How to Turn Any Stranger into Your Dog’s Friend

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Karen

Dog Food Door If you want to enter our house in relative peace, it’s best to come bearing gifts.

Specifically, dog food treats are most welcome. But if you’ve forgotten yours at home, no worries. I’ve attached a container of kibble right at garage door knob level. You can’t miss it coming in.

Think of it akin to entering church, where you bless yourself with holy water before entering. Kinda like ensuring good luck–

Only, here, the good luck is that if you throw the kibble for Graidy before you enter, instead of being greeted with non-stop barking and rushing, you’ll be greeted with licks and wags.

If you have a guarding or sentry dog, this is one easy step you can take to help condition your wary dog to more easily accept letting your friends into your home.

Once your friend has thrown the kibble, then you just need to remind her to stand sideways, not speak in high-pitched squeaky voices, avert her gaze, and not try to pet your dog, until your dog is calm and approaches your guest on his own. Easy Peazy.

What My Herding Dogs Have Taught Me

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Karen

I was recently asked by an interviewer what I’ve learned from my dogs. Since he was referring to Dogs of Dreamtime, he was specifically asking about Kiera, Magic, and Molly.

To put into context some of what I’ve learned from my animals, it helps to know that, left to my own devices, I gravitate toward intense herding breeds. Kiera is an Australian Shepherd. Graidy is a Border Collie mix. Magic was an English Shepherd mix, who died from Lyme Disease. Molly was my deaf Australian Shepherd. They all came when they were just a few months old.

I mention this because while all dogs (really all animals) offer us lessons in unconditional love, and the joys and responsibilities of companionship, herding breeds have added a whole other layer for me. Since herding dogs thrive best when they get to live as working partners, that requires a level of commitment, training, observation, and communication skills that can take us into uncharted territory if we let it. And while herding breeds aren’t for everyone, they continue to provide me with one of the most thrilling and challenging adventures I’ve ever embarked on.

Put most simply, what I’ve learned from my dogs, interestingly enough, is how to be more fully human. Which has helped me, in turn, learn how to let my dogs be more fully dogs.

INOH Dogs

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Karen

! was having a conversation with a friend who works with Australian Shepherd Breed Rescue. We were discussing how we both hate the term “Rescue.” It’s pejorative to all the people who have legitimate reasons for having to relinquish their dogs, and not sufficiently incriminating to those who irresponsibly or impulsively get a dog and then irresponsibly or impulsively look to dump the dog.

So we were trying to come up with a new term that doesn’t have an aura of baggage associated with it. I came up with INOH dog. As in dog “In Need Of Home” but reads as “I know.” Thus, we could nix “Rescue” and “Shelter” from the dog lexicon in one swoop.

My secret thought for the meaning behind the meaning is the dog saying, “I know” just because one human wasn’t in a position to do right by me, doesn’t mean the next one won’t. Continue reading →

The New Normal

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Karen

It’s been a month since Kiera got hit with Vestibular Disease. As most dogs resolve on their own within two weeks, it’s looking as though Kiera has probably improved as much as she’s going to. Which means she’s permanently left with the head tilt and unsteady gait. Which means no more stairs. Which means we now live with ramps everywhere inside and out. Continue reading →

Geriatric Canine Vestibular Disease

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Karen

I’ve been nursing Kiera through a mean case of Vestibular Disease for the past two weeks. Oddly enough, it came on at the Vet’s office while we were there for her annual exam. From the time she jumped out of the car and got into the exam room, from all appearances, it looked as though she’d had a stroke. Her head tilted, her gait was unsteady, her tongue hung out to one side. By the end of the visit, she could barely stand up without her legs splaying out from under her–she had no balance.

I was so very lucky, because instead of hitting the panic switch if this had happened at home, the vet was immediately able to allay my fears and explain what Vestibular Disease was. But more importantly, she was able to tell me that this usually resolves on its own within 2-3 weeks. She was able to diagnose quickly because of one of the common signs of disorientation, head tilt, and jerking eye movements.

It’s been distressing to watch, to say the least. This video was taken at Day 7 of one very long week….

Holistic vet, Dr. Becker gives a good overview in this video of Vestibular Disease.

