There is nothing better than coming home to a happy-to-see-you puppy. Nothing! As I've mentioned, Casey is a pretty quiet dog. He doesn't bark much at all, but lately he's started "talking" to me when I come home. A few weeks ago, my daughter and I walked in the house to a wagging furry boy, who upon seeing me, howled out a big "aaaaaaaarrrrrrroooooooooooo!" then promptly leaned against me for some back scratchin'. It was cute and I thought maybe we had surprised him, but nope! He did the same thing a few days later and at least once a week he says something to me when I get home--be it a long howl or an extended and varied tag to a yawn. I think I got chastised one day for not petting him long enough. In any event, it's amusing as hell when he does it. And he only does it with me. He's whined once when my husband was coming in the door, but he never gave a full-fledged aroo. I win!
Another time Casey was out with the hubby and kids when I got home from work, and I must have really surprised him. He ran down the stairs and immediately started "low riding" around and around in a small circle until he was practically trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. We all watched in amazement (and more than a few giggles) as he did this a few times. I had no idea I could illicit that kind of joy in another living being.
I took my furry boy out in the woods over this past weekend. He loved it as I knew he would. He bounded around, followed scent trails, leaped into brooks and ponds (even though the ponds all had a thin layer of ice on them), and ran like he didn't know where to go first. He was a sight to behold: all floppy ears, goofy dog grin, and big, brown eyes shining with amusment. This was the first time I've let him off leash since we got him 3 months ago. I banked on the fact that he's my shadow and wouldn't willingly go too far from me, and that he liked the steak and roasted chicken in my treat pouch even more. I was not disappointed. He was rarely out of my sight (not counting when he jumped off a ledge down a steep embankment and into a big pond) and came each time I called him. We played some fetch on the more open trails and he had a blast. Came and gave me the ball each time I threw it.
Casey gives off the vibe that he is a submissive dog, and he is with us, and he's generally pretty mellow with other dogs, but he's hardly submissive. He's not aggressive either though. In the last two weeks, at least two other older male dogs have tried to mount him and he has growled and snapped at both of them--surprising everyone. One of the dogs, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, tries to do this every time he sees Casey (his owner walks him off leash around the vacant campus we walk at and therefore has no control over his dog--but that's another story). I think if he does it again, there's going to be a fight because Casey does not like to be mounted.
I don't think Casey is remotely abnormal or even weird. I'm pretty sure most of his rituals are pretty much SOP (standard operating procedure) for most dogs. Nonetheless, they amuse me when they aren't guiding how I deal with him.
Casey generally does not take care of business in our yard. He will if there is no other option, but he pretty much goes while we are on a walk. Fine with me. Less mess to deal with in our yard. What that means though is that he will pull on his leash until he has completed his morning poop. We spend the first third of our walk finding the perfect place to let go with several false starts along the way. It's as if the poop talks to him and tells him that "Yes! That's it! Wait....Nope. Someone else pooped there 3 years ago. We need a fresh spot. Keep looking." In the meantime, Casey paces in circles, twisting the leash like licorice, sniffing and huffing. I know it's not the spot when he stops and scratches at his collar. Sometimes he'll "wipe" his feet even though he hasn't gone himself (which he always does after he's taken care of business), kicking up grass and dirt in his wake. Eventually though, he'll do the pacing thing and then move about two feet away from that spot and then poop.
It's only been within the last couple of weeks that Casey has begun marking locations while we were out. For a while he just peed once and that was it. Now he likes to let his friends know he's been by. I'm guaranteed a marking after he's met other dogs on the path. As soon as he either sees one I don't let him meet, or gets a few minutes of romp time, it's quick! to the nearest tree and mark away.
The only other sort of predictable thing he does is to become Perfect Dog as soon as we turn onto one of the streets closest to our house on the way home from a walk. At that point, the leash is always loose, he pays attention to me, and it is The Best Walk Ever. I wish all the streets were magic streets.
