There's Something About Mokie

New article for www.petexpertise.com

Is Training Always the Answer? Training vs. Management

Enjoy!

Is your dog stubborn or just uncomfortable?

It's a cold Saturday in upstate New York, the kind of day where everything is covered in ice, deicing salts, or both. Four future training superstars gather at the Clicking with Canines facility in Endicott, NY to attend a KPA workshop weekend presented by my business partner Steve Benjamin.

KPA is a lot of work for both the dogs and the people, so we took a short break to allow the students to take their dogs out for potty breaks and get some fresh, if not bitter cold air and stretch their legs a bit. Many of the dogs live further south than Binghamton, and are no more pleased with the bitter winds and cold temperatures than I. Some of the dogs with shorter coats are, in fact, shivering and can only be outside for a few minutes at a time.

The KPA students attending are talented trainers with a great understanding of dog behavior. They understand one of the fundamental differences between positive training and traditional training: positive trainers blame a breakdown in the training process when a dog doesn't respond appropriately to a cue, traditional trainers blame the dog. We are taught to tape ourselves training and review the tapes to evaluate the clearness and precision of our cues, to be quiet with our bodies and "let the clicker do the talking." If the behaviors are proofed for all aspects of fluency, and the cues are clear, why on earth would our dogs ever NOT respond to the cue?

Some people attribute poor cue response to dominance, some to spite, some to stubbornness or willfulness. I am guessing that 99% of the time the response is: either you haven't proofed the behavior well enough or something about offering the behavior makes the dog uncomfortable.

One student learned the hard way, a lesson well-taught from his beautiful but very short haired mix breed dog.

We approached the building together, eager to get some relief from the cold. Like many of the students, this particular individual has their dog on a "Nothing in Life is Free" protocol, which means the dog earns life rewards through the performance of cued and desirable behaviors. Think of all the things you give your dog, and all the things that your dog can give you. You should expect something from the latter category in return for giving your dog something from the former category.

As we neared the door, the student cued his dog, "sit." I would bet that this dog had performed "sit" thousands of times, in dozens of different environments. The behavior was well proofed, so why wouldn't this dog sit?

I asked for the dog's leash. Once I had the leash in hand, I turned to the student and said, "you know how to sit, right? You know what the word means?"

"Yes."

"OK," I said, "take your pants off and sit on the ice in your skivvies." I think he thought I'd lost my mind. I was hoping to teach him to think about things from his dog's perspective.

Needless to say, the student did not respond to my cue, even though he understood the cue and its connection to the behavior. Why didn't he want to sit on the ice in his undies? Because ice is cold, and it is uncomfortable to sit on. So are deicing salts, I'd imagine.

It is always important to consider, if you are cueing a behavior that you have proofed well and your cue is clean and clear, environmental factors and stressors which may make it difficult, uncomfortable, or impossible for your dog to comply with the cue.

Example: Dogs don't like to sit on ice.

Example: Reactive dogs are not disobeying a cue if you ask for a down stay in the presence of another dog; you are simply asking for an operant behavior in a situation where your dog is responding emotionally.

Example: A student was teaching her dog to leg weave, but was lined up incorrectly, effectively asking her dog to walk into a wall. Needless to say, the dog did not respond to the handler's weave cue.

Whenever you are cueing behaviors, evaluate the situation and note carefully differences between your dog's usual response. If you have practiced to the level of distractions in the environment and your dog shuts down, maybe something is wrong. Maybe your dog is not disobedient but is in fact in pain or experiencing a high level of stress.

If there are behaviors your dog usually performs with joy and suddenly you get no or lackluster response to the cue, consider if something in the environment may be discouraging your dog, and think too about your dog's health - is there something painful or uncomfortable about responding to their cue?

Some dogs want to respond to a well taught cue so badly that they will do so despite physical discomfort. This can end up backfiring and poisoning your cue, the dog will associate the cue with discomfort and thus will not respond as reliably to your cue in the future because sometimes, responding to the cue hurts!

In any training, make sure that your cues are clear and concise, and that you are realistic about your dog's response to the cue in relation to how well you have proofed it. If your normally enthusiastic jumper all of the sudden lays down or goes into her crate when you cue her favorite behavior, it may not be a training problem, but a physical problem.

Training should be fun for you and your dog, but will not be fun for your dog if it hurts her. Remember the KPA student, who was well-intentioned, tried hard to be the best student he could be, understood the cue very well, and still could not comply with my request for a cued behavior because it would have been both socially and physically uncomfortable for him; and keep this in mind if your dog's normally enthusiastic cue responses start to break down.

A good deed for dogs in need, a good deed for your country!

PERMISSION TO CROSS POST w/ credit to Casey Lomonaco, KPA CTP, Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training (www.rewardingbehaviors.com).

Regardless of your political views on the war in the Middle East, I believe we can all agree that the men and women who serve in our country's armed forces are courageous patriots and deserve the full support of those who they defend.

How can we as pet people help out the brave soldiers who have vowed to protect us? Consider fostering an animal for armed forces personnel serving overseas. Soldiers who have human families may be lucky enough to find that a caring relative will offer a place to live for a beloved pet while the soldier serves on active duty. Others are not so lucky, having no human family or no family members who are able/willing to bring one or more dogs and/or cats into their homes. These soldiers find themselves facing an incredibly difficult decision - what happens to a soldier's dog when he leaves for Iraq?

It is difficult enough to leave one's home for dangerous combat half a world a way. The world each soldier is entering into is foreign and dangerous, and each must say goodbye to the things that make his country worth defending - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For those of us who share our lives with animals, it is difficult to imagine how happiness can be pursued without them, and they are certainly a vital part of our lives.

It is no different for the men and women in our armed forces. Many are placed into situations where the only apparent alternative is to turn their furry best friends over to an animal shelter. Most will pray that their dog finds a new family. Many of these prayers will go unanswered, and the dogs and cats of heroes end up as statistics; one of faceless millions who travels to the Rainbow Bridge at the end of a needle, victims of the devastation that is pet overpopulation.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
What can you do to help these men and women? Consider opening your home as a foster home for a serviceman or servicewoman's companion animal. There are wonderful organizations which specialize specifically in finding temporary foster homes for the pets (dogs, cats, chickens, horses, and a variety of other species) of military employees serving active duty.

OPERATION NOBLE FOSTER -
specializing in finding foster homes for cats belonging to servicemen and servicewomen

Operation Noble Foster specializes in finding temporary foster homes for cats belonging to military personnel. Check out their page "Basics of Fostering Cats for Military" for more information. Want to sign up and offer your home to a military kitty? Here is a link to the foster application

NETPETSFOSTER:
MilitaryPetsFOSTER Project©
NetPets is different from Operation Noble Foster in that they do not place restrictions on the species of the foster animal in question. If you are interested in applying to be a foster parent for The MilitaryPetsFOSTER Project©, this link will bring you to their application for foster parents.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR FOSTER PARENTS
Do you have the room to bring another dog, cat, horse, chicken, or sheep into your life?

Do you have the finances? These organizations are volunteer run and are charitable organizations - you will likely be responsible for the veterinary bills, food, and other expenses associated with the animal's care while it lives in your home.

Concerned about how to introduce your foster pet to your existing household pets? If you need a little guidance, do not hesitate to ask a behavioral professional for help (www.greatdogtrainers.com).

IF YOU CANNOT FOSTER, DONATE OR VOLUNTEER!
You may not be able to foster for whatever reason, but that doesn't mean you are unable to help the effort. Both organizations accept tax-deductible donations on their websites.

Alternatively, if you have a well-visited website, consider writing an article about these programs, or post one of the organizations' banners on your websites to bring much-needed recognition to the plight of military pets needing foster homes.

If you are already involved with rescues, Operation Noble Foster offers the following link for tips on how you can help both with military cat rescue and provides contact information for individuals who can help if your rescue accepts other species of pets.

IF YOU ARE A SERVICEMAN OR SERVICEWOMEN LOOKING FOR A FOSTER HOME FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND
First, let me extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for your willingness to sacrifice, putting it all on the line, to defend a nation you believe in.

One sacrifice I hope none of you will ever have to make is that of a safe homecoming, welcomed warmly by those you love the most; those who have whispered countless prayers in your name during your absence, and those whose tails may have wagged less since you departed. All of you deserve to come home to the same thumping tail wag or enthusiastic kitty "mrao" that you left behind when you responded to the call of duty.

FINDING A FOSTER HOME FOR YOUR MILITARY KITTY
Here is Operation Noble Foster's Basic Information for Military Personnel. From their website, you can also find suggested foster contracts (which can be modified to suit the needs of both soldier and foster parent). You will be able to view applications from potential foster parents, contact references, ask any questions you might have to find the right home for your cat. While you are keeping your country safe, a kitty owner with a big heart might just open her home and keep your cat safe in return - contact Operation Noble Foster today to explore foster homes and opportunities for your favorite feline.

FINDING A FOSTER HOME FOR ALL OTHER MILITARY PETS
If you are a soldier looking for a foster home for your pets (and you do not have kitties), visit the home page for MilitaryPetsFOSTER Project and scroll down until you see the application for military personnel.

2009 John Fisher essay available online!

Hi dogster friends!

At last I can share with my friends Dances with Dogs; the essay about Monte which won this year's APDT/Dogwise John Fisher essay contest (and a free trip to San Fransisco for mom!).

Enjoy, dogster pals!

John Fisher essay contest award winner!

It is with great gratitude that I thank APDT and Dogwise for selecting my essay on Monte, my reactive Saint Bernard, as the winning entry in the 2009 John Fisher essay contest. I also thank Janice Patton, APDT awards committee chair, for being so understanding when I shrieked in her ear upon hearing the good news and accepting my award!

In offering the John Fisher essay contest, both organizations have taken a stand to promote modern, positive reinforcement dog training - an effort which will certainly result in improved relationships between dogs and the humans that love them.

