June 30, 2010
Okey Doke – I promised you a follow-up on the Westie pup left abandoned in our driveway, so here it is. Never let it be said I don’t keep my promises…
 Maggie Faith Maggie spent the week while we were on our biker vacation happily making friends at the Humane Society of Washington County. They assessed her at the end of her stray holding time, and found that she was friendly, outgoing, resilient (as in nothing rattles her) and very quick to use her mouth. They weren’t sure if she was using it aggressively or not, so were not willing to make her available for adoption immediately at the shelter. I also wanted to explore her alleged crate-soiling behavior, as reported by her previous owner, who said Maggie absolutely refused to eliminate on grass, and would only urinate and defecate in her crate.
 I can *walk* in grass just fine! We brought her home to PPaws, where I found her to be a perfectly normal Westie pup. She does, indeed, love to use her mouth, but she just wants to play tug. Correction, she really wants to play tug. Correction, she ferociously wants to play tug.
I’m convinced that the previous owner who dumped her here incorrectly identified Maggie’s intense play-growling (while tugging on pants legs) as aggression, and hence applied the inappropriate (inappropriate response even if it was aggression) remedy of grabbing and holding her muzzle closed. Since the previous owner had also received more bad advice (“Don’t ever play tug with your puppy”) and Maggie is dying to tug, the pup’s only outlet for this highly desirable behavior was to grab pants legs, and yes, human hands. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
As soon as we offered her appropriate tug toys her pants and hand grabbing greatly diminished. Even now, just one week later, if she occasionally goes for clothing or skin we just have to replace the inappropriate object with an appropriate tug toy and she’s a happy camper. Easy Peasey. (See my “Rules to Tug By,” below)
We also worked on teaching her to offer sits and take treats without grabbing flesh. Ouch!
 Sit for a treat...  Oops! If you grab, the treat disappears!  Yes! If you're polite you can have it! As for the housetraining issue – no worries. She has happily pooped and peed on grass since her first day here. She makes every effort not to soil her ex-pen, has never soiled her crate (we put her food, water and toys in her crate) and pees on the grass as soon as we take her outside. Go figure.
 Guess what? I can poop and pee in grass just fine too! In fact, she’s had a wonderful week hiking around the farm, helping with barn chores with the Miller pack (Scooter hates her) and Sturgis, and soaking up attention from Shirley and all the PPaws apprentices.
 Hiking on the farm with the big dogs  Waiting her turn to roll in deer poop  Helping with barn chores  Hangin' with Bonnie and Sturgis So – she doesn’t need the Gold Paw program – there’s nothing to fix. They should all be so easy! Westie Rescue is coming to pick her up on Saturday, and she will be off to her new life, hopefully in the hands of someone who has a better understanding of normal puppy behavior and can give her the lifelong loving home she deserves.
Have a great life, Maggie Faith!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
RULES TO TUG BY
By Pat Miller
I’m always surprised to hear there are still trainers who think “Tug” is a bad game to play with dogs. My dogs think it’s one of the best! Granted, there may be an occasional dog for whom I wouldn’t recommend it, but as a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant, I often suggest Tug as an appropriate and effective way to help a high-energy, under-exercised dog work off steam. Most of my peers in the positive training world agree.
We also agree that it’s a good idea to have rules by which to play the Tug game, to ensure that you’re reinforcing appropriate behaviors and not rewarding inappropriate ones:
- Keep the tug toy put away. Bring it out when you want to play tug. Your relationship with your dog works best when you control the good stuff.
- Use a toy long enough to keep dog teeth far away from your hands, and comfortable for you to hold when he pulls.
- Hold up the toy. If your dog lunges for it say “Oops” and quickly hide it behind your back. It’s your toy – he can only grab it when you give him permission.
- When he’ll remain sitting as you offer the toy, tell him to “Take it!” and encourage him to grab and pull. If he’s reluctant, be gentle until he learns the game. If he’s enthusiastic, go for it!
- Randomly throughout tug-play, ask him to “Give” and trade him the toy for a yummy treat. After he gives it to you, you can play again (see steps 2 and 3). You should “win” most of the time – that is, you end up with possession of the toy, not your dog.