At home, when I've finally settled myself in one location for more than a minute (he follows me wherever I go), he'll scratch at a spot on the rug or his bed a few times and then circle it a few times and then lay down with a thump. His new play cue to me is to grab a toy (usually his red fetching toy made of firehose), show me he has it and then walk away looking over his shoulder at me the whole time on his way to the hallway (that's where we play). I love having a dog who really knows how to communicate what he wants.
This morning on our walk, right before we left the vacant college campus we walk through, Casey's friend Abby, the chocolate Lab, came bounding over to us, gave Casey a quick tussle and then sat in front of me for her usual treat. And that's when I smelled the skunk. Her mom was pretty much no where to be seen, although I did hear her calling Abby pretty quickly. Abby, of course, was occupied with scrounging treats from me and rubbing her smelly self up against Casey. Gah! As soon as her mom caught up with us, Abby bounded off again relishing and exhuberant in her stench as she dove into the duck pond. Apparently, she got sprayed yesterday and had already been washed a few times, but the smell was still there and her mom was completely perturbed by the whole thing. Didn't seem to bother Abby though. Needless to say, I still can't get the faint smell of skunk out of my nose and I'm sure Casey is carrying around some on him too after his usually jumpy greeting with Abby.
Yeah, the pulling issue is a non issue when you carry cheese as the treat. Today? Stuck to me like glue for bits of mozzarella stick. I knew there was a reason he belonged with us. It's not easy being cheesey. ;)
I haven't really yet started officially training Casey and it's beginning to show. Especially on walks. I swear he's got more than a drop of hound in there someplace because he can't stop sniffing and pulling to sniff some more. I've been stopping in my tracks every time he starts to pull, but that makes for a s-l-o-w and frustrating walk. He's also either not hearing or ignoring both clicks and my calling his name every now and again. I know part of the problem is where I walk him. There is a vacant college campus near our house that has become somewhat of a dog park--it's convienent, but full of small animals, other dogs, ducks, and oh so much vegetation. He yanks me around until he finds the perfect place to poop, does his business and then is fairly good until we leave the campus. I know I should probably have him poop before we leave the house, but he doesn't want to poop there. Since the day we got him I've never seen him shit on the property. On the one hand, it would probably make the walk so much easier, but on the other hand, I'm forced to pick it up when we leave and then I don't have to worry about the kids stepping in some because I'm lazy or in a hurry.
The best part of the walk is always the street right before ours. We call it the Magic street. As soon as we turn the corner onto it, he's Mr. Attentive walking nice next to me and looking to me for treats. That part of the walk is always just so plesant. I'm glad to be ending things on a successful note with him, but man, I wish he was like that all the time. I think he's better for the dog walker than me, but whatever. As long as someone is reinforcing the good stuff. Should be me though.
I cleaned out the boy's ears today. Squirted warm water down his rather gloppy ear canals and rubbed them a bit then let him shake it all out. They are nice and clean now. No more head shaking to loosen up that crap. And several hours later, he doesn't seem to be having an adverse reaction. Go me. :) Just need to remember to call the vet to let her know he's fine and that's why I didn't call. Otherwise, I have a feeling she's going to lecture me.
Casey seems to really like the raw diet so far. We are using Aunt Jeni's homecooked. Right now he's on the lamb diet with Turkey in the wings. No adverse skin reactions and he stomach doesn't seem upset. It looks a bit like stuffing (even though there aren't any fillers as such) and smells pretty much exactly like you would suspect given the ingredients. I really need to put a few pounds on him. I don't think I've been feeding him enough. I give him lots of treats during the day (like Dogitos--in yummy goat lung flavor...ewwww), so I don't want to overdo it, but I can feel his ribs still. Must give him more good stuff. He's not super active--he loves to just lay around at my feet (for those 10 seconds a day where I actually sit) most of the time, but he is still of puppy age and really should eat more.
