Visit at Piedmont Park

Today we had gorgeous weather in Atlanta, blue sky and about 65 degrees. We decided to take Shelby and the boys to Piedmont Park. Talk about mental stimulation and control. Shelby saw roller bladers, she watched bicycles passing her by, she walked next to other dogs, she met joggers and small children. And with all that she did a great job.

Unfortunately, we left our water at home. So when we asked for some water from a faucet, Shelby didn’t even want to drink the chlorine water. Instead she waited until we got home and then she finished her entire bowl. I guess she is getting spoiled.

And now she is sleeping on her blue pillow – this was an exciting day for her.

Her First Day in our Home

Shelby’s first night at our home was very restful. I got up at 7.00 am and we took her out immediately. And she did her business. Finally, after at least 13 or 14 hours. We took her on a walk with the boys and again – she did so well. We really need to videotape her. All the fear that she exposed at the shelter is gone; like it never existed.When we walked inside the house, we just let her run lose with the boys. And they were fine. They all were standing in the kitchen waiting to be fed.

After breakfast we took her outside again and finally she did her poop business. Then she walked around in the living room but we didn’t allow her yet to go into the bedroom and bathroom. An hour later she finally calmed down and took a nap.

This afternoon we took her to Kennesaw park. Sloan thought that we had to take 2 cars but I decided that we should try to put all 3 in one; after all sooner or later she had to learn. Initially she didn’t want to go into the car so we had to put the leash on her and pull her in from the opposite door. Once she was in the car, she felt a little insecure. Sloan kept the leash tight on her so that she couldn’t go anywhere. However in the park she was wonderful. She walked with us the entire time. She was really curious and spent a lot of time just sniffing around. I am glad we brought some water with us. Since she eats that terrible kibble food, she is thirsty all the time. It was fun having her with us. She did really great. As soon as we returned to the car and she saw all the cars passing by, she immediately jumped inside the car. We were really surprised to see her do that but I guess her fear of cars was bigger than her fear of jumping inside of the car.

We just came home and Shelby just received her first dinner. I added some mackerel in her bowl. I don’t want to get her started on the raw food diet right away but rather take it slowly. I added some probiotics in her food though since I know that they pumped her up with antibiotics.

Shelby had an eventful day and now she is laying on Barko’s mat resting peacefully. She is a cute little dog!

Iris Grimm

Major Setback

I am disappointed. Not in Shelby but in people. Tonight when I took Shelby out she reacted the same fearful way as I met her 2 weeks ago. As soon as she stepped outside of the door, she layed down and refused to move. I couldn’t even coax her across the street. Rather than getting frustrated I returned her to her crate. And when I looked on the white board, I noticed on the check off list that someone else walked her. At that time I understood why she slipped back in her default fear behavior.

Wow, isn’t it amazing how quickly an animal can progress but at the same time regress when the training is not persistent? I watch the volunteers interact and talk with those dogs and I am saddened to see how little knowledge they have about dogs and dog behavior. Here they come and spend hours a week walking the dogs; why don’t they maximize their time and treat the dogs like dogs (meaning fulfilling their dog needs) – in that way they truly could make a difference in those dogs’ lives.

Nowadays, almost every other dog has the line “dog aggressive” on their name tag. Those dogs, Cricket, Macguire, Sampson, Dudley aren’t dog aggressive. They are frustrated animals who don’t get their basic needs for physical activity and mental stimulation fulfilled.

Instead they should write on the name tag, “We made them dog aggressive.” That would indicate to me that people are taking responsibilities for their actions and inactions. After all those dogs weren’t dog aggressive before they came to the shelter. That makes me so angry and almost people aggressive!!!

Progress

Within the last couple of weeks Shelby and I made progress, a day at a time.  She gets familiar with me, when I walk in the door, she recognizes me and stands up in her crate waiting for me to open it.Shelby learned to cross the street. When I work with her I always bring plenty of treats. The Natural Balance rolls are really the best food for dog training. I bought a nylon collar with a choke chain at the end so that she cannot slip out of it when I give her a tug. She still hits her 3 breaks on me but not as often as before. It is an “old” habit that she just needs to let go. As soon as she makes progress I reward her; either with a pad, a treat or my silence acknowledgement. Just standing there and getting used to the “new” location can be a treat for her.

This weekend I went to the shelter in the morning before the volunteers load up all the animals to take them to the adoption sites. For the very first time Shelby and I walked into the neighborhood across the street. This is a (at least) 200 yard walk. There were several times where I pulled her through the grass until she realized that she didn’t have a choice but to use her legs but at the end I could see that she became curious. As soon as she smells an interesting smell, Shelby becomes a dog and starts sniffing and then she also has the confidence to keep walking. But if there is no interesting smell around her, fear dominates her brain and keeps her stuck. We “walked” for about 30 minutes this morning and it was much easier than yesterday. She is really a quick learner and I am so proud of her. I know that she will overcome her fears and turn out to be a happy dog. One day at a time.

Aggressive Dogs or Ignorant People???