- While you are playing, if his teeth creep up the toy beyond a marked or imaginary line, say “Oops! Too bad” in a cheerful voice, have him give you the toy, and put it away briefly. (You can get it out and play again after 15 seconds or so.)
- If your dog’s teeth touch your clothing or skin, say “Oops!, Too bad” and put the toy away for a minute.
- Children should not play tug with your dog unless and until you are confident they can play by the rules. If you do allow children to play tug with your dog, always directly supervise the game.
- Only tug side-to-side, not up-and-down (up-and-down can cause injury to the spine), and temper the vigor of your play appropriately to the size, age and personality of your dog. You can play Tug lots harder with a 120 adult Rottweiler than you can a Rottie puppy, or a four-pound Chihuahua.
- When you are done playing, put the toy away until next time. You control the good stuff!
Happy tugging!
June 22, 2010
I hope you’ll excuse a blog that has little to do with dog training this week. We just got home from vacation – where I spent the last eight days and 1,840 miles on the back of Paul’s Harley. Yes friends, if you weren’t already aware, this dog trainer/behavior consultant is also a biker chick.
So, I fully intended to keep a daily journal so this blog would be a quick bit of editing and push-the-button done, but of course that didn’t happen. My intentions got soggy the first day and never quite dried out. Of course, I always take pictures of dogs wherever I see them, so there are a few canine bits to follow…
We left Peaceable Paws about 9:30 on a warm, sunny, Sunday morning – final destination, Laconia, New Hampshire Bike Week – me in a sleeveless shirt, a little worried about getting sunburned (but not much worried).
 Day One - heading out our driveway  No helmets required in PA! (But we always wear ours...) We hoped to make it to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by 1:00pm, in time to go on a fund-raiser ride for the SPCA of Luzerne Co., a shelter that used to be run by a friend of Paul’s, Ed Gross, until he retired a few years ago. According to our trusty GPS we were just going to make it, until the skies got ominously dark and the clouds opened up to deliver four inches of rain in one hour. Paul dashed off the Interstate and under an overpass to try to keep us dry, and in the process hopped a divider and broke the kickstand spring. A couple of hours, one bungee cord, and a stop at the SPCA later, we finally caught up with the ride finish at Bentley’s, where we hung out with Ed, had a couple of drinks, and tried to dry out.
 Meeting up with old friend Ed Gross (Didn’t help my frame of mind any to discover, when I dragged out my rain gear, that inside of my rain jacket was a soggy wet musty mess. At some point in the past a water bottle must have leaked in my saddlebag and been absorbed by the jacket liner. Yuck.
 Stereotypic biker dog - but we also saw a lot of Pomeranians... Leaving Wilkes-Barre the next morning, it was still cloudy and damp. I had dried my jacket lining with the motel hair dryer, but the odor still clung. I put it on, holding my breath, and climbed on the back of the bike, to make our way north to the Adirondacks. We stopped at the Harley dealer in Binghamton, NY, for a couple of hours to get the kickstand fixed, the exhaust welded, and a new rear tire. Consoled ourselves over ice cream at Friendly’s next door… We weren’t planning to arrive at Laconia until Wednesday, so we had plenty of time to wander our way north and east, through small towns, including Lake Placid, former winter Olympic site.
 We find a friend in a shop in the Adirondacks. While the Dobie didn't look thrilled about customer interaction, the Lab on the right was even less so.  We have our photo taken with a fellow biker in Old Forge (I think?), NY.  Finally, some wildlife! First, a turkey...  One of many tiger swallowtails...  Sharing lunch with an adorable chipmunk (only gave him unsalted nuts and multigrain bread)...  A moment of contemplation at Fifth Lake in the Adirondacks  Then on to Vermont via ferry boat! Upon crossing into Vermont, our nostrils were immediately assailed by the overpowering odor of confinement dairy cows. Seeing those poor Holstein girls standing and lying down in six inches of their own waste made me reconsider my addiction to cheese and ice cream – vegetarian crack, as they are sometimes known. I wonder where Ben and Jerry get their milk from…?
