My Sweet Joey

Today my sweet Joey passed away at 17 years of age.

My family and I adopted Joey when he was 1 year old from L.I.F.E. Animal Rescue.  At the time I was 11 and I had just begun volunteering for the rescue two weeks before this beautiful dog showed up.  I had never had a dog and at the time my parents were reluctant to take one on, but I so desperately wanted a canine pal that I had decided to spend my Saturdays with the rescue to fulfill my dream of working with dogs.  Joey had actually been at the rescue about 6 month prior and was adopted by a family who decided that they could not keep him due to the mother's allergies.  When we decided to adopt Joey the previous family informed me that he would bolt out the door whenever it opened, and that he was very difficult to train.  I didn't care; I was in love.

Joey taught me invaluable lessons about working with dogs and the amazing relationship that can exist between a human and a canine.  He was wonderful at understanding what I wanted and was forgiving when I made mistakes.  I researched as much as I could about training and tried so many different methods, and Joey was patient as I found my way to positive reinforcement training.

 Joey was everything I could have wanted in a dog: he loved doing tricks, going new places, visiting my horse, trying new things, and having fun with me.

He was the first dog I ever did agility with, although he decided after awhile that it wasn't his thing.  

Joey always helped me train new dogs that came into the house, including foster dogs and new dogs that permanently joined our family.

When I started officially working as a trainer, Joey was my first demonstration dog.  He adapted well to any new situation, animal, or person, although he occasionally gave me attitude about what he would rather be doing.

He was a brilliant little dog, always quick to learn new things.

Joey was always excited to do something new, and at 13 years old he finally did a herding instinct test!  

It took a long time for Joey to begin to show his age.  He was always young at heart, and aged with dignity.

I am so lucky to have had Joey in my life, and so thankful for all of the things he taught me and the wonderful times we had together.  A truly great friend, Joey will always be in my heart.
I love you Jo Man.

The Rainbow Bridge Poem

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. 

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. 
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. 
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. 

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. 
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. 

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. 

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... 

Author unknown... 

There is NO perfect dog! Or is there?

There are many different ways to view your dog, and these views will shape how you train and interact with your dog. I often say that there are 2 general beliefs for most dog owners: either "no dog is perfect," or "every dog is perfect!" In reality, this is truly a matter of perspective. What is the perfect dog? EVERYONE will have a different opinion, which leads me to my conclusion; either no dog is perfect, or every dog is. Understanding what a dog was originally bred for often helps with this. I have 2 dachshunds, and I deal with many reactive dachshunds. Now, dachshunds were originally bred for hunting badgers, and therefore are supposed to be tenacious, fierce, and never back down! This often leads to a dog who will react to anything that they don't understand because that is natural for them. Think of it this way: if a dachshund does an Earth Dog trial, which means that they have to go into a tunnel underground and find the prey (usually a rat in a cage). A dachshund will fail the test if he backs away from the prey, or stops lunging, barking, etc. When we think about this, it makes sense that a dachshund's first reaction would be to react and go on the offensive. Other dogs are extremely excited, and owners ask me how to help their dogs mellow out. First and foremost, know your breeds, and what their instinct is! A dog who is bred to do a job that requires a lot of energy and drive needs a job to do, physically and mentally. Every dog is perfect for someone, which means that every dog is perfect!

Hayden working through "scary distractions!"

Reactive dogs

Dealing with Hayden, my reactive dachshund, has giving me a lot of perspective when it comes to reactive dogs. I deal with reactive dogs all the time, but having one who is so hard to deal with has taught me quite a bit. So what do you do to deal with a dog who barks at other dogs/people/anything that moves? First and foremost, your reaction, and body language for that matter, are crucial. When I see something that my dog is likely to react to I immediate turn on the verbal praise (before the reaction occurs!), and then reward for any attention that comes back to me. A "bark!" equals, walk away, so that we can be at a safe distance to work through it. But, if I start verbally praising my dog before a reaction begins, and then I reward the dog for keeping quiet, I have essentially "won the battle", that is the battle between me and the distraction! Every dog has a different limit as to where they feel safe, but if I reward them for NOT reacting, then I am changing the association with the scary thing! My goal is to have my dog look to ME when a distraction is present. I should be the center of my dog's universe, and essentially what this means to my dog is that I will keep him/her safe. If this trust is broken (if I let another dog or person approach my dog without permission), then I am teaching my sensitive dog that they cannot trust me, and must take matters into their own paws...
My main thought process when training dogs is "what is the dog interpreting from this situation?". If my dog deems the situation as frightening, then it is much harder to come back from.
I constantly stress that whether WE see certain circumstances as frightening or not, our dog may interpret these events differently.

Training progress

So, standing by the back gate and rewarding for calm behavior when cars go by seems to be the best option at the moment. I plan on keeping up with this consistent method until cars are not an issue. Andreu was brilliant today in agility, and always has fun with anything new which is a major positive in my world! We also took a couple of updated pics of him at my parents house:

Training Goals & Woes

So, I think that it is easy to feel a bit lost in raising and training a puppy. I constantly find myself asking if I am doing the right thing for my puppy in every situation. I wonder if I am doing enough training sessions, and I struggle with what behaviors I should be working on next. Sometimes it seems much easier to give others advice on puppy training, than to figure out what to do with my own puppy.
Today Andreu came to work with me for part of the day. He did pretty well, and we had some moments of brilliance! However, we also encountered some extremely distracted moments, as well as a couple of all out barking fits at dogs who surprised him (not a particularly common reaction for him). The question is: where to go from here? I've decided that part of the answer may be writing down my goals for Andreu, and my plans on how to get him there.
So here goes! First goal: focus! Although I have been working on this with him since he was young, we still have some work to do with certain distractions (dogs, cars), and with duration. The important element with Andreu is to make it fun! So that is what my goal will be. I will update with our progress soon!

A must read for all dog lovers!!

A great statement on manners when walking dogs! Hayden is a DINOS, Opal used to be, and I train many of them each day. A bit of awareness of dog manners when out and about will go a long way for the safety and well being of all dogs!
DINOS
( http://notesfromadogwalker.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/mydogisfriendlythepsa.pdf )