tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248669072024-03-14T00:18:23.310-07:00The Great Dog BlogBased on my experiences as a pet dog trainer in Rhode Island.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-70444890438397190202016-07-20T11:12:00.002-07:002016-07-20T14:00:49.453-07:00Shelter From The Storm<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span>t's been a long time since I've <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">logged</span> any <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">new entries<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a few but </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">struggled br<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">inging</span></span> them home. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My fat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">her's passing</span></span> sparked <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">what's been a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ong p<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eriod of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">questioning, self doubt and general <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">gloominess about getting older<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span>running ou<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t of t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ime<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> big picture stuff t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hat <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">could exact <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">more influence <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">than <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wanted it to</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Afte<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">r all<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, w</span></span></span>orking with dogs i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s far <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">more often than not</span> a joy<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ful</span> thing<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span>I wanted <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the next thing I wrote about</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">have some of</span> th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Let some fresh air and sunshine in t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he room. </span></span></span></span>T<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ge<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">neral idea for this entry's been boun<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cing around <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my brain for a whi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">le now</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> but I w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n't <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">really sure how to approach it. This is ab<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">out the people <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re in Rhode Island <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">who work <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and volunteer for <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">animal <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">shelters and rescue <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">organizations. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's too big</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for one entry so I'm going to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> address it as a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> series<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, each entry focusing on<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a different organization<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span>I have a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n abiding affection for the people I'l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">l be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">writing <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">about here <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd that made me worry this will be just so<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">m<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">uch</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> back slapping, no matter how I managed to present it. Then I thought, screw it, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">what's wrong <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with some public adulation<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">?</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">M</span>aybe I'll manage to make it inter<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">esting, t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hread in some humor<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and</span> intrigue</span></span></span></span></span>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know some of the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">se fine folks</span> more than others and of course our interactions have largely been by way of this common <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">interest</span> we share<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Y<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ou <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">could argue I'm only seeing them through a narrow <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lens<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and that<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s not enough <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to shower <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">them with praise</span></span></span></span></span>. Fair enough.</span></span></span></span> It's possible for example that a few of them are master criminals or evil geniuses in their spare time, not the selfless altruists I think of them as<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. That would be intri<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">guing</span></span> but I doubt <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it</span>. It's also possible that some are doing the things they do for the attention they may garner on social media,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>but I doubt that too. That people respond to them and the things they do on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ocial<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> media<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> site</span></span></span></span> reminds me that everything is not complete shit, not superficial, innocuous, not meaningless. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's these </span>people that collectively form a counter balance <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">for the<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> myriad</span></span> knuckle heads that dot our little landscape. I won't waste precious key strokes blathering on about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">said</span> knuckleheads, remember this is supposed to be sunshine and fresh air. Maybe <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a post script blurb on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">knuckleheads at t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he end of this?</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Y</span>es that<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> will </span>do <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nicely</span>.</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ile I'm thinking about it, a confession concerning</span></span> the title of this <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">entry which, </span>you may have guessed<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span>arrived by way
of listening to Bob Dylan<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, an</span> activity people of my age, along with
musings about rotary dial phones and vinyl records, are known to indulge
in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">fr<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">om time to time</span></span>. It's not a particularly clever way to find one's self inspired but<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> as long as it remains il</span>legal to sample psychedelics in this state<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, I'm <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">left to</span></span> work with what I've got. If <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">said <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">contraband should one day be <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">eemed cop<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">acetic</span></span> however</span></span></span>, well, prepare yourselves for "<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ho<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">w <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">C</span>ome </span>Your</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Beagle Looks</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paisley</span>?"<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I digress,...</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Very well then</span>, let the back slapping <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">b<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">egi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n</span></span></span>! I have to start with the Warwick Animal Shelter. It's been said our lives can be broken down to eight or fewer key moments that ultimately define it, send it off on a trajectory that changes <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">us</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">irreversibly</span></span>. There are thirty-nine municipalities Sue and I could've moved to when we came here from Massachusetts in the late 90's but we chose Warwick and it's here where I met Ann Corvin, then the city's shelter keeper, now the director. She agreed to let me work with the shelter dogs there despite <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">approachi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ng her about it following </span></span>a long period of tumult that had left some hard feelings between a local volunteer organization and some shelter staff. It's a long story best left to the people who were involved directly in it. Sufficed to say it got ugly and left some hard feelings behind. Volunteers were just be<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing let back in albeit with a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">jaundiced eye.</span> </span></span></span>The shelter was <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n old<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, cram<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ped<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span></span></span></span></span> decrepit building<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Passed tensions remained</span></span> palpable on some days, everything <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">seemed old<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">al<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ling apart at t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he seams</span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">N</span>one of th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at</span> mattered in retrospect</span></span>. This is where it all started<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. W</span>ithout that sad, old building<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, with<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">out</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ann's willingness to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">give me a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">outlet to work with shelter dogs,</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">none of what's happened for me as trainer would have happen<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ed</span></span>. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s worth menti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">oning the first dog I wo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rked with bit me<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> remember</span> walk<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing</span> through the en<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tire run t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hat first time, </span>look<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing for the dog who <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in my estimation would be<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> least threatening</span></span></span></span>, a little 35lb black and white mutt name<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d, appropriat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ely<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, "Snoopy". <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What could ha<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ppen? </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'d soon meet</span></span></span> Barbara Emmons, the director of volunteers at the time<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. An</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">RNP from local Kent Hospital<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Barbara <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">str<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">uck me immediately as<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> someone wh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o would <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">never be<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> distracted by bullshit. She <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and Ann got it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and between the two of them<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, they<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'d play a big role in shep<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">herding that shelter through <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">some serious growing pains. Always<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> wi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">th co<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">mpassion<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, humor and intelligence. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Marylou, Jan<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span> Deb, John and his wife Cathy, Paul and his wife Ruth rounded out that first group <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of staff and volunteers</span>. All great, people, each worthy of their own <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ime here<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xkSXS9KPqs/V45NGJfe69I/AAAAAAAAKIo/N_-xahtPeIs1YEED1zxkA9gofPVbHkTHwCLcB/s1600/20160716_103630-picsay%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7xkSXS9KPqs/V45NGJfe69I/AAAAAAAAKIo/N_-xahtPeIs1YEED1zxkA9gofPVbHkTHwCLcB/s400/20160716_103630-picsay%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie, Ann (with Teddy) & Deb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over the years the shelter would move into it's present location next door, it would be very nearly destroyed in the flood of 2010 before being restored to it's present state. With the brave efforts of Barbara Walsh, Mary Tilton and others who I'm no doubt giving short shrift to, the shelter was redefined in a way that's cleared the path for volunteers to help with things that the shelter's budget would not otherwise be able to accommodate. With that enter Maureen, Deb Arenburg, Noreen, Judy, Jackie, Maggie and several others. Staff and volunteers who've collectively done everything from, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">maintenance,</span> huge fund raising efforts, walking the dogs, washing and cleaning, photographing the animals up for adoption<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, f<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ollow up on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ad<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">options </span></span></span></span>and even the bringing about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the </span>construction of an outdoor pen where dogs can run around, get some fresh air<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and</span> be introduced to adoptive families. The extraordinarily improved conditions<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">can b<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">directly attributed to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> these people and their collective efforts. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If chara<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cter is bes<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t judge<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d by wh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o you are when no one is looking, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">it abounds here.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's no one there looking <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to be beatif<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ied<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">no<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> one there who hasn't <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">been witness to</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> some genuinely inhumane <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">experiences. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dogs<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, cats and<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">occasional ferret, parrot<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, turtle or rabbit find them<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">elves <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at this shelter<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for different reasons.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some are inesca<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pable<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, inevitable, others the unfortunate<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, unwitting result<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of negle<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ct, bad decision making<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, u<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ncaring and cruelty. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It can seem unrelenting at times<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and while there's the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">occasional<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> need to v<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ent by way of the color<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ful use of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">expletive<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (st<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ric<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tly <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">professional</span> mind y<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ou, never w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ith any member of the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">blic present<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>This group <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">maintains a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tight ship <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">that takes time to make<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> sur<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e it's residents are finding some measure of e<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nri<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">chment while in their care. It's truly somet<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hing and while not unique<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the Wa<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rwick Animal Shelter it<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is here where I find my core<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is w<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">here I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> go to get grounded<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. It's a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lso where I found Reno an<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d M<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">iles<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, two dogs that changed my life. Like the <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bumper sticker says, "Who <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Re<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">scued</span></span> Who?" </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'ve said that <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">shelter volun<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">teers are <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">altruist<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s and that's true but <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">volunteer work is not without some re<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ciprocity<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Watch volu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nteers<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> interacting with the ca<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ts<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, dogs etc, walking, playing, training, hel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ping with introductions, even feeding<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, cleaning and groo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ming<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Meeting these basic needs feels good<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, a l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">asting good you take with you when you leav<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e. The feedback from <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a dog that comes in filthy, parasite ridden and hungry when they've had a bat<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">h, been relieved of fleas and ticks and fed<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, g<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">iven the me<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dical attention they sometimes need.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s profoundly rewarding. </span></span>There is the gloomy side <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as well. The <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hard business of shelter work<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Recognizing that<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> adoption may not be a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> safe option<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and the requisite choices that come wit<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">h <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ac<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hing that con<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">clus<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ion.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That b<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rings me to my post script<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">st<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd</span></span> on my s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ap bo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">x</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> and extend <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">some long overdue feedback</span> to a certain local <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">group</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">given to</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bloviati<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and no small amount of shit s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rring. I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ink far too little of <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">them</span> to give <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">them</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> mention sa<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ve to say <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">their</span> name <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a transparent <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">attempt to disguise <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">their</span> actual mission <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">poor<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ly researched grandstanding<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, often before the state ass<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">em<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">bly</span></span></span></span></span>. Normally I'd appl<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">au<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">civic m<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">inded activity but not <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">here</span>. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They</span> are an idiom and little more<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I</span>n particular,</span> "An emp<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ty vessel makes the most noi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">se."<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">personal favorite,. </span>Alas, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've let<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> clouds and exhaus<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t fumes into this other<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wise cheerf<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ul en<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">try</span></span> but this particular gro<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">up of kn<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">uckleheads<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, led by someone who's spent nary a moment in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">any <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nimal shelter,<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is given to<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">spouting <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">libelous nonse<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">se on <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ocial media about <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my friends <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at the Warwick Animal Sh<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">elter</span></span>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Those <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">employing the use of their fron<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tal lo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">be and <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">even a <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">modicum of common sense will ignore<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> them as I probably shou<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">l<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">d</span></span>. The angry<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, mouth breathing t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rolls who<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">re <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">their</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">acolytes</span> however, well that's a d<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ifferent</span> story. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The vitr<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">i<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">olic<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">often <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">threatening</span> sputum typed in response t<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">o<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> their<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ram<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">blings is at it's least<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, fu<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ndamentally misplaced and at it's worse, very, very scary. To this group <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of empty headed</span> troglo<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dytes and their supporters I <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">present you with both middle finger<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Take a break from trolling<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Y<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ou're not bound to su<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ffer turd slinging <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from the likes of me, <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">you<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'re</span></span> other<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wise <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">kind hearted<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">blogger<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span> I'm only <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">grinning a little bit as I type th<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is final s<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ent<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ence<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. T<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ry critical thinking, you might like it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-27108991480655208002014-09-21T16:33:00.003-07:002014-09-23T05:03:47.885-07:00The End is in the Beginning and Yet You Go On<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">M</span>aybe it's my largely Irish gene pool that stirs me to write when death has come. On Friday August 29th the end came for my dear father who at 77 had been fighting the effects of Alzheimer's Disease for several years. My father is the reason we nearly always had a dog in the house growing up. There were spots of time in my youth when there wasn't a dog but they seem brief as I think back on it. The nuts and bolts of my childhood seemed always accompanied by a family dog. There was Buddy, a shepherd/hound mix who I remember only in flashes as being goofy and fun loving. Sadie, a flat coated retriever mix who probably suffered the most for my ignorance. A spectacularly cute puppy, she lived with us until she bit the paperboy. A vicious dog hearing followed, then she was sent off to live at a no-kill shelter in Sutton, MA, or so my sisters and I were told at the time. Finally, Meisha, a spirited Lhasa Apso came into the picture near the end of my parent's marriage. That year saw a new house and a new car as well. While my understanding of the more noteworthy events from that year have grown more nuanced with time, these acquisitions would form the basis for a vague sense of dread and foreboding. I'd said to a friend at the time, "This will all be over in a year." It wouldn't take that long. These various offerings would be for naught. My family as I'd understood to be, would come to a dramatic end one summer evening in August 1984. Meisha would be sent off to live with a retired former drill sergeant. A good call for his well being at the time but I remember resenting that he'd been cast off like old luggage. He was not treated like family as he should have been. <br />
