One Challenged Pet-Blogger

Bizzle Fo' Shizzle

I was über upset when I thought I missed the "Pet Blogger Challenge" hosted by Will My Dog Hate Me? and Go Pet-Friendly (two blogs I happen to lurk on the regular). Yesterday, at the last minute, I sat in front of my computer, ready to attack the keyboard, only to discover that this blasted sinus infection had melted every single one of my brain cells. 


Congestion is not the new hotness.


BUT! I decided, what the hay! I'll submit something anyway! That's when I discovered the deadline for entry was actually midnight tonight (January 11th). Woo-hoo! Let the challenge begin!


When did you begin your blog?


January 21, 2009 was the first entry, something about a daily quote (it took just three days before that idea went out the window). I didn't really do any research, I just hopped on the scene and by "scene" I mean that I wasn't really talking to anyone and no one knew I existed. 


What was your original purpose?


My reactive dog Bizzle started me on this journey - I talk about her often throughout the blog because she's been my most patient and knowledgable teacher. I wanted people to know that they're not alone, that training your dog is not always easy, even for the professionals. But the rewards?! Endless.


Is your current purpose the same?


I started blogging as a way to talk to people about dogs and now I find myself wanting to engage more in conversation...I'm wanting to talk with readers more than anything.  The blog is still packed with dog training advice and tips but I try to live up to the name of the blog more and take time to reflect on what I'm learning from my own life with dogs and hope that people can relate and learn. 


Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?


Ha ha ha!! Oh, how I wish I had the discipline to write as much as I should! And on a schedule!? I don't even think I can pronounce that! I force myself to blog once a week, at the very least. Some months are more packed than others and some months just plain suck for blog entries.


Are you generating income from your blog?


I've tried figuring out how to do that because extra money is always nice but [hangs head] the answer is no.  I always find myself clicking on a million links and then somehow, I'm lost in cyberspace, googling "how to make a vegan cheesecake", forgetting what I started out to research. SQUIRREL!


What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?


I like that my blog has earned the title "Best Blog in the Universe" because, phew, how disappointing would that be if it wasn't!?


Blogging gives me a way to speak to dog lovers. Thankfully, my blog has a super secret code that doesn't allow readers to ever close the window, thereby forcing them to participate in doggy conversation on a daily basis, whether they like it or not. That really helps out my numbers.


Paws to Rufflect, if anything, is honest. I don't want people who are just starting their search for dog training answers to think that there's a quick fix. There is no diet pill for dog training. 


BTW, I've just been informed that a piece of toilet paper shaped like a first-place ribbon is not a legitimate award. Especially for a made-up prize such as "Best Blog in the Universe." One can dream.


What do you like least?


I get all super inspired, whip out a blog entry, proofread it and then can't help but ask myself, "Why would anyone want to read this sh--!?" 


Getting off track is a terrible habit of mine...my brain just zooms all over the place. I need to find a topic and focus on it and get the blog entry posted. There are about eleventy-million drafts right now waiting to be developed in to something...


How do you see your blog changing or growing in 2011?


No offense to Blogger but this is the year I'm going to join the Wordpress crew.


Also, I'd really like to see the articles take up less space and the comments take up more. I want to get to know more people through my blog and others...


Oh! And I think we'll be changing the name. I know, I know, all this mess about "Pawsing to Rufflect" and now I'm talking about changing that. But I'm Hawaiian. Kahuna's K9s is Hawaiian (if a business can have an ethnicity). So, that means the blog name, in order to stay true to my heart, should be Hawaiian. 


Bottom line: I want to challenge myself this year. Finishing this blog challenge was a pretty good start...

Get Your Dog Out of Your Hair: If even for just a moment...

When you’re sick, the last thing you want to think about is taking care of everyone else. Selfish, I know, but there’s no better time to be a huge baby then when you’re congested, coughing, and tired all the time. 

This past week was my turn. Yes, that’s right. The kids got me (and J) a cold virus for Christmas! How do we know? Because as sick as he and I got, the kids never even sniffled!

Top priority: get lots of rest. Absolute last priority: take care of the dogs. 

