, the Black Dog Infin8 Halter, but I’ve not seen one in person. (This looks MUCH safer to me; one of my primary complaints about most of the head collars is that they are constantly pulling the dog’s head to one side or the other if the dog moves ahead of you. More about this in a second.)

I think overall the head halter worked well for Kaylee and I may pursue it further. I just need to find the right one, or modify one to fit the way I want it to. At this point, I’m thinking a noseband lined with fleece or moleskin (possibly neoprene?) might be a good idea. I’ve always disliked horse bridles and halters with unlined nosebands since I think they tend to rub more easily even with a properly-fitted one, and I don’t know why more of the dog ones aren’t lined, other than ease of fit. Making a neoprene or fleece sleeve for one shouldn’t be a big deal, though. I also want it to attach to the leash at the back of the neck, and be easy to adjust so that the dog is comfortable in it during long down stays.

Kaylee’s Training Log - Day 3

(May 8, 2008 )

Nothing too intensive today. First, I decided to experiment and try a generic head halter on Kaylee to see if she would tolerate it. (See the other post from today for more details about that.) We made a brief stop into Orvis (if you have an Orvis outdoors store nearby, they allow dogs and have a small but nice selection of high-end dog beds, toys, and tack.) and practiced not sniffing, sitting politely while I stopped to talk to an employee, and just general manners. Then we went by Petsmart to pick up some treats (I grabbed an empty bait bag by accident instead of the full one I meant to get), where she also did well. (Proofing her against kids is going to be a challenge. I’m beginning to think that the collie attraction for small children- toddler sized is best- is as genetic as a lab’s predilection for water…) and then on to the Fort Worth Water Gardens.

This is the first time I’ve been to the Water Gardens since 2004, when 4 accidental drownings (a malfunctioning pump caused the water to be significantly deeper than usual) in one day caused them to be closed and redesigned. The photo to the left (from Wikipedia) was taken in 2003. The Pathway with the people on it is no longer accessible and a retaining wall has been built around the whole thing to prevent people from walking down into the bowl. I understand the safety concerns, but it was still a little bit sad to see the change- it was gorgeous before. Now it’s just.. there. The meditation pool and aerating gardens, which are the other two water features, were still the same as always. We just walked around for a while looking at things, not doing much in the way of training. On our way out, we ran into a kid who wanted to play hide and seek with Kaylee and Grady (Lindsay’s SD, who was out of vest) So we and the dogs hid twice for him. He was more enthralled with Grady, a dalmatian, than Kaylee, much to her chagrin.

That was it for today. Kaylee is coming along nicely- she’s INTERESTED in the world and curious about things, but does a good job of hanging out and observing, rather than deciding to go actively check them out. Sitting and waiting while my attention is on something else is already a fairly well established behavior.

Behaviors worked on: LLW, manners, sit
Training time: 2 hours
Need to work on: Increase precision on LLW and introduce real heeling, downs, active (rather than default) stays, car behavior, not tormenting Grady in the car.

Housebreaking Dogs that Soil Their Crates

I wrote the bulk of this several weeks ago in response to a spate of messages on a message board I frequent about this topic. Because I’m feeling lazy, I decided to re-post it over here so I can just direct people to it again rather than re-writing it every few days.

It’s a pretty common scenario- and one that I’ve responded to several times now, from face-to-face clients and, more commonly, on internet message boards. (Which is why I have decided to type this up!) Someone has gotten a new dog planning to use the crate method to housebreak him or her, and the dog soils in the crate, resulting in an unhappy owner, a stressed out (and dirty) dog, and tears all around. This isn’t uncommon with puppy mill dogs or dogs who came from really filthy conditions, but even more commonly, I see three main reasons why this happens. Firstly, is that the dog is being asked to ‘hold it’ too long. A rule of thumb for puppies is one hour per month of age, but there’s a great deal of individual variation. A stressed out puppy will need to go MUCH sooner than one who is used to being crated and settles down to sleep right away. A 2 month old Great Dane is 20 pounds, but a two month old Toy Fox Terrier is perhaps 2 or 3 pounds! Some puppies are just more mature than others. Secondly, the dog may have a physical problem- immaturity (and some dogs can be REALLY slow to mature!), a UTI, spay incontinance- or some form of separation anxiety (this last is the rarest). So a vet check is in order before trying this. Thirdly, the dog comes from, as mentioned above, an environment where he or she never had the chance to eliminate away from the nesting area as a baby and has never learned to prefer NOT to sleep in her own mess.

Just like with any dog being housebroken, supervision and scheduled feedings are really important. If the dog is not being supervised, they need to be confined. But for dogs who soil in the crate, this can be a nightmare. So what do you do?