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Many years have passed since then and while my Father would really only have one other dog, a sweet black lab who passed too soon, my sisters and I seemed to always have them. What's interesting in retrospect is also one of the personality traits I see so frequently in dogs, a gentle outpouring of affection towards people who are struggling with something. Of course this is not universally true but it does seem to dominate my anecdotal landscape and it most certainly held true when it came to how the family's dogs behaved around my Dad. All of our dogs were drawn to him these last few years, each of them exercising what in some cases (Miles) was uncharacteristic gentleness, unbridled kindness. I'd like to say I could ruin this entry with the sound scientific principles that explain this phenomenon, however I am blissfully ignorant of them and content to admire what I've seen at face value.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Addie with my Dad for a ride in the car.</td></tr>
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The family closed ranks to be at my father's bedside every day of what would be the last week of his life. My sisters Meghan and Sheila took charge of his comfort measures. The rest of us did what we were told and tried not to screw things up. Sheila's dog Katy clung very close to my Dad, often on his bed lying next to him, getting off to check in with everyone, get a scratch, lick your face. It was good, it was very good. Katy was something of a life raft with her agenda-less routine of checking in to see if everyone was alright. When he passed that Friday evening she appeared to share in our grief, going from person to person as if unsure of what exactly had happened.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0_e5cW4AFu0/VBh0BFDgHhI/AAAAAAAAGvY/vx2X7EN-hU8/s1600/20140828_115743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0_e5cW4AFu0/VBh0BFDgHhI/AAAAAAAAGvY/vx2X7EN-hU8/s1600/20140828_115743.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katy at my father's bedside</td></tr>
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I'd wondered for a time whether to write about this here. The big question, "Is this relevant to dog owners?". I don't know if I'm being honest. I may come back to this and wonder if this wasn't something best left in a personal journal. There was one dominant theme that came up frequently in that last week however. Something my sister Meghan would whisper into my father's ear as he lay, seemingly unconscious. "We're all here for you Dad. You always talked about family being the most important thing and now we're here for you." In my father's version of Maslow's Hierarchy he would finally emphasize that above all else. And while getting there left many missed opportunities and not a few questionable decisions, he was not wrong. In the end he was not wrong. This man, whose self-effacing nature and gift of gab have been a model for me in my adult life, would come to the end of his with a vocabulary so diminished by the effects of Alzheimer's he would hit his head as if to jar the words loose. What will never leave me is that the words he clung most desperately to, the ones he would not relinquish to this pile of shit disease were the ones needed to express unconditional love. "You're Great!" "I Love You" "You're Beautiful" and the last words he said to me as I walked down a hall with him at Jordan Hospital. Smiling at me he said, "You've got me".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MBOOuqZvQ6g/VB9VXjAR6_I/AAAAAAAAGwA/8F-mDYnr1eM/s1600/photo(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MBOOuqZvQ6g/VB9VXjAR6_I/AAAAAAAAGwA/8F-mDYnr1eM/s1600/photo(9).JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad, his wife Marcia and my sister's dog Lila</td></tr>
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I am agnostic, I think it's my nature to be but I cannot deny the need to look for meaning in all of this, to try to make some sense of it following the obligatory Kubler Ross 5 Stages of Grief. Then, this past Friday another gut punch came as Louie, my beautiful 18 year old Min Pin made it clear he too was at the end. Applying the common sense approach Sam Simon takes with his rescue dogs, he knows each of their three favorite things. When they can no longer enjoy two of them, it's time to say goodbye and so he too, Louie, my Big Lou would let loose this mortal coil. It's hard to extract some greater meaning from the pain of loss. Hamlet, pondering suicide asks, "To sleep, perchance to dream. What dreams may come?" Is there peace in death? I don't know, I hope so. If I've found some meaning in the last several weeks it is a renewed appreciation for the value of kindness. My father's passing brought us together for a common cause that's left me changed. I've never been so proud of my sisters. Louie, who throughout his long life was kindness in canine form. His life spanned nearly two decades, nearly all of the years Sue and I have been together. Over the last three weeks I've been reminded how lucky I was to have them both in my life for so long. I will miss them both for the rest of my years. And of course my friends are right, I have been lucky. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w2gJLQME-3M/VB9bogpnQ_I/AAAAAAAAGwU/4XDHOIs2vj4/s1600/louasleep.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w2gJLQME-3M/VB9bogpnQ_I/AAAAAAAAGwU/4XDHOIs2vj4/s1600/louasleep.bmp" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louie at his most content wrapped up in warm blankets out of the dryer.</td></tr>
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Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-50860111389618884582014-06-12T10:59:00.000-07:002014-06-14T11:51:33.410-07:00These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">QUESTION: How many Zen Masters does it take to screw in a light bulb?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ANSWER: There is no light bulb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the joke that comes up so frequently in my lessons. It's probably a mistake to include it in this post, it will never have that chin rubbing "hmmmm..." quality again (assuming you've read this of course) This joke helps set the stage for what I'm ultimately, really asking my dog owners to do and that's to think differently about the problems they're having with their dogs. I'm also trying to establish a dynamic where you the dog owner are expecting your dog to think and problem solve, to understand why their behavior results in one consequence versus another. One is compelling, rewarding, the other is not. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm working with a couple with two beautiful little dogs. Levi, a miniature dachshund and Stanley, a beagle/dachshund mix. They are also expecting a baby and have concerns about how their dogs will adjust to the addition of the new family member. Levi doesn't like when John touches Felicia's belly to feel the baby kicking. Perhaps he views it as an aggressive overture, a preamble to conflict of some sort. He jumps, barks and nips at John's hand. Our goal was for Levi to reevaluate what this gesture meant to him. We wanted Levi to tell us that he wanted John to feel the baby kicking because ultimately, Levi's objections to this gesture could be symptomatic of broader misinterpretations which in turn can have a negative, even devastating impact on the human/animal bond. Conversely, it can lead to outright denial, which can lead to escalating aggression. There are ways to work through these problems with our dogs that often deepen the bond we have with them. Here's how we approached Levi's "What are you doing to Mom?" problem. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stanley & Levi practice stay after hearing the doorbell.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first step was to teach Levi and Stanley how great being on the floor is. This is not a semantic argument, this is Real Estate 101. Your dogs want the couch, they want the bed. but these coveted locals are off limits when there's a baby in the house, so our job is to convince them that these spots are not prime real estate as they believe, the floor is, their beds on the floor are. Resentment can fester into dangerous behaviors so removing conflict from the proceedings is a high priority, as it happens, it's also considerably more fun. I have another favorite way to frame this arguement, "These aren't the droids you're looking for." instantly relevant to fans of Star Wars Episode IV, Obi Wan doesn't massacre the inquisitive storm troopers, he changes the nature of the encounter in a way that is devoid of conflict. "I want to be up there on the couch!" , "Nah, you don't want the couch, what you want is the floor. The floor is awesome." "You're right, the floor is awesome, I love this floor. This is the best floor in the history of floors. Thanks for showing me." This may seem overly simplistic but that's it in a nutshell. The details of getting there with your dog may differ depending on their attachment to elevated perches and what they're compelled by but it's still about rewarding the floor while managing the couch and your bed. The elevated places are never bad which means they're not punished for being there, merely redirected to the floor where they're once again met with praise. Using things like Kong Wobblers or my personal favorite the IQ Ball is another way to use the food they'd otherwise be eating from their bowls (boring) into a game that unfolds on the floor (fun) adding further value to the lower elevations of your dog's living space. "But aren't some dogs fine on furniture? My dog's never acted aggressively on furniture" There's no question that some dogs are sweet as pumpkin pie in these situations, still, safety first. There's no down side to this exercise, quite the contrary. The dog owners I've worked with report that their dogs thrive in this modified dynamic because it's fun and they're getting more attention then they ever did before. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that the two pups are very keen on being on the floor, we take to the couch where John, equipped with treats, presents Levi with an opportunity. Levi can have the treat, but only after John rubs Felicia's belly. Is this getting weird? No? Good, let's move on then. A quick rub, feed, another rub, feed, repeat. Now, ask Levi to sit. When he sits, John rubs Felicia's belly and feeds Levi a treat. "Levi Sit", Levi sits, John rubs Felicia's belly, feeds Levi, repeat. Here's where something interesting happens. We stop everything. If Levi understands his role in the proceedings, that one thing (sitting) triggers another thing (belly rub) to happen and that it ends with him getting a treat then,...wait for it,....Yes! Exactly! Levi will get things going again by sitting. He knows John's going to rub Felicia's belly when he sits, but now that's less important than the reciprocal effect of getting a compelling treat and now Levi is sitting on the floor to prompt a belly rub and a treat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sets the stage for the sorts of things that happen once the baby is born. Feeding, changing diapers, playing etc. They can be predictive of a compelling consequence. No conflict, no yelling, no whaling and gnashing of teeth. Understood in these proceedings is that while troublesome, neither dog has a serious history of aggressive behavior. This approach is reasonable only when there is no such history. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Consequence changes behavior (Thank you Dr. Dunbar) </span>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-81184633584168963632013-09-23T11:52:00.006-07:002013-10-09T06:15:48.106-07:00Goodbye to an Old FriendI've just hung up with the veterinarian, having scheduled Archie to be put to sleep later this evening.<br />
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Archie's lived his life with a heart murmur, survived what we think is Evan's Syndrome and still saw his sixteenth birthday this past July 9th. But this past weekend, his health took a dramatic turn downwards as he all but lost his ability to walk and could no longer hold his bladder. This morning, at about 3:30AM, Sue and I made the decision. Somehow, I thought this would not be as hard as when we faced this same grim reality with Reno. It's been every bit as hard. Sue broke the news to Keir earlier and while his initial response was pragmatic. That changed when he said goodbye before going to school this morning. The stark reality had struck hard. Archie is one of us, he is family and soon he'll be gone forever. That he lived a good life to an advanced age will provide some comfort in time but not now. Right now it just hurts.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keir walking Archie at the Beach</td></tr>
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Bringing Archie into our family so many years ago, we had all the hopes and enthusiasm most dog owners have with a new dog. It has never been easy. Jack Russell Terriers are not for everyone and yet despite the fair amount of angst, frustration, frayed nerves and sleepless nights. Archie is the reason I'm a fan, first and foremost his fan but in a larger sense, a fan of every pain in the butt dog that ever challenged me to think and work harder. Thinking about it, he's the reason Miles is part of our family. My good friend Ann knew very well that we had a feisty (is there any other kind?) Jack Russell living among us. For that reason she made the call that would ultimately lead to Miles being part of the family as well.<br />
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While a genuine antagonist to all of our other dogs throughout the years, he always loved us unconditionally and for that alone, he deserved nothing less than that from us. Through clenched teeth at times, I won't resort to hyperbole even now as I begin this most awful countdown to his final moments. Thinking about it, there's no need to. I know very well why I'm a mess, why writing this is helping me externalize and deal with it. Because I loved the joyous howl he'd make when he was at his happiest. It was unique, it sounded like he was trying to say something and it never failed to make all of us laugh. Because of his once impressive physical prowess. A level of natural athleticism I've only ever seen rivaled by Pit Bulls, American Bull Dogs and the like. Rippling muscles flexing as he left the floor remaining in an upward trajectory for several feet until, at the end of a perfectly engineered parabola, he'd land on the bed some seven feet from where he'd started. Because when we were in the obedience ring, it was never Archie screwing up, it was always me. Because he forgave me for all of my errors and shortcomings as a trainer and a friend. Because of the way he'd spin in a frantic, ebullient spiral every time he was about to be fed. For all of these reasons and the many more I'll think about for the rest of my days, Archie's eminent passing is weighing so heavily.<br />
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<i>"...I saw the danger, yet I walked<br />Along the enchanted way<br />And I said let grief be a falling leaf<br />At the dawning of the day."</i><br />
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<i>- James McNally </i><br />
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This past Saturday I joined two trainer friends at a day long seminar with the amazing Emma Parsons. It struck me at one point how many narratives were driven at least in part by that person's personal experience with their dog. Emma had Ben, Julie Shaw had Macintosh, the list goes on. Archie will forever be a part of my narrative. As he leaves us later today for whatever may be next, he leaves behind that all important gift. For our part, while I remain open to the endless possibilities, I hope he takes with him that his family loved him. Goodbye old friend.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-1114937595419283172013-06-14T04:20:00.004-07:002013-06-14T06:41:50.966-07:00Closer to the Heart<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-40870583-4021-8c82-d901-a6ac44a71618" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYSKuMgz3Yk/Ubr45Ys2CqI/AAAAAAAADwc/yonhENaTD_g/s1600/Ian+with+puppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYSKuMgz3Yk/Ubr45Ys2CqI/AAAAAAAADwc/yonhENaTD_g/s1600/Ian+with+puppy.jpg" height="235" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Dr. Dunbar wins the attention of a very cute, very distracted puppy.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">T</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">his weekend, </span><a href="http://www.k-9connection.net/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">K9 Connection</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> in Warwick, RI hosted a two day workshop with</span><a href="http://www.siriuspup.com/about_founder.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Ian Dunbar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.
Over the years Dr. Dunbar has been an important influence on me. What
got my attention first was the example he set. Trainers and behaviorists
can debate who they relate to most but there’s little debate over his
relevance. If you do what I do for a living you know who Ian Dunbar is
and yet despite having few peers, he is approachable, intellectually
curious and disarmingly funny. He’s quick to turn the spotlight on the
trainers and dogs in attendance. He’s slightly compulsive, not allowing
the one brown chair amongst the other identical black chairs in a game
of dog training/musical chairs. Dog slobber was a problem, yup, one of
the very best vet/behaviorists in the world doesn’t do dog drool. Go
figure. Above all though, Ian Dunbar is an extraordinary and energetic
teacher who wears his love for what he does like a superhero's cape.
This weekend I watched a master at work. Two days of one incredibly
clever idea after another went by in a relative flash. So much
information had been communicated, it felt like a great movie I’d watch
over and over again, collecting new bits of nuanced goodness with each
viewing. A day after it was over it started to register with me that there was a wonderful subtext that
had unfolded right in front of me. Everyone there had gotten more than we'd expected. At 5:30PM on
Sunday, as the workshop drew to an inspired close, there was one final message that
summed the experience we’d all had in a very sweet way. I won’t spoil
it by elaborating on it because it’s something you deserve to experience
for yourself. If you have an opportunity to see Dr. Dunbar lecture or
workshop do it, don’t think twice about it. Do it if you’re an
accountant, systems analyst, roofer or mechanic and you’ve never had a
dog before. I say this because the subtext of the workshop transcends
the otherwise obvious attraction for people who work with dogs. It was about being kind to one another as well as to our dogs. It was about the importance of doing the right thing. It was science vs. nonsense. Amidst
all the wonderfully clever games and insightful techniques, I
found myself rooting as an observer for the dog owners in the ring.
Clapping and cheering for people and dogs I’d never met until this past weekend. It wasn’t just me,
everyone was in on it and it happened with the seemingly effortless
guidance of the brilliant and self described shameless teacher. If
playing the fool drove home the point that everything he was sharing
with us were things we could do ourselves, he was not above it. “Yes, by all means
photograph, video tape, post it on YouTube, I’d like to think I’ll still
be around after I’m gone.” Think about that for a minute. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It's satisfying to learn that someone you admire a great deal would approve of how you do things. I appreciate the value of clicker training but am not a clicker trainer. I prefer to use by voice for audible cues, a personal decision I've doubted from time to time. However I
was also compelled to reevaluate a number of ideas I've both relied on and
thrust upon my clients with a great deal of earnest over the years. They include:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't Repeat Yourself: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Unless you want your dog to think the instruction for "sit" is "sit, sit, sit"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">only
say it once. "Absolutely ridiculous!" was Dr. Dunbar's response to that
question asked by a fellow attendee. I could have looked at this as
simply a difference of opinion but as a hypothesis, Keir and I tested it
with Miles Saturday night. It works. To this I say to every dog owner
I've beat that drum relentlessly with, I apologize. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Verbal Cue Follows the Instruction:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
Lure for sit then respond with "Good Sit". Wrong again! The connection
is not clear as I had thought. As a form of praise it's fine but the
connection between the word and the lure (hand signal) is cloudy or
non-existent. Again, Keir and I worked on this with Miles giving only
hand signals first followed by only verbal commands, measuring response
ratios. They were all over the place and changed as the venue changed.
Lots of practice and proofing to be done there.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Always Use Food Rewards: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This
applies to other forms of reward (toys) that may not be on your person
when a response is required. My argument stemmed from the use of choke,
pinch and electronic collars. Response ratios can be maintained
(reliable) so long as they're around, therefore treat rewards should
always be around. Much to my shame and humiliation, wrong again. While
for dog owners who are hyper-vigilant about having treat bags within
arm's reach, get reliable responses from their dogs, there are
situations that will trump the most compelling treats you can imagine.
Higher value treats for more challenging environments, done that lots of
times and while I'm not ready to toss out everything I've read, seen
and done related to counter conditioning for proximity with primary and
secondary reinforcers, I did witness a game of follow the leader with
roughly 30 dog/handler pairs. No treats used and lots juicy, behavioral
goodness on display. The prolific use of treats are under review. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">In this exercise, participants are asked to lie down next to their dogs the way their dogs are lying down.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I've written before that training is a science and as such is evolving. Remember Bertrand Russell, "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas..." </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s
an extremely important idea and segues nicely into my favorite
hypothetical question, "Are you interested in the truth?" assuming the
answer is "Yes." it follows, "Then you won't be upset if you're wrong."
Still, I am a little upset. There are lessons that would have yielded
more specific, more desirable long term results. I suppose that will
always be the case. Engineers design bridges knowing all
too well that more sophisticated, safer and longer lasting bridges will
be possible in the future. So too will the science of training continue to advance thanks to people like Dr. Dunbar. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Leaving K9 Connection this past Sunday evening, I wanted to thank Dr. Dunbar, tell him how much he'd inspired me but he's British and I'm shy when it comes to things like this so I'll say it here. I started the weekend feeling drained and down, I left reinvigorated and grateful for the experience. Thank you Ian Dunbar and thank you Jamie Dunbar for the invitation. Thanks also to Teri and Cassandra at K9 Connection for hosting the workshop. Great, great, great. </span></div>
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Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-81331919599621995642013-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:002013-05-30T09:19:19.149-07:00Quite Logical<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PbP6GWyW7JQ/Uadbh5miKkI/AAAAAAAADus/jgKh7TCsOy8/s1600/Miles+-+Vulcan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PbP6GWyW7JQ/Uadbh5miKkI/AAAAAAAADus/jgKh7TCsOy8/s1600/Miles+-+Vulcan.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I</b></span>t's
been my experience that dogs are logical creatures. But as another
Vulcan proverb concedes, “Logic is only the beginning of wisdom”
and that means that dogs make mistakes based on otherwise logical
assumptions. Without question, the most common one is jumping on
people. While not a mistake necessarily it is a misunderstanding
between we humans and our dogs. Here's why. When dogs are puppies
they're amongst the cutest things in all creation. Small, furry,
helpless and given the opportunity, jumping all over us. Most puppies
are encouraged to do this by us. It's harmless enthusiasm at this
stage in their lives and very few dog owners discourage it, quite the
contrary in fact. When I was a kid, Pepsi ran it's famously effective
ad featuring grandparents unleashing a litter of Labrador Retriever
puppies on their grandkids. It's the perfect illustration of the
information that's changing hands quietly beneath the adorable
bedlam. I'm not implying anything sinister is being sewn into this
exchange, not even that it should not be allowed to happen. It's
beautiful if you ask me, if only all of us were this unabashedly
enthusiastic about one another. There is a very big “BUT”
however. Little 2lb puppies are fuzzy and delightful but some of them
grow exponentially in their first year becoming adult dogs 50-150lbs
and more. Now jumping is a problem and we don't want them doing it
anymore. Imagine those Lab pups jumping on those little kids one year
later,...YIKES! The kids aren't laughing hysterically, they're
traumatized. Things have changed for us but for our dogs, well, they
haven't got the memo and if they're unaware of your sudden distaste
for them leaping into your grill for sloppy, wet smooches, then it's
not fair to assume they'll understand why you're sticking your knee
in their chest when they do.
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To assume dogs know they're doing something wrong is to
both ignore the messages we've unconsciously etched in their brains
when they were puppies and assume they'll grasp an abstract concept
like right and wrong. What's this? No right and wrong? It's anarchy,
ahhhhh!!!! Relax, it's not the apocalypse. Consider this. If I were
to shake hands using my left hand you might think it's odd but you
wouldn't think it's offensive. Yet in some parts of the world it's a
cultural norm to wipe with the left hand only, so offering it is not
advised unless you intend to offend, in other words it's “wrong”.
It's right to tip your waiter but wrong to tip the person at the
drive thru window (Thanks to Mr. Pink for that revelation.) Dogs are
not confronted by a jury of their peers, they don't editorialize,
they don't pontificate, postulate or castigate. In other words, the
concept of right and wrong is a societal construct, to assume our
dogs are privy to them is not,...logical. </div>
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So now we agree it's not wrong so to speak but we still
don't like it. It's potentially dangerous and we want to bring an end
to it. What can we do? If our dogs learned that we liked them jumping
on us they can learn that we like it even better when they greet in a
sit. I had this discussion with a local family I'm working less than
a week ago. They're expecting a baby in the fall and with their 18mos
old Golden Murphy jumping impulsively on his mom Kelley, this problem
took on a real sense of urgency. It was with great satisfaction that
as I got off my soap box, Murphy's dad Ryan produced a photo of his
daughter Tori welcoming Murphy, then about 12 weeks old, as he jumped
on her. I knew at that moment they got what I'd been droning on about. As
Murphy began showing a marked preference for greeting in a sit
(praise and treats) Kelley was able to sit down with a baby doll
standing in for the real thing as Murphy greeted politely in a sit.