The wonderful prize for this contest is a trip to San Fransisco for the APDT conference in October - what an opportunity! I am very much looking forward to the trip, and having a chance to visit with other KPA CTP in addition to learning from many talented trainers and behaviorists who have helped guide me in becoming the trainer I am today.

Thanks again, APDT and Dogwise! See you in San Fransisco!

APDT members - my winning entry will be published in a forthcoming issue of Chronicle of the Dog. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Laura VanArondonk Baugh training discussion videos

I am a huge fan of Laura's, and was very excited when she decided to start doing live video feeds of important training topics.

Last week's topic was "Lure/Reward vs. Shaping in Acquiring New Behaviors", watch the video here.

This week's topic was "Duration Behaviors." Video available here.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

I want HQ to give us "clicker" special gifts...what do you- think?

I'd be clicking and treating like a mad woman on this site! HQ, I want clicker gifts!

Have you read my articles yet on www.clickertraining.com?

How to Potty Train Your Puppy the Clicker Way

How to Create a Reactive Human in Ten Minutes or Less

Pro Trainers - How To Increase Revenue Via Memberships

Watch out for a new article this weekend!

Want to read more? Check out my personal blog on www.clickertraining.com!

Happy to be back as this week's tipster on the Daily Dog- Tip!

I'm ba-ack!

Once again, I have the great pleasure of being this week's dogster Daily Dog Tip writer.

Check out my tips here! This week's entries are on bite safety prevention/education - ways to keep kids and dogs safe around each other.

Hope you enjoy, happy training everyone!

Subscribe to the Rewarding Behaviors RSS feed!

Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training RSS feed

Check out my latest blog entries for great training videos and a link to a free clicker training course offered by some of the world's top competing clicker trainers!

Sorry we're online strangers!

Friends, I have awful news. Ahab the three-legged cat spilled milk all over mom's laptop keyboard.

:o(

Mom has been able to retrieve data from the laptop but the keyboard is tremendously sluggish. If it has to be sent back to Dell for repairs, we may be absent from dogster (and elsewhere online) for some time!

Vote for your favorite entry in this month's Clicker Trick- of the Month contest!

Winniethecorgi learns the ring toss!. Just when I thought she couldn't get any more fabulous, Winniw wows us yet again! You can view her video here.

Barkley Orville learns to freeze! Too cute with all those treats on his nose, I love this! View the video here.

Hamtaroplanet created an amazing home made agility set for her hamster and taught him to run it. Sophia's youtube video has received almost 100,000 views, have you seen it?

DancingCavy, future freestyle champion, submitted a video on training "go to place." This is one of the foundation behaviors at Clicking with Canines and I think it's such an important behavior for all dogs to learn, her training plan and video are posted here.

At Clicking with Canines, targeting is viewed as a foundation skill because it is useful in teaching so many behaviors. One of the many wonderful applications of targeting is the doors it opens to a trainer wanting to do distance work on behaviors. DiscdogShayne's entry this month focuses on just that topic. Here is her video, showing how to target train: Go to your mark, Scoot from a distance, Spin and other at a distance, Down at a distance (w/ no voice command), Sit at a distance to a stand (with hand and voice), Down on recall, and finally down at heel.

Who's your favorite? Make sure you vote today!

Maybe he's not so bad?!

Two classes again today, Foundation class and then CGC.

Jack was at Foundation class again, I was so excited to see him! Unfortunately, the poor guy had a tick on his face. He was a little nervous about the extended close facial expression, but his dad pulled out some meatballs - problem solved!

She used this tick removal method, which works well when the tick is fully engorged and you happen not to have tweezers on you. So gross when she pulled it off and all the legs were moving around - blech! Jack felt much better and his dad Scott looked relieved when that was over.

New dogs at foundation class today. One of the new dogs, Mollie, is like my brother Ahab - she only has 3.5 legs too! She is also very, very scared but did a great job in class and started really coming out of her shell. She'll be a star in no time, without question!

Then I had CGC class. We worked on the grooming/examination part of the exam, the loose leash walking course, sit and down with duration, walking through a crowd, and began work on supervised separation. Everyone did a great job!

Not sure if I told you guys, but the first time I met Riley the Great Dane, I did NOT want to play with him. I remember thinking, "is this thing even a dog?!" The other dogs seemed to feel similarly, so Riley has not been able to play with everyone.

Today was the first day Riley got a chance at playing with the group. I had to stretch my neck up as far as it would go to sniff his butt, it's like three feet in the air! We didn't play very much, but he did really well and I think maybe next time I see him I will play with him.

Maybe Riley's not so bad...

I think I'm in love!

Mom had two classes this evening, one was an advanced class and one was a foundation class.

Thorby, Leila and Sweet Pea were in the first class! Mom likes to keep her advanced students on their toes, so she decided to have them each pick a behavior from the foundation course and teach the attending students as though it was a class. We were also able to do some brain storming as a team on alternative ways to teach the behaviors, pros and cons of each method, etc.

We got to finish by playing tic-tac-toe! Leila and I were a team, we played against Sweet Pea and Thorby. My team won, but mom gave everyone prizes because she's nice like that (Merrick Cowboy Cookout sausages, yum!).

One of mom's Click to Calm clients was in his first Foundation class tonight, so she had two of the advanced students stick around and assist at the Foundation class in case the CtC dog needed a little extra TLC. There was also a new German Shepherd puppy named Maya, it was her first night of class. Sheenagh was there with her dad as well, turns out they are neighbors and friends with some of mom's former publishing colleagues, including one who brought us lots of venison during hunting season - small world!

Anyway, Foundation class was awesome! Jack the Australian Shepherd was the Click to Calm dog and his progress is amazing! (More on Jack later)

Maya the GSD puppy is a little smarty pants pie, and it is obvious her owners Misty and Russel have really been doing their work since orientation, her hand targets and name recognition were wonderful. As most puppies do, she struggled with the sit to greet exercise the first two times around, but then she was offering nice sits (without even being cued!) and waiting for pets like a good girl.

We all got to play at the end of class, which was a pleasant surprise. It was one of the best play groups ever! As per usual, I pretended the two new puppies I met did not exist in the least and ignored them in favor of Sweet Pea, Leila, Sheenagh, and...

Jack! *swoon* Jack is a 2 year old blue merle Australian Shepherd. Jack is such a gentleman, and so handsome! He is also a fluffy puppy like me! I think I am in love! I felt as though we were destined to herd sheep together.

He and I had lots of fun playing together, and he came closer than most dogs to catching me during the zoomie phase of play time.

Nodog's managed to catch me yet. Impressed as I was by Jack's good looks and charm, I was half tempted to handicap myself and let him catch me just for the fun of some wrestlin', but I knew he had far too much integrity to appreciate such a gesture.

Also, mom embarrassed me by talking pirate talk to Jack. The horrifying indignity of it all, it's almost hard for me to speak about it to you, my dogster friends. I managed to retain my composure, and shot her a quick glance which I am sure communicated my disdain for her intolerable social faux pas. Thank Dog one of us is able to contain ourselves around a handsome Aussie lad like Jack!

In spite of her ridiculous behavior, Jack's dad has decided to enroll him in regular classes at CWC starting tomorrow. Until we meet again (noon tomorrow), Gentleman Jack!

Mom's first article for www.clickertraining.com published- today!

Hooray!

If you'd like to read it online, its available here.


Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Hi everywoof!

SCHOOL

What an exciting week this has been. I got to go to school with mom A LOT which means plenty of play time and fun training...I even got to be the distraction dog for the CGC test when mom filled in for another local evaluator (I was a VGG - Very Good Girl).

I met some new dogs at school this week. Shadow (black lab puppy) and India (rottweiler puppy) annoyed me, as puppies generally do. Kids, I tell you! Where's the eye rolling emoticon when you need it? I tolerated them, but was much more interested in another new student....Sheenagh!

Sheenagh is a 9 month old Irish Setter. She's very lovely. It was her first class the other night, and she looked very scared and stressed. Her first day, she didn't really want to play, but she played with me yesterday and I love her! She is a crazy teenager, crazy fun that is!

I did meet one dog this week that I did not want to play with at all. His name is Riley, and he's a big harlequin Great Dane. He was throwing all the right signals, lovely play bows, and really trying hard to entice me to play but I was not having it.

I got to play with Leila, she is my favoritest play mate at the classroom. We love running so fast together, olympians in the sport of synchronized zoomies!

At play group, I got to hang with Thorby, Cooper, Carly, Cujo, and Sweet Pea. Superb!

A MESSAGE FROM A FRIEND

Mom had a private lesson Friday evening, and returned home to an answering machine from Kiona's mom congratulating us. What the heck was she talking about?

Mom called her back and found out the amazing news...DOTW! What an honor! Some people get only 15 minutes of fame, I get a whole week! Holy bully sticks, batman! A year ago this week, I was Dogster Diary of the Day, and now Dog of the Week, shucks!

At this point, I was invited to the super secret DOTW club, initiated, and taught the DOTW handshake.

The bestest part about being DOTW is that you get to meet LOTS of new pups. I've received so many wonderful messages, friend requests, and special gifts that I don't even know where to begin thanking everyone!

EASTER

Mom made Monte and me an Easter egg hunt today. She took RYS (Really Yummy Stuff), and hid the RYS inside of plastic eggs. Then she hid the eggs all over the lawn, and if we found one and brought it back to her, we had a party and she opened the egg so we can have the yummies!

My human is so well-trained.

BUCKING CONVENTION

I think this is a fun game. Because I like it so much , I think I shall convince mom to play this game with me often. I may even convince her that it will be worth her while to include Kongs in this game, if she can manage it.

Yeah, I said it. I'm going to have Easter egg hunts all the time, WITH KONGS, even when it's not Easter. DOTW can do stuff like that!

10 THINGS ABOUT ME

Things I feel you should know about me:

1) I am the softest dog in the world. Literally. This is not opinion, it's a proven fact. However, petting me is a privilege, not a right. I will tolerate but do not enjoy physical attention from strangers. Sometimes, I just want to be left alone!

