Play, play, PLAY WITH ME NOW!

Very few dogs will play with Langley because he really is an ass when it comes to other dogs. Langley is all about himself. He wants to play so badly but the other dog typically gets overwhelmed and then Langley resorts to bullying to get his way.

In this video you see Langley attempting to engage my somewhat persnickety boy Frodo in a game of chase and Frodo wants nothing to do with him.  Frodo is always pretty aloof to foster dogs after the first day but he is able to hold his own for the most part. He's had plenty of practice, that's for sure.

This is a great example of one dog doing his best to send body signals that they are not interested, don't want to get into an altercation and really want the other dog to go away.  And Langley is a good example of a dog totally ignoring all those body signals and being a complete teen puppy punk. It's either Langley's way or there will be a loud tantrum.

While it was pretty funny to watch, it shows how Langley doesn't really understand "interacting" with other dogs but is more about just getting his way. We're working on this with him but it definitely is something that we are struggling with.

The Magic Mushroom goes for a spin

Here's another new toy that Langley is testing out. He did pretty well and quickly learned that just rolling it on the side didn't get that much kibble out.  This toy needs to be flipped around quite a bit before it was going to give him any kibble.

The Magic Mushroom is made by Petmate and one nice touch to this food dispensing toy is that you can alter the size of the hole that the kibble comes through to match the difficulty to the dog. Next time we use this toy I plan on making it a little tougher because as you can see, Langley was pretty quick this time at getting the mushroom emptied out.

It comes in 2 sizes and I recommend the larger of the two to all but the teensiest of dogs because it's a very lightweight toy and the larger version is going to make your dog work more to manipulate it.  The mini mushroom would be much easier to just toss around and quickly empty.

A new part of our training routine: doing nothing

Sometimes the best thing to do when faced with what seems like an unsolvable task is nothing. No, seriously!

For months now I've been working with Langley and always he's been "Crazy Train" Langley, or "Wildman" or an "issues dog" and even at times a "last chance" dog. I want to help him, and I know I've helped him a lot but we have so much more ground to cover and my brain is constantly picking at the problems and trying to untangle everything so I can understand him and what makes him tick.  Today I hit that point where in Dr. Seuss' words I had puzzled until my puzzler was sore. 

I uncrated him for yet another of our endless rounds of work and play-work, and potty training work and impulse control work that we do each day.  He walked over, stretched out on the ground, rolled over on his back and cocked his head to the side to look up at me, ears flopping and tongue hanging out, and he made me laugh out loud. This dog is king of the goofy looks. And then I decided, "screw it". We were both tired of the same old song and dance, and I decided we both needed to just chill out and have some time to veg without focusing on what needed to be fixed.


Langley's trademark goofball pose

Langley has always been an avid TV watcher.  Since he is so alert visually, it really catches his attention and he'll sit quietly on the couch and watch for awhile and then relax and fall asleep.  I don't watch much TV but needed to not think for awhile so we stretched out on the couch, turned on a rerun of Green Wing and prepared to laugh.  Langley stretched out in front of me on the couch and soon was asleep on his back making cute little snoring noises, all four  of his long legs straight up in the air under the blanket.  We laid like that for 2 hours, him snoring and me laughing and petting him and just appreciating that joy of doing nothing and thinking about nothing with a warm, sweet dog stretched out beside you. 

So this experience hasn't solved the puzzle of what makes Langley tick and we are back at our training games tonight, but it did remind me that sometime when training a dog who needs a lot of help, I need to change my focus and just appreciate them and be with them rather than seeing them as a puzzle to solve.

Ode to a Steer

No greater sacrifice has been made than that of a steer. Well, yes, they are castrated so that they can add weight to their hindquarters and turn into better steaks, but initially they have given up the life of the bull - a life full of testosterone and being the herd's badass.

But I'm here to say that their penises did not go to waste! No, they were stretched, sometimes braided or knotted, dried and then turned into a "bully" or "pizzle" stick. 

Here at the Casa de Rat, they work better than Xanax to keep this foster mom sane.  I always keep a bully bouquet high on a shelf for times when silence or calmness are required.  Since we foster terriers, calm quiet time is like gold: highly valued and with a very high price tag. 

Langley's weekly supply of bully sticks

In this picture you see about $50 worth of bully sticks.  The average Joe would pay about $100 for them but I work at a very nice natural pet store who feels sorry for me and lets me purchase them for my fosters at cost.  This will be Langley's supply of sticks (and my supply of quiet times) for the next 7-9 days.

You all know what a busy boy Langley is and that he needs lots of structured time and something to keep him focused.  Well, when he needs to be in a crate, bully sticks can guarantee a quiet and busy Langley.

There are lots of brands available but our house brand is A.B. Bullies because they are about 2-3 times as thick as most bullies (therefore lasting much longer) and they are also blessedly stink free. It's also a Washington State company, which is nice.

So I thank you Mr. Steer.  Your sacrifice has not been taken for granted.