Just as he'd been encouraged to jump as a puppy, he'd been encouraged
to sit as an adult dog, it was a Vulcan mind meld! Fascinating...</div>
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<br />Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-25304972318511020342013-05-22T17:13:00.002-07:002013-05-23T13:31:32.895-07:00Sammy<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-3e695ae8-ceae-6fb1-d868-2783530c530e" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h3>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">D</span></b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reary”, a combination of “depressing” and “weary”. It’s how today feels, starting with a text from my
sister letting me know that she and her family had come to the
conclusion it was time to let their dear dog “Sammy” go. A sweet
Yellow Lab that I first met as a playful puppy and who’d been around to
occupy the earliest memories of my nieces and nephew. Old age had taken
the usual toll, ocular clouding, loss of hearing and in the last few
weeks a steady decline in mobility brought on by cancer. The family has had to wrestle with the big questions. Is my dog still happy? What's her quality of
life? Answers to those questions led them to the most difficult and painful of conclusions. </span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
In an interview with Sam Simon, a writer on the TV series “TAXI” a
creator of the TV series “The Simpsons” and of late, creator of </span><a href="http://www.samsimonfoundation.com/home.asp" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Sam Simon Foundation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, said that when it came to his dogs, he’d loved each one of them, he’d also had to put each of them to sleep. His
criteria for knowing when that time had come involved writing down each dog’s three favorite things. When
they were no longer able to enjoy any of them, it was time to let them go. That might be the best way I've heard of knowing the absolute worst thing you can know about your dog. With two geriatric dogs at
home, it's something I think about every day. Of course having a
criteria for such a thing isn’t like having criteria for when it’s time
to clean the storm drains. Assuming your dogs are family, it’s as awful a conclusion you can arrive at and yet our relative lifespans mean we
will be confronted with it at some point. </span></div>
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None of this will make going to sleep tonight any easier for my sister
and her family. Memories of my final moments with Reno, my ear
against his chest as he slipped away, are nearly as crisp and poignant as
when I first experienced them. That was three years ago and I recall
there was little sleep to be had knowing we’d wake up without him in
our lives. Despite the empty feeling that comes when we lose someone we love, there is also profound beauty. We emerge
from nothingness to make our entry on the corporeal plane and
eventually we return to it; so too do our dogs. The details I’ll leave to
your individual beliefs, what I take from it however is the complete
apparent randomness with which our paths cross with one another. It
defies the possibility for love and yet many of us love our dogs unconditionally as they appear to love us. Of course without this there would be no pain. That’s the bargain we make when allow</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> ourselves to feel so deeply for them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
Greg Proops, a comedian hewn from the same stone as George Carlin and
Richard Pryor draws from ancient customs, paying homage to those who
have passed as iridescent lights swirling magnificently in the night
sky. Tonight, Sammy ascends to the night sky to join legions of other
great dogs and while for my sister and her family, the world will be a less for her absence, the sky will be brighter for her being there. I suggested to my
sister that she make Sammy a cheeseburger and have some wine on hand to
toast their departed friend and family member. Tomorrow they'll wake with her alive in a lifetime of great memories and the healing will begin. Goodby Sweet Sammy. </span></div>
Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-197074381297630522013-05-13T08:52:00.001-07:002013-05-15T13:41:31.305-07:00What Do You Want? <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;">T</span></b>raining is fundamentally about
communication. It forms the nucleus of any such dynamic, branching out in often
unexpected sometimes elegant ways like fractal geometric structures spiraling
off to form into something beautiful. It can also deteriorate into a terrible
mess. Like all trainers I'm working not just on inter-species communication, I'm
also channeling ideas vicariously through a dog's human counterpart(s) . At
it's best it's what I imagine fusion jazz must be like. A free floating
exchange of information back and forth between multiple individuals each
communicating in their own way, saxophone, standing bass, piano and drums.
Everyone bringing an innate understanding of each other that transcends
language in the traditional sense. What and how we communicate determines direction, comprehension and can have a big impact on whether the ideas that come out of training are going to take hold over the long term. </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Tis nothing good
or bad but thinking makes it so" - William Shakespeare</i></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So what do I want to communicate with this entry? As the title of this entry asks, "What do you
want?" Answer, to shift the focus of training to addressing what we want
and away from what we don't want. This could easily be brushed aside as a
semantic argument but it's much more than that. Proof lies in how difficult it can
sometimes be. A common scenario, "My dog loses her mind when the doorbell rings.
She scratches the hell out of the door and jumps all over whoever walks
in." Traditional, pack leader, dominance training punishes the bad
behavior (P+) with the punishment subsiding only when the behavior itself
subsides. If the net result is that the dog does not bark or jump the next time
someone rings the doorbell and comes in, no punishment is inflicted<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the behavior is reinforced by it's
absence (R-) This approach has been used for a very long time, it sometimes
works and often creates collateral damage in the process. To make the shift
away from "How do I stop this?" to what you want, "I want her to
be quiet and greet calmly with her paws on the ground or better still in a
sit." requires a change in the way you think about conflict and how to
address it. Well framed questions can do this. Veterinarian/Behaviorist Dr. Ian
Dunbar, speaking at a TED convention, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOW0IKO_zfM">CLICK HERE</a>, asks how
dominance training would work if you were training a bear. Answer: Not well at
all. I like to pose the hypothetical question: Can a 5'-2" tall female dog
owner weighing 110lbs have and train a French Mastiff weighing 150lbs? Answer:
Yes, but you'd be well advised not to make it a battle of wills. To expect a
dog to have an innate understanding of good and bad is to invite conflict. An
understanding of good and bad is crucial in societal terms but strictly
speaking, an abstract assumption in a human/animal relationship. Conversely, to
communicate to a dog how great it is to do the things you want them to is
responsible for amazing feats both familiar like Canine Agility <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0xjIfbGpMk">CLICK HERE</a> and less familiar,
like Freestyle Dog Dancing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqbVbPvlDoM">CLICK
HERE</a>.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqMJtj8lfqM/UZELMXAP-iI/AAAAAAAADuA/MdEiDQm0XzM/s1600/Joyce+-+Kaia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqMJtj8lfqM/UZELMXAP-iI/AAAAAAAADuA/MdEiDQm0XzM/s1600/Joyce+-+Kaia.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen Capture of Joyce and Kaia in the Agility Ring</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
Now if
dancing with your dog strikes you as silly, that's fine, it is a little silly
but it would be unfair not to concede that there's a breathtaking amount of inter species communication going on and that neither dog dancing or my friend
and colleague Joyce Gauthier (That's her with her dog Kaia in the agility ring)
could every achieve that level of cooperation without first communicating to
their dogs how much fun they're going to have and how rewarding the whole thing
is going to be. What I want is for you to come over here and weave in between
these upright poles. Huh? Try just one, click, treat, now two, click, treat
etc.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8hiwa9Nqoo/UZELv0uXxVI/AAAAAAAADuI/coVun3Nbe-A/s1600/Kitchen_Rule3%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f8hiwa9Nqoo/UZELv0uXxVI/AAAAAAAADuI/coVun3Nbe-A/s1600/Kitchen_Rule3%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louie, Archie & Miles: No dogs in the kitchen rule.</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Only a
fraction of dog owners will every venture into the worlds of agility or
freestyle but the information that's extracted from these sports trickles down
in meaningful and profound ways for far more common scenarios that unfold
between regular dog owners and their canine family members. They should also
prove as examples of what's possible. That's a big deal if you're feeling
helpless to resolve a conflict with your dog and you're in desperate need of
some perspective. The next time you're agonizing about bringing home a new
couch (Ernie's going to lie down on it when we're watching Game of Thrones and
get Labradoodle fur all over it.) try convincing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ernie how great the dog bed on the floor is
instead of yelling at him for being on the couch. Now if George R.R. Martin
would just stop killing off all the best characters, how great would that be? </div>
Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-30988850001680526492013-01-02T18:01:00.004-08:002013-06-14T04:21:48.222-07:00New Year's ResolutionWe're an inpatient culture. At the very least we've developed into one. If you're old enough to remember Dana Carvey's grumpy old man eschewing the virtues of the old days, "Why, if we wanted to go to the bathroom we had to walk a mile in the rain and mud to a wooden shack in the middle of the night,...and we liked it that way." then you're old enough to know how much things have changed. Each generation views their respective realities through they're own period lens. The lens Du jour expects instant gratification, consider on demand movies (on your cell phone no less) books, music, etc. Home delivery is available, overnight if you like, for just about anything.<br />
<br />
Inevitably this sensibility has spilled over into my world as well with the occasional dog owner assuming little more effort than that needed to call or e-mail should be required for a miraculous transformation in their dog. It comes across in different ways but I've gotten pretty good at ferreting these dog owners out and that's important because there's no better opportunity to set things straight than at that moment. Serious behavioral problems take time to address, in some cases so much time that it tests the will of even the most steadfast of the dog owners I work with. It's critical dog owners struggling with behavioral problems in their dogs understand this before they dig into the business at hand. For my part this idea cannot be understated. <br />
<br />
As behaviorist <a href="http://www.bestbehavior.net/katennasbio" target="_blank">Katenna Jones</a> suggests in her book<a href="http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB1254" target="_blank"> "Fetching the Perfect Dog Trainer"</a> dog owners should expect to see a tangible response to training and conditioning very quickly. Some indication that the trainer's hypothesis has merit and that the predicted outcome will come to fruition. The hard work comes in the day to day business of working and living with these dogs; fast food and instant downloads this isn't, not by any stretch. It's also not for every dog owner and communicating that from the outset is critical. <a href="http://www.avbt.net/membership/specialists.shtml" target="_blank">Julie K. Shaw, RVT, KPA-CTP, VTS (Behavior)</a> at a recent seminar emphasized how important it is to assess the strength of the human animal bond. In other words, "How do you feel about your dog?" That's an enormously important question that plays very neatly into questions of expediency. If the bond you have with your dog is fractured, then the notion of pouring time, energy and financial resources (training, veterinary care etc. all have costs associated with them) into that relationship is pointless, it's also a disservice however expedient the draw of a new client may be. <br />
<br />
For dog owners who are informed and ready to put in the time, work begins. There are so many smart, creative thinkers working on ways to make training, counter conditioning, desensitizing and management more effective and often times more fun. It's an embarrassment of riches and yet it remains an imperfect science. A favorite Facebook page (Swipe to read)<a href="http://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience" target="_blank"> <span style="color: white;">I Fucking Love Science</span></a> posted a quote by 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell, "Science does not aim to establish immutable truths and eternal dogmas; it's aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that at any stage final and complete accuracy has been achieved." For me that means I can sleep at night so long as I've been honest about my role in helping dog owners make their own successive approximations. It's also my responsibility to know when I've done as much as I can and whenever possible appreciate that the problems a dog owner is dealing with are outside my skill set. On that front I intend to do a better job. That's my New Year's Resolution. To listen more closely to what dog owners are telling me, to ask better questions and be a better part of that process of successive approximations. Oh, and eat more vegetables, can't forget that. Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-47523052170639067772012-09-27T06:19:00.003-07:002013-01-29T10:44:17.374-08:00Pinch MeLast night the local NBC affiliate, channel 10 news, attempted to do what television news is poorly suited to do. That is, to try to encapsulate an important subject in a piece lasting a couple of minutes. The subject was the use of prong collars, focusing it's vitriol on Rhode Island based dog trainer Jeff Gelman. I've referenced a well known quote by Eleanor Roosevelt before in this blog and I'll do it again, <span class="text">"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." The piece focused on an individual, vilifying him in the process. Did he have it coming? Maybe; this is an outspoken person with a Saturday morning AM talk show, a podcast, perhaps there's even a sandwich named after him but when it all shakes out it really doesn't matter. The impact of the story will be short term and while the message board, <a href="http://www2.turnto10.com/news/i-team/2012/sep/26/2/i-team-prong-collars-07397-vi-45651/" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>, was lively with discussion afterwards (I chimed in as well) most everyone who's seen it has or soon will forget it as our attentions will turn to other things. That's too bad. Not because I would've indulged in some schadenfreude watching this trainer thrust into the spotlight for public ridicule or for that matter watching my friend Katenna provide some insight into effective alternatives. What disappointed me was the missed opportunity to focus on the debate. There's more than one trainer in our little state using pinch, choke and e-collars. For the record, I used to be one of them so it's not my first impulse to wag my finger at Jeff Gelman. What I do find maddening is the steadfast adherence to old ideas that no longer hold up to scientific scrutiny. I think trainers in the not too distant future will look back on traditional training methods the same way we look at phrenology and spontaneous generation, with a collective "Huh?". For all the horn blowing any of us do, there will be a time when we won't be here anymore and only the ideas will survive. Katenna stayed on point never talking about Jeff but instead on methodology, again, on the IDEA.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text">Lively debate is good, discourse is good, ("<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-F7D8ogwZk" target="_blank">Fire Bad</a>" <i>- Frankenstein</i>,...sorry, couldn't resist) particularly if we learn something along the way. In contrast, trotting out one guy to be the poster child for pinch collars is silly but I suppose that coliseum mentality lies just beneath our skins. It reminds of the George Carlin bit where he pulls up to a car accident and asks the police to drag the body closer to the car so his wife can get a better look. If that's why you tuned in, and thought to yourself, "Holy cow, that guy's a jerk" then you're missing the point. Not that Turn to 10 didn't do their part to take your eyes off the shell with the marble under it. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="text">Traditional training is fading, I've done my little part to help that along and would encourage my peers in the training world still employing those methods to do the same. It's a scary prospect, if you've got a family, a mortgage, bills to pay and a successful business model predicated on aging ideas it can be downright terrifying but it's the smart move because it's where the training world is headed, undeniably, like a slow moving juggernaut. It's also evolving as emerging ideas and peer reviewed research adds to the knowledge base. </span><br />
<span class="text"><br /></span>
<span class="text">Finally, since we're on the subject of pinch collars. If you've moved on to No-pull harnesses or head halters and have some old choke chains and pinch collars lying around, please consider donating them to <a href="http://friendsoffidori.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">FoF-RI</a>. Katenna, in her "spare time" transforms them into beautiful bracelets and key chains then sells them, (See them at <a href="http://www.dogsinharmonyri.com/" target="_blank">Dog In Harmony</a>) all proceeds going to </span><span class="text">Friends of Fido Rhode Island, a grass-roots group of Rhode Island dog lovers who are volunteering to improve the lives of outdoor dogs in Rhode Island. Hey, <i>that's</i> an idea. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="mailto:Info@FriendsOfFido.org"><br /></a></span>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-55260170569677311612012-09-04T16:49:00.001-07:002013-01-29T10:44:31.940-08:00An Ode to Bo<b><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b>everal weeks ago I got a call from my son's art teacher. She'd adopted a 4 year old Wheaten terrier from the Warren Animal Shelter and needed some help. While all had started well enough he'd given her two superficial bites when she'd tried to get him out of her car and now she wasn't sure she could trust him. I told her to keep a leash on him at all times, the only exceptions were when he was alone in the house or at night when they were sleeping. It's significantly safer to handle a dog who resorts to aggression to address conflict. Dogs on leash are less likely to have aggressive outbursts at all, particularly once they know you can handle them without getting close enough to their teeth that they can deliver a bite. Grab a collar and there's a high probability of a bite, grab a leash and the probability is relatively low. Nothing punitive, as I tell my dog owners, the message is, I'm not going to hurt you but you're not going to hurt me either. Things improved immediately and we scheduled a series of lessons that involved both her son and boyfriend. The first two lessons went nicely and everyone was getting to know each. By any measure, Bo had made a successful transition to life with his new family. Fear had given way to confidence and it is at this critical juncture where, in my opinion, things can either settle into a good routine, or things can go horribly wrong. When confidence gives way to letting your guard down, to assuming your dog is "cured", mistakes are made. Behavior can be modified by multiple means but for new, more desirable behaviors to be sustained, a certain amount of hyper-vigilance in required. It's not for everybody and while I'm careful to advise dog owners that behavior modification is like exercise, keep it up and things should go well, stop and things will deteriorate, lapses in judgement are still made, myself included. <br />