Some Factioids about Vestibular Disease (with additional information here):

IVD is non-fatal, non-progressive and so common among older cats and dogs that it’s often referred to as Senile or Geriatric Vestibular Syndrome. This is somewhat erroneous since there are cases of younger canines getting the syndrome. It’s not genetic, it’s not gender related, Continue reading →

Problem-Solving Dog Furniture

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Karen

Because we live in an old farmhouse, we are always short on storage space. We have no attic or basement to speak of, so we need to take advantage of every way we can to make storage. In my perennial quest to get and stay organized, I came across these great ideas.

Folding Pet Home And Ottoman Doggie Nite Stand Tudor Dog House anyone?

But here’s my all time favorite. If you have a partner who would prefer not to have dogs on the bed, here’s a happy solution for everyone! Bedside Platform Dog Bed. Just brilliant!

Unfortunately, I can’t find anyone who sells this item any longer. But it wouldn’t be hard to make.

Guess what I’ll be building this weekend? : )

I Understand…

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Karen

I’ve never been one to turn away from the raw and real, and nitty gritty about life. I don’t seek it out, but if it comes looking for me, I’ve tried to equip myself to the best of my ability to meet it. Hence my training as an EMT, my training in psychology, and my involvement with dog training and rescue. I figure that pretty much covers most of the bases.

As life often has a tendency to bunch up, I’m in a period where life at its rawest has been piling up on my doorstep. Friends dying, family health issues, aging animals–along with many people I know being faced with emotionally wrenching decisions. The phone has been busy…

Two calls last week were from opposite sides of the same coin of a very tough decision. Continue reading →

How to Prevent Dog Urine From Creating Burn Spots in Your Lawn

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Karen

There are three types of calls I routinely get from my family:

All medical related concerns thanks to my EMT background.
All vegetable gardening questions thanks to more than a couple of decades of dirt under my fingernails.
Last but not least… Dogs of course!

It ensures that I regularly get to hear from most of my family fairly often. The most recent call I fielded was from one of my nephews who has a delightful female Golden Retriever. As a new homeowner, he asked what he could do to stop his dog’s urine from burning out patches of grass. He’d heard about a product named Grass Saver (I’m not including a link because I don’t support this product) which claimed to reduce a dog’s pH, which the product suggests is the culprit causing the lawn burn. He’d also heard of giving a dog tomato juice for the same reason.

It’s not the pH, it’s the Nitrogen!

Dietary changes and supplements won’t help because, in fact, it’s not the acid in the dog urine that causes the grass to burn. A healthy diet for dogs (and cats) is high in protein and normal bodily functions break it down. One of the byproducts is nitrogen, which is removed by the kidneys and eliminated in the urine. It’s the nitrogen that burns the grass. Nitrogen has nothing to do with pH. So please don’t give your dogs any of the products claiming to alter pH. They’re just likely to cause other unwanted health problems for your dog. (See below.) Continue reading →

The Time Has Come…

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Karen

… the Walrus said, to talk of other things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings…

Anything but how time is starting to catch up with my beloved girl…

Kiera is closing in on 13 years old. Her recent visit to the vet confirmed what I had been observing. Kiera is now 90% blind.

So we make changes. And we adjust. And we now use baby gates to prevent her from getting stuck on the stairs or, worse, falling down them.

At night I carry her up to sleep where she’s always slept at the side of my bed. And before long, I will need to carry her down as well. And when my back gives out, I’ll move our bedroom downstairs.

Yes, time is marching on. But Kiera and I will march with it as we always have. Together.

What I Really Think About Having 2 Dogs vs 3 Dogs

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Karen

From the Mailbag: Natasha asks, I currently have two male dogs (a Labrador 5 yrs and a Yorkshire Terrier 2 yrs) and they both get along great. I’ve always wanted a Rottweiler. Do you think it would be a bad idea getting a 3rd dog? What sex would you say would be better? Thanks.

Natasha, having had one dog, two dogs, three dogs, and four dogs at various times, my favorite number is two. Adding a third dog is a big jump up in time, energy, and expense. I don’t know enough about your circumstances to really advise you (yard space, dog experience, time for training and exercising, etc.) other than to say that if you have two happy dogs who get along well, I’d be inclined to encourage you to enjoy what you have and not add a third–the pack energy with 3 dogs is way more intense than with just 2 dogs. If you feel compelled to get a third, given that you’ve got two males, I would go for a female.