This morning I went to the shelter to play with Shelby. Yesterday I went to the Pet Supermarket to buy the Natural Balance meat rolls. These are one of the best treats that I know so far when it comes to reward during clicker training or as bait on a scent track. I cut a few slices off and headed to the shelter.Recently, Shelby has always been in one of the first crates when you walk in the door. Since her crate was right behind the door I was worried that she or I might get hit by the door when someone openes it. So when a tech guy came by I asked him if I may work with Shelby and go to a different area where we are not disturbed.“Hold on, I will check on that”, was his answer. A minute later he returned with a grim message, “Dr. Good said leave that dog alone. This past weekend she bite a family member of a tech guy and we don’t know yet if she will stay in the program. Please leave her alone until we decide what we will do.”

What?????? Oh no, I hated that I even asked. Sometimes I want to be kind to people and at the end I always get screwed. If I had taken her without asking, I could have worked with the dog. Now I have to go home without making any progress. I was pissed when I had to leave but I am determined to return in the evening.

Why cannot people take responsibility for their own action? I wonder what happened when Shelby supposedly bit that person. There are really just 3 reasons when a dog gets aggressive: the dogs primary need of exercise doesn’t get fulfilled and (s)he gets frustrated, the dog goes for prey or the dog bites out of fear.

I assume the later happened to Shelby. When I watch some of the volunteers work / walk with the dogs I am surprised that not more people get bitten. They talk in that whiny voice when they open the crates, they reach inside the crate rather than wait until the dog approaches them. I assume that this family member reached inside the crate and Shelby reacted. And at the end the dog has to suffer and gets isolated due to people’s ignorance? Is there justice in this world?
If more people took responsibilities for their own action, maybe we wouldn’t have this problem with all the homeless pets.

This evening nobody bothered me when I took Shelby out of her crate. She walked outside with me but then she hit her little 3 breaks on me again. Even though this dog isn’t even 50 pounds heavy, she is a strong girl. However, I was determined to take her to the grassy area today, which means she had to walk with me about 20 yards. I walked up close to her, picked her up with the leash and gave her a slight tug to move her forward. As soon as she did a couple of steps I rewarded her with treats. Oh, she likes those treats. Then I gave her a tug again, she walked a few steps and she ate some treats again. In that way we walked all the way to the grassy area! There I rewarded her with many treats. Small improvements – big celebration. I know I can help her!

Effective Dog Walking

Walking dogs at Homeless Pets has become a regular routine for me. I try at least 3-4 times a week to go over there. I enjoy spending time with the dogs and get to know their personality.Unfortunately, these dogs spend their entire day in a little cage. Consequently, they have a lot of energy and therefore it takes calmness and assertiveness to get the dogs under control.

I see many volunteer dog walkers who are taken on a walk by the dog. Before they open the cage, they already speak in a high pitch voice to the dogs. Bad idea since that kind of energy is excited energy which a pinned up dog doesn’t need. They take the dog out and rather than taking control of the situation, the dogs just take off. I wonder if these people actually enjoy walking these dogs like that. I could imagine if they had more control over the dogs and wouldn’t have to hold on to the leash as much, they probably would come and walk dogs more often because they wouldn’t feel so exhausted from the walk.

Then there are others who spend the entire time talking on the cell phone while walking the dogs. Sure, everyone has different opinions but I truly believe that you cannot control a dog completely while talking on the cell phone. Besides, ou don’t even share your energy with the dog since you are preoccupied with your cell phone.

I believe when you want to walk a dog effectively:

• You want to keep your focus on the task at hand. Stay in the present.
• Stay calm and assertive. When you take the dog out of the cage, you don’t need to speak with the dog. The dog checked you already out by sniffing your energy. The less you say, the better. Just open the cage and let the dog approach you. Once the dog is in your reach, put the leash on and let the dog step outside of the cage. Most of the dogs haven’t been taught obedience so that they won’t sit on command. However before you step outside, get focused, ask the dog to control him / herself before you take the first step. Let them know who is in control of the walk.
• When you open the door, you are the first who steps out. The dog always follows you. After all, you don’t want to have the dog in front of you when suddenly another volunteer walks in with their dog and the dogs could possibly get into a fight.
• Avoid affection within the first 10 minutes of your walk. Why would you want to massage or caress an out-of-control dog? Dogs crave more exercise than affection. Let them work for your affection. The work that they need to provide is a controlled walk on the leash.
• Take the dog for a walk and not across the street. I see way too many dog walkers just going across the street and then they stand around. What kind of crap is that? Dogs don’t want to stand around. They want to use their legs. They need to be challenged mentally.
• Pick up the dog’s feces. Nothing is worse than stepping into dog’s poop.
• Once you and the dog walked a good round, then it is okay to stop and give the dog some affection.

Sometimes, when I am there with only 1 or 2 other walkers I tend to start panicking. I think that I need to hurry up to get the next dog or I think what dog I will take out next. And these are the times when I always have to remind myself, that I am not with the dog that I currently walk. Rather than worrying about what will happen in the future, focus on the now, focus on the dog that I am currently with and enjoy his or her presence. Since most of the dogs there are big dogs I always make sure that I get at least 20 minutes in with each dog. Of course, therefore it happened that I spend 3 1/2 hours at the shelter even tough I just wanted to spend 45 minutes there.

Sloan thinks that I have issues with saying “no” to others but I don’t. I can easily say “no” to people but I cannot say “no” to these animals.