<br />
Shortly after our second session I got a message that Bo had aggravated his ACL and was limping, we'd have to get the all clear from the vet before resuming training. There was the possibility of surgery, so his next lesson was "wait and see". A couple of weeks went by and I received the good news that it was nothing serious and we could resume working with him. The next lesson was scheduled, then, the worst most rattling thing you can hear from a dog owner you're working with, an e-mail from Bo's Mom that he had attacked her son. There were red flags throughout the message, "...he was sitting with a bone at my feet..." , "My son was sitting on the floor near him..." It would be extremely easy assign blame, to dump this squarely on the shoulders of Bo's new family. "Shouldn't they have known better?" Or on me, "Didn't you warn them about this sort of thing?" So let's get this out of the way quickly since this isn't about either of these things. Bo's new family were kind, compassionate people. Though it was a kind of resource guarding that had led to his initial aggressive overtures, they hadn't seen that behavior from him in several weeks, and even his initial overtures were mild by comparison, her son had been hurt badly.<br />
<br />
We had addressed resource guarding and while Bo was on the floor as opposed to furniture, they were comfortable enough to let him have his bone out of a crate. A mistake to be sure and something Bo's entire family ached over both literally (the attending police officer who took Bo from the home described the living room as looking like a crime scene) and figuratively. The attack started from a distance of roughly eight feet as the owner's son recognized some emerging resentment with respect to his proximity to Bo and had begun to back away. The gesture was too little too late to stave off Bo's response however. He bridged the gap and delivered several bites before the son grabbed him and threw him into the next room. He returned for more but was stopped by Mom, who managed to separate him from her son. <br />
<br />
There are more details to be sure and I haven't pressed for any of them. It's important to note here that the son is an able bodied 20 year old, but what if he hadn't been? What if he were only 20 months old? What if he were 12 years old and alone in the house? Was this the first time Bo had done this? He was four years old. He was turned in by a family in Warren who reported no aggression from him. With the benefit of hindsight, I simply don't believe that's true. In four years it's not reasonable or plausible to think this was the first time he'd guarded a resource with such ferocity. It makes far more sense to assume he had. Why hadn't it been reported? Why would a dog owner be so irresponsible as to risk putting someone in harms way? To let someone fall in love with this dog unaware of what it's capable of? The gravity of what could have happened makes this roll of the dice so reckless that it rattled my otherwise libertarian sensibilities. Amidst talk of Bo's future, I wondered with his Mom if there was a legal course here. <br />
<br />
Coming to the realization that a dog is dangerous is painful beyond measure. It's a horrible truth that not everyone has the resources to address properly. As I write this entry I can't help but think again of Katenna and Dave (See <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=24866907#editor/target=post;postID=1969955596516374273" target="_blank">"I Am Spartacus"</a>) or my own attempts to ferret out this proclivity for aggression in temperament tests. <br />
<br />
In light of the ferocity of the attack, we agreed that as painful as this episode had been, there was more pain in store for everyone involved. Bo was taken to the Warwick Shelter the night of the attack where he was held for observation pending euthanasia. I visited with him, sitting on the floor outside his kennel feeding him bits of string cheese with the door between us. He was calm, no signs of resentment, he stayed as close to the kennel door as he could manage, at one point stretchin his for-paw through the kennel door towards me eliciting some physical contact. I'm not sentimental nor do I indulge in the fanciful notion that he knew what was coming, I'm certain in fact that he did not. In a way that was more upsetting to me than for me to think he could appreciate the gravity of his actions, again, I'm sure he did not. Tears followed and I left knowing I would not see Bo again, not for a lesson, not at the park or out for a walk.<br />
<br />
I've written that the shelter keeps me grounded, it does, so much so that Sunday that I wondered if this was even for me anymore. Is anyone listening? Are we learning anything as a culture of dog owners? About responsible breeding, about puppy mills, pet stores and hobby breeders, about the responsibility of dog ownership? There's been time to think about these questions, I do think we're learning but not fast enough. Bo's owner knew what had to be done and made the most difficult of decisions a new dog owner can expect to have to make. This past Friday Bo drew his last breath. To the pretenders out there who "guarantee" they can rehabilitate these dogs with shock collars and the like, you know who you are, I hold you with the utmost contempt. You lack the depth, the intelligence, the integrity and the fortitude to ever hope of making good on such claims. To the pet stores, puppy mills and hobby breeders, please stop. Who can profit from misery without losing themselves in this Faustian bargain? To Bo's family, in particular his adoptive Mom who mustered the courage to take him on one more walk before the end, who had the strength of character to let him go peacefully, you are in my thoughts and my heart is broken with yours. Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-53338226901737901072012-07-29T15:25:00.000-07:002013-01-29T10:44:48.002-08:00Tuning In<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">A</span></b> few months ago Sue and
Harry Parker of <a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/ri/warwick/dog-training/dog-training-services" target="_blank">Dynamic Dog Training</a> hosted a seminar with noted
trainer/behaviorist <a href="http://functionalrewards.com/" target="_blank">Grisha Stewart</a>, the mind behind Behavioral
Adjustment Training (BAT) it was a great opportunity to see her at a
local venue and I jumped at it. I always bring a pad and paper to these things to scribble down notes, details etc. but what I really hope will happen is for one really strong idea to emerge and stick with me once the lecture or seminar is over. For that one it was a question that precedes every exchange with a animal, "How is this for you?" It's such a simple idea but what really struck me about it was how easy it is to forget to ask that basic and so important question. That question is empathy distilled down to it's simplest form. "How are you doing?" "Is this alright?" "Are you enjoying this?" In earlier posts I've framed my move from traditional to science based positive reinforcement training as identifying problems and making them stop to understanding why those problems occur and addressing the underlying cause and effect. In other words traditional training doesn't ask or care necessarily (beyond vaguely arrived at notions) why something bad might be happening, it just wants it to stop. Behaviorists like Grisha Stewart are asking these profoundly simple, relevant questions and blazing a trail for trainers like me who are keen on distancing ourselves from the dark ages of traditional training. In a recent interview with <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2012/03/27/good-dogs-do-bite-training-advice-from-the-real-dog-whisperer/" target="_blank">Allen St. John of Forbes Magazine</a>, Dr. Ian Dunbar described his training methodology like this, </span><b>“</b>When I’m training a dog I develop a relationship with
that dog. He’s my buddy and I want to make training fun,” - “Training a dog to me is on a par with learning to dance with my wife or
teaching my son to ski. These are fun things we do together. If anyone
even talks about dominating the dog or hurting him or fighting him or
punishing him, don’t go there.” That's about as good a way of capturing the spirit of modern dog training as I've ever read. It's absent any pretentious notions, any narcissism. It's someone relating the process to something they do with a loved one, with someone they care about. </div>
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Of course trainers are going to be called on to intervene in situations where the human and dog are no longer buddies and they're no longer having fun. Does Dr. Dunbar's model apply here?<br />
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Yesterday, I started the day with with Jean, a dog owner in Cranston who'd lost her husband two years ago. This was our 3rd schedule lesson together. Her dogs, Samantha and Rudy, a 10 year old Chihuahua/JRT and 4 year old Lhasa mix respectively, had helped her through a difficult time. Recently however, Samantha had begun to behave aggressively, biting her several times with little warning. Resource guarding the bed and food appeared to be the antecedent. We took a multifaceted approach. With a clean bill of health from her veterinarian, Sam was prescribed fluoxetine (antidepressant), we changed their food and set about training them. Even at 10yrs, Sam's energy level is relatively low. Jean had become fearful of handling her and their relationship had deteriorated. How were we going to right this failing ship? Our ace was Rudy, a lively, happy go lucky little guy who bounced around
the house not a care in the world. He was the polar opposite of Sam who was serious and appeared to have little joy left in her. More specifically, Rudy, who Jean trusted completely, was the dog we wanted Sam to be more like and Samantha, we agreed, was not about to let Rudy get all the attention. At our first session, we headed out to the yard with Samantha on a 6ft leash and Rudy on a 30ft leash. Jean would walk around the yard with Rudy at the end of his 30ft leash practicing his recalls. I picked a prime stationary spot with Samantha where she could see Rudy having all the fun, getting all the treats. It didn't take long until Sam's interest in participating peaked and she was straining at the leash to get in on the action. We swapped leashes and dogs and just like that Sam was doing recalls for treats. Jean was on the right track and it all started with a simple hypothesis, "How do we think she'll react to Rudy getting all the attention?" or "How will this be for her?" It even managed to be fun. The exercise represented a dramatic shift in momentum for Jean, it was an eye opener since we were able to draw a behavior from Samantha without force, by putting our heads together and without putting anyone in a situation where they could get hurt. When we were done, Sam was exhausted, (a tired dog is a good dog). Jean would leave a leash on Samantha whenever she was home and awake. This provided her with a way to move Sam out of situations (e.g. chicken bone falls on the floor) without exposing herself to a potential bite. She now knew that she could draw Sam out of her malaise by turning her attention to Rudy. We found ourselves resorting to this approach again yesterday morning when Sam's aggression resurfaced momentarily during the 'down' lesson. No one was bit, though Sam could easily have done so if she wanted to. She'd shown restraint. Was this the fluoxetine? The training? Was it the change of food? It could be any one or the combination of the three. No way to know for sure but there's little doubt that this constituted an improvement in her behavior. Nevertheless it remained inappropriate so, Rudy to the rescue! Sam had to sit out the next several minutes (five for fighting) as Rudy did 'down' after 'down' with Sam initially sulking then perking up again with earnest, as if to say, "Can I try again?" We were looking for that indication so when we brought her closer for another try, plunk! Down she went again and again. That lesson could easily have been derailed by her initial outburst but with Rudy there to help shape the situation and Jean ever mindful of the question, "How is this for Samantha" it was productive on several fronts. In a sense she had managed to teach someone to dance who initially wanted to bite her. Not bad Jean, Tango on.</div>
Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-79015094169417419552012-07-08T20:14:00.000-07:002012-07-09T06:19:05.581-07:00Archie at Fifteen<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ar9YdzvN1c/T_pARW-k54I/AAAAAAAAByE/Y5ev0dONMcg/s1600/Baby+Archie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ar9YdzvN1c/T_pARW-k54I/AAAAAAAAByE/Y5ev0dONMcg/s320/Baby+Archie.jpg" width="320" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6839759221652965" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>F</b></span>ifteen
years ago, Sue and I were reeling from the loss of Louie’s younger
brother Floyd. The pain of his loss was extreme both because we loved
him and because it had been preventable. Floyd was a wonderful little
dog and remarkably close to his big brother Lou. It stings to this day,
right now in fact as I think back on it. Louie had softened measurably
since we’d brought Floyd home. Fearing a return to his earlier ways we
began in earnest to look for a similarly sized companion dog to fill the
terrible void left by Floyd’s loss. Our search eventually brought us to
a farmhouse in Exeter, RI where a litter of Jack Russell Terriers were
up for adoption. Only one was left, a chubby little white and brown
fellow that had escaped attention while his litter mates had found homes.
Even in the big workman’s hands of Eugene, the breeder, it was apparent
that Archie was, like Lou before him, big for his breed. “He’s a fat
little guy.” said his son Eugene Jr. We were smitten, Lou was somewhat
indifferent, perhaps understanding on some level what we were up to and
perhaps not altogether approving of it. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
had just moved into the house we’d purchased in Warwick. Situated near
City Park, we were looking forward to walks in the woods with Louie and
Floyd. Those days would not come as we’d imagined but with this helpless
pup who for weeks I could not help but call “Chet” for my friends Jon
and Maria’s JRT who I saw when I looked down at him. His name came to us after quite a lot of brainstorming. The
comic strip "Andy Capp" came to mind, the little British guy with his
newsboy cap and a ciggy hanging off his lip, but he didn’t strike us as
an “Andy” for some reason, so I began to think of other comic strip characters, there had to be a gem there somewhere. “Jughead” came up and was quickly dispensed
with but of course you can't consider </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Jughead” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">without some thought of “Archie”. We looked at each other, Sue and I. We knew we’d
hit upon it. He was Archie and that’s all there was to it. Over the years, he's picked up the nicknames, "Bear" and "Scrapper", depending on the mood.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofrm3V41bFY/T_pCOwq-LpI/AAAAAAAAByU/NYWB2Y66fkk/s1600/2011-04-17_07-57-53_740.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
wouldn’t take long to realize what we’d gotten ourselves into. Though we
hadn’t been influenced by Jack Russell Terriers in the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">media, eg. Skip, Wishbone, Eddie etc. we had not done our homework. Chet was the only real point of
reference. Chet was funny, smart, enormously entertaining and friendly as can be. He’d
clearly seeped into my consciousness. Archie was different though. Not
as bouncy, there was a nervous quality to him. He’d been born in the
summer and while the impact of thunder, lightning and fireworks are well
known to me now I </span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofrm3V41bFY/T_pCOwq-LpI/AAAAAAAAByU/NYWB2Y66fkk/s1600/2011-04-17_07-57-53_740.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ofrm3V41bFY/T_pCOwq-LpI/AAAAAAAAByU/NYWB2Y66fkk/s320/2011-04-17_07-57-53_740.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">understood next to nothing about early canine development at
that point. Nutricalm for dogs and later Thundershirts were both heaven sent but there would be years of intense panic whenever those terrifying sounds were present. An early encounter, in hindsight, during a fear impact
period, with an off leash dog triggered a panicked race around my leg.
On a leash he’d unwittingly tangled himself around my leg, aggravating
the situation. I tore into the dog's owner, “Is that a leash in your
hand?”, “Uhhh,...yes”, “Then maybe you should put it on your goddamn dog
huh?” He leashed his dog, a goofy, harmless Golden Retriever but the
damage was done, Archie was never completely at ease around other dogs from that point forward. Archie was a handful in ways we'd never encountered with Louie or Floyd. A preference for TV remotes,
sneakers and wallets would develop. I wasn’t a trainer then, but between
Floyd’s loss and our new bundle of joy I had all the reasons I would
ever need to get some help. First, and with no sense whatsoever of the impact it would have on my life, I worked with my friend and fellow trainer Ron
(who’d also introduced me to Sue. Do you think I might owe him one or
two?) Archie and Lou would be the first two dogs I’d ever train. I was a
traditional trainer in those days. Choke chains, pinch and e-collars
were in my toolbox and regrettably on my dogs. Miles is the beneficiary
of the mistakes I made working with Louie, Archie and later Reno. They
were an integral part of my learning process. I think (hope) they’ve
forgiven my shortcomings. I’ve tried to make it up to them. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
love Archie intensely. He’s been a gigantic pain in the butt throughout
his life but I think I’m finally old enough to appreciate how much I’ve
learned because of who he is. There was never a conscious decision on
Archie’s part to engage in some twisted, life long, altruistic endeavor
to shape me into an empathetic dog trainer. “Archie you asshole.” was
likely the first use of an obscenity my son Keir ever heard. No dog’s
made me angrier, more frustrated and no dog, not even Reno, has given me
more to think about when it comes to the bifurcated approach of
behavior modification coupled with management. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> I’ll
come clean. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Archie is the reason that while I love dogs in general, I’m a big fan of
terriers. Man do I love that defiant quality. That, “Who’s gonna make
me?” bravado that seems imbued in so many of them.I can remember not caring for them much as a kid, terriers seemed,...grouchy but Archie and other dogs like him have grown on me in no small way. The attitude is infectious and rarely fails to make me smile. Over the years I've tried to relate that to every client with a Cairn, Scottie, Westie, etc. Oh, and Jack Russells of course. You've got to love them if you're ever going to put up with them.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xS98oPDCvcI/T_pHkNIwQgI/AAAAAAAAByg/nGsb9EyeAZs/s1600/Keir+and+Archie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xS98oPDCvcI/T_pHkNIwQgI/AAAAAAAAByg/nGsb9EyeAZs/s320/Keir+and+Archie.jpg" width="228" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fifteen
years ago I was a different person. Less wise, less fat, less grey and
by no means a dog </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">trainer. I wasn’t a father yet either. Keir’s entry on
the scene brought to light one of Archie’s most endearing qualities, his lifelong fondness for Keir. At his most frustrating, I was always impressed with Archie's intelligence, taking to anything I spent the time to teach him. At his physical peak he was something to behold, a natural athlete, but when it
all shakes out, it was his obvious </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and enduring affection for Keir both Sue and I
appreciate the most. Tomorrow Archie turns fifteen years old. His
hearing has started to fade as has his eyesight. He’s not the marvelous
physical specimen he once was. What he remains in spite of these losses
is content and that sustains me as I wrestle with being Dad to two
geriatric dogs (Louie will be seventeen in October). Always assessing
their quality of life, asking the question, “Are they still happy?” As I type
this, Archie is asleep, stretching from time to time on the rug by my
