Enjoy!!!
I love you!
awwwwww raina and kendal
The girls with mom
Foto Friday
Tag Archives: dog help
Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday is a flashback of old pictures, enjoy!!!
A young titan
Puppy Valentine
Yes i do spend about 3 hours a month away from a dog
Usually once every month or two you will find me out of scrubs or dog training clothes and in the mustang with my husband for a few hours of alone time. Last night was the first time in almost 5 months that it occured! Dinner and a show and then of course some grocery shopping to top off the evening left me dogless for about 4 hours. It was rough but i made it and am now exempt from having to do it again for a few months!!!
Wow they are some amazing looking GSD's!!!
Of course the morning was spent SAR training, but that’s a different post!!!! Ahhh some of us where just BORN TO TRAIN!!!!
I do not whisper, I translate
I was at a consult this past week when someone made a reference to me as “the dog whisperer” While i appreciate any comment towards a well known popular dog person (albeit whether i agree with his methods or not) i am not, in anyway, a dog whisperer. The term is just plain, well, dumb. What does it mean??? How would you ever “whisper” to a dog? Why would a dog care if you even did whisper? Dogs do NOT communicate like humans do, we cannot whisper, yell, cry, scream, yodel, bark, meow, purr, whistle, burp, or even groan for godsakes as dogs do not communicate through vocalization like humans do. To really truly understand dogs one must first observe said dog. I say this because EVERY dog is different, it doesn’t matter the breed, sex, age, or size of the dog they are all genetically different and environmentally influenced to have varying personalities. Once the dog has been observed you can start to draw SOME conclusions about the dog, and what methods of communication will work, and even why he is offering certain behaviors or unpleasant habits. Then once this has been accomplished you can begin to build your relationship with said dog, in hopes of opening the barriers in communication that exist between dog and human.
I do not whisper, I translate.
Translation
Offering some basic classes in good canine communication this summer please check out our website for details!!
Cosmic girls
My cosmic girls, that has a ring to it doesn’t it? Well they know they are cosmic, i mean they save lives right? And to make it better they are so gosh darn cute doing it!
Cosmic. Relaxing after the find
Last weekend was great, the girls worked problems 5 days out of the week and i really saw good progress with the quick refind and fast long barking. Whew i think my hand hurts from writing so many training log entries!
Epic
My girls are truly truly cosmic.
Update on the dogs
Well so far everyone is hanging in there pretty good. Its been a long winter and while the dogs enjoy playing in the snow i know they are ready for spring just like us. Valentine is doing good, her leg is still in rough shape and I will never go back to colonial in Ithaca NY for an orthopedic surgery again. I have always seen Dr. Ross do great work but Val would have been better off if left to heal without a $4000 surgery. We are slowly trying to continue her recovery even with her turned out leg that just refuses to build muscle. While opening her up again to fix any possible meniscus tears he may have caused during surgery may be in order i do not think we will put her back under for it. She developed some extreme anxiety over her months spent in a kennel rehabbing including severe skin breakouts and anxiety inside kennels. She is now living in a crate free environment and is doing much better after some calming exercises and rehabilitation work to the mind.
Olive is doing good but is slowing down in her old age. Her hips and knees are getting worse which after the xrays we took last year i’m not surprised. She has hip dysplasia and DJD so we are going to make her comfortable and happy. She enjoys laying around on her orthopedic bed chewing on kongs and peanut butter filled bones and that is what she shall get!
Snoopy is his grumpy old self but doing well. He has his moments of puppy like play but it lasts only a minute or two and then hes curled up on the couch again sleeping. He’s almost 12 and besides some arthritis we are doing well medically.
Everyone else is doing great. Kendal is my current demo dog going to all my training sessions, working with some dog aggressive dogs and passing her calm stoic mentality to all who she meets.
I cannot complain, it has been another great start to the year and all the dogs are doing wonderful. Going to bed every night and waking up every morning to a slobbery batch of kisses and anticipated tail wags for the adventures we will enter that day is a blessing!