That was my list. That was not the list of my beloved dogs. Though, strangely enough, they toned it down a bit and didn’t reach their full obnoxious level. I like to think it’s because they understand that we were under the weather...

I needed something to occupy them inside the house and it had to be something that doesn’t require me to interact with them as much. 

I’m a huge fan of dog puzzles - my favorite DIY doggie games, like in this post, usually just require me to dig in the recycling for inspiration. Which is exactly what I did this morning when I wanted just a liiiiiitle bit more sleep. *Supervision is strongly suggested. J was there to keep an eye on them, just in case.

I grabbed a cardboard box that’s still intact, some yummy treats, and some tape. 

My dog’s don’t ingest cardboard - that’s key. If your dog is less of a destroyer and more of an eater, this might not be the best idea for you. You would probably want something more sturdy, like the Nina Ottosson Twister game that they can’t actually tear apart for the purpose of eating it. Here’s our blog, with video, of Bizzle working on one.

Next, I toss some yummy, smelly treats inside the box. 

Then, I seal it up with tape.

Tada! Ready for play!

 Again, my dogs don’t actually consume this. Instead, they rip through it and spit the pieces out. They know the real prize is inside. 

This lasts them about 15 - 30 minutes, depending on how much I seal up the container. If you want to make it more difficult, seal all the flaps and corners.  That way, they can’t just rip the corner of the box open and get in. They’ve got to toss the box around a bit to figure out the best way in. 

Does this make a huge mess? Yes. 

But all it requires is a sweep of the broom and it’s cleaned up. More importantly, my dogs are entertained. And when the alternative is them bugging me every 2 seconds to play with them when all I want to do is recover, it’s definitely worth it! 

Here's Sarah, tuckered out after destroying her "toy":

Do you have great ideas for entertaining your dogs? Share them with us, we'd love to hear them!!

Your Dog's Not Listening

It’s three in the morning. You’re in your pajamas standing in the doorway, whisper-yelling out to the yard, “Fido! Pssst! Fido! Come!”  You just want to go back to bed, or at least back inside before the neighbors think you’re crazy. Fido, however, has a different idea. He’s decided he suddenly can’t hear you calling and he’s going to smell every inch of the backyard before coming back inside.

Why does he do this? Because Fido, like all dogs, knows there is a “before and after” to everything.

It's cause and effect, or Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence (ABC). Fido knows that you call him, he comes running to you and (cue ominous music) he's locked back inside the house...F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

If you want your dog to listen, you’ve got to set up the environment so that he always feels that he will gain something - the age old, “what’s in it for me?”

Become unpredictable. If Fido doesn't know whether or not coming to you will result in play, treats or going inside, he has to gamble.  Most likely, he will make this decision based on what's happened more in the past. You want to make it so that he's willing to bet you might be offering something he wants.

Always, always reward the right choice. And the wrong one. Let's say that it's been about 3 minutes of you enticing your dog. You're frustrated and angry when he finally decides to mosey on over to you. Choosing to scold or punish him for his delayed response will only confirm in his mind: "next time, don't come back at all because if I do, I'll just get in trouble!"

Make it fun. Calling your dog to come inside has to sound like it's better than staying outside. Try calling Fido in an upbeat voice and run away from him, then reward him with play once he gets in the doors. That way, he won’t see coming inside as impending doom, but rather just another doorway to fun!

Why it's important to ask your trainer HOW

If you enter “dog training help” in to your powerful search engine of choice, the amount of websites promising to solve your problem are abundant. It’s enough to plunge you deep into the Internet vortex and if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself shopping for mittens on Amazon wondering, “How the hell did I get here???”

By the time you’re back on track, you realize there are more answers than you thought possible.

After querying “dog training help”, I found one trainer who offers the following advice for treating a leash-aggressive dog:

“Your dog needs to do what you tell it. Your commands need to be adhered to. The better your dog is at obeying your commands the less it’ll be distracted. An obedient dog will eliminate aggression.”

Oh brother. Here we go. There are so many things that irk me about this statement, but let me just pose the question every dog owner should ask about any recommended training:

“HOW?” More specifically, how does obedience eliminate aggression??