feet. He is happy, and I am too. Thank you brother, and happy birthday. </span>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-19699555965163742732012-05-02T08:22:00.002-07:002013-01-29T10:45:11.777-08:00I Am Spartacus<span style="font-size: large;">T</span>here's a well known scene from the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film Spartacus where, following defeat at the hands of a Roman legion, a general asks the surviving members of the slave army, "Who among you is Spartacus?" Kirk Douglas, playing the titular role, stands and says, "I am Spartacus". Then, out of loyalty to their friend and leader, his comrades rise, one by one identifying themselves, "I am Spartacus", "I am Spartacus" and so on. As a kid most of Kubrick's work went over my head but that movie meant something to me and in particular that scene. To say those words meant certain death but each man stood together side by side no matter the cost. It's a strong message that speaks to what's best in all of us and how difficult it can be to be that kind of person, it's a decision very few people will ever make, not with those consequences. That's been on my mind the last few days since first seeing an invitation to a fund raising breakfast for Defenders of Animals. I've been aware of the D.O.A. for several years and while individuals within the group no doubt have feelings that may not hold in lock step with the group's mission, the organization is not held in universally high regard in private conversations. "Exploitative", "Sensationalist" have been used to describe a group who's name suggests the most altruistic of intentions. For myself, these conversations have tinted my view but I avoid drawing conclusions from anything but primary sources. That invitation was my first primary source. It described two people I consider friends as mindless, blood thirsty hooligans (Hey, one hyperbolic rant deserves another, no?) Recklessly presiding over the future of two pit bull terriers. Katenna Jones and Dave Holden were the targets dujour in this D.O.A's latest effort to whip the rank and file into a furious lather. No one who knows know either Katenna or Dave would see that invitation without a resounding, "What the...?"<br />
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I'm going to backtrack a little because to understand where I'm going with this I have to tell you what I think the real problem is. Where the attention of Defenders and the like should be focused. Poorly bred dogs, many of them bully breeds, from puppy mills, hobby breeders etc. Individuals and groups with little or no regard for the future of the dogs they're breeding and the unpredictable consequences that often occur because of what they do. The toll is difficult to quantify because it expands beyond the actual monetary impact to real pain and suffering and sometimes death. That's the problem and anyone who's spent any time in a private or municipal shelter sees it every single day. I've been shown the door at evaluations more times than I can remember for explaining to dog owners that their pet store dogs likely came from puppy mills. "But if I didn't buy him, somebody else would have" and the cycle continues and the dogs are unwitting, innocent participants in this most existential of quandaries, "To be or not to be?"<br />
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The mess is left for others to deal with and that brings me back to the central theme of this entry. Katenna and Dave, both former founding members of the Rhode Island Animal Welfare Coalition, co-workers at the RISPCA and current members of Friends of Fido. Katenna, a graduate of Brown University, published author and shelter worker, was among the first on the scene to help in Joplin, MO following the tornado that destroyed that town. She's a certified behaviorist, worked with American Humane and spear headed an effort to improve the lives of all the animals at the Providence Animal Rescue League, a project I'm proud to say I helped her with. At the RISPCA Dave and Katenna worked together investigating animal cruelty cases doing real, meaningful things to improve the lives of the animals and sometimes the humans they lived with as well. It's not something anyone can do. It requires brains, compassion, and skill. It requires a degree of focus unhindered by the desire to judge. I've known both of these people for years and I ask you, do they sound like the source of the problem to you? They clearly are not and yet the invitations treats them as if they've been commanding a death camp. This in the wake of evaluations that lead to two dogs being euthanized at a local shelter. This is not about kill vs. no kill shelters. That's a book not a dopey blog entry and I'm not the person to write it. I know where I stand on this issue however and while I bring only a fraction of the expertise either of these two do to their jobs, I have logged hundreds of evaluations on dogs at my local shelter over the years. Some of those evaluations were mitigating factors in whether a dog was going to be made available for adoption or considered dangerous and euthanized. Temperament tests are far from perfect and there are different ways to do them, some considered more scientific/accurate predictors than others however, the ones I've seen share a common theme which is fundamentally how a dog responds to different stimuli including play, handling, food and loud noises. It is a snapshot of a dog, in a moment, responding to you (large, heavy male with glasses and a beard) in a small room in a strange, scarey place. Of course these tests aren't perfect, they also are not the source of the problem. Temperament test are typically done with big picture sensibilities in mind. The more information you have on any particular dog the more effectively you can screen applicants for adoption. The more effectively you can screen potential applicants the greater the chance of a successful adoption. Less information, lower likelihood. That's the corollary. Successful adoptions can and often do have secondary effects. Chief among them are that families that adopt one shelter dog will adopt other shelter dogs, I've adopted two, nearly all of my training/behavior friends, including Katenna, have shelter dogs at home as well. Friends, family and co-workers aware of your satisfaction with a shelter adoption may choose the same route rather than go to a hobby breeder or pet store who gets their puppies from puppy mills. Don't be fooled by semantics, puppies in pet stores come from mills, period. No thoughtful breeder leaves the all too important vetting process to a part time employee at a pet store. In the starkest of contrasts, an adoption that goes poorly has the opposite effect and because the connection that dogs in shelters often come from hobby breeders and pet stores (mills) is rarely made, the next dog often comes from one of those two sources and the cycle continues. Awareness and education are good starting points in stifling the flow of unfortunate animals into shelters. Temperament tests like <a href="http://www.aspca.org/adoption/meet-your-match/" target="_blank">MYM Safer</a><span id="goog_1857813310"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1857813309"><span id="goog_1857813306"></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1857813307"></span></a><span id="goog_1857813311"></span> and <a href="http://www.suesternberg.com/00assess.html" target="_blank">Assess-A-Pet</a> are another and that means having smart, experienced and compassionate people to carry the tests out, people who understand the big picture. No one who knows either Dave or Katenna could reasonably dispute their intentions or their qualifications. They personify all of these qualities and where they should be the object of our collective admiration, they've been offered up as hapless fodder to otherwise caring individuals who, if they did a little homework, would know as I do that these are good human beings, the best among us in fact.<br />
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Everyone in the shelter/rescue world can have a discourse about the best way to address the issues associated with dogs in shelters, kill/no-kill etc. There's not a reasonable person I know who would expect anything less. To demonize these two people however, neither with a cruel bone in their bodies, is absurd, dumb and a waste of perfectly well intentioned angst. My message to Defenders of Animals and it's membership is simple, focus your energy on the real problem. We all know what it is so stop with the nonsense already, stop and think. There's not a soul alive who knows Dave and Katenna who'd believe for moment that they're not the good guys. If they aren't then I'm not either, I am Spartacus.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-43450459158006168592012-04-26T10:02:00.001-07:002012-04-26T16:02:30.350-07:002012 IAABC CONFERENCE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Funk band BT Express said it best , "Do it, do it, do it till you’re
satisfied" this past weekend I did exactly that. A cosmic convergence of the greatest minds in animal behavior from the scholarly to the practical descended on Warwick, RI bringing with them their collective insights, not to mention, Vietnamese pigs, rabbits, crustaceans, a Costa Rican Armadillo and an African Horned Tortoise. You might be asking yourself, "Did I miss out on something truly bad ass?" If you weren't there, then yes, you missed something truly bad ass. I did not however and for that I will be forever grateful to Katenna Jones, Marje Alonso and Co. for having me along to thump the Thinkpads into submission whenever they acted up. A small price to pay for such unbridled awesomeness. Come now, surely I'm exaggerating and by the way, is awesomeness even a word? Well the bright red squiggly line that underscores every entry of the word "prestadigitation" (right there, I did it again) is absent so yes, it's a word and no, I'm not exaggerating. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This year's conference was very different for me than last year. My first time around as a conference volunteer, chronicled in this blog, was an experience that so expanded on my world and my role in it, no future conference could have the same impact. There was plenty of time to take notes, chat with the other volunteers. The glow from that conference stuck with me for several days. It was life changing. This for me was the best of sequels but by now I've lived for one full year in a world where these brilliant individuals exist, this was The Empire Strikes Back, awesome beyond measure, but not my first light sabre. When
the conference wrapped I thought I’d better start collecting my
thoughts before they start getting fuzzy, so here it goes. Last year I came away from the conference with some very big ideas to think about. It was broad and in many ways couldn't have been a better initial exposure. I don't think there's any conscious attempt at creating a theme, they seem to have emerged organically and to that end, this year seemed more nuts and bolts with a big emphasis on scientific method. Here's a brief outline of the speakers beating that drum. <a href="http://drsophiayin.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Sophia Yin</a> on forming a hypothesis and subjecting it to scrutiny. <a href="http://www.autumngoldconsulting.com/" target="_blank">Linda Case MS</a> on understanding the science behind dog foods, <a href="http://www.certifiedanimalbehaviorist.com/bios/amoonf.html" target="_blank">Dr. Moon Fanelli</a> on the influence of genetics in animal behavior, and that's just scratching the surface. <a href="http://www.alldogsgym.com/" target="_blank">Gail Fisher</a>, <a href="http://aubreyhfine.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Aubrey Fine</a>, <a href="http://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=10368" target="_blank">Dr. Ruth Colwill</a>, one great speaker after another sharing the results of their hard work with us. Every speaker I saw stayed around afterwards to answer questions and every one of them was gracious with their time. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My favorite speaker was <a href="http://brendaaloff.com/" target="_blank">Brenda Aloff</a> and while I couldn't manage a decent photo of her (see below) no one rolled with the punches like she did and no one I saw was more down to earth or approachable. There were technical problems with the rented equipment throughout the conference, and while everyone deftly made use of the time to answer questions from the audience no one had more fun with those moments than Brenda did. She should've bludgeoned me with that laptop, but she managed that whole room like a pro, myself included, with good humor and a great boisterous laugh. She could not have been kinder to me as I fiddled to kick start her presentation over and over again. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lily Strassberg, a volunteer last year, was a presenter this year. Wowing attendees, including <a href="http://www.clickertraining.com/karen" target="_blank">Karen Pryor</a>, with her clicker training research on fiddler crabs and crayfish. Lily started with the genesis of this idea which started when she was a junior in high school, accepting a challenge from one of her teachers who warned her this was a nutty idea that will never work. She proved it did work, earned the nickname "Crab Girl" (though she prefers Poseidon) and just like that a future star was born. For the conference Lily walked attendees through this process and while this might strike you as a bit goofy, watching the crabs respond to cues and race across their small pools to "ring" a sinker for a bit of food was one of the coolest things I've seen in some time. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It was an exciting three days, running from room to room for spur of the moment problem solving, rubbing elbows with the best in the business, it was exhilarating. In the end though I had less time to sit through as many of the presentations as I did last year and less time still to talk with some of the other volunteers and new friends, many of them my peers in the training world. Joyce, Shana, Jenn, Sue, Liz and Alysha, you guys are the best. I hope we can all get together and do this again. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One last thing. It's difficult for me not to notice how disproportionate the ratio of men to women are at conferences and seminars. At several points throughout the long weekend I took a random head count. The average I came up with was 1:5 men to women. Growing up in the 60's and 70's there were plenty of professions with gender contrasts including nurses, secretaries and librarians. Of course much of that has changed over the years but here's the rub, the contrast is only apparent when it comes to the academic component of training. There are easily as many male trainers as female so where were they? I don't have the answers, it's a genuine mystery to me and I'm surprised this contrast exists at all. To this point I echo my opening sentiment and say to my brothers in the training world, don't miss it if it comes this way again. You'll be missing something truly great. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No veg from Cranston? Who knew? </span></div>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-16483829747334703622011-09-02T14:14:00.000-07:002011-09-02T17:06:49.796-07:00Rage Against The MachineI'm pissed off. No other way to describe it. It's been at least two years since a call from a dog owner left me feeling this way but that streak ended abruptly just twenty minutes ago. Long enough to get home, feed the dogs and get to the computer. Earlier I'd received a voice mail from someone asking for help "Scolding their dog". I've never heard someone phrase it quite that way and of course on it's face "scolding" is a word subject to interpretation. Are we talking Spanish inquisition or my son losing his IPod for a day scolded? Curious to find out I called back. The dog was described as a four year old female that came from an abusive home. The owner had great success training her with a shock collar,...wait, what? Had I heard that right? Best money they'd ever spent I was told.
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<br />Honestly folks, I try in earnest not to pontificate. After all there was a time I'd turned to shock collars etc. to curb behaviors but the truth is that I've had far more success since I stopped using them. It doesn't matter what anyone's feelings are about them, the science doesn't support their efficacy in any meaningful way and in fact provides us with empirical data to support that they do more harm than good. Dr. Sophia Yin's website, click <a href="http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/are-electronic-shock-collars-painful-or-just-annoying-to-dogs-a-new-study-r">HERE</a> is a great place to start understanding why. Something I tried with all the sincerity and non-judgmental zeal I could muster to communicate to this dog owner. To no avail. I was talking to someone who steadfastly embraced dated and cruel notions that include sticking her dog's nose in her excrement when she had an accident; doesn't work, never has. Worse yet was that this dog has been "rescued from an abusive home". I tried to reach across the divide; explaining my experience with shock collars before and since; I tried to share the data, explain that there were locking trash cans she could get at the local home improvement store that effectively manage garbage surfing and the response was, "I don't want to have to shut doors in my house while I'm not at home, I am my dog's master" Holy shit! Where to begin? Uhhh,...no you're not. The notion of "Master" is the worst kind of dated nonsense. It shares a place in history with other nutty ideas like phrenology and spontaneous generation. It reminds me of the witch scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail, "If she weighs as much as a duck, then she must be made of wood, and therefore a witch". I'd bet my house that my dogs have no notion of what a "master" is. Even if they did I'd have no interest in playing that role. My dogs are family and in that dynamic there are rules but those rules are realized through a sense of cooperation and reciprocity.
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<br />I wanted so badly to reach some common ground with this dog owner but there was no getting through. I failed and now a bad situation is likely to get much worse. A dog who, if the account of her past is accurate, has no reason to trust humans, is now getting all the wrong signals from a yet another human counterpart uninterested in learning anything. Quite the contrary, she was clearly upset with me for trying. Will this dog end up at the Veterinary Clinic that referred her owner to me only to be euthanized for a bite? That's a distinct possibility (I did contact them to fill them in on the details.) More likely first will be calls to other trainers in an effort to find one that won't challenge her to think about it first. This poor dog has some misery in her future and there's nothing I can do to stop it.
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<br />Worse yet is that this is not an isolated case. This dog owner is in dubious company with countless other vapid, empty headed twits. Who am I to judge? An old friend once told me when he was asked that question, he responded with, "Someone has to, it may as well be me." Owen, if you're reading this for some strange reason, I get it now. I don't judge dog owners remotely as much for what they're doing so much as what they refuse to do. It's infuriating to be asked for help and subsequently resented for trying but I'll have a couple of beers tonight and get over it. I'm no slave to a "Master" bent on finding more effective means of scolding me.
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<br />The word's getting out that there are better ways, not better feeling ways, not ways that are much nicer, capital "B" Better, demonstrably better but every one of us in the training community has a responsibility to get that message out more effectively. Tonight was a wake up call that I need to do that. Tonight left me enraged, I'm still boiling, typing, deleting, and retyping so this doesn't end up just an angry rant. There are lots of good trainers out there, some of them I'm happy to say are my friends. If you call one of them for help, don't be afraid to learn something. Age has provided me with perspective and the blessed ability to be at peace with sometimes (often, if you ask my wife) being wrong about something. James Joyce once said that mistakes are the portals of discovery. This time it wasn't but if for no other reason than the dog I failed tonight, I'll do a better job of bridging that divide the next time I get the chance to. Good luck girl, I'm sorry.