If I'm relaxing, don't want affection, and mom comes over to pet me, I will get up, walk about 4 inches past her maximum reach, lay down and give her the "no you di'int" look. I mentioned already how well I have her trained, she is very responsive to my cues and I have put them under stimulus control.

When I want mom or dad to snuggle me, I have my people call their people and arrange something. I am very affectionate with my family (a supreme cuddler and a great kisser) when I want to be!

2) I'm musically accomplished. I like to play the piano. Mom got me my very own Fisher Price one. Sometimes I let Monte play with it, but I don't like it when he plays with his chin instead of his paws because he slobbers all over it!

I like doing song and dance also. I am a talented singer, and pump my paws up and down as I serenade you! So yes, I play piano, sing, and dance - in the biz, others like me are called "triple threats."

3) I can read the words, "Sit," "Come", "Target," "Down."

4) Whenever mom whispers to me, I think it is time to chase squirrels and get all excited.

5) I like being outside...camping, hiking, swimming, chasing squirrels and deer? Count me in! I do NOT, however, like all the burrs that get stuck in my tail and pants.

6) Whenever I go potty in the back yard, I walk approximately three feet away from the scene of the crime and kick my back legs really hard and for a long time. This serves two purposes: making the mess harder for mom to find and thus clean up (face it pups, it's FUNNY to watch your humans hunting around for your poop so they can bag it up, weirdos!) while creating the beginnings of a very good diggin' hole - I'm a multi-tasker!

7) I don't like to wear my seatbelt. I tolerate it, but don't love it.

8) Mom thinks I am Chow mixed with a herding breed of some sort. (Initially my agility instructor brought this to her attention from observing her play patterns.) Mom is going to take me for a Herding Instinct Test this Spring! I already herd Thorby the Standard Poodle, and he kinda looks like a sheep, so I'll be a natural.

9) I like meat. Lots of it, preferably raw! (Forgive me friends, I ate some of those bunny and Easter egg special gifts you sent, and ummm...I chased the bunnies too!)

10) Whenever I don't get to go to school with mom and she comes home from class, I have to smell her intently for a long time when she gets back, so that I can know what dogs were there, if there were any new dogs (and if so: breed, age, sex), what treats each dog had, what toys were played with, what grooming products were used on them, if there were any "accidents" at the classroom, etc. I close my eyes when I do this, it is hard work to get so much information from a pant leg or shirt sleeve!

OK, 11) I LOVE BEING DOTW! Thank you, HQ

ETA:

12) I'm 3, not 4! I don't turn 4 until July 4th! (Mom, who is turning 29 next week, says that dogster listing me as 4 is almost as bad as if Facebook called her 30 a year too early, ha!) It's ok, we forgive you, HQ. Everyone knows I don't look a day over 2 anyway!

Essay Contest: Positive Reinforcement for Homeless Pets

Essay Contest: Positive Reinforcement for Homeless Pets

Hi all!

I think you know that I enjoy writing, and I'm hoping that some of you do as well!

I plan on doing the Clicker Trick of the Month contest each month, but figured it would be fun to throw in an extra contest every now and then.

This contest will run through May 31st, 2009. Like the Clicker Trick of the Month contest, voting will be opened for a period of one week. The winner will be announced on June 7, 2009.

Befitting the topic at hand, the prize will be a $25 donation to the 501(c) rescue of your choice. The winning essay will also be posted on the RBDT home page.

Topic:

How have you used positive reinforcement training techniques to improve the lives of homeless pets (or of one specific homeless pet)?

Parameters of the Contest

You must be a forum member on RBDT to participate.

Contest entries must be no more than 2,000 words in length.

One essay submission per user.

All submissions must be original works, written by the forum member submitting them.

Start working on your entries today!

Prayers for Binghamton

A tragedy has befallen my home today.

Please pray for the victims of the shooting at the American Civic Association and their families.

Rewarding Behaviors forum - technical difficulties!

Hi all,

Sorry the Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training forum has been giving members (myself included) trouble posting for the last couple of days.

My hubby will be working on fixing the problem while I'm at class tonight, so hopefully it will not be too long before we are back in full operation. Thanks for your patience!

Casey

February Clicker Trick of the Month: Vote Today!

Vote for your favorite entry today!

This month's entries include:

Training your dog to fetch your slippers
Training your dog to blow bubbles
Training the leg weave
Training your toddler to be a pretty ballerina!
Training your dog to do a handstand
Training your dog to sit like a lady

At the link above, you may vote, view videos for each of the tricks, along with training logs so you too can train the behaviors!

Thanks to this month's participants for making our first ever CTotM contest a rewarding experience!

We're going to be published!

:o)

I got the news today that a training article I have been written has been accepted for publication by Karen Pryor Clicker Training!

To those of you who have been our friends throughout our dogster journey and my journey to the career of my dreams, I lift my glass in thanks!

A toast to celebrate!

It's Not Click/Treat, It's Click THEN Treat: Mechanical- Skills for Clicker Trainers

For those of you who train using a clicker, a little advice.

It seems that on the first night of class, the students always struggle the most with coordination. Hopefully, what I've learned from them (and what we need to work on the most with "green" handlers) will help those of you who are just starting out in clicker training (and maybe even some established clicker trainers!).

There are a few fundamental mechanical skills required for successful clicker training, so I figured a review of them may benefit those individuals who choose to use this training method.

IMO, there are three fundamental skills, one for each segment of the ABC contingency (also known as the "Three Term Contingency") upon which clicker training operates (antecedent: behavior: consequence). The contingency assumes behavior is controlled by its consequences.

The first step in the contingency is the antecedent, or "what precedes the behavior". Initially, this may be a very subtle movement of the body (an example of this to come later). The most important handler skill at this stage is observation. Clicker training conditions dog owners to be much more aware of their dogs' body language.

For instance, in KPA, one of our assignments was to capture a tongue flick and put it on cue. Some of the students had such a hard time they had to spend over 60 three minute sessions just to get the behavior on cue!

The tongue flick often only lasts a fraction of a second, initially. I was having a hard time marking the behavior accurately. UNTIL I beefed up my observation skills. I noticed that Mokie's lips would tense and draw back just the teeniest bit before the tongue flick, so I began to predict the behavior.

This leads into the second stage of the contingency; behavior, and the mechanical skill that ties in with it, marking the behavior.

Remember, the clicker (I'm just using this as an example because this is what I use, substitute your own marker if you use a different one) is a bridging stimulus. Therefore, it bridges the time between the behavior and the consequence (punisher/reinforcer).

Steve (my trainer/mentor) always told me to think of the clicker as a camera...the timing of the clicker is such that "you are taking a picture" of the exact moment in time the learning subject offers the desired behavior.

There are a number of things one can do to improve their timing. For timing practice, I suggest using a different marker. You don't want your dog to come running hopeful for a training session if you are just practicing your timing. When I practice my timing, I often blink my eyes.

How to practice timing? I practice by watching t.v. and blink when the camera angles change. Or select a particular word, and blink whenever it is said on a t.v. show. I've sat down at the park before and blinked as a car's headlights passed a nearby stop light.

Or, you can practice online by playing around with the reflex tester available on this site. A while back I posted this in B & T and we had a lot of fun comparing our timing. OT but interesting, we noticed that there was a vast difference in relfex responses based upon the color selected. Give it a whirl and post your time/color here!

Some people make it sound like having good clicker timing is impossible for the average individual. If you can take a picture, you can clicker train a dog.

For a bridging stimuli to be effective, it has to be a predictor of the delivery of the reinforcer (or punisher, depending on the trainer and circumstance).

One of the biggest problem I see with "green" clicker trainers is that they click and treat at the same time, or are fumbling with the treat bag as they are clicking. This is sloppy training, and needs to be cleaned up.

This is where we get to the third section of the contingency, consequence.

What I don't like about "Treating while you're clicking": it devalues the marker signal while undermining it's purpose. The marker is only useful if there is a time gap to bridge between the behavior and reinforcement. If you can reinforce as the behavior is occurring, there is nothing to bridge. The click and the reinforcement should be two separate events.

Ideally, the consequence (reinforcement) should be delivered less than two seconds after the behavior (marker/bridge). There are certain exceptions, but this is for another conversation.

We always start class with an exercise called "start your dog." We set a timer for thirty seconds. In this time, the handler is to click THEN treat their dogs as many times as possible. We emphasize having the handler return their hand to a neutral position while they are clicking. People always ask, "doesn't my dog have to do anything to earn these treats?" and the answer is no. This exercise is purely for the benefit of the human students, while serving the added benefit of letting the dogs know it is time to work.

I like to click with my right hand and reinforce with my left, generally. So my left hand is totally still and not in or near my treat bag as I click. If you are digging around in your treat bag while you are clicking, it takes the dog's focus off the click and puts it on the food, which is not what we want. Doing so makes it harder to ween off food reinforcers and teaches a dog not to work unless food is in sight. An appropriately trained clicker dog will stare at the clicker, not the food.

The click is a paycheck for the dog. Much like a person works for a paycheck and not directly for the services it would buy, the dog works for the click and not the reinforcers the food represents. If you're doing it right, that is.

During the "start your dog" exercise, the students are asked to count how many click/reinforcer pairs they deliver. Usually, we aim for a minimum of fifteen, as maintains the desirable two second window. The record is held at twenty four, I believe, by a lady and her miniature dachshund.

Hopefully, this will help clicker trainers in this forum improve their mechanical skills as trainers. You may notice your speed at text messaging or skill at photography increases directly with your practice on your clicker timing, LOL.

Another common mistake is clicking too close to your dog's ear. I find that in many cases of dogs that are "frightened" of the clicker sound, this is the source for that fear. An iClick is much softer sounding than a traditional box clicker or a Triple Crown (the TC is my favorite, incidentally). Take any clicker and click it right next to your ears, see how you like it! Imagine how much more startling in an animal that hears much better than we.