The above was what I recently wrote in response to a reader asking a question about adding a 3rd dog. She came by way of my post: Is Having Three Dogs Better Than Two or One? In that post, I show a series of pics with my three dogs running and playing and generally having way too much fun. Clearly, they’re enjoying their game of tag. Continue reading →

Reteaching “Come” Results 1 Week Later

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Karen

What a difference a week makes in Wink’s remedial training. Not even Finn can deter him. See for yourself.

Wink is at the farthest end of the outside field. Keep your eye on the top middle of the video to find him.

Time for Remedial Training — How to Reteach “Come”

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Karen

King Charles Cavalier

Have you ever seen such a forlorn face? Wink wants to go run in the fenced field but he has lost privileges.

You see, he’s recently gone deaf. No, not completely. Only upon hearing the word “Come.” Then he’s stone deaf!

That’s because he’s found something he considers way more interesting than me. Namely, a place where the wild ducks are able to squeeze under the fence.

As soon as that gate is opened, he flies to that spot and furiously digs, trying to get to them. Thankfully, he doesn’t have the ability to compress himself to fit under such a small opening and I’ve place a stone there so he can’t dig out. But when it’s time for him to come inside, he completely doesn’t hear me. Truly. That’s because when a dog is so intensely focused on a high adrenaline activity (in this case, hunting ducks — spaniels are bird dogs don’t forget) he literally stops hearing.

So I realize it’s fruitless to try to call him under these circumstances. In the off chance one or two of my calls do reach his ears, he’d still ignore them. And I sure don’t want to teach him that the word “Come” means “Fuggedaboutit!” Hence, the leash I now keep on the fence post for easy access.

Now when I want him to come, I go to him, put the leash on, wait a few moments to allow him to go back to digging. And then I call him while gently pulling on the leash so that he HAS NO CHOICE but to come to me.Then he gets a big reward of Finn’s smelly (but high quality) cat kibble. I swear he’d leap tall buildings for Finn’s kibble, that’s how much he loves it.

Then we rinse and repeat several times, ending on a happy kibble party all the way back to the house.

It’ll be another week or so before I have him completely back on track, but eventually he’ll remember that I’m way more cool than any silly ducks, and he’ll resume breaking the land speed record to get back to me.

The key to keeping your dog well-trained is to stay on of top of any digressions and deal with them immediately, before they have a chance to set it. And when you do, it’s as easy as pie to keep that positive relationship with your dog. All it takes is a few simple tweaks every now and again.

Do You Have a Sentry Dog?

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Karen

Graidy is my Border Collie mix. I brought him home from Rescue going on 9 years ago. If you were to watch him run and play, you’d swear he was still a puppy–he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Yep, we’re talking high energy, perpetual motion machine!

On Duty

Given his breed and his native sensitivity–he’s more highly tuned than the most finely calibrated motion detector–he’s constantly on Red Alert! Nothing escapes his vigilant gaze. And I do mean NOTHING.

Whether it’s a vole half an acre away or a bird flying half a mile up in the sky or a person walking half a mile down the road, this dog feels compelled to announce his findings. Persistently. Until someone notices. Preferably Kiera. And then he’ll bark in her face until he forces her to join in. (Actually, she barks at him to tell him he can stand down, she’s got it covered. As the Alpha dog, she’s the commander-in-chief.)

Wha.. What was that?! Did you hear that?! I heard that. Over there!

And that makes for a very barky dog. At all hours of the day and night. God bless my neighbors–they don’t complain. So when I’m home, I spend a lot of my time redirecting his alerting behavior and giving him better options. It’s a full time job, often including through the wee hours of the morning–he’s a very light sleeper. Good thing I love him. : )

But when he started rolling back his waking time from 5:30 am to 5:00 am to 4:30 am to… It was time to take stronger measures.

You see, Graidy is a Sentry dog. And if you’re familiar with pack behavior, you know that this is a very important role in the pack. The Sentry dog’s job is to sound the alarm. To alert the pack to any changes in the surrounding environment. And he takes his job very seriously, performing it with slavish dedication.

One of the interesting physiological characteristics of Sentry dogs is that they do actually spend less time in the deeper phases of sleep. And when they are in that deeper sleep, they go through that cycle hard and fast.

Knowing that part of Graidy’s problem with night-time waking is that he’s hard-wired to be super-easily aroused, I decided to try giving him a 25 mg Benedryl (which acts as a mild sedative) at bedtime in the hope that would help him sleep more soundly.

