The Visitation .. OR .. Friends for a Snack

A rare thing happened here at Castle Horton over the weekend. We got to receive some company at our home. Lord and Lady Herm and their young Prince came out for a visit. And they came bearing gifts for our soon to be born Bella. It was good to see all of them. Mr. Herm and Company didn't get to stay very long but we had a great time visiting and just hanging out in the yard.

Also Fred was willing to work with Storm a bit with me and I very much appreciated that. She isn't the best in the world with visitors, taking awhile to warm up to folks, since we live out in the boonies. So every time we get a chance we try and talk people into becoming human sacrifices, ahem, help us socialize our dog. I suppose some folks wouldn't get this or have much patience with it. But Fred came outside with me to offer himself up as a snack meet the puppy.

Things went really well.

Fred may not have thought so when Storm barked at him for awhile. But if only he could have seen how she used to be with folks. Saturday was a huge improvement. Fred and family joined us all in the shepherd containment facility front yard, and we got to watch Fred's son run around while Storm trotted alongside him. Storm saw them all as buddies before the Herms had to leave.

So it was a good visit for sure!

Thanks for coming out Mr Fred. It was good to see you and the fam! Thanks for having patience with us and our dog and thanks again for the cool stuff for Bella! You guys are always welcomed out this way!

It's Burgertime ... Can't Touch This!

Apologies to M.C. Hammer for my post title. And now on with the show.

Last weekend, Storm (our dog) and I were alone here at the house.

It was a good time, filled with too much TV, too much eating, video games with friends and playing ball outside. Every time that the family is away it’s generally on a family night – aka Friday – so I get Storm a special treat to enjoy while I take in a movie on DVD.

On more rare occasions, I will take Storm out for a cheeseburger sometime while the family is away. No she’s not spoiled at all and if she is it my wife’s fault, not mine … ahem.

So last weekend we jumped in the van to head to McDonald’s – land-of-all-things-you-shouldn’t-eat-but-you-want-to-so-badly.

The drive-thru line was packed.

That was odd for the middle of a Saturday afternoon. Particularly here in the small town in which I live. Oddly enough for a town of 5000, we have one of those double-lane drive thrus. Apparently the folks here really, really like their Micky Ds.

So Storm, during the drive-thru experience was ogled by passersby cause hey she’s a pretty dog. People like to throw some love her way. She barked at a few .. one of those barks that says, “Hey I’m not serious here, just letting you know I’m around and that the distance you’ve got between you and my van, it’s like McDonald’s ... I’m lovin it.”

Eveybody knows that particular German Shepherd bark right?

Now that bark, for the uneducated, generally makes folks begin gathering their undergarments between their hindquarters at a geometric pace but to those of us who know the breed, we’re all just like “Oh you silly thing keep a lid on it”.

So we order our food and pull up to the window. I was driving – just so we’re clear.

There is a cute young lady there to take our money in exchange for food. Now I’ve been talking to Storm the whole time through our wait in line. I talk to her a lot. We have great one-sided conversations. Actually she does kinda talk back sometimes – GSDs have very expressive faces. One of my favorites is when they cock their head to one side while giving you that laughing look they have. It’s so, so great.

While we are waiting on our food Storm is watching this girl. The girl says something to me though I can’t remember what now. Storm gives her the same ‘woof’ that she gave the person that had walked by the van earlier.

The girl lied and said, “Aw, how cuuuuuute!” while managing a strangled smile. I just smiled back while putting a hand on Storm's chest to calm her and said thanks.

The girl left to get the rest of our order. I turned to Storm and said, “Well nice job with that. Now she’s NEVER gonna run away with me. Sheesh”.

Storm just cocked her head and smiled at me.

Exactly.

Treats Unleashed ... Pet wiped out

What is it about long car rides that zonks out the kiddos and the puppies I wonder?

We made our trip to Treats Unleashed today. This is a very cool store where nearly all the treats are hand-made by higher mammals (Phil, I should wash your hands out with soap!).

Additionally all the hand-made treats are human-grade food. Storm and I browsed for a bit, talked with the owner, who lavished attention, treats and praise on our doggie.

What I like about this place is that its very much dog friendly. Most things that would be interesting to a dog are at "dog height" so they can "shop". Always makes me smile. This is one of my favorite stores now.

It's also right next door to a Barnes and Noble. So if Treats Unleashed ever offers to do dog watching, I may spend a lot of time there. Dear lord what a good idea; a combination dog watching/grooming service and bookstore. Owners could browse books or sit, eat and read while their dogs are pampered! But I digress.

We enjoyed our trip a lot. After we were done shopping, Storm lead me with unerrring accuracy I might add, directly back to the van. It was impressive. She wove in and out through cars as if she remembered the exact route we'd taken when we went in, and perhaps she did.

We loaded ourselves and our newly acquired treasures into the van. Storm looked thirsty so I took her to Jack in the Box for a small water whilst I got a small soda and chicken sandwich. Briefly we discussed driving on down I-70 and over to Six Flags to spend the rest of the day but then that whole dog-descrimination thing reared its ugly head and we decided it was better to go home and nap.