Wednesday dawned cool and cloudy again. Would we get any serious sun this trip? I’m still wrapped in several layers to ward off the cold. It seems reasonably warm out, until you get on the back of the bike and the wind starts whipping. Haven’t put on the thermals yet, but they are in the pack, just in case. Today was endless miles on the bumpiest road I’ve ever been on, at least on the bike. Thought we would never get there, but finally pulled into the parking are outside our rental cabin-by-the-creek in Lincoln, NH, 45 minutes north of Laconia, and home for the next three nights. We unpacked quickly, and decided to head for the action. Radar showed a little rain, but not supposed to arrive until 9pm – we should have time to go find bikes and food.
No such luck. Not much going on in Laconia (we found out that night that the bike stuff is really in Weirs Beach, east of Laconia) and we got rained on again heading back to our cabin. Dang. I looked at New Hampshire online and discovered that it looks like Swiss cheese. The lacy kind. Like it was really just water and someone dropped in a few blobs of dirt here and there so they could dock their boats and build vacation homes. There’s a lot of water there. Everywhere!
We woke up to clouds and sprinkles again Thursday morning, and hung out at home base, sleeping in and waiting for things to clear a bit. Finally headed for Weirs Beach around 11am and did one side of the biker party, dropping in at the Harley dealer, scoping out vendors, buying a scarf to keep the wind from whistling down my neck, and scrounging something that passed as vegetarian food for lunch. Then back on the bike to head north to Mt. Washington, the biggest must visit attraction of the area. This is the highest peak in the Northeastern US, and it’s an 8-mile climb from 1,000 feet to 8,200 feet on a partly-paved road. The road was closed to cars today so bikes to make the trip safely.
 In the fog, top of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire  The view on the way down Blessedly, the sun came out on the two-hour ride to the mountain, and stayed out for the rest of our trip. I finally got warm! We did see a moose on the way (yay!) but I missed getting a picture (darn!). Although at 8200 feet with 30-mile-per-hour winds it wasn’t exactly toasty at the top. The ride and the view were exhilarating. The whole cold, wet, rainy trip was worth this one event. As we neared the top, clouds started whipping across the road, and then we were totally fogged in. The fog parted briefly for us up at the top, where, on a clear day, you can see 5 states, Canada, and the ocean. So they say. Apparently it’s rarely clear up there, so it’s hard to prove. The trip back down was every bit as beautiful, but the gate was closing at 6:45, so we couldn’t dawdle. Dinner, and tumble into bed, with plans to see the rest of the Bike Fest Friday.
 Bikes in Laconia  Puggle/Bulldog enjoying the biker scene in Laconia  Baby bikers at Laconia From rags to riches – Friday was sunny and in the upper 80s. Perfect for riding on the bike, hot for walking around. We toured the rest of the vendor booths, picked up out HOG member Laconia pins, and spent the day relaxing. Then back to the cabin to pack up for an early-Saturday departure. I was excited – we planned to meet my cousin Jeb Barnes, who lives in Gloucester, for breakfast in Lowell, MA. She was my favorite cousin when I was a kid, and I hadn’t seen her in 21 years, since my sister Meg’s wedding.
On the road at 7:30am, Saturday, for breakfast at the Four Sisters Owl Café in Lowell. GREAT food – best of the trip. My spinach and Swiss cheese frittata was delicious, and it was indescribably wonderful to see Jeb. We promised to get together again soon – Massachusetts isn’t really that far from Maryland!
 Me, on the right, cousin Jeb on the left Seven long, hot hours on the road Saturday. Have to get to Paul’s Dad’s in Hanover, PA for Father’s Day on Sunday, and then make it home to pick up the reins and leashes of farm and dog trainer life, in time for evening feeding.
We spent Saturday night in Port Jervis, NY – former home of our wonderful PB Pig, Sturgis, then up and out Sunday morning early to see Dad. We got there at 2pm, right on schedule, hung out two hours, and split for home and the kids.