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<br />Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-28592105058499791432011-05-08T05:29:00.000-07:002013-04-21T05:05:24.305-07:00What's The Big Idea?<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p4ZnFtuI1Gw/TcaPEnrPQcI/AAAAAAAABqM/H0-NfB2pzgc/s1600/P1010445.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604324095841747394" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p4ZnFtuI1Gw/TcaPEnrPQcI/AAAAAAAABqM/H0-NfB2pzgc/s400/P1010445.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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Early this past Friday evening I’d worked with a young Lhasa-poo that while good natured and sweet had his owner’s nerves severely frayed by his compulsive behavior of eating every bit of road debris he could get his mouth on. This little guy has some manic energy to burn and was terrible on leash to boot. We’d had great success initially with a <a href="http://www.newtrix.ca/">Newtrix</a> head halter but after three days it was apparent that the classical conditioning routine I employ to introduce dogs to head halters hadn’t stuck, we needed a Plan B that would address both issues effectively. I pulled a <a href="http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=CLDSztTf1agCFQtPgwodaysz_w">ThunderShirt</a> out of the car, paired it with a Premier harness and within a few minutes we were doing greets in a ‘sit’ followed by a walk free of trail mix, get it? Trail mix? Rocks, twigs…things you’d see on a trail…moving on. The lesson ended on a high note and as I sat later that evening with the owners of a pair of Welsh Cardigan Corgis it struck me what a great time it was to be a dog trainer.” Twenty years ago the tools I was using to work with the Lhasa-poo weren’t around and while it’s not my first instinct to wax “Q” like, festooning dog owners with high tech gadgetry it’s great to have them at my disposal when a leash and martingale aren’t getting it done alone, add to this the collective wisdom of generations of animal trainers evident in an exhaustive and ever growing library of training books, internet message boards not to mention living in a part of the world where interest in the subject appears to be peeking with everyday dog owners. It’s an embarrassment of riches. </div>
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Also this past Friday, I received an e-mail sent in error by someone who’d mistaken me for another trainer. She said she’d attended his recent “seminar”. Why the quotation marks? The Webster Dictionary defines a seminar as follows: <i>A group of advanced students studying under a professor with each doing original research and all exchanging results through reports and discussions.</i> I don’t doubt that it was described as a seminar, in full disclosure I haven’t attended one of them but I feel comfortable speculating that it no more qualifies as a seminar than it would a Bris. It could however be described as a sermon, defined as <i>A religious discourse delivered in public usually by a clergyman as part of a worship service</i>. I’m agnostic by nature so a sermon would require I suspend disbelief to enjoy and appreciate the spectacle dujour. The e-mail in question inquired what the best method was for fitting a pinch collar to a 6 month old Labrador puppy. I’ve worked with former clients of this trainer; no quotation marks there, technically there is training going on; there is however, nothing professorial about it. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that small minds talk about individuals and great minds talk about ideas. I’m no great mind, no delusions of grandeur here, but I’ll take a stab at the sentiment by sticking to the idea. With that, another quote from the recent IAABC conference, “I believe in science”, simple, easy to remember and with profound implications. <a href="http://www.behavior1.com/">Bob Bailey</a>, a patriarch in the field of animal training said this in the second of two presentations. I believe in science as well. Science is evolving, it’s subjective and it requires those qualities in its practitioners, even we lowly dog trainers. For some time I relied on pinch collars to address a myriad of training issues. I had quite a bit of success with them as well but most of the dog owners needed a sort of indoctrination before they’d subject their dogs to something so draconian. Some of them wept openly they felt so badly about it and the dog owners who welcomed the notion weren’t ones I was connecting with in any meaningful way. I didn’t understand it very well at the time, pinch collars are a tool after all, like a chest splitter, an auger or a sledgehammer, I shouldn’t be all that difficult to remain dispassionate about them; but there were dogs whose response to them was so poisonous it would take weeks just to regain their trust. This was an aggressive measure for a problem that rarely required one. They’ve since been relegated to the bottom of my training toolbox, a tool of last resort and certainly not for any six month old Labrador or any other puppy I’ve worked with for that matter. </div>
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There were so many great ideas I came away from the conference feeling much more strongly about but the one that stands on top was the importance of free will in training and counter conditioning. Delivered with great poignance by <a href="http://www.bestfriends.org/aboutus/staffdepartments/biofmcmillan.cfm">Dr. Frank McMillan</a> of the Best Friends Society, the merits of free will were contrasted with the horrors of forced confinement, and myriad other forms of animal abuse from around the world. Dr. McMillan outlined the kinds of permanent damage visited on animals forced to endure cruelty, both physical and emotional at the hands of humans. This subject was examined again later in the conference by <a href="http://www.bestbehavior.net/katennasbio">Katenna Jones</a> and alluded to by a number of other speakers.</div>
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A scenario I come across commonly involves a dog learning that it’s more rewarding to go to a designated place when they hear their doorbell as opposed to charging the door, barking and jumping on the guest(s). Less common is helping a dog crippled by fear learning to reevaluate the things in their environment that trigger fear responses from hiding to biting. Deconstructing these triggers requires patience and creativity and no small measure of cooperation with the dog’s owner. Coaching dog owners and their dogs so they can navigate slowly through these emotional mine fields is an awesome experience and it feels good, it feels really good. The big idea behind these experiences is education vs. subjugation. I’ve done both of these things and can tell you there is nothing special about controlling a dog through domination, been there, done that. Watching the wheels turn as a dog problem solves and/or learns to reevaluate scary situations is in contrast endlessly fascinating and satisfying. </div>
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As with most things there are exceptions. It is not alright for a dog to react aggressively towards another dog, person etc. Biting is not a reasonable choice. To that end there are tried and true methods that are not punitive in nature for modifying aggressive behavior. Counter Conditioning and Desensitizing (CC&D), <a href="http://functionalrewards.com/">Behavioral Adjustment Training</a> (BAT) and Constructive Aggression Training (CAT) are three methods I’ve employed with great success. There is some discourse on both BAT and CAT as technically they fall under the umbrella of positive punishment, negative reinforcement. Both involve exposing a dog to a negative trigger, removing either the trigger or the dog when the desired response is given (calming signal). I take issue with the idea that these approaches can be associated with choke chains, pinch collars etc. for the simple reason that within the course of a normal day some dogs will encounter a negative trigger, i.e. another dog, cat, person etc. It’s not a decision, but a naturally occurring part of their environment. Add to this that the dogs I’ve worked with using CAT and BAT are clearly coping with these triggers with measurably more confidence and it’s hard to ignore their respective merits. In the end, both approaches afford reactive dogs the option of reacting to these triggers as they typically do or with relative composure. </div>
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Bob Bailey discussed how in his early years he spent a lot of time observing how animals behaved without thrusting himself into the equation. What were animals doing? Why were they doing it? It formed the basis for a career that’s stretched from the 1950’s to the present. Aversion methods turn a blind eye to this kind of inquiry. If the goal is to control through domination then it hardly matters much why an animal is doing something. They need to stop doing “that”, whatever “that” happens to be. Ethology based training assumes our pet dogs are, as <a href="http://brendaaloff.com/bio.html">Brenda Aloff</a> mused, “trying to conquer the world”. Imagine Charlton Heston in “Planet of the Dogs”,…”Get your paws off of me you damned dirty mutt!” </div>
Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-52865888361094511292011-04-04T18:17:00.000-07:002011-04-05T05:18:23.840-07:00Memories of The 2011 IAABC Conference<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwOdMVcscYE/TZpt7VLusJI/AAAAAAAABpo/u93-g78kyLI/s1600/IAABC%2BConference%2B2011.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CwOdMVcscYE/TZpt7VLusJI/AAAAAAAABpo/u93-g78kyLI/s400/IAABC%2BConference%2B2011.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591902753399943314" border="0" /></a> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >S</span>everal weeks ago I got a surprising e-mail from Katenna Jones asking if I'd like to attend the IAABC (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants) conference on the bubble in exchange for working the conference as a volunteer. I'd wanted very much to go but was still reeling from last spring's vet bills. Katenna was giving a presentation on animal stress research and was allowed to invite three friends to join the corps of volunteers. I happily accepted. The conference was this past weekend and well, I owe Ms. Jones a solid, maybe six or seven, I'll have to get a head count of all the amazing speakers, (Katenna was one of them) to be sure. She'd also invited Connie Buldoc from Providence Animal Rescue League, a remarkably kind hearted and needlessly self effacing energizer bunny and the keystone of the volunteer effort and Joyce Gauthier who I'd first met several years ago at a Kathy Sdao seminar and again at symposium held at Brown University. Joyce is a gifted and extremely smart trainer who I got to swap notes, anecdotes and ideas with throughout the conference. Both contributed to an amazing weekend that I'll be thinking, reading and talking about for years to come. While I'm still digesting everything I saw, read and heard I'll share some of the highlights while they're still fresh in my completely blown mind. Here it goes.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >The volunteer effort began this past Thursday night stuffing conference bags and organizing name tags. It'd been an exhausting day that started at 3AM and ended with me whining about organizing the name tags. Right away I met Lily, a college student who'd clicker trained a crab to ring a bell with mussel meat (later gaining the attention of the esteemed Karen Pryor) and her friend Nikolai, a 17 year old immigrant from Moscow studying chemistry at Tufts, yup, I was the dumb guy in the room again and I'd only been there five minutes. Lily and Nikolai were modest, deferential and mature beyond their years. I've had decades to forget how relatively not like these two I was when I was their age. How's that cloning business coming along guys? We could use more young people like these two. I copped to having used a digital projector a few time and just like that I was handling audio/visual for several of the speakers, making sure they were seeing the same images on the big screen and their respective laptops. That started in earnest Friday morning with Dr. Nick Dodman, a pioneer in the field of veterinary behavior at Tufts University. I managed to get a laugh from him before he got things off the ground with his presentation on compulsive behavior, in the process expanding my vocabulary to include words like “stereotypie”, disorders like Acral Lick Dermatitis and phrases like “flank sucking”. That segued nicely to the first of two presentations by Dr. Frank McMillan of <a href="http://www.bestfriends.org/">Best Friends Animal Society</a> who shed light on the affects of animal abuse including truly horrific practices like bile farming, click <a href="http://www.animalsasia.org/">HERE</a> to help and learn more and the plight of the Spanish Galgo click <a href="http://www.galgorescue.org/spanish-galgo">HERE</a> for more information and to help that rescue organization. I came away from Dr. McMillan's presentation feeling fairly Pollyann-ish. This was disturbing stuff not strictly in relative terms, I appreciate that a good deal of the rest of the world does not share the same kind of relationship with dogs Americans do. Nikolai explained to me that children in Moscow are taught to fear dogs in fact and that he was still acclimating to life here where dog ownership is comparatively common. This was disturbing on basic human terms. The complete absence of empathy exposed in Dr. McMillan's piece was on a measure previously unimaginable to me. Thankfully, a break followed and the first opportunity to start talking to Connie, Joyce etc. about what we'd experienced so far. I'm still taken aback by the restrained egos, the sense of community, there were rock stars in attendance without the rock star bowl of green M&Ms and pitted apricots. Even early on the conference was proving what my friend Darcy would call “juicy”. However, nothing could have prepared me for the next presentation. It was the “Inception” experience of the conference, that small totem still spinning in my brain for hours afterward. Dr. Myra Milani's “Where the Sun Don't Shine”. You should probably sit for this one.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Before I give you my impression of Dr. Milani's presentation I should say that, like Inception, I should probably see it a few more times, there's a good chance I missed what she was driving at, I ordered the audio and may revise this post accordingly. Alright, there's my disclaimer, now, everybody someplace cozy? This presentation looked unblinkingly at Zoophilia, defined as either consensual or non-consensual sexual intercourse between a human and non-human animal. I'll give myself credit for not giving into a sophomoric giggle reflex, (used to come in handy in life drawing years ago) What Dr. Milani postulated was that climatic changes are assumed in part responsible for the increase in documented cases of animal hybridization (e.g. The widely covered case of a grizzly/polar bear hybrid killed by a hunter in Northern Canada) and that there may be a corollary with documented cases of Zoophelia. Furthermore, that as climate changes unfold we should expect an increase in these documented cases. That's right, Zoophelia may in fact be a form of hybridization. This was not your grand daddy's conference folks. I was in dog nerd heaven. All of the ickyness of bestiality aside, is there, at the core, a biological impulse to procreate with animals of another species, even if the odds of yielding successful offspring was infinitesimal? Forget labradoodles, we're talking labrapeople, hippopotahumans. Moving on,...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Next up for me was probably the most amusing presentation of the conference, Ken McCort's piece on intentional thinking which started with an idea posed by Tufts University philosophy professor Daniel Dennett, in his book “The Intentional Stance” that we humans are only capable of six levels of intentional thinking. Funny right? It was in the hands of Ken McCort who spends some of his time chumming around with Ray Coppinger (author of the “Dogs” a terrific book on the subject of canine ethology and human canine relationships) as well as wolves, coyotes and foxes at Wolf Park in Battle Ground, IN. Ken McCort is who I want to be when I grow up. With respect to intentional thinking, he believed the rules of parsimony provided dogs, cats etc. with no more than two levels of intentional thinking. Attendees challenged him with some terrific anecdotes and you had to be there to appreciate how funny it all was but it was a concept that came up again and again throughout the conference. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Of course the big draw for many conference goers was Victoria Stillwell. Oddly, I've never seen her very popular “It's Me or the Dog” show on Animal Planet so I wasn't star struck when she sat down next to me. Her presentation drew some of the most enthusiastic applause when in a segment from her show she was seen bringing a client keen on breeding his American Bull Terrier to the Fulton County Animal Shelter to see first hand, kennel after kennel of homeless bully breed dogs, the euthanasia log and finally the shelter freezer wreaking from recently euthanized dogs. It was a powerful and potent message delivered with a great deal more effectiveness than any attempt I'd made to get across the importance of spay/neuter to would be hobby breeders. It was the most polished presentation of the conference. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Next up was Dr. Sheila Arpino who's work with food aggressive dogs was a model of the patience, smarts and thoughtfulness that goes into a good counter conditioning protocol. Steve Dale followed with his excellent presentation on animal enrichment. I left that with renewed appreciation for food puzzles, it also occurred to me that moving the bird feeders away from our front windows was a bad idea. That's high definition tv for my three dogs. They're getting moved back, nose prints on the glass be damned! </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >One of the more shocking revelations of the conference came when Marilyn Krieger announced Katenna Jones; I'm paraphrasing but it went something like, “Animal behaviorist, educator with American Humane with a Masters Degree from Brown University, Katenna Jones lives at home with her cats, two husbands and her dog...” Who knew? No gay marriage to date in Rhode Island but polygamy is apparently alive and well. Amidst the many useful bits of information on research into animal stress was the revelation that an unsheathed penis was a sign of stress for male dogs. Over the years I'd witnessed countless “pink lipsticks” as they're often referred to; little did I know that something other than the prurient interests of the dog was at play. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Bob Bailey, a chemist/zoologist (are you reading this Nikolai?) for over fifty years and a pioneer in operant conditioning in animal training proudly proclaimed no less than six times by my reckoning, “I am not a clicker trainer” so frequent were these proclamations that I suggested to Joyce and Connie that they “click” every time he said it or that it might make a neat drinking game. “This was done without a clicker!”,...click!, gulp! Sure Bailey was poking fun at the throngs of clicker trainers in attendance but amongst his many achievements he retains a more comprehensive grasp of the history of animal training I've ever witnessed. This is one smart guy and while he took time to applaud the work of luminaries in the clicker training arena like Karen Pryor, what I think he really wanted was to share his unique perspective on the subject. He made the last presentation of the conference, shortly after I hit the Dogwise table to see if they had copies of his “Quiet like the Chipmunk” DVD. Bob walked up behind me put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I hear that's a good one, would you like me to autograph it for you?” I hadn't even purchased it yet and he'd used his Jedi skills to seal the deal. Bastard!</span></span></p><br /><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >Finally, a presentation that had the biggest impact on me. Brenda Aloff's “Negative Reinforcement Is Not an Evil Phrase”. I couldn't wait to see what this was about. Hardly an attempt to swim against the tide, this was more about things like body language, using high and low arousal and tension to shape behaviors. Admittedly this was not a revelation but an affirmation by one of the brightest minds in the business that I've been on the right track and was developing important instincts. I know next to nothing about horses but the what I saw there was truly impressive. </span></span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;font-size:85%;" >What an amazing, mind blowing experience this weekend's been. Today I had to come back down to earth but I come back with renewed vigor and inspiration to last until next years conference. Finally, in a generous show of thanks, volunteers were awarded with a membership in the IAABC. To Katenna Jones, Jaimie Whittaker and Marjie Alonso (I hope you found your Macbook) I'm extremely grateful. </span></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> </p>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-2631381932597275842011-03-06T15:57:00.000-08:002013-10-13T06:11:46.938-07:00All You Need is Love<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zZnGAN1gHhg/TXQf4Roa5TI/AAAAAAAABpg/Hh49Gltre_M/s1600/2011-01-23_13-09-30_799.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zZnGAN1gHhg/TXQf4Roa5TI/AAAAAAAABpg/Hh49Gltre_M/s400/2011-01-23_13-09-30_799.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581120889884960050" style="display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warwick Animal Shelter volunteer Mary Lou with one of the Dennis Dogs.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>“A book is like a mirror, if an ass peers into it you can expect an apostle to look out”.</i> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">- </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Georg Christoph Lichtenberg</span></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I was talking to shelter staff about the well publicized case of Clifford Dennis; a Warwick resident known by the shelter crew for breeding Pit Bull Terriers and at least a couple of times a year, dropping some of his dogs off there. Dennis tethers his dogs to dog houses with chains manufactured for use in heavy construction. With one of the worst winter storms in recent history on tap, an anonymous call was made to the Warwick City Council president alerting him that the dogs were outside. Quickly and with an apparent dime dropped to TV news outlets his dogs were confiscated by the Warwick Police and brought to the animal shelter. Dennis has been by the shelter quite a bit since then. I’ve seen him there from time to time over the years. He’s an imposing character, driving around in an old pick-up truck, often with two of his more prized PBT’s riding shotgun. To me it feels like being in the presence of darkness, foreboding. Aside from the observable there are equally unpleasant rumors about his personal politics and then the obvious question for which there can be only one answer, “Why do you breed Pit Bull Terriers?” When queried he’ll sometimes refer to Biblical passages. His dogs are a mixed bag with a couple of common denominators. They are all well fed, all, except for the puppies were extremely tactile sensitive, never having set paw on a tiled floor and while they were confiscated for fear of exposure none appeared to be suffering from it. In the south, hunting dogs are frequently housed strictly outdoors in enclosures that use chambers, wind flaps and hay to keep the dogs warm and dry. They are not family pets and while the life of working dogs seems terribly out of context for many pet dog owners it is not by it's nature inhumane. Strictly speaking these were not working dogs either. I'm not trying to beat around the bush; only Clifford Dennis truly knows what becomes of his dogs. I can only speculate and to me, it looks bad, it looks very bad. This to me is a case of "If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's probably a duck." The lucky ones, thanks to the staff, volunteers and efforts of people like Sue Parker and Tammy Mello end up at the shelter and eventually find good homes. The others, I suspect, are destined for misery.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For all of this there’s a stinky cheese irony to this story that I can’t get away from. Beyond the initial “something smells amiss” aspect, by all accounts Clifford Dennis knows his dogs very well, helping Ann and co. with useful insight into their personalities. He’s quite tuned into them, his frequent visits suggest concern for them. All of this stands in glaring contrast to the strange disconnect, the degrees of separation that exist when you’re breeding a type of dog that suffers in mass at virtually every municipal and private shelter in the country. Dogs who’s “job” is all too often to fight other dogs. Again, the obvious and bewildering question is why? Why on earth would any thoughtful person perpetuate such misery while on the surface appearing to have an affinity for the breed? Of course you can’t talk about Pit Bull Terriers without a heavy, we’re talking black hole heavy, sense of irony. PBTs are vilified in the press every time someone is mauled by one, yet statistically you are far more likely to be bitten by other supposedly less aggressive breeds. I, for the record, have never been bit by a Pit Bull Terrier. If I’m talking broad strokes, they’re some of the sweetest, smartest dogs I’ve worked with. They are, in theory, bred to cope with an extraordinary amount of abuse from humans while being equally intolerant of other dogs and yet, like any other breed there are frequent exceptions, i.e. that rare dog that is aggressive towards humans. Finally, outspoken fans can still find themselves working in earnest to promote low cost spay/neuter programs that limit their numbers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Ultimately this is a dilemma of an existential nature. In the perfect world we would be blissfully indifferent to the physical prowess that leads to their exploitation. We would appreciate and breeders would breed for the qualities my friends and peers hold in such high esteem. Of course that’s not the case at all and while people like Clifford Dennis are singled out for our collective scorn, he’s only one of many and might easily of escaped any public outing had he been doing this in a more remote location as opposed to a stone’s throw from Route 95. In the meantime, for all the references to biblical chapter and verse this is one “apostle” that at least for now, appears an ass to me. A deeply ironic ass, but an ass nevertheless. Maybe being around the shelter staff (That's Marylou in the picture above with "Baby Bear") has been a positive influence, I hope it has.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The sudden impact of bringing in several dogs all at once put a strain on the shelter's resources. A quick e-mail to my clients, past and present resulted in a flood of donations that helped fill the void. Thanks to everyone who reached out to help. Their acts of kindness was the silver lining to this still unfolding story.</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></div>
Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-26219073187091716032010-12-10T05:58:00.000-08:002010-12-20T06:06:26.367-08:00Deep Thoughts About Big Stuff<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TQIyk8mCzOI/AAAAAAAABoQ/LuA5AcR5zv8/s1600/Blog%2BPic.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TQIyk8mCzOI/AAAAAAAABoQ/LuA5AcR5zv8/s400/Blog%2BPic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549053301196246242" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman,serif;font-size:180%;" >T</span><span style=";font-family:Times New Roman,serif;font-size:130%;" >he last ten years have marked a period of dramatic change in the dog training world. Training models based on the work of author/trainer William Koehler and Nobel Prize winning animal psychologist Konrad Lorenz, began to appear flawed in some important ways. Emerging figures like Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson and Karen London were shedding new light on the subject and what's emerged is a far more nuanced, thoughtful approach that appeals to our better natures. In an ironic stroke, the last ten years has also given rise to the celebrity dog trainer. Sure, the 70's and 80's had Barbara Woodhouse and Matt Margolis but they've given way to Cesar Millan who's “Dog Whisperer” program on National Geographic is easily the most referenced source for dog training amongst my clients. The ubiquitous “psht!...psht!” while pointing is a dead giveaway. The irony lies with the approach. The pack leader or ethology based model espoused not just by Cesar Millan but by scores of dog trainers across the country, appeals to a lot of dog owners but relies on sensibilities more than it does on hard science. I want to be careful here; as my old friend James was fond of saying, “Don't let your mouth write a check your butt can't cash”. (always liked that one) I am not a scientist, let's get that out of the way, this is only my take on it; the science appears to support a shift in the language of dog training; specifically, treating dogs like members of our family, canine members but family members nevertheless. Now families have hierarchies; mom, dad the kids. So what's the difference, why the shift from expressions like “pack leader”, aren't they basically the same thing? I agree the difference appears to be subtle but in practice it's very important. Ultimately it defines the battle for the hearts and minds of dog owners across the country who are “psht'ing!” their dogs in earnest and trying to act like canine pack leaders as opposed to having a better grasp of how their dogs think and behave. </span><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:times new roman;"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> Regular watchers of Dog Whisperer have seen Cesar work through some remarkable transformations. Now thems' is fightin' words in some corners but I'm reminded of another favorite adage, “Get a room full of dog trainers together and the only thing two of them will agree on is that the third one doesn't know what they're talking about.” Whether you're a fan of Cesar or not, the guy's worked with dogs that were facing euthanasia and turned some of them around. His high profile renders him a target for sometimes harsh criticism by default. It also means you can't have a discussion about the current state of dog training without taking the massive impact of his show into consideration. It would be like talking about global economics without considering China's role in it, it's too big to ignore. Dr. Dunbar himself conceded as much by contributing to Millan's new book “Cesar's Rules” click <a href="http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/my-contribution-cesar-millans-new-book">HERE</a> for more details on that. The AKC </span><span style="font-size:130%;">censured</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> Milan in a high profile show of angst but as an organization the AKC is not devoid of controversy and no moral authority by my estimation. The last time I checked you can still walk into a pet store and purchase a dog with AKC papers, no questions asked. Some of these outlets try to blur the details of their puppies' origins with semantics, the sad fact is that they're likely coming from puppy mills, for me, a badge of shame for any pet store and at the very least a noteworthy chink in the AKC's armor.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> So the current state of dog training is complicated. I'd go so far as to say it's a mess but that's to be expected when the basic culture of training is changing as dramatically as it has been. Discussions on the APDT LinkedIn member boards (say that ten times fast) have been lively and interesting, while others like Positive Dog Training Professionals, seem stifled by comparison; a shame since these forums have the potential to broaden the dialogue to such a great degree. The technology that makes possible an (in theory at least) open dialogue amongst trainers around the world has changed on a very basic level the way trainers debate the important issues that define how we go about doing what we do. Of course there's the untethered aspect of internet boards that allows for new words (for me anyway) e.g. "flaming" defined by urbandictionary.com as <span style="font-style: italic;">"</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" >An online argument that becomes nasty or derisive, where insulting a party to the discussion takes precedence over the objective merits of one side or another"</span><span style="font-size:130%;">. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Ultimately I think the ledger sheet reflects far more positive than negative comes from these forums and as younger generations turn more and more frequently to the internet for information it makes sense that this is where a lot of the cultural changes in this business will play out. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> While not a practitioner of ethology based training, I am a byproduct of it and there's no question that practitioners of it have had success with it for decades. Let's face it, when something doesn't work it simply doesn't have a decades old shelf life, however it has been brought into the light of day, exposed to high definition and like the news anchor's complexion on your plasma TV, not as flawless as we once thought. Early on in my career I was impressed to read that the many of the brightest minds in our field, individuals who could be forgiven for having a healthy ego, were instead open minded to emerging techniques. It was an epiphany for me and I'm glad in hindsight it happened early on. I took from it a healthy disregard for zealotry. None of us should be so self absorbed as to think we've got this completely figured out; a lot of good headway's been made but like any other science this field is evolving. </span> </p> <p face="times new roman" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> This latest chapter in this evolution is “Positive Reinforcement Training”. Even casual observers of positive reinforcement based training will note there is no monolithic doctrine. There is a discourse amongst the very best in our field about what defines the “do no harm” approach and how it's realized in a practical setting. Frankly I'd be disappointed if there wasn't one. It was the stagnant state of affairs that could be blamed for a polarized mindset that exists on both sides of the training spectrum; the “Pinch Collar for Every Dog” and the “Throw Treats at Every Problem” schools respectively. In engineering, flexibility is fundamentally important for large structures to prevent catastrophic failure under extreme circumstances. I believe that same dynamic applies with respect to the training of dogs and I predict the science will bare this notion out in time. As a practical matter training is best governed by common sense and science. I think it's imperative that the training community embrace their responsibility to educate the dog owners they're working with. To make it about the dogs and their human counterparts. The most profound training moments in my career have happened quietly in people's homes where the likelihood of it sticking, of being meaningful is at it's highest. Our ability to access various training scenarios honestly evaluate our individual ability to address them and stay abreast of training theory are fundamental to that cause. Dog owners are not without some responsibility in this process. I'm vetted every time I conduct an evaluation. Dog owners should feel confident about their veterinarian, they're groomers and their trainers. Some red flags dog owners can keep an eye out for? At the risk of appearing self serving, reject training “guarantees” or boasts of “can train any dog”, that's the stuff of circus carnies not responsible, self aware dog trainers. I've got nothing against circus carnies but there's a lot more at stake when you're training a dog than a giant, stuffed ,blue panda. Dog's are not autonomous creatures; assuming you can predict their every whim is just foolish. Assuming you cannot makes for a more realistic approach, it might even give would-be dog owners a reason to reconsider whether they're cut out for dog ownership in the first place. Dr. Dunbar's Dog Star Daily website has a link to a compelling podcast on the subject <a href="http://www.dogstardaily.com/radio/307-how-much-doggy-window">HERE</a>. Give it a listen, it's very sobering. </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> When I sat down to flesh this post out, I knew I was going to take a stab at a subject that was the proverbial hornet nest. I hoped my thoughts at this point would coalesce into something that would bring some clarity to the debate but I find myself conflicted about it myself at times. For example: A training scenario that has a dog rescued from a gas chamber in the deep south. It's found it's way with the help of a rescue group to a nice home here in Rhode Island. The dog owner is struggling with aggression issues that were not seen or perhaps revealed by the rescue group. After several weeks of counter conditioning, the dog is not responding to non-aversive techniques to curb it's aggression issues. I could be criticized as lacking the skill required to execute a non-aversive approach with that particular dog, fair enough. There are however scenarios where, without a change in a particular dog's behavior the long term prospects for that dog are in jeopardy. Those situations unfold from time to time, that's just the way it is. What if positive punishment/negative reinforcement, as a means to graduate to positive reinforcement/negative punishment yielded the desired effect? Are they mutually exclusive as some schools of thought allow for? For now, those scenarios are few and far between but when they do come about I've been inclined to do precisely that, so far with positive results. I'm not trying to break new ground, not even pontificate. These are tough situations that sometimes call for pragmatic solutions and while I don't count these amongst my most profound training moments I take some comfort in knowing that dog's on steadier ground than it was before the lesson. Are the hornets buzzing around my head yet? </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-89541739193557647262010-10-11T12:12:00.000-07:002010-10-14T07:32:26.820-07:00Reality Check<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">F</span>or many professionals, e.g. teachers, lawyers, medical professionals; individuals must have a degree and pass a certification test in order to practice in their chosen field. Dog training is, by comparison, the wild, wild, west. No test (not yet anyway) is required, and of course dog owners are left having to do the vetting. I'm not editorializing, that's the way it is and while there are a number of certification programs available for dog trainers to distinguish themselves by, the CPDT-KA ("Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Accessed", say that ten times fast.) program is amongst the most well known. Trainers who want to take the test have to qualify, meeting certain minimum requirements including hours spent as a head trainer and endorsements from a veterinarian, colleague and client. It's an unusual system that takes into account the nature of this professional beast. I've wanted to take the test for years but never had the time to focus on preparing for it. 2009 was a terrific year despite all my fears that the economy would ring the death knell, with dog owners tightening their belts like everyone else. This year has been a different story. With recovery seeming much farther out than most probably anticipated, the belt tightening began in earnest. Asking friends in the business it was clear that things hadn't slowed down only for me. So there were no more excuses. The only question was whether to take the test in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. Things can change a great deal in a couple of months and while it would've given me more time to study, I threw caution to the wind and scheduled to take the test sooner rather than later a few short weeks ago on September 17th.<br /><br />I felt good coming out of the test. I'd finished it with an hour to spare. My strategy was to answer all of the 250 questions I had quick answers to first and return to the remaining questions in order once that was done. I returned home confident that I'd passed it but learned Saturday afternoon that I'd failed by two questions. The test is skewed heavily for group trainers though the questions only require a healthy amount of common sense to answer correctly. There were questions with answers I didn't prepare adequately for, Kinesthetic learning for example</span>, one of those things I'm aware of but knew no formal name for. Parsimony is a different story however, an idea I know as Occam's Razor, parsimony poses that the simplest answer is most likely the correct one. As the saying goes, "I got robbed on that one". I've got my gripes about the test, some erroneous information I received from the testing agency prior to taking it; it's sour grapes as I'm all too aware that other trainers who work the way I do have cleared the same hurtles I have and passed the test. Instead, after imbibing a couple of potent cocktails and some wound licking, I assert myself with renewed humility and a sense of earnestness. The people in this business I respect most share some compelling similarities. They are first and foremost, thoughtful and intelligent. They are both passionate and humble, understanding that like all science, there is much yet to learn.<br /><br />So there it is. I'm outing myself. I've been measured and been found wanting. There is a loud, annoying, voice in the dog training world that would suggest the CCPDT is no way to judge whether someone is a good trainer or not. On it's own, and certainly given the qualifying aspect of the test itself, it would appear that is self evident. In what other profession does an individual actually work hundreds of document-able hours before they can qualify to be certified? As an old friend once responded to the question, "Who are you to judge?" he said, "Someone's got to judge, it might as well be me." The CCPDT does not appear to my amassing an army of trainer automatons so I'm comfortable with being judged by this particular group of peers. In the meantime, it's time to hit the books. The next time someone asks me to define "Parsimony", I'll know the goddamn answer.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-10525874281037637572010-09-28T01:27:00.001-07:002013-01-29T10:46:40.580-08:00You've Got A Friend<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKG1WWcK-iI/AAAAAAAABnU/clQeLSMm8WE/s1600/louasleep.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKG1WWcK-iI/AAAAAAAABnU/clQeLSMm8WE/s400/louasleep.bmp" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521894013718428194" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 265px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">F</span>ifteen years ago, Sue and I made the decision to move into our first apartment together. It was the second floor of a home in Taunton owned by the Dunn family who lived on the first floor. Rich and Linda were the best; accommodating, friendly and as it turned out, breeders of Miniature Pinschers. We'd talked about getting a dog but when we saw Mia, some six weeks into her gestation period (full term for dogs is 8-9 weeks) it seemed like fate. Linda liked the idea of one of her puppies living just upstairs, we liked the idea of a small breed dog. This is where some of you might be saying, "Isn't Jim big on adopting dogs from shelters and isn't he wary of so called back yard breeders?" This is true and this was fifteen years ago; I've learned quite a lot since then. Due diligence was not on the menu, this was impulsive. I'd once heard that most people can summarize their lives down to eight critical decisions. In hindsight, this was one of them.<br />
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If you've gotten this far and thought, "Fifteen? This must be an eulogy." I'm very glad to say it is not. Louie remains lively and happy. This entry is a tribute to my most unappreciated dog and oldest canine friend, as we call him "Lou Lou". Sue and I had both had dogs growing up but we were the farthest thing from experts. Nevertheless, we did one thing right and that was to bring Louie up for some face time starting at about 3 weeks old right up until 8 weeks when he came upstairs to stay. He'd come up for 20 - 30 minutes at a time. Developmentally, 3-16 weeks of age is referred to as the Critical Period. It's marked by development of the dog's nervous system and, as it's suggested by it's name, a critical time in a dog's life when their brains are "programming" for the world around them. We were bonding and easing the transition from his life with mother Mia and his litter mates to life with Sue and me.<br />
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Louie (aka "Big Lou") was a tiny little potato with fur as a puppy. He loved walks at nearby Massasoit State Park but was a bit of a grouch, snarling and grumbling to express his disgust at wearing a winter coat, brushing his teeth or clipping his nails. Tempering our image of him as a malcontent were those times when he'd cuddle up with Sue and fall into a deep sleep on her chest. It was very sweet.<br />
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About a year later Linda was breeding Mia again with the same sire. We took a little longer to consider our second dog (5 minutes vs. 3 minutes) but the Dunn's were again receptive to the idea. We chose the runt with a bald spot on his head. Keeping with the prohibition era influence, we named Louie's brother "Floyd". They were thick as thieves from the start apparently aware that they were kin. Louie's temperament mellowed considerably with Floyd's arrival. Having a canine foil to play, cuddle and walk with was just the ticket. They were inseparable, sleeping with each other, scrapping, eating together, walks in the park. The brotherly love between them was endearing and deep. Sadly, regrettably, this would be short lived.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKG8J5GkMEI/AAAAAAAABnk/517M8JXaloA/s1600/Louie+%26+Floyd.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKG8J5GkMEI/AAAAAAAABnk/517M8JXaloA/s400/Louie+%26+Floyd.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521901496266141762" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 278px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a> Early the following summer Linda and Rich let us know they wanted to take back the second floor of the house. Their kids were growing up and it had become cramped quarters for them with just the first floor alone. We'd planned to begin looking for a home the following year once we'd saved for a down payment. Suddenly we were scrambling to find one right there and then. In hindsight we'd been pushed into what will likely be the best buyer's market in my lifetime. This was was prior to the bubble so prices were low and interest rates were very aggressive. We settled in the same home we live in now; nestled in a working class neighborhood near what is now my son's school and Warwick City Park where we walked Louie and Floyd so they'd have a chance to check out where they'd soon be living. A few weeks before the closing I was letting Floyd out to pee in the pen Rich had put up for all of our dogs on the side of the house. Once he'd finished I opened the pen to pick him up and bring him back in the house. What I would do to have that moment back again. This would become the reason I push the dog owners I work with to leash their dogs whenever they're outside with them. Behind me in the bushes was a feral cat. I hadn't seen him but Floyd did. He squirmed out of my hands and chased the cat into the street. Sue was around the corner and screamed, "Noooooo!!!" Screeching tires, "Oh no!, Oh my god, Jim!" The cat had made it safely across the street into a nearby cemetery. Floyd had been hit by a passing pick up truck. This happened 13 years ago, it remains painful to think about. It was preventable. This was my fault. Floyd was not killed by the impact but was severely injured. We rushed him to Dr. Mike Bruzzi at Dighton Rehoboth Animal Hospital. Mike's a terrific old school vet and we'd still be going to him now if he weren't so far away. He stabilized Floyd so we could catch our breath and discuss our options. Mike felt Floyd could recover but that he needed to see the specialists at Tufts. What followed were two weeks of visits back and forth to spend time with Floyd while the team there, led by Dr. Dorothy Michaels, worked with Floyd to keep him stable and sedated while he healed from the trauma. Floyd had suffered a spinal injury and the prognosis was for a long rehab with limited activity that we would have to closely monitor. Late into Floyd's second week at Tufts we received a call from Dr. Michaels. During the night, Floyd experienced an intestinal obstruction, something they hadn't seen. He'd passed away and I knew it hadn't happened peacefully. There are a handful of moments in my life when I've been reduced to inconsolable wailing. This was one of them, and it was for Sue as well. Dr. Michaels asked that we come up one last time both for some closure and to make final plans. Sue couldn't bear to see him now that he'd passed, I had to. Again, upon seeing him, I was struck with waves of sadness, regret and guilt. I wanted Louie's brother Floyd back but he was gone. When you work for someplace like Tufts, it's incumbent to develop a thick emotional skin. Things like this happen frequently, it's going to take it's toll if you don't. Nevertheless Dr. Michaels was right there with us, sharing in our grief. I don't know how she does it frankly but I'm grateful she was there for us. After a long gray ride back home, Louie jumped up on the couch clearly aware on some level that something was terribly wrong and doing his best to console us. I'd loved Louie from the moment I'd seen him born to today, October 1st, 2010 his fifteenth birthday but at that moment I had a new appreciation for him, for dogs in a broader sense.<br />