OTHER WAYS TO PRACTICE TIMING:

Ball game: you can do this by yourself, or with a helper. Drop a bouncy ball on the floor and click each time it bounces. As it loses the upward momentum you'll notice the bounces are much smaller but also a lot faster. You can also click when the ball reaches it's zenith in the arc from the ground up.

Cup and Beans: You can use dried beans and any cup for this exercise. Initially, you can have someone else click and you deliver the treat to the cup. Later, you will be clicking, then "treating" through delivering to the cup. Keep track of your time and CTs as mentioned above in the "start your dogs" exercise.

Often, the slowest part of the reinforcement process is reaching in your treat bag. Practice filling your hand with treats and cycling treats through your hand, one at a time, delivered to the cup or your dog.

Drop the Keys: Put your clicker on a table, and your keys next to it on the table. Pick up the keys, drop them, and try to grab your clicker and click before the keys hit the ground!

Colorful Cups: You will need a helper for this! Select three different cups of different colors (bowls will work equally well). Lay them on a table in a row. Have your clicker ready in hand, your treat bag, hand or pocket well stocked with dried beans or other markers, and have your volunteer call out a color. Quickly click, turn, and deposit a marker into the appropriate colored bowl. Have your helper start out slowly, and then increase the speed in which the colors are called.

Learn a new physical skill: whether you're dancing, ice skating, or playing tennis, good timing is involved in all of these physical activities. The better your general coordination, the better your clicker skills will be.

Take up photography! Photography, as mentioned above, is all about timing. As an added bonus, it's fun!

Video games: Video games are built around good timing, particularly using your hands. I enjoy a good video game now and then, and am impressed with how precise your timing needs to be! For those of you with teenage children who are video game fanatics, get a clicker in their hands!

Watching sports: Like baseball? Click when the ball hits a player's glove, or when the bat connects with the ball. Football? Click on the catch. Basketball? Click as the ball swishes through the hoop.

Do it! The final, and best way to practice, is through clicker training your dog, horse, cat, fish, hamster, spouse, etc.

Here is a discussion of clicker timing and some other tips from clicker trainers!

Shortening the Intermission between Cue and Behavior: - Proofing for Latency

Cross post from my dogster diary, my website www.rewardingbehaviors.com and on Karen Pryor's sitewww.clickertraining.com). You may cross post, but please give credit to the author (Casey Lomonaco) and link back to her website (www.rewardingbehaviors.com) if you chose to do so.

Shortening the Intermission between Cue and Behavior: Proofing for Latency

The last entry in the proofing series was dedicated to navigating your dog from sloppy behaviors to crisp and polished responses. To recap the proofing series, at this point we have addressed:

Introduction (Got Behaviors? Want Proof?)

Distance (Going the Extra Mile: Proofing for Distance)

Distractions (Gaining Relevance Through Distraction Training)

Duration (Time to Proof for Duration!)

Precision (Being the TomTom: Navigating Your Dog to Precision)

Now it's time to work on latency.

What is latency?

Latency is the time interval between when you give the cue and when the dog starts to respond to the cue. Latency is different from speed, which will be the next entry in the proofing series. Speed is the time between the initiation of the behavior and the completion of the behavior.

Living with Monte has taught me all about high latency (and low speed, coincidentally). I would ask for a sit, and before his butt started to lower to the ground had time to make a home made lasagna (including a home made sauce), pay the bills, watch the seasons pass, teach a few classes, and catch the first half of a Knicks game.

The common advice of trainers is to "click only the fastest sits." The problem many trainers run into is developing a framework for comparison: in order to be able to judge which sits are the "fastest," you need to establish a baseline latency.

I had students in class work on this the other night. I passed around sheets of memo paper; each with two columns, one for the trial session number and one for the dog's response time.

I told each student to select a behavior that had a high latency (a significant response time between the cue and the initiation of the behavior). I told them to cue the behavior five to ten times.

When the students had recorded 5-10 trials, we used a chart which lists the number corresponding to each letter of the alphabet.

So if we did five trials, the chart may look like this:

Trial 1: D (4)
Trial 2: G (7)
Trial 3: B (2)
Trial 4: I (9)
Trial 5: C (3)

We divide the total by the number of trials, establishing a baseline latency of five. Our lowest latency response was two, and this is our goal latency (we know that the behavior can be offered this quickly).

All responses occurring at or below baseline should be reinforced on a 1:1 continuous ratio. This technique is known as a limited hold.

Cue the behavior, mentally sing your ABC's, and reinforce those responses which come at E or earlier. If your dog fails to respond within the designated time span, you have two options:

a) use a hand target to get your dog up so that you can set them up for another trial

or

b) do not click, but toss a treat away, to reset your dog for another opportunity to earn reinforcement.

Repeat this until you are clicking and reinforcing 4 out of 5 responses at or below the current baseline.

When you've reached this point, it's time to reassess our baseline.

For the next five trials, our record-keeping form may look like this:

Trial 1: B (2)
Trial 2: F (6)
Trial 3: C (3)
Trial 4: E (5)
Trial 5: E (5)

Now our baseline time is 4.2. For the sake of convenience, we'll round this down to four. A count of two is still our lowest response time, and thus remains our goal latency.

We repeat the process, reinforcing those responses which come at or before D. When 80% of the responses are successful at this level, establish a new baseline, and repeat the protocol. Remember, we can continue lowering our baseline until we reach our goal latency.

If in this round of repetitions we receive a response that came out to 1 or 1.5, we can lower our goal latency according but the procedure used to get there remains the same.

In my work with my own dogs and those of my clients, I have come to understand that each dog is going to have a different goal latency for a particular behavior. I can pretty much bet my house that Mokie will always respond faster to cues than Monte. In general, his movements are much slower and hers are much more rapid.

However, I have had great results using this procedure to reduce latency for both of my dogs, and my clients seem to really appreciate having a good record keeping and time measurement system to help them judge which sits or downs actually are the "fastest" and thus worthy of reinforcement.

It should only take a few sessions to start seeing a reduction in latency.

A bonus component of any of these proofing techniques is that once you proof a couple of different behaviors for relevant aspects of fluency, you'll start noticing that your dog's responses to all cues will generalize much more quickly for those "fluency factors." Your dog is learning to learn!

Stay tuned for the next installment in the proofing series...Issuing Speeding "Click-its!"

Less than two weeks left to enter the Clicker Trick of the- Month contest on RBDT!

Hi all!

Less than two weeks left for entries in the Clicker Trick of the Month contest.

So far we have some great entries...videos and training logs showing how to train your dog to blow bubbles in water, fetch slippers, and do leg weaves!

Stay tuned on the Clicker Trick of the Month forum for more entries and feel free to submit your own!

Clicker Trick of the Month Contest on RBDT!

Hi Dogsters!

Since many of my dogster pals are wonderful and amazing clicker trainers, I thought I'd extend an invitation to you all for some friendly fun!

On my website, www.rewardingbehaviors.com, I am blessed with the friendship of many wonderful trainers. A recent discussion has prompted me to start a "Clicker Trick of the Month" contest on RBDT.

This is not restricted to those who train dogs, but is open to those who train any species using marker training and positive reinforcement. It costs nothing to join or enter, and there is no obligation whatsoever (luckily, I seem to have few problems filling my schedule with wonderful and loyal customers, so no pressure!).

Details are available here for any dogsters who would be interested!

Show me what you're working with, dogster clicker trainers!

Do you ever sit around, and find yourself thinking...

Why is Mokie so darned cute?

I know. Me too!

Clicker Trick of the Month Contest on RBDT!

Hi everypup!

Because my RBDT board members have inspired me, I've decided to start a "Clicker Trick of the Month" contest on RBDT.

If you clicker train your dog, and would like to participate, we'd love to have you! Full details of the contest are available on my website at: www.rewardingbehaviors.com.

Show me what you're working with! Get those clickers ready, friends!

Being the TomTom: Navigating Your Dog to Precision

Cash, Thanks for the motivation/kick in the pants to get back to work on these entries!

Feel free to cross-post, but please give credit to the author as follows:

Reprinted with permission. Casey Lomonaco, KPA CTP Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training (www.rewardingbehaviors.com).

Being the TomTom: Navigating Your Dog to Precision

After a holiday furlough and a gentle nudging from a few friends, I decided to sit down and pick back up on the proofing series.

We’ve finished the 3 D’s and are now ready to proof for precision. This is definitely taking performance to a higher level. With that consideration, shaping for precision is a skill that takes practice and time to develop. For many families and dog owners, training for precision may not be a priority; for competitive canine handlers, it is a given.

Key concepts: Shaping, observational skills, training plans, criteria setting, differential reinforcement.

What is precision?

Precision is the final, polished look of a behavior, your vision of the behavior in its most perfect form.

How do you get there? OPT for precision: Observe, Plan, Train.

Obviously, if you want to have precise behaviors, you have to start with two things: a precise description of the behavior in its current form and your vision of the perfect, final product. The better you hone your observational skills, the more successful you will be when training for precision.

It is often easier to work backwards, starting with the description of the goal behavior. This allows you to consider the goal behavior and draw the parallels between the goal and the current incarnation of the behavior while forming your shaping plan. Remember, there may be a number of factors to take into consideration, including but not limited to: position of each paw, position of head, position of ears, tail carriage, centering or shifting of body weight, and orientation relative to you.

If you are having a difficult time imagining the ideal behavior, it is helpful to try to observe dogs that have already been trained to fluency and for precision performing the behavior to get an idea of what you should strive for. The more detailed you are able to make your description, the easier your road to precision will be.

Now that you have observed and clearly defined the goal behavior, you’re going to have to compare the criteria you’ve established to what you’ve already got (the behavior in its current form). You will need to correlate each criterion from the goal behavior with the dog’s current level of performance. Think of each of these criteria as “microbehaviors.” If you have defined goal criteria for orientation relative to you, you will need to write down where the dog is currently relative to you when offering the behavior.