But it was a fun trip :) Even the lady at JITB said Storm was pretty and oddly enough, well shockingly enough actually, suddenly produced a dog treat from behind the drive through window counter. Weird huh? Good trip though.

Dog days: more on breeds and trainers

Well I've been putting this off for awhile. Why? Because sometimes I procrastinate. Heck sometimes I even put off procrastinating till later. It's a sickness.

On this post I wanted to talk about:
A) How we picked our trainer
2) Our particular breed of dog

Let's start in reverse Microsoft Excel-sorting order and begin with number 2 shall we? Great!

The German Shepherd Dog.

I love em! Capt. Max von Stephanitz is credited as the father of the breed. He wanted an all around great dog, a super-dog if you will. There are many dogs that track better than a GSD, many that are better at agility than a GSD and many that are better at protection. But NO breed does all of those things together, better than a GSD. That's why they really are known as a super dog.

Interesting GSD trivia

• For many years they were the only breed to have the word "dog" in their official name.
• Adolf Hitler had two GSDs. Because of this the breed was known for a long time as the Alsatian (cool name) to disassociate them with that extremely vile character.
• The Germans were fanatical about breeding standards (big surprise there huh) and for a long time there were two distinct breeds, the East and West German Shepherd. Their bloodlines were not allowed to mix and they were kept separated largely by the Berlin Wall. After the fall of the Berlin wall, and possibly before, the breeds were intermingled somewhat and the lines blurred.
• As I understand it, there are no *true* East German Shepherds now. No pures anyway. But the legacy and bloodline still remains. GSDs of this vein are typically straight and flat in the back, bulkier with larger heads and are bigger than their American counterparts.
• Addtionally the Eastern GSDs have fewer problems with their hips as they age.

Our Storm is of Eastern bloodlines. I dig that. And its basically how we found our breeder. After a lot of research, we decided that this was the type of GSD we wanted. And from that it was a matter of finding a reputable breeder within driving distance.

Driving distance for us is different from most people. We drove to Iowa to visit Heather's parents and just picked up our puppy on the way back. Done deal.

A word on breeds/dogs. For a long time GSDs were known as "bad dogs". When I was growing up it was the Dobermans that were "evil". Now it is Rotweillers and Pit Bulls. I've met all these breeds. They aren't evil. There are no bad dogs. Its true. But there are bad owners who screw up dogs on a regular basis and then the media over hypes the situation sending panic through the masses. Wait? The media wouldn't do that would they? Nah :) And clearly people would study instead of just believing the TV right? Well of *course* they do :)

Onward to our trainer.

Our trainer trains and owns special needs dogs. Dogs with high-bite incidents. She takes them in and re-molds their character, gives them confidence again, and makes them feel safe. And she has her own pack of which she is definitely the Alpha.

See dogs are much like most people. They have different temperments. Some folks just don't do well in crowds, some are recluses, some are open and jovial. Dogs are just like that. They each have a personality. Kim (our trainer) knows how to recognize that personality and work with it to bring out the best in the dog.

We found Kim on a whim really. We were looking for a trainer but had a bad feeling about places like Petsmart. And Storm was in desperate need of training and we were at our wits end.

Heather found the number and I called Kim. Told her our situation. Talked to her for like 20 mins on the phone. She took time to consider our feelings, asked lots of questions about Storm, gave advice on Storm's behavior and right there over the phone gave me a crash course in surviving the "puppy crazies".

I was hooked by her passion for dogs. I could tell she cared.

I did NOT get that feeling from any of the numerous trainers at Petsmart with which we spoke. And we spoke to several. Many of them *branded* Storm as dangerous simply because of her breed. BIG mistake with me. Shows a real lack of study on someones part when they exhibit that sort of attitude toward any dog. And when its Storm well then, on the inside, I lose all patience with people like that.

See some studies have shown that dogs are near the intelligence of primates. So when people start talking about "collar corrections" or shock collars or physical corrections of any kind ... well that's just not necessary. These are super smart animals.

The biggest mistake we humans make is attributing or overlaying our emotions on their behavior. But dogs dont think like we do. They don't have a sense of morality. They aren't guided by right and wrong. They don't get *angry* like we do. Or *jealous*, at least not in the same sense. Reading a dog's body language is the single greatest thing I've learned about dogs in general. Kim is big on learning to read a dog and see what they are trying to say to you. Understanding their body language is key.

So learning about that, like our puppy Storm, and our trainer Kim, has changed my life in regards to raising our dog 100 fold; one of the coolest members of our family.

Do we have the perfectly behaved dog? Nope. Will she bark at you like she'll kill you? Yep. Would she? Not with us here. I wanted protective. We got it. I'm not ashamed of it. You come to our house, she's gonna bark. But she remembers you after just a couple of visits. After that, yep she may bark but it's different if you listen. It's *excited to see you* instead of *gonna eat you*.

There are 3 main things I wanna work on with Storm right now. She still mouths too hard at times. She needs to walk better on a leash. And finally we need to be able to get her attention when she's intent on something else.