My son continues to pay no heed to the "don't poke the dog in the eye" directive. The little shit does it even when I'm sitting right there with Casey! He's too damn quick. Luckily, no damage as of yet to Casey or the boy. And the damage would come from me--Casey is about as forgiving and sweet as a dog could be. He even slept in the room with the boy last night which was amazing to me. Usually he's in whatever room I'm in. Guess he loves the puppies too.
For my daughter's birthday, my brother gave her a stuffed animal of a black Lab. Casey took immediate interest in the little guy. Started nudging it, sniffing all the parts he would sniff if it were real, and tried nipping at his toes and nose to get it to play. He even jumped around a little play bowing and vocalizing. Poor Casey, he began to get concerned that the stuffed mini-him was not moving. He kept looking at me like I should call K-911 because something was Very Wrong. Generally he could care less about the kids stuffed toys, but I've caught him a few times trying to get up on her bed to try to revive "Kasie." While we think his nurturing instinct is sweet, I often wonder if he thinks that he is doomed to be stuffed and left on my daughter's bed.
Walking a black dog in the dark of night is always interesting. If you can concentrate on the dog, then everything around the dog is brighter. He sort of lights the way...in reverse. Speaking of black dogs, I was interested to find that black dogs are some of the last dogs to be adopted in shelters and a very large number of them are euthanized because of it. There's a website, Black Pearl Dogs, devoted to promoting the adoption of black dogs. Seems funny that there is discrimination (even though it is probably very unconscious) among dogs based on color. Although, maybe not. I suppose with black dogs taking the brunt of the bad mythology rap, it's not that hard to understand. But still. I can't imagine not taking a wonderful dog with a sweet temperment just because he was dark.
This week we are going to move Casey to a raw diet. I haven't learned nearly enough regarding nutrition and dogs, but what little I have, and the people with vast knowledge on the subject I've talked to (including a holistic vet) have convinced me that this is the way to go. The more grain it has and processing is done, the worse the food is for a dog. A few of the articles I've read point to studies that show how some of the cheaper commercial foods can be tied all manner of diseases in dogs including cancer. (I'll post links to articles I think are useful as I go in the future.) Right now Casey is on Eagle Pack Adult Maintenance (lamb) dry kibble. He loves it and his coat is shiney, his teeth white, he barely sheds, and there is no "dog smell" to be smelled--even when he's wet. He's a mellow, happy, well-behaved pup. I can't wait to see how a dog who seems so perfect can improve based on his diet alone. I hope we have him for a very long time and that when the day comes, he goes peacefully in his sleep of old age.
Today I made him an official member of the household and put on a tag with our name and address. I do need to have him microchipped, but in the meantime, this'll do.
My doggie has a second name it's Marlboro Man. Apparently Casey
likes butts. Cigarette butts to be exact. He eats them like they were
cheese. Gah! I've caught him more times than I care to admit to while
out on walks and my husband has too. Wanna bet that his previous owner
was a smoker?
Today is Casey's first day with our dog walker, and on Friday she's
picking him up to go to a playgroup. I'm glad we can afford to do this,
because I think he really needs to be with other dogs to play with and
he certainly needs a walk in the afternoon. He loves the puppies and
now knows were most of them live on our walking route. He's met about 7
or 8 so far and has been awesome with them--no growling, no hackles
up--just wagging tail and play bows. For some reason he loves the
little dogs. The one he wanted to play with was a foofy dog named
Pierre who was apparently up for a wrastle. It was kind of funny
because Casey outweighed that poor dog by about 50 lbs.
I sent my pretty boy to the groomer yesterday for a bath to wash off
his transportation stench after being in a van with a pack of other
dogs for several hours. Probably the only time I'll ever do it (Labs
don't really need baths unless they are really filthy), but he came
home smelling lovely and so soft and shiney I couldn't stop petting
him. The groomers loved him and said he was a very sweet boy. He was
very happy to be freed of the crate they had him in and I was happy to
free him of the ridiculous polka-dotted bandana. My dog is no clown!