This is where you become the TomTom. Precision is reliant on defined criteria: where are we? Where do we need to go?

Your description of the behavior in its current state is your “starting address.” We can’t find out where we are going if we do not know where we are starting from. Similarly, your goal behavior is obviously your end point…where you want to end up?

Much like a GPS navigating system, you must navigate your dog between where you are and where you’re going. On the way to your eventual destination, you will need to make many stops, one stop for each of the microbehaviors you’ve defined.

In any training program, it is important to keep in mind that we only work on one criterion at a time to allow for clear communication. Remember, a GPS can only direct you to one location at a time; and after your stop, the route needs to be recalculated.

Recently, I traveled to North Carolina for a cousin’s wedding. My GPS would not have been a relevant or useful navigation tool if it said, “Drive South for approximately 640 miles.” In order to get to my destination, the GPS had to guide me through every turn, curve, and stop light.

You must be the navigator system for your dog. Like any traveler, your dog will require turn-by-turn directions to successfully complete her journey. These directions are your shaping plan.

Shaping plans are not measured in miles to the next turn, but in inches, degrees, intensity, and approximations.

I recently had a client with a show prospect Newfoundland puppy. While the dog otherwise had a nice stack, she held her tail over her back, at approximately a 60 degree angle relative to her topline. To show, her tail would need to be carried lower, slightly behind where her back legs would be when positioned in stack.

Although I’m swapping the quadrants and reversing the angles of a circle a bit, let’s consider her topline to be 0 degrees (tail flush along the dog’s back), a tail carried straight up in the air to be at 90 degrees, a tail held straight back behind the dog at 180 degrees, and a tail that went down directly between the legs and toward the ground at 270 degrees. I needed to get from about 60 degrees to approximately 255 degrees.

For another framework (perhaps one more easily imagined), we can view the dog’s tail carriage like a clock’s hour hand. If the dog’s tail flush along the topline would be 9 o’clock, a tail straight up would be at 12 o’clock, straight back tail at 3 o’clock, and a tail between legs and straight down would be 6 o’clock. In this context, I’m going from about 11 o’clock to about 4:30.

I could have developed a very detailed shaping plan to get from point A to point B, but I admit I cheated a bit here, since there was only one criterion which needed to be modified. This is where differential reinforcement comes in…I simply started clicking for lower tail carriage. Within twenty minutes of hearing her first click, her tail was lowered, and as a bonus, she was so smart she’d learned to leave/ignore treats on the floor in the process!

If I had needed to build the stack from the bottom up, I would consider the position of the head, ears, feet, tail, shifting of weight, etc. Each of these factors would need to be considered individually, analyzed and planned for. The more criteria you are considering, the more detailed your shaping plan may need to be.

If that were the case, my tail carriage shaping plan may look like:

Current behavior: tail at 11:00
Goal behavior: tail at 4:30

Shaping increments:

Tail at eleven
Tail at eleven thirty
Tail at twelve
Tail at twelve thirty
…..
…..
Tail at four thirty

Raise criteria when your dog is achieving approximately 80% reliability at the current level. If the dog is achieving less than 50% reliability at the current level, I’ve likely increased my criteria too quickly. In this situation, I would return to the last step in my shaping plan at which my dog was achieving good reliability, do a few more repetitions, and then increase to the next criteria level, working to 80% reliability before raising criteria again.

Once I had shaped the tail carriage to where I needed it to be, I could start working on the placement of the left back paw, then the right back paw, then each front paw, etc.

When you are training for precision it calls into question the mantra that “training is a science.” Here, it can seem to be an art, a science, a geometric or time piece imagining. Shaping for precision is a science, but it requires the art of patience, the skill of observation, a detail oriented vision and perception of behavior, record keeping skills, planning, etc.

Remember, your GPS calculates the shortest route and the fastest route differently. While a generalized shaping plan with big leaps from one level of achievement to the next may seem to be the training “short cut” to the goal destination, in fact it may be fraught with construction, traffic jams, and speed traps.

It is better to have the fastest route planned; the one which may seem to have more twists, turns, and intersections but in fact considers all the variables which may influence your progress on the route to your journey’s end.

If you have the detailed route planned, and happen upon a short cut, no harm done. Clicker savvy dogs are known for finding short cuts, and the best course of action requires that you stay one step ahead of the dog (or traffic) so that you can easily recalculate your route should incidentals arise.

We’ve reached our goal destination, a description of the process one must adhere to when shaping for precision.

Stay tuned for the next entry in the proofing series, Shortening the Intermission between Cue and Behavior: Proofing for Latency.

Time to proof for duration!

In the fourth installment of the proofing series, we will discuss duration, the last of the "3 D's". Much of this will be a review of concepts already discussed, but there is some new material to be covered.

The 300 pecks method discussed in the distance article can be applied to building duration also, through withholding the reinforcement. To use 300 pecks to build duration for the sit behavior, I would:

1) Cue the sit. CT (click then treat) when the dog sits.

2) Toss the treat away so that the dog has to break the sit to retrieve the treat.

3) Cue the sit. When the dog sits, count to one, CT. Again, we're going to toss the treat away so that the dog has to get up to retrieve the reinforcement.

4) Cue the sit once again. When the dog sits, count to two, CT. Toss treat to reset, providing the dog with another opportunity to earn reinforcement.

5.) Repeat the sequence, counting to three when the dog sits, and then reinforce.

If at any time you raise the criteria an increment and your dog breaks the sit, return to step one and begin the process again.

Now that you are familiarized with "300 pecks," a question may arise...if I work up to a count of sixty and the dog breaks position, do I have to go all the way back to one in my count? Aidan Bindoff does a nice job of answering this common question in his blog entry on Karen Pryor's site, you can read it for free at: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1557

Remember, the click ends the behavior. Gale Pryor has a wonderful article with quotes from Karen Pryor on this particular topic. You may read the full text of the article at: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/303

You can also use treat placement to build duration for behaviors by feeding for position without clicking. If your dog is sitting, reinforce on a variable schedule. Let's say your dog is able to maintain the behavior for an average of two counts.

Cue the sit, and when your dog responds, withhold the reinforcement for a count of one, reinforce. Count to three, reinforce. Count to five, reinforce. Count to two, reinforce. Count to one, reinforce. Count to four, click and toss the treat away to reset your dog for another opportunity to be cued for the sit, repeat the process.

This is what is known as a variable interval (VI) reinforcement schedule, as the time interval at which the reinforcement will be delivered varies between trials.

If the dog is able to hold a sit for approximately five seconds, we may reinforce at three seconds, at seven seconds, at one second, at eight seconds, at two seconds, at six seconds. We're averaging approximately five seconds over the course of a designated number of trials.

Work up to higher averages of time your dog is able to maintain the position at a rate that sets your dog up for success. Morgan Spector has called this method "ping ponging" the criteria because the criteria bounces, with highs and lows that are all relative to the baseline time the dog is able to achieve reliably.

Ping ponging the criteria helps keep the game interesting for the dog. If the game always gets harder, the dog may be tempted to give up. Occasionally reinforcing below baseline efforts keeps the dog's confidence level high.

Putting the behavior on a variable reinforcement schedule is often explained by using a slot machine analogy (although a slots player is technically operating on a variable ratio which is based on the number of trials as opposed to a variable interval which is based on the length of time, for the purposes of our discussion, the analogy still functions well).

People do not play slots because they win after every five pulls of the lever. You never know how many lever pulls it will take, but you know that if you try often enough, chances are that it might really pay off!

For anyone who may doubt the power of a variable reinforcement schedule to intensify behaviors, visit a Gambler's Anonymous meeting. That chance at "the big win" can be very addicting (and for those who suffer with a gambling addiction, the reinforcement schedule can become powerful enough to be socially, financially, and emotionally detrimental).

Even when you have worked up to durations measured in minutes rather than seconds, every once in a while you should reinforce a five second stay. After all, sometimes that first quarter pays off with a big win!

Click for you! You've now made it through "the 3 D's" of proofing.

In the next entry, we'll be moving on to proofing for precision and polishing up sloppy behaviors through shaping. I'm sure that until then, you've got plenty to keep you busy working on the 3 D's!

You lucky dog, you!

I know all of you are stunned by the lovely job Kathryn Beals did on the painting she made of us. Now you have a chance to be captured on canvas by Kathryn, at a special offer specifically for dogsters!

The details are on Kathryn's page at (http://www.bealsstudios.com/dogster.html) and the offer allows dogsters a $50 discount on the purchase of paintings or gift certificates!

Run, don't walk, to Kathryn's site and take advantage of this wonderful offer. I can attest that Kathryn is a pleasure and a joy to work with, and can't wait until I can afford yet another portrait of my pooches!

Distraction training...are you relevant?

DISTRACTION TRAINING...ARE YOU RELEVANT?

Welcome to the third entry in our proofing series. Feel free to cross post, but please give credit to the author - Casey Lomonaco, KPA CTP, APDT, www.rewardingbehaviors.com

At this point in the series, you've received a brief explanation of proofing and its components, along with a more in-depth look at training for distance responses to behavioral cues.

Moving on to the second of the "3 D's," it's time to start proofing for distractions

Distractions are one of the aspects of fluency students tend to struggle with the most. After all, it's difficult to compete with the environment when it seems as though there is a squirrel around every corner, an invisible distraction (to you) in the form of a scintillating scent trail, kids on bikes or rollerblades, construction equipment/activity, you name it!

So how do we even begin to gain relevance in our dog's world...a world of heightened sensual experience we could never even imagine?

Systematically, of course. We have to break these criteria down into manageable and achievable steps, just like we did with distance. How do we confront this daunting task?

I like to use a distraction and reinforcement hierarchy. Borrowing from Tamar Gellar, I really like the idea of bronze, silver, gold, and platinum level reinforcers and have taken it a step further by extending these divisions to distractions. As I see it, reinforcers and distractions must go hand in hand for effective training, and using hierarchies makes that happen.