What exactly do you mean when you say “obedience”…

I prefer not to use the word often, although I use it to describe the classes I teach. (You know what? Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m probably going to change that).

Obedience sounds so…overbearing.

I don’t want a dog to be obedient, submissive, or compliant. That all sounds like something you do because you have to, not because you want to. It sounds too official, as if there is some quality assurance inspector making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed and pink slips are given to anyone who doesn't meet the standards.

During my ten year stint in the military, obedience meant you had no other option – you were either obedient or else, and you definitely did NOT want the “or else”.

So, maybe that’s why it irks me. Because I’m not trying to communicate to my dog that they have to do something or else. I’m communicating to them “trust me! You’re going to want to do this!”

Umm, when does the obedience start to eliminate aggression??

Giving the benefit of the doubt to the author, perhaps they meant that if the dog is able to listen to your cues and your direction, the dog will be less likely to react aggressively towards the stimulus. Ohhhhh. Then why didn’t they just say that!? Because that’s totally different than “listen to me or else”.

Bottom Line

You know what eliminates aggression?? The dog does, not you, not obedience. The dog decides to stop aggressing. There is a moment (well, series of moments…many, many, counter-conditioning moments) when the dog decides “huh…This isn’t as bad as I thought it was…”

The dog’s trainer merely facilitates that a-ha moment.

They’re the one who teaches the dog that their engrained response (aggression) is not the answer, convincing them that aggression isn't necessary. War, folks, is not the answer.

Pop Quiz

HOW does obedience eliminate aggression? 

It doesn't.

Photos courtesy of: caninecoaching.com - Aggressive dog  yesweekly.com - Pop Quiz

The Perfect Dogs Raised By The Perfect Dog Trainer

Are you as big a fan of decorating as I am?? Do you stalk the decorating blogs and yearn for the time, the talent, and the HOME that many of these decorators have?

For many dog owners, a beautifully staged home free of toy-stuffing and dog hair is but a dream...

I do what I can and I think my decor is comfortable and pleasant, but I don't have the energy to keep my home in pristine condition - you will not be finding me on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens any time soon. I'm insanely jealous of the bloggers who have homes that all seem to be on the same block in the neighborhood known as Paradise.

In one of the decorating blogs I was reading yesterday, the author confessed, "don't think my home is always this tidy, I staged it just for this shot." HA! I knew it!!!

This made me think about what I want readers to get out of my blog. The purpose of Paws to Rufflect is to put out there that although I am a dog trainer by profession, I still have my fair share of mistakes, blunders and imperfections. I have the skills necessary to fix Kuna's loose-leash walking so that when we're out in public, people may think I have a "perfect" dog. It's marketing to the public - it's proving that I can train you to train your dog. But it certainly doesn't mean my dogs and their trainer are perfect!

In fact, I thought it would be funny to make a list of all the irritating silly things my dogs do. Compare, contrast, feel blessed yours might not be that bad after all.

Kuna counter-surfs like a demon. If he were ever a stray, he'd probably survive the longest because he can find food in places that make you scratch your head and think "how...what...huh!!???"

• whines more than a newborn pup. Just when we think we've got a handle on it, he's whining again. He whines to go potty, which we appreciate. He also whines just to hear himself whine, which we do not appreciate.

Sarah drools at the simple thought of food. She is a direct decendent of a Pavlov dog.

• eats her own poop. ugh. don't even get me started...

• doesn't like eye contact. This is a common thing with canines, but Sarah will lunge "out of the blue" if a passerby maintains eye contact with her.

• takes care of her personal hygiene...in our bed.

• strongly dislikes horseplay and rough-housing, whether it's canines or humans. No one gets to have fun around Sarah.

• hates Bizzle.

Bizzle hates Sarah. Hackles up, glaring out of the corner of her eye, huffing and puffing...they have to be separated 24/7.

• every day at 3 pm, she begins her afternoon randomness. She pitter patters around, follows me everywhere I go, stares at me in anticipation of something we have yet to figure out, then starts howling/barking at me. There's something we're missing, of course. She's probably wondering when we'll get the message.

• hates the cold, rain or snow. Won't even go out to potty. Where she "goes" or how she holds it, we may never know.