 Happy Father's Day! Although one week felt way too short, it was, of course, marvelous to be greeted with wagging tails and smiling faces. Even Dubhy, our undemonstrative Scottie, was clearly happy to see us. And now, biker togs are safely stowed in the locker in the garage (except for the rain suit, which is waiting its turn in the washing machine), I’ve sorted through the 1000-plus photos I took from the passenger seat of the bike, and it’s back to life as a dog trainer/consultant.
It’s great to be home!
Maggie the Westie comes home with me tomorrow from the shelter, so I can evaluate her, setup her behavior program, and find her a Gold Paw foster home. More on her progress next blog…
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
 Home Sweet Home!
June 11, 2010
You just never know what surprise is waiting around the corner.
I was wrapping up a private consult at about 5:30pm yesterday when one of our 6pm class students arrived and informed Shirley that there was a dog in a carrier halfway up our driveway. Since our drive is about a half-mile long, there’s no chance this dog crate bounced out of the back of a passing pick-up truck; someone must have left her there deliberately.
 Maggie Faith, too-cute-for-words.. abandoned in our driveway PPaws apprentice Jenn Rutter and I hopped in my van and drove down to investigate. We found the world’s most adorable 12-week-old Westie pup in the world’s flimsiest soft crate, set off the side of the driveway in the grass, in the shade. Along with the pup, the owners left a dog bed, toys, food, a plastic food/water bowl, and a six-page letter explaining in great detail how much they love Maggie Faith and how much it hurts them to give her up, but because of her “serious behavior problems” they simply couldn’t keep her.
Of course I scooped Maggie up and took her back to the training center, where I sat down to read the whole letter. As I slogged through it I wondered what horrible behavior problems could possible be hiding in this wonderful, friendly, outgoing, adorable pup.
The first clue was when she expressed her admiration for the Monks of New Skete. “Ah,” I thought. Punishment.” She mentioned a 3-year-old child, and I went to “punishment for puppy nipping.” When she castigated the breeder she got the pup from for keeping puppies in crates, I thought “housetraining.” And sure enough, she’s convinced this pup is aggressive and can’t be housetrained.
 Chewing on a cow hoof I gave her - not a *drop* of resource guarding tension when I messed with her and took it away from her (and gave it right back) Her comment: “Maggie is aggressive. She doesn’t recognize me as the dominant figure despite my following the training guide (Monk’s) to a T. (Why do I guess she probably watches Cesar, too?) Then she says, “We always stepped in and corrected her, initially with the ‘NO BITE” command. Within days we realized how serious it was and had to grab her muzzle and say the words.”
Then she says “It’s gotten progressively harder to handle.” Why am I not surprised?
The final irony is that she said, “I think that someone who can handle these issues needs to have her or else she will end up in a shelter and I can’t handle that thought.”
Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I work closely with shelters and my husband is the director of the Humane Society of Washington County here in Hagerstown. So the first thing we did was call to have an officer come pick her up and transport her to the shelter, where she is now, safe, warm and well-fed.
Of course, I can’t just let go. There’s a good chance Maggie does have some inappropriate behaviors after 5-6 weeks of muzzle grabbing, and from the owner’s description is sounds like she’s also a good candidate for reverse crate training, once we rule out a urinary tract infection. So I e-mailed Debbie McClain, shelter manager, and suggested that Maggie would be an excellent candidate for the shelter’s not-yet-officially-launched “Gold Paw Behavior Foster Care Program.”
Debbie responded: “I just went to meet this little girl….What a Doll Baby!!! She’s definitely a mouther, but like you say, that is easily corrected. (She loves a belly rub!) At the end of her stray period, staff can do an assessment and have her ready to move her into the GOLD Paw Program.”
So, in short order, Maggie will be ready to go to a Gold Paw foster home.
 Maggie Faith says, "Yay, I get to be a Gold Paw puppy!" And, of course, I’ll keep you posted here on her BMod progress.
Have a great weekend! Or as my good friend Lisa Waggoner of Cold Nose College says, suggesting that you have control over your own happiness, “Make it a great weekend.” (I love that, Lisa – thanks!)
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
PS – If anyone happens to have any information who might have dropped Maggie off in our driveway, please feel free to let me know.