I'm sure you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, so let's delve into this matter further, shall we?

The success of a positive reinforcement training program directly correlates with the handler or trainer's ability to recognize what is reinforcing to the dog. Distraction and reinforcement hierarchies will vary widely between dogs, as we must remember that the individual learner determines what is reinforcing (and distracting) to him.

My favorite food may be different from yours. To each his own, right?

In any case, the success of distraction training relies on the careful selection of criteria and reinforcers. Differential reinforcement is an important concept to understand and is at the crux of distraction training success.

Differential reinforcement means that exceptional efforts should be reinforced exceptionally. It means that in the face of higher distractions, you will need to draw on higher value reinforcers. Many of you may be familiar with the concept of "jackpotting" which is a prime example of differential reinforcement.

An example which may be relevant to you is overtime or holiday pay. If I am your boss and expect you to work regular work hours, you make regular pay. If I expect you to work overtime, weekends, or holidays, you'll probably want more money (more reinforcement). If I paid you by commission, you would make more money for better efforts/sales. This is a human application of the theory of differential reinforcement.

In order to differentially reinforce behaviors, it helps to know how valuable each of your reinforcers are. This is where a reinforcement hierarchy comes in handy.

There is some debate as to the usefulness of secondary reinforcers as opposed to primary reinforcers. What is the difference, you might ask?

Primary reinforcers are necessary for the advancement/survival of the individual/species. For dogs, primary reinforcers include: food, water, air, sex, and participation in the prey sequence. Without any of these factors, the species would not be able to continue filling its ecological niche.

A secondary reinforcer is a reinforcer that has been conditioned (hence the term "conditioned" reinforcer) - there is nothing in the dog's biological composition that compels the need for this reinforcer, but something in the dog's experience/environment has created a positive emotional response to the stimuli in question.

In dog training, a good example of a conditioned reinforcer is the clicker. It is reinforcing to the dog because we have paired it systematically with access to a primary reinforcer (food).

In the human world, money is the most widely recognized secondary reinforcer. Pieces of green paper with pictures of presidents and numbers are not intrinsically reinforcing to people. Money is reinforcing because throughout our experience with money, it has been systematically paired with access to primary reinforcers (shelter, food, etc.).

A bit off topic, but this is also an illustration of why dogs work for the click as opposed to working for the food, much like we humans work for a paycheck as opposed to a few gallons of gas and a bag of groceries at our desk each Thursday morning.

Since the individual dog determines what is reinforcing to him, and most people believe they are supposed to reinforce with a primary reinforcer, it is not uncommon to hear students saying that their dog finds fetch or tug more reinforcing than a hot dog, and, "is that ok?"

I dispute the belief that fetch and tug are secondary reinforcers. I believe that each represents a part of the prey sequence which is: orient, eye, stalk, chase (fetch), grab/bite (tug), kill/bite (tug - the bite and shake!), dissect. Therefore, I do believe it is quite common to see these reinforcers rather high on the hierarchy for many dogs.

I also dispute the notion that secondary reinforcers do not have their place in a reinforcement hierarchy. My agility instructor/colleague's Jack Russell loves nothing more than the opportunity to jump excitedly into his handler's arms. The cue for a behavior taught with positive reinforcement can also function as a reinforcer.

To create a reinforcement hierarchy, think of as many things as possible which are reinforcing to your dog and break them into categories (Challenge yourself! How many reinforcers can you think of?).

A typical reinforcement hierarchy may appear as follows (I'll be keeping this relatively brief for the sake of the article, but you get the picture):

BRONZE:

kibble
opportunity to go through doorway
opportunity to get into/out of car
cheerios
having leash put on
physical contact (pats)
praise

SILVER:

natural balance/red barn food roll
Wellness Pure Rewards
opportunity to smell interesting scents on ground
cue for an established behavior
fetch
hot dogs

GOLD:

liverwurst
peanut butter
canned dog food
meat balls
opportunity to swim

PLATINUM:

opportunity to greet other dogs
opportunity to greet approaching human
opportunity to chase squirrels
mashed potatoes and gravy
steak
raw liver/hamburger
tug
deer poop
flirt pole

I encourage you to create a much more comprehensive hierarchy, aiming for thirty, forty, fifty or more reinforcers.

Now that we have our reinforcement hierarchy, it's time to begin working on our distraction hierarchy. You're going to see a lot of parallels between the two hierarchies, I'm guessing!

We'll use the same method to create the distraction hierarchy that we used to create our reinforcement hierarchy: bronze, silver, gold, platinum. You will most likely notice that many of your distractions for each level correlate with your reinforcers for each level. For instance, your distraction hierarchy may look as follows (again, a simplified version):

BRONZE:
leaves blowing in the wind
kibble on the ground
open doorway
open car door
handler movement

SILVER:
interesting scents on the ground
cheerios on the ground
traffic
other dog fifty feet away
tennis ball

GOLD:
swimming area
kids on bikes/skateboards
construction
car horns beeping
kitties
kitty litter box

PLATINUM:
other dogs
other people
squirrels
deer
tug toy
deer poop
remote control car

Completing these hierarchies is valuable for a number of reasons. First, it allows you to really think critically about your dog and how he views the world...what is important to him? Second, it provides you with a framework for distraction proofing.

If you are working on a silver distraction level, you'd better not be pulling out your bronze treats. At the silver distraction level, "to par" efforts should receive silver reinforcers, above criteria responses should receive gold level reinforcers, and exceptional, I-can't-believe-you-did-so-well efforts deserve platinum reinforcements.

Using bronze level reinforcers in the face of a platinum level distraction will certainly leave both you and your dog feeling frustrated.

Looking at the provided examples, can you see the parallels?

For example, note that opportunity to chase squirrels is a platinum level reinforcer and the sight of squirrels is a platinum level distraction. When you have worked up to platinum distractions, if you cue a behavior when your dog spots a squirrel and the dog responds, what better reinforcement than providing an opportunity to chase (once the squirrel is safe, of course) the object of your dog's interest?

Sometimes this works, sometimes not. Like my trainer/partner/KPA faculty member says, "if I could stomach carrying deer poop around for reinforcers, I could train my dog to do anything!" Since deer poop is not a practical platinum level reinforcer, feel free to substitute one of the others on the list.

Using the squirrel chase to reinforce focus around the squirrel is an application of the Premack principle, which states that a creature is likely to perform a less favored behavior for the opportunity to engage in a more favored behavior (i.e., if you eat your spinach, you can have this ice cream!).

Start out at the bronze level distractions of your hierarchy. If handler movement is on that list for your dog, begin by cueing the behavior while you are moving slightly (perhaps lifting your left leg to knee level and putting it back down). Then work up to larger movements, jumping jacks, running in place, running back and forth, waving your arms around, etc.

If your dog is unable to respond to cues at a particular level when you are training, evaluate the situation critically...what distractions are you up against? Is your reinforcer valuable enough, or do you need to go up the hierarchy or lower your criteria for distraction? Can you create distance between your dog and the distraction (lowering the distance criteria while raising the distraction criteria)?

I strongly encourage keeping notes of training sessions. A training journal will allow you to spot trends, peaks and valleys in your training journey and help you improve your skills as a trainer.

The bulk of proofing behaviors is generally in the distraction training, which is why this entry is so long. It's tricky because there are an infinite number of distractions and reinforcers which could comprise your hierarchies, and in all likelihood, every dog you ever train will have a totally different list for each.

Prey distractions are one that many people struggle with because they are generally outside of the handler's control - you can generally neither manipulate their appearance or at what distance they appear. That said, remote control cars, other dogs, or other fast moving objects can often stimulate the same chase response that prey animals do, and can function as good distractions which you can manipulate for distance and movement.

I've just discovered there is a deer farm in our area, and you can bet I will be contacting the owners to see if I can take advantage of this as a great opportunity to proof behaviors around predatory distractions!

Although this all sounds overwhelming, really concentrating on creating thorough hierarchies for reinforcers and distractions makes distraction proofing a cinch. These two lists will basically guide you through all you need to know to get reliable behaviors in the face of any distraction you may encounter.

Happy proofing, until next time!

Going the extra mile...Proofing for distance

Now that I've introduced what exactly proofing behaviors is, it's time to break it down into the particulars...elements of fluency.

Many dog trainers speak about the "3 D's". What are the 3 D's, you might ask? Distance, Distraction, and Duration.

It is not imperative that you begin proofing for distance before distractions or duration. It is also not as if you have to proof for distance exclusively until you reach your goal distance, and then go back to working on distractions, then duration.

I only work on one aspect of fluency during any given training session, but may work on another aspect later on that day in another training session.

Let's consider distance further, and how we can work towards proofing our behaviors for this aspect of fluency.

One of my favorite methods, which works for establishing both distance and duration is called "300 pecks".

What is "300 pecks"? It is a method that originally stemmed from behavioral experiments with pigeons in the laboratory, and the term for the method was eventually coined by Alexandra Kurland, a well known clicker trainer who specializes in horses.

"300 pecks" means that we raise criteria in small increments and immediately go back to basics (baseline level of the behavior) if the dog is not able to succeed at the current level of performance.

How can you use "300 pecks" to build distance?

Let's say we're working on sit, and we'd like our dog to sit at a distance, and we'd like to work up to a response at a distance of 100 yards, eventually (this number is arbitrary, you may proof for distance as far away from you as your dog is able to perceive the cue).

While this is our eventual goal, if we have just started training the behavior, it is not likely that we will be setting our dog up for success by expecting that level of performance at this stage in the training.

Most dogs that have just been trained the sit behavior respond directly in front of their trainer. To build duration on the sit behavior using "300 pecks" you would proceed as follows:

1) Cue the sit immediately in front of you. If your dog responds to the cue, click then treat (hereafter referred to as CT).

2) Take one step back, cue the sit. If your dog sits one step away, CT.