• burrows through a freshly made bed. Every time.

• pulls on the leash (GASP!) - since we moved to the country, we gave up and just got a retractable. Be free, Bizzle. At least to a distance of 15 feet.

I'm not ashamed to admit that my family of four-legged freaks is not perfect. I've dropped the ball countless times and sure, I could probably fix (almost) all the things on this list. Between you and I, some of these things I don't fix because they make my dogs who they are...I've learned to love them. When they're gone, I'll miss every single thing on this list.

I worked with a client once who told me, "I wish my dog walked next to me like the woman's dogs down the street...instead, I have this terrible puller." I laughed and told her those dogs probably poop in the dishwasher. We got a good laugh out of that, then worked hard on her boy's leash manners. He is doing well but she said she'll never look at that woman's dogs the same. :)

E

Wordless Wednesday Blog Link Up

Controlled Chaos

Sooooo, we all know that I've been preparing Kuna for public appearance. I work on him being comfortable in crowds, leaving other dogs alone and keep his wits about him in extremely chaotic situations. I couldn't be more proud - the boy is doing really well!

This weekend, Kuna and I were participants in Kathy Sdao's "So Many Choices" workshop. There were 2 working groups and 2 auditors assigned to each group, with a total of about 15 - 20 groups. We were at the lovely Coventry School for Dogs in Columbia, MD owned and operated by the fantastic Ruth Chase. If you've never seen her facility, you're missing out!

The application portion of the seminar was held in a very warehouse-like room and let me say this: the acoustics were wonderful. Unless you have 20 trainers with 20 clickers, barking dogs, people talking over other people, and an instructor on a PA system yelling over them. My brain short circuited about 5 minutes in.

Why? Oh because I forgot one tiny little trainer's commandment while conditioning Kuna to chaotic situations: Prepare Thyself.

I haven't been on this end of the proverbial leash for a while! People were evaluating my performance, giving me pointers, critiquing my training skills - that's been MY job! I have no problem giving a demo as the trainer, but suddenly I was thrown in to the role of student and boy oh boy, suddenly I was missing the motor skills portion of my brain.

The noise was unbearable. Kuna's performance obviously reflected my training: we fell apart almost instantly. And it just went downhill from there. Saturday was the worst day ever.

On my drive back to the seminar Sunday morning, I reflected on what exactly went wrong the day before and here's what I've compiled:

I simply was not prepared.
You can bring every type of treat imaginable but that only helps your dog. I should have told myself that it was going to be chaotic and that I was going to be anxious because I didn't know anyone (contrary to what many people may think, I'm actually VERY shy in new settings...I forget this because I force myself to be outgoing in order to be an effective teacher...).

I've programmed my brain to only accept constructive criticism, TAG Teach style.
While this may seem like a good thing, it actually makes my skin that much thinner when people do not follow the teachings of TAG. Not everyone understands or applies these techniques. It hurts my feelings when I hear "You shouldn't have done it like that..." or "I think you made a mistake when..." I'm sorry. I might sound like a big baby. But that just takes away any ounce of confidence I had. And confidence is what makes me an effective trainer.

I expected Kuna to carry me.
Since I'm being honest, I also realized that I thought all that hard work I've put in to training Kuna would somehow make my job easier. How? I guess I kind of thought "well, he's such a good boy, this should go smoothly" - as if I expected HIM to do all the work. But he's my job and I'm employed 24/7.

I forgot this was a learning experience.
Even after we faltered, I should have just let it roll of my back. We were there to learn and make mistakes. Kuna didn't care if we looked stupid - all he was concerned with was us as a team: where are we going? what are we doing? can we share that sandwich???

So Sunday, I took off my dog trainer hat. I didn't care how well we did, how much slower we progressed through the exercises than the rest of the group...all I was concerned with was "are me and my boy having a good time learning?"

It was no surprise that Sunday was our most successful day.

So when you're working with your dog, remember: you are an integral portion to the team. It's not just your dog doing the work and going through the motions - it's up to YOU to carry the team home. Keep your wits about you, maintain your game face and celebrate no matter the outcome!