Why I’m not ONLY a clicker teacher

I love clicker training- I really do! I think it’s absolutely the MOST fantastic tool out there for teaching complex behaviors to dogs, and the precision that’s possible with it is WONDERFUL. That said? I don’t think it’s the only- or even the best way- to teach people to train their dogs at the most basic levels.

Please understand- this article is NOT an attack on clicker training, and I think for many people and their dogs, it IS the right choice. However, I am a little bit sick of seeing it touted as the only choice- because it isn’t. All of these points primarily apply to the VERY basic type of obedience class geared towards a pet owner whose main need is to control their dog, with no interest in dog sports, CGC testing, or anything else- pet owners who are just looking for a basic level of control that will allow them to live with their dog. The typical student for this class has only one dog at a time, and may be on their first - or fourth- dog, but has a fairly limited range of experience with dogs other than ‘they’re nice’ and little to no training or behavioral background. They may or may not need instruction in the basics of responsible dog ownership (where there are leash laws in your city, why to spay/neuter, how to keep a dog confined properly, how to housebreak a dog), and frequently, their last experience owning an untrained dog (if any) was their childhood housepet (trained by their parents) or a previous dog which died of old age and whose puppyhood was many years- and possibly a revolution in training- ago.

Books for Every Dog Owner

These aren’t necessarily training books- or not mostly training books- but are books that changed the way I think about dogs- and are books that make me appreciate my dogs and our relationships more.

1. The Other End of the Leash - Patricia McConnell
   Patricia McConnell’s books are all good, but this was the first one I read, and to be honest, I can’t remember anything specific enough about it right now to tell you what exactly I loved. (It’s blended together in my head with “For the Love Of A Dog” and a variety of other books.) My copy has been out on permanant loan to various friends and relatives for about 18 months, so please pardon me for not doing a more detailed review.
2. Bones Would Rain From The Sky - Suzanne Clothier
   Suzanne Clothier has said in an article that her #1 training tool- the one she could choose if she could have only one ‘thing’ to train her dogs with, is a good relationship with her dogs. This book talks almost not at all about training- but vrey much about how we relate to our dogs- and how they relate to us and the world.
3. Lads Before The Wind - Karen Pryor
   This book isn’t about dogs at all- I think the only mention of dog training in it is that Karen Pryor had previously titled a Weim in obedience and that and her experience with horses was her only previous animal training experience. Lads Before the Wind is about dolphins (mostly, anyway), and how Karen and the other employees of Sea Life Park in Hawaii developed a practical usage of operant conditioning from technical recommendations given by academics in the early 1970s that they used with dolphins and other park animals.  I think this book is out of print- I borrowed it from a friend- but it’s worth a read if you can find it. The history is fascinating, largely because, from a perspective of 25 years on, we can see the foundations of a shift in thinking that really has revolutionized dog training. **EDIT*** There’s an updated edition available now, which I haven’t purchased yet.
4. For the Love Of A Dog” - Patricia McConnell
   I put off reading this book for a long time - I wasn’t really interested in emotions in dogs, because behaviorism (as a training model) insists so completely that we must only look at the objective and never assign emotional motives to dogs. Yet every dog owner patently knows that their dog feels frustration, fear, and joy- it’s hard to ascribe the absolutely GLEEFUL zoomies that dogs get occasionally any other way, and hard, as somoene hwo loves my pets, to believe even for a second that apparent ‘emotions’ are sheerly randomly firing neurons and cunningly crafted imitations of something that is defined so strongly as being specific to humans- or at best, primates. This book talks about that dichotomy, the science behind emotions, and the emotions our dogs evoke in us. In a lot of ways, it’s a very similar book to “Bones” from a slightly different perspective.
5. Remembering To Breathe (and sequel “OTCH Dreams”) - Willard Bailey
   As a novice in the dog world, I adored “Remembering to Breathe”. The ups and downs of Honeybear and Willard’s career in the world of competitive obedience is something that anyone who has ever participated in a team sport- with or without a canine partner- can appreciate. One review of this book that is quoted calls this “The love story between a man and his dog,” and it is- but even beyond that, this book is something special. “OTCH Dreams” is not quite as riveting (Kleenex alert for the first section, though, which is entitled “The Last Days of Honeybear”) but is still a great read.  Competition obedience is, at it’s heart, about having an incredible bond with your dog as teammates- and I think this book really excels at explaining that aspect of the sport. These are the books I loan out to people who want to know what this competitive obedience stuff is all about and why ANYONE would choose to spend hours every week practicing heeling with their dog.
6. The Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson
   When I read this book, I was a volunteer working with Siberian Husky rescue, and I was POSITIVE that the yank-and-crank methods I’d seen people use to train dogs in the past just wouldn’t work for me. I wasn’t physically strong enough (at the time, I was on crutches with a broken femur from a car wreck!) and just plain didn’t WANT to spend my time with these beautiful animals intimidating them- something most Sibes tend to laugh at, anyway. This book is more of a training book than any other on the list- but it gave me hope that there WERE ways to work with dogs that traditional obedience trainers considered ‘difficult’. (I still consider Sibes a tough breed to work with, but it’s for an entirely different set of reasons now!)