St Pattys day parade
Binghamton had a huge st pattys day parade a few weeks ago on the 7th and Kara and i took the girls down to experience the mayham. The girls did wonderful, stayed focused on us through all the people, kids, other dogs, drunks, cars and floats and things being thrown in the air! It was great to see such level headed focused canines in such a high intensity environment. It was a true testament to all the de sensitizing work i’ve done in town and in stores.
Focus is the key
Eme did great with working with Kara while her mother was right behind her. She is such a flexible dog and that is a great quality if its ever necessary someone else works her or takes care of her. She was un-fazed by anything that went by and listened well to kara’s commands.
Having hard working, high drive search dogs are great, but the key is also teaching them how to “turn off” inside and how to be calm, front brained, and focused in public.
Not spring thats for sure
Woke up at 6am this morning (got to sleep in whooo hoooo) to a whoping 2 feet of snow. I couldn’t even open the back door, had to slip out and shovel off the back porch so the door could open and dogs could get out. Most didn’t want to go it was over their head but the shepherds couldn’t wait and took off clearing paths for the smaller dogs. Poor Fugly got lost in the snow banks!
With a state of emergeny in Broome County plans of in town training was demolished. Instead we played in the backyard, went on a short but tiring hike and did some small scent problems. The girls were still happy.
All in all not a bad hang around the house snow day. Man and we could see green grass yesterday…………..
Family time
Waking up to half a foot of snow at 5:45am i was torn to whether it was going to be a good day or a bad day. My focus this morning was getting some work done around the house, updating some logs, trying to stay off my sore knee and then taking to the backyard for some pictures of the pups. What may be our last big snow fall was enjoyed thoroughly by my canine companions.
snow!
crazy
We really do love winter, the snow is great, the lack of mud is even better, and its a different experience to get out there and train your dog in the winter. The chihuahua’s could do without the cold weather and the snow up past their little heads but the big dogs are pretty good at giving them worn down paths all around the back yard. We spend just as much time outside in the winter as we do in the summer and the change of seasons is always a relief. Thank you 2011 for a fun winter experience, here is to a nice dry mild temperature summer!!!!!
Strike a pose
A little of this a little of that
The weekend was busy and the girls didn’t get work everyday like they are used to. Snoopy had surgery on friday and came through it like a champ. He is recovering and doing well. This old man won’t have to worry about any more surgery for a LONG time to come.
Saturday kendal and I headed down to work with a few clients and to get her service dog “test” completed. She passed with flying colors and is just a true testament to what a rescue dog can turn into. She also spent the weekend as Life Long Tails donation dog raising money and raising awareness to what it is we do for helpless animals!!
YAY Kendal!!!
Sunday the girls finally got there day. Kara and Mika jumped in the car and we headed down to the school for some work for the girls and some good dog teaching for the kids. The kids had built a snow cave last week and we were able to get Mika and Eme on the first snow cave ever! Eme did amazing, worked the scent out great, stayed committed, and crawled all the way into the cave to find her subject. We worked on her recall, indication and refind with the snow cave as it gave a different scent picture and environment which always challenges the puppies!
My butts sticking out of the cave!!
She worked a total of almost an hour and still had to play ball all the way back to the truck with the boys. We got our excercise in walking in snow shoes the whole time!!! It was better then falling 2 feet deep into the snow drifts though!
Off to work we go!
Of course Raina needs her time too and she wow’d us all with how well she works!!! She knows her job and she knows when its about to start. I just introduced her vest in and she gets so excited to get dressed.
back talk to mom!
Raina has been lucky enough to get the perfect flawless training method where mom makes no mistakes (yet) and she has yet to have a big hang up. I know its coming, shes only 4 months old, but her nose work is natural and amazing, and her refind and indication to me is phenomenal. Of course shes pretty crazy too!!
mom mom mom i know where he is!!! mom mom mom!!!
The day was a good one. Mr felix blue the newest shepherd that we took in was introduced to cadaver and we did a few short runaways with him as well. He loves food, and loves to play ball, and loves to search!!!
Hello working world!!!
Elite Instinct K9 Training 