NONE of that is dangerous behavior for any dog. It's just manners. And we're working on em. It's a long process. But worth the wait :)

Tuesday: Dog days

Our doggie has been sick since Sunday night. Honestly we thought something outside had scared her but when you think about it, there aren't a lot of things in a little country neighborhood like ours that will truly scare an 85lb German Shepherd Dog.

So while it was fun to briefly consider the woods around our house to be riddled with were-creatures of various sorts that turned out to not be the case. I’m sure my friend Jenn will be relieved. :)

Storm is better now. Pure bred dogs, I read before we got her, often have more complicated dietary needs than mixed breeds. While their behavior can be more predictable, other things that are less fun are also quite predictable. Example: We bought her a bison hoof to chew on the other night. Supposed to be really high quality stuff, not dangerous. But she had never had one of these before.

Turns out it must've messed the girl up pretty good. She moped around from Sunday night through last night, lay in odd places, and in the evenings went to far corners of the house to hide. Very strange behavior. Last night/this morning (it all runs together) I took her out for some late night 1am and 3am potty breaks. Wow. Talk about some stinkin. And not pretty to look at either.

I felt bad for her.

Another reason that we thought she was scared is because she wouldn't come back up our front porch steps. Now our steps are "open" meaning you can reach under the steps and back under the dark recesses of the porch. Since we live in the country, some critters like possums and raccoons have been known to hole up in there from time to time. Both of those little woodland creatures can really mess up or even kill a dog of Storms size.

Turns out though there were no demonic forces or mutated animals plotting our demise and the demise of mankind under our porch. What I now think was going on, and the reason she wouldn’t come up the steps, is that Storm's stomach was cramping/hurting so bad she didn't want to make the stretch/quick jump up them. So went took the front gate route and came/went through the garage.

But all this behavior is easy to misread when you're puppy 1) isn't acting like you think they should, B) you've convinced yourself something else is going on because 6) you're *sure* there is nothing really wrong.

This is why it's important as owners that we get to know our dog’s personality and become a student of reading their body language.

Clearly I make mistakes at it like I did this time. Storm "looked" scared to me. When we were out in the yard *talking* about it, just me and her, when she wouldn't meet my eyes, or listen to my voice, I was certain she was so upset and afraid that she could no longer obey. Which would be pretty darn scared.

What I didn't realize is that even though I was rationalizing it that way, my body language said another thing. I was tense. My voice at times demanding that she come inside. And I was losing my patience. Because I was convinced I was right. Yep doing one of those dumb things men are known for doing .. ignoring the facts cause you’re getting ticked off. I admit it … I screw it *all* from time to time.

What was really going on was this … by not looking at me, yawning, turning her head, lying down, walking away from me, she was trying to *calm me down*. My body language and attitude was causing part of her behavior.

I KNOW all that already and I'm convinced of the truth of it all. It’s how dogs communicate with us. I knew those signals but I misread them based on what I *thought* I knew about the situation, and I ended up making them into something that they weren't. Dumb, dumb, and dumb.

In the end, it’s another doggie lesson learned. Storm is acting much better today. And through all this, even though it wasn't a huge deal, I learned more about her and how to better communicate with her next time.

New installment: Dog days

Well today is the first installment of dog days. On Tuesdays, I’ll be talking dog training, dog behavior and body language, communication between dogs and their owners .. stuff like that.

And no, I’m no Dog Whisperer. I’m here to say basically what I’ve learned from our training classes and to talk about how it works in this “average” American family’s life. Real life training. Not “always happy endings” that you see on TV.

So some background is in order.

In the beginning of February of last year (2008), we made a long, long trip to Iowa to pick up our puppy. We got her from a decent breeder that we’d checked out. One thing to note, that we didn’t know then to be concerned about, was puppy manners. See puppies, like a lot of us, learn their manners from their mothers. Our puppy’s mother was taken from her too soon, in order to go be a rescue dog. That left a “hole” in our puppy’s education.

Anyway, we got our little girl, Storm. She’s a beautiful GSD (or German Shepherd Dog). She was/is precious to us and huge part of our family. After we got her home, as new and good owners, we bought her every toy under the sun, and promptly got so busy playing with her that we nearly forgot to train her, lol!

What prompted us to train her was our own lack of understanding in raising and being around dogs. Plus Storm’s hole in her education made her test us quite a bit. And we didn’t know what she needed or how best to respond. We don’t believe in hitting animals and certainly not ones as intelligent as dogs and CERTAINLY not a German Shepherd being one of the smartest breeds out there.

So we called around asking trainers for advice, comparing them against places like Petsmart. I’m a big research type of person, not liking to make snap decisions without all the information I can handle.

We ended up deciding firmly against Petsmart and found a local trainer instead that was very near the same price. Petsmart wasn’t a good fit for us because of how we saw the trainers treat the animals. We didn’t like their methods and the ones around here didn’t listen well to questions or seem to have time to care. Well folks when you ask me to commit 6-8 weeks of my time, coming to class and over $100, you need to make time for me to have questions AND don’t judge my dog as “dangerous” because of her breed. Sheesh.

Okay, more on this next week. We’ll talk more about us picking our trainer and what I just mentioned about breeds.