3) Take two steps back, cue the sit. If your dog sits two steps away, CT.

4) Take three steps back, cue the sit. If your dog responds with the behavior, CT.

Let's say that your dog didn't respond at three steps but responded at two. If you cue the sit three steps away and your dog tries to approach you to sit in front of you, offers another behavior, or otherwise does not respond to the cue appropriately, do not reinforce.

Automatically go back to the first step - cueing directly in front of you. Then work back up to three steps, four steps, five steps, a hundred steps, etc. If at any time the dog fails, you go back to the first step and work through the incremental raising of criteria all over again.

I know that it sounds slow and tedious, but it's really not. You'll be surprised at how quickly you are able to progress in your training using the "300 pecks" method.

In some circumstances, even that first step back is too big for the dog. If you take a step back/away from your dog and she automatically moves to being directly in front of you, this is one of those occasions.

For these dogs, you have two options:

a) use a tether/gate/other physical barrier: secure the dog in place and proceed with the 300 pecks method. If your dog is skilled at targeting, you can also use a stationary target and send your dog out to target to create distance. HINT: If you would like to use a target, make sure you proof that behavior for distance first!

b) proof for the distraction of handler movement for a bit and then come back to distance work. (More about proofing for distractions - including handler movement - to come in later installments of the series).

If you are working on a moving behavior like a recall, you may need the help of a volunteer who will hold the end of the lead/tether and release it when you give the cue.

Another behavior that many people want to proof for distance is loose leash walking (LLW), or LLW's show-off cousin, the heel. You can use 300 pecks to train this also...one step, reinforce. Two steps, reinforce. Three steps, reinforce. Four steps, reinforce. Five steps - leash goes taught. Return to baseline (one step) and resume the procedure.

It is important to remember that we only raise one criteria at a time, and while we raise any one criteria, we temporarily lower our other criteria. We do not want to introduce distractions when we are first training for distance. So you're going to work on distance first in an environment with very minimal distractions. (LLW is a bit of an anomaly in this respect, as the nature of this behavior is that duration and distance are built simultaneously.)

If you choose to work in another session on distractions, make sure that you aren't asking for much distance while you train for distractions. Once both aspects of fluency are achieved, you can introduce them together (begin building distance in a distracting environment). It is very important that you set a clear standard of achievable goals for the dog within any training session and that your dog is set up for success.

To put this into perspective, let's say that you are learning the art of belly dancing, and you are also learning how to perform complex algebraic equations in your head. Each of these are new tasks to you, and require a fair bit of concentration as you develop this foreign skill. Would it be easier to learn about belly dancing one class and algebra in another class period, or would you like to learn belly dancing and complex mental calculations simultaneously?

Once you are skilled at both belly dancing and mental mathematical feats of genius, you may be able to belly dance while thinking of a simple equation but not a very complex equation. If you want to be able to do both fluently simultaneously, you will need to work on them each separately, and then work on combining them in a way that will allow you to achieve good results in both.

Hopefully, this admittedly silly example will help illustrate the importance of proofing for one aspect of fluency at a time, until there comes a time when they are all individually fluent. Then, and only then, should we begin introducing multiple criteria at a time.

All that said, do your dog a favor. Teach them how you would want to learn, and allow them separate training opportunities/sessions for each new criteria/aspect of fluency.

Until our next installment, happy proofing to you and "woof! woof! *play bow*" to your dog(s)! (They'll know what that means, trust me.)

Got behavior? Want proof?

AN ORIGINAL ARTICLE BY CASEY LOMONACO

This is the first entry in a series which will be dedicated to the issue of proofing behaviors. I hope that it will help my friends on their training journey working with their canine family member(s).

I plan on cross-posting in B & T, on my website www.rewardingbehaviors.com and on Karen Pryor's site (view my previous blog entry It's not Click/Treat, it's Click THEN Treat! Mechanical Skills for Clicker Trainers).

What does proofing behaviors mean, anyway?

If I had a nickle for every time I heard, "but my dog knows how to sit at home!" I might become the world's wealthiest dog trainer. My response is generally, "if your dog knows how to sit, why isn't he doing it?"

It's a rhetorical question. I know exactly why, and you need to also if you want reliable behavioral responses to cues. (Because I'm a nice dog trainer, I'll give you a hint...your dog is not trying to be dominant, assert his authority, he is not "spiteful" or out to embarrass you, and he certainly doesn't want to cause you frustration or grief of any sort.)

So what is the answer? It revolves around two key terms...generalizing and proofing.

If you frequent any dog training communities or clubs, you'll often hear the statement, "dogs don't generalize well." What does this mean?

It means that "sit" in your kitchen doesn't equate with sitting on the sidewalk, in class, when your kids are running around screaming, or your Aunt Ida unexpectedly drops by for a visit.

"Generalizing" in behaviorspeak/jargon means, "the ability to respond to a discriminative stimuli (cue) regardless of environmental influences." (I'm sure there are better or more technical definitions, but for our purposes, this should do just fine.)

When I first attended clicker classes with my chow mix Mokie, my instructor (and now business partner, Abbie Tamber) really brought home the concept of what generalizing means. I was the student who said, "but my dogs knows how to *insert behavior here*..." and she said, 'Has she done it 5,000 times?''

She hadn't, and I said so. 5,000 times?! This woman must be insane. Abbie told me, "then she doesn't 'know' it!" I must admit, I was a bit disgruntled.

5,000 times? Seriously?!

Seriously. Some service dog organizations will cue specific behavior thousands of times (as many as 8,000 times) before they consider a dog sufficiently "proofed," at which time they will have enough confidence to assert "this dog knows the behavior."

The number of repititions is not set in stone, and is in fact somewhat arbitrary. Once your dog is able to generalize a few behaviors through these proofing criteria, you'll find that all subsequently taught behaviors tend to generalize more rapidly. In essence, your dog is learning to learn!

What is not arbitrary is the fact that for a behavior to be learned, it has to meet a number of criteria.

What are these criteria?

In short, they are:

* Distance
* Distraction
* Duration
* Precision
* Latency
* Speed

and in my book, Stimulus Control rounds out the septet of critical factors which will influence your dog's ability to fluently respond to your cues in any environment.

In the series, you can expect a separate entry on each of the proofing criteria. For this introduction, I will provide a quick definition of each. In the later entries, expect more detailed information on how to proof for these aspects of fluency.

Distance: Just because your dog can respond to a cue directly in front of you does not mean he will "generalize" that the cue is still valid when he is ten, fifty, or two hundred yards away from you. If you want fluent responses at a distance, you must teach your dog to do so.

Distractions: While your dog may recall to you in your kitchen, she may not recall to you if she is off leash and spots a squirrel, deer, other dog, or even a leaf blowing in the wind. If you want your dog to respond to your cues in the middle of a construction zone, the dog park, or the pet store, you must proof for distractions!

Duration: Does your dog respond to a "down" cue and then pop right back up to a standing or sitting position? If you want your dog to offer an extended down until released, you must build duration for the behavior.

Precision: What is your vision of the ideal behavior? Proofing behaviors for precision is a fairly advanced process. Are you participating in competition obedience and getting crooked sits? To get that straight sit that you are seeking, you must concentrate on proofing for precision.

Latency: Have you ever cued a dog for a behavior and then waited....and waited...and waited for a behavioral response? You say "sit" and what seems like ages later, your dog's bum hits the floor? Latency is the time lag between the cue delivery and the offering/initiation of a behavioral response from the dog. If you want your dog to sit as soon as you give the cue, you need to proof for latency!

Speed: The criteria of speed in relation to behavior is signified by the time lapse between when the animal starts the behavior and when the animal completes the behavior. Sometimes a student recalls a dog, and you see a dog walking back to them. If we need to pick up that speed, we must proof for it!

Stimulus Control: according to Karen Pryor, there are four fundamental aspects of stimulus control. They are as follows:

1) the dog offers the behavior in response to the cue
2) the dog does not offer some other behavior in response to the cue
3) the dog does not offer the behavior in the absence of the cue
4) the dog does not offer the behavior in response to another cue

I am hoping that this series of entries will help you all through the critical stages of proofing so that you know how to train any behavior your dog is performing to reliability in the environments and situations you and your canine will encounter.

If it all sounds impossible, relax. Not only is it possible, it's probable and even better...it's fun! Until the next entry in the series, happy clicking to you and your canines!

Obama Logos

Since I made and uploaded the Obama logos on Mokie and Monte's dogster pages, I've gotten lots of pawmails from dogsters wanting to learn how to make their own.

Go to www.logobama.com and you can make them also!

Just right click on the finished product, save to your pics, and upload to dogster!

Enjoy!

Too tired to do much dogstering...

After a long weekend at KPA followed by an exciting playgroup, Mokie and mom are both absolutely bushed.

Both of us are off to cuddle while I read a good book until I pass out.

I know that there are pmails and groups and forums I should be responding to.

Forgive me my exhaustion, I will be back after catching up on some much needed rest.

Sleepy, but fond regards...

Chow Chows, you say?

Why I love chows, and why most people would not:

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the breed. I do think a chow puppy is quite possibly one of God's most beautiful creations. However, an adult chow is certainly not the dog for everyone, or even for most people.

I bought Mokie because I thought she was the most beautiful puppy I'd ever seen (in retrospect, not the best reason, but...). I've always been fascinated by the breed, but little did I know how different living with a chow is in comparison with any other breed I'd previously experienced.

Although Mokie is a chow mix, in temperament, she is 100% chow.

Chowwelfare.com has a great description of the chow temperament (although, obviously, there are exceptions to any breed standard. Additionally, good breeders of chow chow vigorously select for temperament in their litters and will not intentionally breed chows that have shown aggressive tendencies):

"When working with Chows, it helps to forget much of what you already know about the "average" dog's behavior. In many ways, Chows are not very doglike and don't behave like a typical dog. A Chow has the mind and independent spirit of a cat locked inside the body of a creature that looks like a cross between a lion and a bear.

