Training Toby: March 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013

Gone Camping

Yay! It's time for the first camping trip of the year! We're headed to North Carolina for the weekend.

Toby's been getting ready since St. Patrick's Day by wearing his hiking panniers on some of his walks.

Lots of us pet bloggers are crafty - or like handmade crafts. So I'm leaving you with a little treat - the Find Friends linkup at one of my new favorite blogs, Sew Many Ways. Just click on the badge:

Like Toby at a new State Park, go exploring! Who knows, you may find a new favorite blog too.

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter!

Gone Camping

Yay! It's time for the first camping trip of the year! We're headed to North Carolina for the weekend.

Like Toby at a new State Park, go exploring! Who knows, you may find a new favorite blog too.

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Contemplation

It is necessary ... for a man to go away by himself

... to sit on a rock ... and ask,

'Who am I, where have I been, and where am I

going?' -Carl Sandburg

After a day playing with the other puppies at doggie day care, dinner, and a short nap, he settles on the deck facing the setting sun, surveying his little kingdom.
What is Toby thinking about? Is he watching the birds looking for worms? Does he ponder his eventful day? Or is he simply at peace?

Contemplation

It is necessary ... for a man to go away by himself

... to sit on a rock ... and ask,

'Who am I, where have I been, and where am I

going?' -Carl Sandburg

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

This Meeting Will Now Begin...

...please welcome our new member:

"Hi, Toby."

This Meeting Will Now Begin...

...please welcome our new member:

"Hi, Toby."

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Book Recommendations Times Two

"So what is your wife doing now that she's retired?", Ted told me he'd been asked several times. Have you seen the truck commercial where a man is asked what he does, and everything from taking his wife to dinner to singing "Bingo was his name" runs through his head? Something similar ran through my head on hearing this question!

Reading is one of the luxuries of being completely unscheduled. Two of the books I've read in the past two weeks are dog-related and well worth your time.

1. A Dog Named Boo, Lisa J. Edwards

Boo is a special dog in that he has unique gifts as a therapy dog, and he is also "special" as in special needs. Edwards is losing faith in her abilities as a trainer when it takes a year to housebreak Boo. Then she learns that he has a congenital brain disorder called cerebellar hypoplasia. Boo helps Edwards and her husband heal from painful memories of their abusive childhoods; by the end of the book they are ready to have a child themselves. Meanwhile Boo is working miracles among struggling children. He was a finalist for Delta Society's 2008 Beyond Limits award. Is his power a result of his disability, or in spite of it?

2. Dog Sense, John Bradshaw

Are dogs pack members waiting for an opportunity to steal top dog status from their owners? Are they just tame little wolves? Do they feel the same emotions humans do? How does emotion influence learning and training? These are only a few of the questions that John Bradshaw, an animal behaviorist, answers with the most up-to-date research into canine science.

"After nearly fifty years of almost total neglect, this extraordinary uplift in scientific interest in the domestic dog has been driven partly by the increasing role that dogs play in detecting substances such as explosives...and the attendant realization that humans need to better understand how dogs perform these tasks...Finally, it should not be forgotten that many biologists are dog lovers too...such scientists are often keen to apply their skills to improving dogs' lives."

-from the introduction to Dog Sense

I learned a lot from this book and I'm betting you would too.

Happy Reading!

Book Recommendations Times Two

2. Dog Sense, John Bradshaw

-from the introduction to Dog Sense

I learned a lot from this book and I'm betting you would too.

Happy Reading!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Clicker Treat - What's the Trick?

Here's the clicker Toby.

And here are the treats:

(Shh don't tell - it's mostly just kibble but I put in a few pieces of pupperonis so the kibble smells like treats)

Now the deal is - I watch the youtube tutorial and teach YOU how to fetch! Look, I wrote down all the steps:
1. You put your nose or paw on the toy. Click.
2. You put the toy in your mouth. Click.
3. You hold the toy for longer amounts of time. Click.
4. You pick up the toy yourself. Click.
5. Gradually from farther away. Click.
6. I back away a few steps getting you to follow me with the toy in your mouth. Click.

And so it goes and soon we'll play fetch. OK?

