Living with Labrador Retrievers, the joys and tribulations of living, loving and training dogs
This blog is a tribute to Belle, and all the dogs who have come before and after. They are my friends, my companions, my teachers and my students. They bring me both joy and heartache, laughter and tears. There is nothing as sweet as the smell of puppy breathe, and nothing as sad as the final goodbye.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Timo is my dog with a heart of gold that shines as brightly as his fox red coat.
I have always had Labs and also volunteered for a Lab rescue
group. I was asked to evaluate Timo because his former owners could not handle
his high energy. He was very destructive and had ripped apart their kitchen
cabinets and tile floor not once, but twice, and when I met him he was confined
to an enclosed carport to prevent further destruction. He was totally out of
control when I met him, jumping and nipping at me like a very large land shark.
I took him, not knowing that he would end up being mine. Shortly after I took
him home to foster and live with my three other Labs, our rescue coordinator
was diagnosed with lung cancer. She passed away six weeks later. There was a mad
rush to place the 14 dogs she was fostering and by default Timo became mine. He
was a handful from the start and could not be trusted in the house without
being tethered to my side. I really did not want a fourth dog, and not one
requiring so much work! Yes, he tried my patience more often then I’d like to
admit, but at those times especially, I’d look into his eyes and see the
intelligence and the love hiding just beneath the surface and I knew I had to
help this big bad boy achieve his potential.
He eventually settled down and we trained in earnest. He
earned his therapy dog certification and became the dog I knew he always was.
Over the years he has become my best friend. We would take long walks in the
woods and trips to the beach. We loved to explore street fairs, me always
looking for new finds, Timo looking to make new friends. He has helped me through
some of the hardest times of my life. Truthfully I don’t know how I would have
survived those times without him at my side. I have had many, many dogs
throughout my life, each of them very dear and special in their own unique way.
I have loved them all. Timo, however, holds a special place in my heart. He is
that once in a lifetime dog, my spirit dog, the dog with which I have the deepest connection. My boy is
getting up there in years. He loves to fetch a tennis ball and he loves a good
swim. Arthritis has slowed him down and he will limp for days after even some
mild activity. His naps are more frequent and the sleep is deep. We don’t take
the long walks we use to do. I have to help him into the car and up on to the
bed. My boy is slowing down but his spirit is still strong. I know our time together
will soon end; if lucky, we may have another year or two before that final
goodbye. I will do my best to make whatever time left as joyful and as
comfortable as I can for my dear sweet Timo; the dog with a heart of gold that
shines as brightly as his fox red coat.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Monday, October 30, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
"How You Live With Your Dog
Determines
How Your Dog Lives With you"
Larry Krohn
Thursday, October 19, 2017
I came across this one night while searching the internet and thought it perfectly expressed my own thoughts and philosophy about dog training, so much so, that I had to share.
How do I train dogs? "I train the dog I am training." While this might be ambiguous, it is true. I have been getting drilled on my training method.... so here it is - hopefully more cut and dried.
Training is about getting into your dog´s head, and understanding what motivates him, what make him smile, and what concerns him. It helps to be able to think like your dog, so that you can be one step ahead of him.
This
is defined as a relationship with your dog. You understand him so well that you
can think for him, know his struggles in advance, and adjust his mood as
needed, to help him learn what he needs to learn to be the best dog that he can
be.
Cookies cannot buy this. Corrections cannot buy this. Something this precious
and this complex cannot be purchased with a cookie or a leash correction.
You should be able to laugh at him for his silly antics, realize when he is trying but misunderstood your words compared with when he completely blows you off because you are not important compared to what is going on. Or realize when he disobeyed, but gave you his all - and could give you nothing better.
You must realize when he is stressed by his environment and needs more help from you, or when he is stressed by his environment and needs to be told to grow up and act like a man.
You
need to be aware when something completely alien might be going on - is he
sitting really slow because he hurt himself?
So the question still remains of "What method do I use." I train the
dog I am training. There is no one thing that I can do to create the beautiful
relationship that I have with my dogs. I respect dogs for who they are, I
believe in their potential, build on their strengths, and chip away at their
weaknesses. I build a relationship with them so that they care what I think and
try really hard to please me. I build them up to be the best that they can be,
and encourage certain traits to hide their weaknesses. I truly "train the
dog that I am training".
There are no rules for this process to take place. What is necessary for one dog might be detrimental in that moment for another. While in puppy class, I might instantly stop one puppy from dragging his owner, and I might request another owner to allow their puppy to drag them for two more weeks before we stop it. There are no absolute rules when it comes to training dogs.
Each dog has to be trained by his own criteria, working with what he brings to the table. Every dog has the same goals and directions, but we might get there fifty different ways, depending on the learning ability, emotional need and intelligence of the dog, and always considering the handling abilities and personality of the handler. Our timeline will vary as much as our methods; you can only train the dog at the speed of the dog. This is a relationship, between one dog and one human, and rules might need to be gently bent and swayed, depending upon the individuals.
This is not science. It is art. We are given a blank canvas with every puppy that we get, and it is our creation to build, alter, discourage, or deny. Each of our canvases will look different when our dogs are a year old, depending upon our feel and timing, our dreams and vision, our denial, our work ethic, and the dogs that we get.
How can you define this training method with one set of limiting rules? You can't.
I train the dog I am training.
Monique
Anstee,
Victoria, BC
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