Kaylee’s Training Log - Day 2 - Doggy Day Out

(3 May 200 Took Kaylee for her very first train ride today on the DART Light rail- she did GREAT.

Drove to the Skillman Station and waited about 10 minutes for the train- Kaylee did excellent while we were waiting, mildly curious but not overly interested in the people there. No vocalization, even when some kids running and yelling were playing tag on the platform. No reaction to the trains coming in or out of the station, and excellent job with boarding. She was a little unsure about the rocking of the train, but the noise didn’t seem to bother her at all. Some lip licking and slightly elevated respiration, but eyes weren’t dilated and no vocalization. 10 minutes into the ride, she relaxed, laid down, and took a nap. Wish I could have- there was a guy who was pestering me for my phone number that was really irritating- I mean, he was probably a perfectly nice guy, but I never know how to deal with that sort of thing. “I don’t give out my phone number, sorry.” seems pretty clear to me, but… yeah. Anyway, when we got to the end of the line where we were meeting Lindsay and her service dog Grady, we stepped off the train to find her, made a quick stop in the grass, and then got back on the train.

On the return trip, unfortunately, the car was much fuller. Because Kaylee doesn’t have a solid downstay yet and dogs are a significant distraction, I decided not to sit next to Lindsay and stood across the aisle in the standing area only, which worked fine. Kaylee wasn’t phased by the obnoxious, VERY loud teenagers at the back who made all sorts of weird noises (including barking, meowing, and a few other things) but my head was pounding by the time they got off the train. About 3/4 of the way through the ride, Lindsay swapped with me and stood in the standing section and I took the available seat.

After that, we got in the truck and drove down to the White Rock Lake Festival, held every year to raise money for the White Rock Lake Foundation. It was smaller this year than I remember it being in years past- maybe it was busier earlier in the day- we didn’t arrive until 6:30, and it ended at 8. Heard a few songs from a great band with a fantastic fiddler and a lady who does a GREAT cover of “Ring of Fire” and ran into a friend from a past obedience class and her Viszla Laney. We spent about 45 minutes walking around, during which Kaylee sniffed, stole a piece of hamburger off the ground (my fault, I didn’t see it at all), and generally was a cute, polite girl. Lindsay offered to sell her right eye for a million dollars to a guy from some church, or both eyes for 10 million, and he didn’t really seem to know how to deal with this. (It was his lead in to a “Eyes are the windows to the soul, what value do you place on THAT?” spiel; Lindsay and I side-tracked him into whether or not Ebay’s terms of service allows for the selling of souls (conclusion? No.) as they ARE body parts…) The WRL Festival runs tomorrow too, costs $2 for adults (free for kids!) and benefits a great cause, so if you’re local, check it out! The music was awesome, and if we’d been hungry, the food smelled DELICIOUS.

We made a quick stop by Half Price Books (and resisted purchasing anything, very tough!) and spent a bit of time in the dog section. The largest Half Price Books in the world is located here in Dallas, and while it’s got nothing on Powell’s, it’s still pretty good sized. It’s also dog-friendly, so it’s a great place to take service dogs in training to practice good manners without the higher stress (to the handler) of a ‘real’ access environment or the tempting distractions and smells of a pet supply store. The dog book section isn’t great- it’s pretty big but most of it is pet-oriented. Every once in a while, though, we find a training gem- I picked up a copy of “Off to a Good Start” here and am slowly amassing a collection of good breed books (mostly the “Complete (breed)” and “New Complete (breed)” series.)

Afterwards, we went out to dinner, but Kaylee is in NO way ready for that, so that was the end of her outing. Billy (Lindsay’s SO) picked her up at Denny’s (our favorite Denny’s is under new management and we’re not very pleased) and I headed back to the apartment with Kaylee. Did one more session- sits and downs again, this time doing speed trials. Like most collies, she seems to learn very well from watching other dogs, and it probably doesn’t hurt that there’s some rivalry between her and Malcolm- 3 repetitions of watching him get treats for sitting (he’s working on straight fronts at the moment), she shoved in and proved she could do it too. Go Kaylee!

Behaviors worked on: Leash manners, leave it, sit, down
Total Time worked: 4 hours