The dog in the tutorial is pretty interested in the toy. Toby however is interested in only one thing - food. He absolutely will not have ANYTHING to do with any object when he knows there are treats in play. How can this look so easy and be so hard? ARGGHH! My poor dog - so smart, with such a dumb human. After all, he's already gotten ME trained to fetch for HIM pretty well!

Clicker Treat - What's the Trick?

Here's the clicker Toby.

And here are the treats:

(Shh don't tell - it's mostly just kibble but I put in a few pieces of pupperonis so the kibble smells like treats)

Monday, March 18, 2013

Monday Mayhem

Well, that's surely what Toby is thinking.

Last Thursday my daughter Amber got me started with Pinterest. Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that spells Pinterest. Hours and hours and hours later...

I sure do have lots of great craft ideas to try! So this morning Toby rode shotgun to the fabric store and the craft store.

After our therapy dog visit I started Monday Mayhem. Out of the closet came the sewing machine, sewing basket, and binder clips, chopsticks, empty plastic bottle, and all of our purchases from the morning. Heaped everything up on the dining room table. Chaos! Fun!

Project One: Drew a big bone on a piece of paper for a pattern. Cut 2 pieces of cute fleece, stitched them (mostly) together, and turned it right side out. Stuffed the stitched end with batting and inserted the plastic water bottle for a crunchy sound. Filled the open end with batting and stitched it closed.

Did Toby like it? See for yourself -

So I'm thinking, "Yay, no more spending $10 at the pet store on a stuffed squeaky toy!" Start Proje...wait a minute. What are you doing back underfoot Toby???

Five minutes. That's how long it took him to rip it apart. Yowser - It took 6 times longer than that to make it! Guess that's why the professionals charge $10.

Oh well. Tied a big ole knot in the ripped end and gave it back to him and he liked it just as much.

Project Two: Make curly ribbon. Wrapped ribbon on chopsticks, fastened ends with binder clips, baked for 20 min. at 250* thinking there is no way this could be that easy. BUT - Tah Dah! So easy even I could do it! Click here for the website with the instructions.

Project Three: Hairbow for my grandaughter. Using a glue gun is still as much fun as I remembered from my pre-teaching days.

Therapy Dog Update> Toby did better at the hospital today! He was less anxious and even paid a bit of attention to his partner, Lily. Also, if you live in the 757 area code, and have a therapy dog, Chesapeake General Hospital is looking for more Welcome Waggers!

Monday Mayhem

Did Toby like it? See for yourself -

Project Three: Hairbow for my grandaughter. Using a glue gun is still as much fun as I remembered from my pre-teaching days.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patrick's/Black and White Sunday

Friday, March 15, 2013

Book Recommendation - Pukka's Promise

"Way to go, Ted!"

Pukka's Promise is Ted Kerasote's response to the many people who responded to his love story Merle's Door by sharing their own dog loves and asking him why their beloved dogs die so young.

Instead of hearing this as a rhetorical question and offering sympathy, Kerasote set out to find the answers. His research is meticulous, his conclusions surprisingly evenhanded, his writing just superb. The story of his personal search for a new canine partner is deeply enmeshed with the facts revealed by the modern science of dogs.

At the urging of friends, readers, and his own conscience, Kerasote begins his search at shelters and on Petfinder. Meanwhile, he speaks with geneticists and breeders to get a handle on the pros and cons of mixed-breed vs. pedigreed dogs, keeping the emphasis on getting a healthy dog that is not predisposed to be disabled or diseased. By the time he has outlined the role of the AKC and unscrupulous breeders in the inbreeding of today's dogs, you'll understand why, in one notorious example, so many Golden Retrievers die young from cancer.

When Kerasote turns to finding a reputable breeder, he brings us along as he encounters more surprises. When he visits one breeder he discovers a much uglier situation than portrayed on the website. He learns firsthand from another breeder why choosing a puppy via "temperament testing" may be as reliable as flipping a coin. So how does he choose? The suspense builds right up to the final "awww" when, really, Pukka chooses Ted.

And so it goes. Annual vaccinations, spaying and neutering, the pet food industry, animal rendering, training methods, the no-kill shelter controversy - they all get a profoundly thoughtful treatment in Pukka's Promise.

This is a book I think all current and prospective dog owners should read. Ditto veterinarians, shelter owners, and anyone with an interest in animal welfare. Treat yourself! Go fetch Pukka's Promise ASAP!