Training is going slow--not because Casey is dumb, but because I
haven't buckled down. I did teach him to sit fairly fast though. I
caught him sitting a couple of times (called capturing) and made a huge
deal about it and gave him treats. Before long he was sitting at every
opportunity. He's a smart boy, my Casey Jones.
A while ago (I don't know...maybe a few years ago or so), I had a
dream about getting some organic dog treats for a black dog and the
Grateful Dead song "Casey Jones" was playing in the background. I
remember telling my husband about the dream and then promptly forgot
about it. We had a dog at the time, his name was Ike, and we were
certainly not in the market for another. I just thought it was kind of
funny. I had forgotten about that dream until the other night when, as
I got some organic treats for my black Lab, Casey, I was singing "Casey
Jones" to him and it all came back to me in a flash and I recalled the
whole thing. This was the dog. Our dog. Apparently the dog meant for
us.
Casey is the sweet boy we adopted almost a week ago. He is a
purebred American Field Lab who was bred to be a hunting companion.
Luckily for us, Casey is not such a hot hunter and his breeder gave him
up to Adopt A Lab Rescue.
Casey seems to have practically no drive for it and everyone is his
friend (he wags his tail almost constantly, and if he really likes you,
you are guaranteed a full body wiggle and a smile). Not that he doesn't
love to track things at every opportunity, mind you (in fact, he sounds
a bit like a pig snarfling around for truffles). He is very well
behaved even though he doesn't seem to know basic commands like sit, or
down. He never jumps up on anyone, he rarely barks, he comes when he's
called pretty much all the time, and when you want him to stop doing
something, a simple "ah-ah" will stop him. He's gentle and patient with
my kids (a Herculean task to be sure), he has not destroyed one thing
even when left for a few hours at a time (he generally knows what toys
are his prefers them when relaxing), and he is a snuggly boy when he's
not playing a vigorous round of fetch. In short, he is damn near
perfect. And what isn't perfect, I can train him to do. I think Casey
is my reward for the pain and suffering I went through with Ike (who
was pretty much the anti-Casey).
This weekend Casey and I will start doing some clicker training
and some brushing up on crate training. The kids are heading to my
'rents and the hubby is working. So it's me and the furry boy and a
list of things to do a mile long.
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I assist in Basic Manners dog obedience classes given
through the local SPCA. Thursday night is my night of back-to-back
classes and our first class dwindled down to 2 dogs pretty quickly
which is a shame. And its usually the dogs who need it most who drop
out. And they always drop out before the dogs actually hit their stride
(somewhere around weeks 4-5 of a 6 week class). We teach sit, down,
loose leash walking, leave it, recall, wait, and basic handling (collar
grabs, paws). I love these classes--the dogs are generally youngish
(certainly at heart) and very responsive to the training. It's a joy to
watch them "get it" and learn. Dogs *love* to work. Especially when
their owners "get it" and work with them as a team. It's just fun all
the way around and there are so many silly things you can teach your
dog to do if you have the time and patience. So many humans get
frustrated with dogs and blame the dogs for their issues when it's
really operator error on their part. I know this. I lived it for six
years and paid for it dearly. Some dogs are just inherently good. Most
need to be trained to be that way. No dog is really perfect and there
will be things that cannot be solved, but most things can be managed if
you are willing to find out how to do it and do it right.
In the next week or so, I'll try to add some books to
my list for recommended dog training reading (both for my benefit and
anyone who might be interested). I'll also try to share what I've
learned in class and at home and maybe help someone who might need it.
Woof!
Been thinking about having a place I can keep a record of all my dog training "stuff." Might as well keep it here. Fandomish and general gabbing can be found over at my LJ. I'm hoping to have a new pooch in my house within the next couple of months, so look for the (mis)adventures in this general location.