And, Hallelujah! He’s sleeping through until 6:30 am!

As for the barking? That’ll be a life-long project. :)

How to Safely Compost Dog (and Cat) Poop

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Karen

Compost pet waste? I know, gross. Not to mention potentially dangerous! But hang in there with me for a moment…

I have three dogs and one cat. Luckily, for their health, they all poop at least once a day. That’s a LOT of poop over the course of a year. Multiply that times all the other pets in the country and that’s REALLY A LOT of pet poop (typically tied in non-biodegradable bags) going into landfills!

In my ongoing efforts to work the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), I’ve been looking for a way to safely recycle my pets’ waste. No, neither dog nor cat waste is suitable for garden compost (and you need to be careful where and how you compost it), but that doesn’t mean it can’t be turned into general compost.

It just takes a little elbow grease, a couple of tools, a garbage can, some rocks–and about an hour of your time.

*Instructions for building an environmentally safe dog/cat poo composter:

Because pet waste is a bacterial concoction that can include E. coli, salmonella, and giardia, you want to select an area with porous soil away from water sources (including areas with a high water table) and vegetable gardens so as to avoid contamination issues.
Cut out the bottom of a plastic garbage can and drill a dozen or so drainage holes in the sides.
Dig a hole deep enough to sink the can so that the top is a couple of inches above ground-level. (You want enough clearance to be able to securely fasten the lid.)
Before placing the garbage can in the hole, add rocks or gravel to the bottom for drainage.
After you toss in the day’s doodoo, just sprinkle on a little septic starter found in hardware stores. (I use Ecological Laboratories 10q Microbe-Lift Septic and Cesspool Treatment with great success.) Then add a little water and plop the top back on.

In short order, you’ll have rich soil to spread on anything non-edible. And if you don’t want to make use of the soil, just lift out the garbage can, dig another hole and rinse and repeat.

If you don’t have a place to safely compost, or you’d just rather not, then check out these 100 percent biodegradable BioBags for picking up your pet poo. At least these will break down in landfills and that’s a really good start!

* Thanks to Marion Owen for the idea!

AVMA’s Latest Guidelines for Responsible Pet Ownership

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Karen

The Executive Board of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recently released their new pet ownership guidelines.

Guidelines for Responsible Pet Ownership

Owning a pet is a privilege and should result in a mutually beneficial relationship. However, the benefits of pet ownership come with obligations.

Responsible pet ownership includes:

Committing to the relationship for the life of the pet(s).

Avoiding impulsive decisions about obtaining pet(s), and carefully selecting pet(s) suited to your home and lifestyle.

Recognizing that ownership of pet(s) requires an investment of time and money.

Keeping only the type and number of pets for which an appropriate and safe environment can be provided, including adequate and appropriate food, water, shelter, health care and companionship.

Ensuring pets are properly identified (i.e., tags, microchips, or tattoos) and that registration information in associated databases is kept up-to-date.

Adherence to local ordinances, including licensing and leash requirements.

Controlling pet(s) reproduction through managed breeding, containment, or spay/neuter, thereby helping to address animal control and overpopulation problems.

Establishing and maintaining a veterinarian-client-patient relationship.

Providing preventive (e.g., vaccinations, parasite control) and therapeutic health care for the life of the pet(s) in consultation with, and as recommended by, its veterinarian.

Socialization and appropriate training for pet(s), which facilitates their well-being and the well-being of other animals and people.

Preventing pet(s) from negatively impacting other people, animals and the environment, including proper waste disposal, noise control, and not allowing pet(s) to stray or become feral.

Providing exercise and mental stimulation appropriate to the pet(s)’ age, breed, and health status.

Advance preparation to ensure the pet(s)’ well-being in the case of an emergency or disaster, including assembling an evacuation kit.

Making alternative arrangements if caring for the pet is no longer possible.

Recognizing declines in the pet(s) quality of life and making decisions in consultation with a veterinarian regarding appropriate end-of-life care (e.g., palliative care, hospice, euthanasia).

YES! is all I have to say. Please consider doing your part to spread these guidelines. Educated dog owners make for happy dog owners and happy, healthy dogs!

Those of us who work in Rescue would like to add one more item to their guidelines in the ongoing effort to eradicate puppy mills: Never purchase a puppy from a pet store or online site.

What would you add to this list?

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Karen Shanley

AuthorMomWithDogs

Category Archives: Dogs in General