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There was no time to languish in this tragedy, we had to keep things in motion for the move that was just two weeks out. In the midst of all of this Sue and I worried that Louie, who had mellowed so dramatically with Floyd around, would revert back to Louie the Grouch. We began to look for a small breed dog, not wanting to pair him with a larger dog for fear of a physical mismatch. Again, my relative ignorance coming into play, preoccupied with size like two boxers at the scales before a fight. Temperament would and remains a wiser preoccupation. Our search brought us to a breeder in Exeter, RI who had a litter of Jack Russell Terriers. Another one of those "eight decisions", hooo boy! There was one puppy left, a fat little white puffball that had been overlooked for some reason. Sue and I were quickly vetted. Young couple, no children, fenced in yard, check, check, check. We'd brought Louie with us to get his impression of this puppy. I'd describe him as indifferent and their first meeting passed without incident. The calm before the storm. We brain stormed for a name, I can't recall all of ones that we passed on but when I said, "How about Archie?" well, sometimes you just know. That was his name, it couldn't be anything else. Understandably, the bond between these two was not immediate and has never been as obvious or deeply felt as the one Lou had with his brother but as the idea for this post struck me, Louie has always made the first effort to ease into friendships with the other dogs we've brought into our home. With Archie I was relieved they were getting along but I didn't<br />
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really appreciate it yet. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKXH8v_pcsI/AAAAAAAABns/KQKVy5IfqBs/s1600/louarch.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKXH8v_pcsI/AAAAAAAABns/KQKVy5IfqBs/s400/louarch.bmp" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523040364529283778" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 298px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 400px;" /></a> In the years that followed, I would have my first introduction to training with my friend Ron. My son Keir was born in January 2002. While there was nothing about either of our dogs that raised any flags with respect to our new arrival, we went through the motions bringing home linens from the hospital to ease them into it. A far more thoughtful approach has been designed since then by Katenna Jones and Jane Demming, "Baby Ready Pets". Nevertheless Keir's arrival was a bright ray of warm sunshine and once again, Louie was the quintessential canine friend. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKXhlXoWL8I/AAAAAAAABn0/4apckyr6iGE/s1600/Baby+Keir+with+Big+Lou.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKXhlXoWL8I/AAAAAAAABn0/4apckyr6iGE/s400/Baby+Keir+with+Big+Lou.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523068550154432450" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 275px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a> Of course this relationship has proven tenuous over the years. These guys can rub each other the wrong way from time to time, of course Lou's not one to hold a grudge. If Keir's got some string cheese, Lou's doing whatever he asks him to. As a client once told me, "every dog has it's price"...indeed. When Keir was 8 months old Reno came home to live with us after I'd worked with him at the shelter for several months. Again, Louie was the first one to extend a paw of friendship. Reno's reputation at the shelter was both dog and on occasion human aggressive. Shelter environments, even the best ones, are stressful for dogs. They're immersed in an ever changing landscape of scary sounds, new dogs and people. It's hard on them and it can manifest in their behavior. Reno had introductions to Archie, Lou, Keir and Sue on neutral ground. That was a must; I had to see how everyone responded to each other. That went nicely. The real test was when he was in his new back yard. Would this hooligan make short work of Lou and Archie? That was his modus vivendi at the shelter. Ann didn't think so, neither did I or this would not have happened. As it turns out neither did Louie. Was it because he was small? Because he was neutered? I would've loved to ask Reno, as it is, I can only speculate. Reno seemed very happy to be there beneath the trees, lying on grass instead of a concrete kennel floor. Louie was quick to begin chumming around with him and in that first afternoon I snapped this picture. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKfUGIttFwI/AAAAAAAABn8/k_LY-tbPc1o/s1600/Lou+%26+Reno.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKfUGIttFwI/AAAAAAAABn8/k_LY-tbPc1o/s400/Lou+%26+Reno.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523616669876688642" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 397px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 297px;" /></a> I couldn't wait to bring it to the shelter. It confirmed what Reno's friends at the shelter suspected was true. There was a good dog in there, a great dog as it turned out. I think on some level it gave everyone an opportunity to evaluate the dogs at the shelter with a little more perspective. I certainly did and of course this was yet another moment for Louie to show his flexibility with another new arrival. Louie and Reno remained friends until we lost Reno this past April to cancer. We were fostering Miles at the time though the dogs were not completely aware of it. To minimize stress on Reno and Archie, both very ill at the time, we played a shell game, putting our dogs behind closed doors while Miles would come up from his kennel to go outside and "commune with nature",...ahem,.. of course get some exercise and hang out. It wasn't until we'd lost Reno when we decided Miles was going to stick around. It'd been seven years since we'd brought Reno home. Louie was an old man, maybe he was too old for this shit? Archie's been rebounding the last several weeks but at the time I didn't want to subject him to a new dog. Miles had a reputation as well; for going after dogs, particularly small ones! Hoogah! What had I gotten us into? The protocol was to use baby gates during the day, kennel at night and lots and lots of leashed walks with Louie, while Archie continued to get healthier, responding to a waning dose of drugs to address what we think is Evan's Syndrome. It was habituation by osmosis and we had to be patient. The first time I let them see each other off leash, I'd invested in a muzzle for Miles. I needed to see how he'd adjust knowing he couldn't use his teeth. After going stiff, flagging and moving away, he offered a play bow. That was an eye opener. You can see the video on YouTube by clicking <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xzp0pl2ghs">here.</a> His name was still "Smiley" at the time of the post. If you watch the whole thing you'll have to forgive Archie for taking a dump a few minutes into it; no class. A few months have passed since then and it should come as no surprise that Louie took the lead to help ease Miles' transition into our family. The age difference makes for some expected friction; at fifteen, Lou's not keeping pace with a one year old JRT. Nevertheless, the muzzle's off and the baby gate's are gone. Even Archie is showing some tolerance for the new guy. Notice who's between them, keeping the peace.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKfbycAnCgI/AAAAAAAABoE/WaFtP1DysZQ/s1600/Kitchen+Rule.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TKfbycAnCgI/AAAAAAAABoE/WaFtP1DysZQ/s400/Kitchen+Rule.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523625127551896066" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 278px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
When I say that Louie's the best, I say it with unapologetic bias. He's been with Sue and I through thick and thin. He jumps up on the back of the arm chair in the living room every night I come home, moaning and whining with happiness. He's still anxious to learn, still accommodating, still lively and joyful. I often say it to him when I'm scratching his chest, "You've got the heart of a lion Lou." and he does.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-50053691773839506942010-08-26T08:49:00.000-07:002013-01-29T10:47:00.100-08:00Talk to the Hand<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/THaN-ZdJIdI/AAAAAAAABms/sBrnzPd4hzI/s1600/Toby.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/THaN-ZdJIdI/AAAAAAAABms/sBrnzPd4hzI/s320/Toby.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509747297258906066" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 153px;" /></a><br />
Anyone who’s worked with me will tell you that I emphasize a “less is more” approach to teaching their dogs what it is they want from them. That includes certain rules like not repeating instructions; no need to say, “Sit,…sit,…sit…” unless your instruction for ‘sit’ happens to be, “Sit,…sit,…sit…” I also like to incorporate hand signals with verbal cues. There are a number of reasons for this. First, since an underlying theme of training is to cultivate more focus from your dog, hand signals give dogs a compelling reason to look at us. I imagine my dogs having an inner dialogue of sorts, “Hmmm,…pretty sure when he throws that hand up he wants me to lie down. Pretty sure if I do that some string cheese will happen.” Then “Woomp!” down they go. I’ve also found that when I’m talking on the phone and one or more of my dogs become vocal, I can give them a ‘down’ hand signal without a break in the conversation and get quiet, focused dog in a ‘down’. The least important reason (but still fun, if not indulgent) is the vanity component. Dogs that respond to both verbal and vocal cues aren’t something you see everyday at the park. It seems like something special. Recently however, I’ve become aware of another important reason for teaching both hand and vocal cues. It has to do with having a 2/3rds geriatric brood of family dogs. More on that in a minute.<br />
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Last night I was working with Mary and Eric, proud owners of Toby, a beautiful Bassett Hound they’d adopted from a Bassett Rescue organization. Toby’s issues circled around a fear aggressive response to people coming into his home. Our goal was to incorporate counter conditioning and desensitization into a regimen of basic training. It’s one thing to habituate a dog to an individual. Dogs with fear aggressive behaviors can make that adjustment fairly quickly in some cases. The real goal is to expand on that idea so that dogs with these types of issues are responding in general to anyone coming through the door in a fundamentally different way. Toby’s lesson saw a important change in the way he responded to the door with Mary and Eric taking turns responding to a knock at the door by giving Toby the opportunity to capitalize on a reward by going to a spot they’d designated for ‘down’ and ‘stay’ while they answered the door. Hand signals played a roll in this exercise since we’re emphasizing quiet vs. the loud din of a howling Bassett Hound. Mary and Eric confessed their doubts about Toby’s ability to make the right decision. He seemed happy to surprise them choosing the conditioned response they’d been teaching him over his usual unconditioned response of howling and charging the door. In the midst of this important break through Eric asked if my dogs were trained to behave this way when someone was at the door. Louie and Archie have been but Eric’s question reminded me they’d do well to have a refresher course. For Miles, new to our brood, I’d be proofing his ‘stay’ just as they’d been doing with Toby. <br />
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Bright and early this morning I commenced door training exercises, alternating Louie and Miles with Archie going solo. I wanted to take advantage of Louie’s knowledge of this behavior to yield some learned behavior for Miles who quickly began to pattern what Louie was being rewarded for. In the interest of full disclosure, Louie and Miles are acclimated to each other while Archie and Miles continue to experience each other on leashed walks and through a baby gate. <br />
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Archie, who’s health issues have been chronicled in earlier posts, has limited vision but very good hearing turned 13 years old on July 9th. Louie will be 15 years old in October and while otherwise healthy and lively has suffered some hearing loss in his later years. Herein lies my epiphany with respect to hand signals and vocal cues. Early in their lives with both good hearing and eyesight, hand signals helped keep them focused and quiet while my son Keir, then an infant, slept. Now 8 years old, I’m confident Keir could sleep through an invasion (but not a dinner bell) Louie and Archie on the other hand are adjusting to old age; their ability to respond to both vocal and visual cues has come full circle with Louie responding best to hand signals and Archie to verbal cues. <br />
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While learning to adjust to the changing needs of an aging dog(s) is often the last thing on the minds of dog owners with dogs in their prime this will be part of that dialogue thanks to a timely question. Thanks Eric.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-63490374303062406962010-05-30T05:46:00.000-07:002010-07-11T14:59:14.146-07:00To Err is Canine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TDo-pkpiCpI/AAAAAAAABmM/x9MkrVQgqgU/s1600/Hef+-+Graduation+Day.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/TDo-pkpiCpI/AAAAAAAABmM/x9MkrVQgqgU/s320/Hef+-+Graduation+Day.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492771579465173650" /></a><br />Ten years ago I was hearing about positive reinforcement training for the first time and I have to admit that it struck me as well intentioned hubris. Correcting at the end of a leash connected to a choke chain was standard operating procedure for me and many other trainers. When I first saw my friend and fellow trainer Ron sporting a bait bag, he might just as well walked into the room dressed in bunny pajamas made by his auntie. It seemed very silly. I've learned quite a bit since then, perhaps most important of all is that there's so much still left to learn. New and intriguing ideas are emerging all the time; that keeps me on my toes and forever humble. Yesterday I worked with a young bright, Mini Aussie, "Hef". It was his 'Down/Stay' lesson, the goal for the lesson was for Hef to go to 'place', a designated spot away from the door when he heard the door bell and sit/stay. Next, he was to respond to a hand signal for 'down' from the door, stay in down while his owners took turns opening the door. The idea of establishing goals is very important. Goals give relevance to the training effort. I'm training for down/stay because I don't want my dog at the door when someone rings the bell. Goals can open a broader dialogue with dog owners about the science of training, training theory, subjectivity, etc. In this case, Hef progressed so quickly, we were able to push our established goal to emphasize going to place without excessive barking, something Hef was prone to. There are a lot of reasons why dogs bark. Experienced handlers can differentiate between a bark that's intended to communicate "go away" from one that says "Come in! Come in! Come in!". Hef's was the prior. While not unfriendly, the doorbell and what it was predictive of, was a source of stress for him. In other words the doorbell made him upset. In these cases, a quiet go to place and stay is as much about bring an end to the commotion as it is about teaching your dog to reevaluate an scenario so that it's predictive of something positive. Doorbells no longer make me upset, they make rewards happen but only when I go to place, stay, respond to a 'down' instruction and let my humans open the door. The question now was whether Hef could do the problem solving necessary to realize it was his barking that was getting in the way of getting a reward for doing the aforementioned. It's in this paradigm that positive reinforcement is so intriguing. If the reward is compelling enough, taking it out of the equation gives pause to reevaluate. Hef was asking himself "What did I do to screw that up?". If he's going to change the paradigm to one that makes the reward come back into the picture, he's got to figure out the answer to that question. It didn't take long, and while it remains a work in progress, watching Hef problem solve and be rewarded for arriving at the right conclusion is simply put, the reason I like doing this so much. Life is in part about learning from our mistakes and it seems that idea is not limited to we humans. to err is canine as well.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866907.post-40247046152162622152010-05-17T09:09:00.000-07:002010-05-17T09:56:11.495-07:00Miles of SmilesFor more than a year my family has grown accustomed to frequent, often weekly trips to our local vet as well as the emergency veterinary hospital and the veterinary oncology center in Massachusetts; the reasons for which have been chronicled in my last last two posts. It's been a painful process, affecting all of us in various ways. It's also been an education; throughout the process Sue diligently researched the symptoms and changing diagnosis of both Reno and Archie as well as the treatments they'd been prescribed. Several times throughout this time period we would talk to our now eight year old son Keir about what it meant to struggle with life threatening illness, about death. We worked in tandem and in earnest not to dumb it down or make light of it. That what lied after death was a mystery. These conversations, sometimes initiated by Keir, sometimes by us, were very emotional, often ending in tears and lots of hugs. During difficult times in my life I've turned to a personal journal, like many people, getting things on paper was cathartic, healing. It turns out that Keir found comfort in writing and drawing much the same way I did; writing a poem, a short story as well as drawing captioned pictures of Reno. This past week he's talked about Reno less. There are no hard fast time lines for grieving that I'm aware of but I was growing anxious that he had not found closure the way we'd hoped he would more than two weeks following Reno's passing. Some of you know that in the midst of this ordeal, Sue and I had agreed to foster "Smiley", a wired haired refugee from the flooded Warwick Shelter, for two weeks. "Our cups Run'th Over". I still haven't digested the irony of having Smiley under our roof at the same time we would lose Reno to cancer. We'd never fostered before. With a small home and three dogs we weren't the ideal candidates, but with the shelter decimated by the flood, the need was there. As it turned out, Smiley's presence had little to no impact on us or the dogs. A high strung terrier (is there any other kind) we were concerned there would be additional stress on our dogs. By cordoning them off to different parts of the house, scheduling time out to play, go for walks, etc. it all worked out. <br /><br />It wasn't long after Reno slipped away that the thought occurred to me that we should consider adopting Smiley. Things had changed so dramatically at home with the loss of Reno, I worried that while Sue and I had made it clear to Keir that Smiley was only with us for two weeks; Keir had grown attached to him, that he had made it somewhat easier for Keir to cope with Reno's loss. Would handing him off re-open some wounds? <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/S_FyeHoS97I/AAAAAAAABmE/U1-2AmaIpaA/s1600/Miles.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_x6uU-RkAqPk/S_FyeHoS97I/AAAAAAAABmE/U1-2AmaIpaA/s320/Miles.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472280884001568690" /></a><br />I was working with Smiley to curb his aggression issues which include resource guarding and dog/dog aggression. He'd responded in dramatic fashion to a counter conditioning approach developed by Karen Pryor and Dr. Jesus Ruiz which involves (I'll summarize this to the best of my ability) the provocation of calming signals over aggressive overtures. Still, I knew that with me typically in lessons, Sue would bare the lion's share of the additional work, shuffling the dogs back and forth, walking, feeding etc. If this was to be a viable choice, Sue would have to make the suggestion not me. It wouldn't take long. Sue, never one to shy away from hard work paired with the kindest of hearts made the suggestion that same day. We agreed to pose the idea to Keir since we felt he should begin to shoulder some of the work that would be involved in making this work for the long term. To Keir's credit he gave it careful thought before agreeing we should bring Smiley into the fold. <br /><br />First order of business,...change the name. Deb Niose, who works for the Warwick Shelter and is one of the kindest people I know, had given this poor creature the handle "Smiley" for the odd "smile" he made baring his teeth when he felt threatened. Cute, but not for us. There was a problem however, he'd heard that name for several weeks and had begun to respond to it. We brainstormed for something similar that we thought would suit his diminutive British frame. He seemed like a "Buster" to me, I also liked "Hagar" remembering the old comic strip "Hagar the Horrible", the titular character sharing a beard very similar in appearance to our little guy. Finally, and I honestly can't recall who came up with it first, we arrived at "Miles". A name only one dog owner I'd worked with, Kirsten, Nick and their Standard Poodle of the same name. had ever used. It had an aristocratic flavor to it that was appropriately tongue in cheek for this little guy (not your "Miles" Kirsten, he is an aristocrat!) It sounded enough like "Smiley" that we thought it would be easier for him to adapt to so, "Miles" as he's now known, is officially a member of our family. There's a lot of work to be done; the food guarding appears so far to have dissipated, though we remain watchful and cautious. Acclimating him to the other dogs is a slow deliberate process of controlled exposure. The opposite of "Familiarity breeds Contempt" thought process. He goes on daily walks with Louie. Archie, who's activity level is pragmatic at best having lost so much of his eyesight as well as having restricted exposure to sunlight (a side effect of the drug treatment) has become aware of Miles' presence through a baby gate as well as from the other side of a crate. The process will expand to other avenues as seems appropriate, patience and diligence being the main ingredients as well as fodder for future posts. For now, we once again grateful to the Warwick Shelter for the gift of another great dog.Great Dog Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07683705463209528407noreply@blogger.com0