June 8, 2010
This past weekend was Nose Games time at Peaceable Paws – and what a fun time it was! We spent two days playing with dog noses, and ended Sunday afternoon with tired and happy canines and humans. This was the first time we’d offered this workshop, and I can’t wait for the next one!
Our Nose Games workshop differs from the competitive Nose Work seminar that’s touring the country, in that we explore a variety of scenting opportunities rather than just focusing on the competition, although what we do lays a solid foundation for Nose Work, if that’s where you’re headed. As the trainers in our group discovered, nose games offer endless possibilities for working and playing with clients’ dogs as well as their own. A simple “Find it!” with a treat tossed on the ground is an easy and effective way to engage a dog who knows and has a happy association with the “find it” cue, when his mind and behavior are wandering off to inappropriate zones. It;s a great way to add more exercise to your dog’s routine, as well as environmental enrichment – for dogs in homes as well as dogs in shelters.
 Karol Kennedy's three-legged Terrier mix, Nike, plays "Find it in the grass" - much harder than "Find it on rubber mats." It’s interesting to note that, while dogs have an excellent sense of smell constantly utilizing it is, in fact, fairly hard work for them, and tiring. Most dogs, on a hunt, will use their eyes and ears first, and resort to scenting out prey only when necessary, because of the biological imperative to conserve energy for survival purposes.
As I anticipated, our workshop dogs needed lots of breaks, and we built in recovery time by pairing teams up and having them watch each other work (an excellent learning experience) as well as taking discussion breaks (also useful for learning) and potty breaks.
Here’s our two-day outline for Nose Games:
Day One:
9:00am – Introductions; Discussion of scent work; Reading your dog
9:30am – Working Session #1:
Introduction to Nose Games: “Find It!”
Find it Toss
Find it in Plain View
Find it Hidden in Plain View
10:15 – Gather – discussion
10:30am – BREAK
10:45am – Working Session #2:
Review Session #1
Work with Toys/Objects
Hidden in Room
 Leslie Fisher's Bridgette waits patiently out of sight while mom hides treats.
 Then enthusiastically and eagerly looks for - and finds - several hidden treats. Take Scent
11:30 – Gather – Discussion
NOON – LUNCH
1:30pm – Push/Mark
 Lynne Young's Wyatt - who has done this before - marks to indicate he's found the scent.
 The scent is birch, dabbed on this tiny Q-tip, wedged into the tread of a tire. 1:30pm – Working Session #3:
Review
Training the Push/Mark
Hidden in Boxes
 Barb Flook's Aussie, Twister, finds the box with the treat inside.
 A little mre challenging - Catherine Schuler's Dachshund, Shade, finds the treat in a box on the chair. 2:15 – Gather – Discussion
2:30pm – BREAK
2:45pm – Check This
3:00pm – Working Session #4:
Review
Check This/Look Here
3:45 – Gather – Discussion
4:00pm – Questions/Discussion
5:00pm – Close
Day Two
9:00am – Review/Questions from Day One; discuss Day Two program
9:30am – Working Session #5:
Review Day 1 work
Scent Discrimination – salient scent
10:15 – Gather – Discussion
10:30am – BREAK
10:45am – Working Session #6:
 A pause for rest and discussion.
Review
Introduce New Scent – non-salient scent
11:30 – Gather – Discussion
NOON – LUNCH
1:30pm – Working Session #7:
Review
Scent Discrimination
2:15 – Gather – Discussion
2:30pm – BREAK
2:45pm – Nose Games
Find Hidden Treat (owner doesn’t know where)
Find Hidden Owner
Scent Discrimination Boxes
4:00pm – Q&A
4:30 – Close
The best part for me was watching the dogs progress from Day One when they had no clue what we were doing, to the end of Day Two when they were purposefully searching, on task, for the hidden treats. To see Leslie Fisher of Look What I Can Do dog training working with her very enthusiastic and on-task Labrador Retriever, Bridgette, click here.
Our next Nose Games workshop is Scheduled for September 11 and 12. Come and have fun with us!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat Miller
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