It's all fun and games...

Langley received a very nice gift of $50 earmarked to purchase him some new puzzle toys and bully sticks to keep his very smart mind busy.  (Thank you!) So at work today, an indie natural pet food store, I picked up 3 new food dispensing puzzles and 2 of the mega sized bully sticks that I can saw into thirds for him and end up with 6 sticks.

There are tons of different types and brands of puzzles out there but what I like to use with Langley are the type that he can push around the living room.  This gives him time out of the crate that is structured and focused, but also that allows me to get work done on the computer in the same room as him.  I've been trying to regularly buy him new ones because he's so smart and quickly figures things out and gets bored.  My hope is that rotating them through will keep him engaged.

In this video he's playing for the first time with a Buster Cube by Jolly Pet. Other toys that fall in this category of puzzles that I like to use are the Kong Wobbler, the Petmate Magic Mushroom, Canine Genius, The Petmate Barnacle, the Omega Treat Ball, and for non-destructive chewers the Starmark Treat Dispensing Balls are nice... 

Typically I would have bought the larger Buster Cube with him to make it more difficult, but this toy is going to be specifically used to leave with him in his crate while I work so we needed the smaller version.

So thanks for the toys and bullies! He is busy with his Buster Cube right now which is giving me time to write this post.

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Langley's been having a rough week. There have been multiple dogs in the house that he's never met and the 3rd of this bunch is actually staying put - our new foster boy, Samish.  All this change was enough to stress Langley out and for Langley more anxiety equals less focus.

In spite of his current short attention span, we are continuing to work on training exercises which teaches him to work with his humans and to look to them for guidance in situations where he feels unsure.

In his true over the top smart dog form he learned roll over with a lure the first time we tried it. We had to go slow with the lure and he was really doing it to follow that treat rather than  understand I wanted him to roll over.  That's okay though since that's how you get started with many tricks. That was the day before yesterday and we only did it 3 times before cutting the session off.  Then yesterday when we went back to it, instead of the hesitant roll, he knew exactly what I was going for when my hand started to move past the side of his head and over he went like a pro as you can see in the video.  Again we cut this off after a few rolls and lots of praise since I want our training sessions to always be a fun part of his day that he looks forward to.

Our next step will be to perfect this roll by slowly removing the lure from the trick and replacing it with a visual cue.  With the speed that Langley learns that may happen tomorrow. :)

The Mighty 10 Pound Hunter

When I get a new foster dog it can be overwhelming - getting him registered with New Rattitude, taking photos and creating an online album, combing through the shelter paperwork to determine what vetting has been done, if any, trips to the vet, etc.  But the fun part of having a new foster is getting to know the personality of a new dog.  We learn the silly things about how they like to sleep, what toys they prefer, what their bark sounds like and how much they use it...  We also learn about behavioral things like how they get along with other dogs, people, kids and cats, if they've ever had any experiences living in a house, if they've ever been house-trained, etc. All that information can then come together for us to try to find a home that is a good match for a dog's unique personality and needs.  That's the journey we've been on with Samish.

In the house Samish is a calm and quiet little guy.  He gets along with the other dogs and seems happiest when curled up and snoozing in someones lap. He does fine in a crate, doesn't like vegetables, and seems to be house trained.  But once he gets outside this guy turns into a hunting machine!  I swear he's nearly as compulsive about it as Langley.

Samish, climbing through the bamboo hedge to get to a mouse in the woodpile

The difference is that at 10 pounds this guy can fit almost anywhere.  He goes under the 12" deck portion, into the dense bamboo hedge, behind sheds that are pushed against a fence...  What is worrisome though is that when the prey goes over the fence, like any evil squirrel tends to do, he doesn't let that stop him.  He then searches for fence holes, high spots near the ground, spots that could be widened with a little bit of digging.

Because I was so worried that he'd escape and also because getting him to come inside is next to impossible, I've been putting him on an extendable leash when in the back yard and watching him like a hawk.  We're going to have to be really careful when placing him that he doesn't have access to a doggy door and also that his people understand this is a determined little terrier that shouldn't be left alone in a back yard. Ever.

He went to the vet's office on Wednesday to have an exam and get his microchip inserted.  The vet said that he is younger than we were told - probably 2-3 yrs rather than 4-5 yrs.  His knees, heart and lungs were good, however, we discovered the reason for his somewhat stiff gait and occasional trouble negotiating stairs.  On one side his hip is stiff and when his leg is moved around makes a crunchy/clicking sound that I don't want to hear again. Ick.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain from it and was fine having the Dr. manipulate it.  The vet's speculation (can't confirm it without x-rays) is that he has a healed hip fracture and was probably hit by a car at some point.  That would make sense given his single mindedness when he is outside in search of prey.

Anyhow, there's a little more of what we've discovered about this sweet boy who is snoozing in my lap while I type.  I'd better go now and get his breakfast ready - minus any extra veggies, of course.