It helps to "think cat" in order to understand Chows!

Like a cat, a Chow is.....

* proud, arrogant and aloof. He wants you to think he doesn't need you.
* suspicious of strangers. He can be slow to make new friends and can put on a fierce show when he's on his own ground.
* indifferent to people other than his friends. He could care less what strangers think of him and prefers to be left alone.
* not very eager to please his master. He especially doesn't like to obey commands from strangers.
* smart enough to figure out how to get out of doing what you want and clever enough to pretend he didn't hear you.
* stoic and expressionless. With their scowling face and deepset, dark eyes, it can be hard to know what they're thinking.
* very dignified. He doesn't like to be hit, manhandled, muzzled or physically forced into something he doesn't want to do.
* very clean, well-mannered in the house or kennel, almost born housebroken, non-destructive and quiet.
* very affectionate, loyal and loving with the people they love and trust. They never forget their friends."

This couldn't describe Mokie more perfectly if it had been written about her specifically.

Chows are not golden retrievers. They are not exhuberant, social, happy-go-lucky, charismatic dogs. They are reserved, dignified, haughty, cautious, aloof, "snobby" and do not innately desire to please anyone other than themselves. Chow chows take themselves very seriously and want you to take them seriously also. Their independence is often wrongly characterized as a lack of intelligence.

I will admit that I've never met a breed less interested in obedience activities. If you want a chow to do something, there better be a damned good reason and your dog is going to want to know EXACTLY what that reason is. A chow will literally perform mental cost/benefit analyses in response to each and every cue, I've SEEN it happening!

Chows are not naturally sociable with strangers. Through extensive socialization as a puppy, Mokie is accepting of strangers, but would far rather observe and ignore them. She does not appreciate being approached by strangers, and would much rather cautiously watch them until she is sure they are "acceptable" at which point she will approach them. This is not a symptom of a "bad/vicious dog," it is a chow, pure and simple.

Mokie takes a lot of cues from me as to how to respond to someone. Chows are known for guarding abilities, and I do not doubt that although Monte's bark may be scarier, should someone try to break into my house, Mokie is the one they'd need to worry about, all thirty five pounds of her, LOL.

Chow chows are very sensitive and are surprisingly "soft" dogs. Chows do not respond well to harsh corrections and are very likely to respond to violence either with reciprocated aggression or by shutting down. There are professional trainers who will tell the public that Chows are naturally aggressive and, as such, need aggressive and violent training to be "put in their place." Nothing could be farther from the truth.

If you are looking for an obedience champion, a chow may not be the best breed for you. If you are looking for a dog who will snuggle on the couch and allow extended petting, a chow is not for you. If you are looking for a velcro dog who will hang on your every word, DO NOT get a chow. If you are looking for a therapy dog, a chow may not be the dog for you (not to say that it is impossible for a chow to do this type of work, but most do not enjoy forced frequent tactile manipulation by large groups of strangers). If you are looking for a dog that's easy to train, a Chow is CERTAINLY not for you. If you do not enjoy hours of grooming and vacuuming, do not get a chow!

If you are looking for a challenge, a fiercely independent and equally loyal, beautiful, regal companion, a chow may be for you.

Despite all these perceived negatives, I love the challenge presented by the chow. Jean Donaldson said that "after twenty years in Border Collies, a chow is a rude shock!" However, Buffy (her chow) has turned Ms. Donaldson into one of the rare, the proud, the "chow mad" as she so elegantly states it.

I'm "chow mad" too! Hooray for chow chows!

We did it!

Hooray! I have just received the word that yours truly has passed Karen Pryor certification! In a few days (once I get my profile created), when anyone goes to search on Karen Pryor's site for a trainer, they will find Rewarding Behaviors among the results!

I did find it funny that Steve, Abbie, myself, and a classmate from Elmira are the only KPCTPs in NYS, and that three of the four KPCTPs in New York are now working together via Clicking with Canines. What a wonderful gift it is to be linked with such talented trainers.

Anyway, hooray! Let the celebration begin!

(until next weekend, when I get to assist in the first KPA workshop weekend for a new group of students)

P.S. I don't know if I told you about the fearful American Eskimo dog I was working with, but we had a very successful lesson today and made great strides. All around, supertastic training experience and news today.

Monte and I are dog supermodels!

That's right, their pictures are going to be included in the KPA course!

I heard from Tia (the admissions director) today, and she said that she liked a couple from when we took the dogs to the Adirondacks, and she also liked Mokie stalking the ducks at the lake. I sent her the files this morning, and she said she's going to work on getting them into the online course as soon as possible (after she gets done evaluating our assessments, LOL).

I know it's not a huge deal, but I feel like KPA is an unbelievable and wonderful program, and I am so thankful to think that I can, in some small way, contribute to the Academy (well, I already contributed in a large way, with my tuition payment, LOL!).

Karen Pryor Academy...Final Workshop Weekend!

Well, all...Mokie and I are off tomorrow for the final workshop weekend of KPA! I can't believe it's almost over.

To become a KP Certified Training Partner, you must pass the final exam which is "tri-partite", getting a minimum of a 90 on each to pass and become certified:

a written exam of 100 questions (already taken/passed! Hooray!)

a practical training demonstration/10 part behavior chain with your dog

a teaching assessment, where we have to teach a class using TAGteaching

We're very nervous, and very excited.

I have been concerned about Mokie's chain, but I know in my heart that I am the one being assessed here, not Mokie. If there is a mistake in the chain, my response as a trainer and poise in handling and making on-the-spot decisions will be what's graded, not Mokie's performance. Also, being able to diagnose why a chain breaks is crucial to being able to repair the chain, so I know if my chain broke I would have to answer clearly and confidently any questioons Steve may have on how to repair the chain.

Karen says how you handle the mistakes/upsets is as important, if not more important than, how you respond when everything goes "just right."

Plus, I always get worried before a workshop weekend and then go there with Mokie only to have her make me look like a rock star trainer.

Anyway, wish us luck! I don't even think I was this nervous before my wedding, LOL!

Another KPA weekend has passed!

...and yet again, I made mom proud!

The hardest part for me was the loose leash walking obstacle course! I had to walk on a loose lead past lots of crazy osbtacles, including...a pan of antifreeze, a kitty litter box, a live mouse, a meaty marrow bone, a piece of pizza, an RC car, and my favorite...a log scented with fox urine. (What can I say, I'm a scenthound in chow mix clothing!)

We are now nearly done with KPA. Only one more month until we take our final together!

:O)

Also, I turn 3 this week, on the 4th of July. What an exciting week this is!

The forums are up and running now at mom's website www.rewardingbehaviors.com/forum/. We are so thankful for all the support from our dogster pals in getting the site up and running, and for your thoughtful participation. Anyone interested in learning more about positive reinforcement and clicker training is encouraged to stop by and maybe join in the fun!

Rewarding Behaviors is moving along!

:o)

So much is happening so quickly!

While the Rewarding Behaviors website is still in the development stage, we have now added a positive reinforcement training forum.

Some of our bestest dogster pals have already made it there, but if any of the rest of you would like to join us, we can be found at www.rewardingbehaviors.com/forum/.

There is also a Rewarding Behaviors shop, in case you want a cool doggy shirt or food bowl with our great new logo! You can find the shop at Rewarding Behaviors Shop.

So come and chat or browse around the shop! We really appreciate feedback/constructive criticism, so any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

ETA: I'm not sure why my links won't work when the exact same links work just fine in groups/forums. Anyway, shop at: www.cafepress.com/rewardbehaviors, forum at www.rewardingbehaviors.com/forum/

Sorry about that!

Rewarding Behaviors

Hi all!

So mom has officially chosen her business name.

*insert drum roll here*

Rewarding Behaviors!

The website is still VERY much in development, basically all we have so far is the logo. (which, BTW, is based on moi!) Dad developed the logo, and we're working on getting a training forum up and running.

To those dogsters who we spoke to about the forum and our other B & T pals, please pmail us if you weren't able to set up an account; mom accidentally sent the wrong link!

We'd love your feedback on the logo!

WTF!!!

Hey guys!

So mom doesn't have to work at CWC this week...because it's flooded!

She seems to have the worst luck with jobs she works at flooding.

Before, it was the publishing company she worked at. Our town got hit with a record-breaking flood (scary, we were one block away from having to evacuate our house!), they even comandeered the parking lot at dad's work for a helicopter landing pad/place to store the air boats/temporary morgue! Mom helped with the clean up after the flood at that job. 1/2 the offices were lost (all of them being in the basement), so much equipment, mom wearing hip waders and all kinds of gloves and masks while going through the muck.

The CWC flood wasn't quite as bad, but there were still 3-4" of water in the building, apparently. An industrial cleaning company is coming into clean it up, and classes should resume Saturday afternoon for Rally O. Binghamton got hit with a big storm this weekend, and the Chinese restaurant down the block had been dumping all of their grease down the drains, so that the water could not flow out as it should have.

What's up with mom's jobs flooding? CRIKEY!

Off to Cape Cod!

Hi guys,

We're heading out for the weekend. We know we have some pmails and other things to respond to, and will do so first thing when we get home!

Khola, Summer, Parker, Asher, and Kiona...mailing food tubes out today!

Yippy...BPAL is also getting sent, sorry about the delay!

Regal, please come home!

Remember, Regal, the first day I came home from the rescue? I was all smelly and dirty, and came home to find my new dad and your dad working on the deck. Your momma had just gotten surgery, but couldn't keep herself away from meeting me on my first day home, even though she was so sore.

Remember how you claimed me? How you sniffed me and snuggled me, and didn't want anyone else to play with me because I was your puppy?

Remember the hundreds of days we've spent off leash in the field, on the farm, or at the lake together...digging rocks in the creek, chasing squirrels and running after Queenie?

I remember all those things, so many fun times and adventures. You were my very first friend after I came home, and I know you like my big brother.

When I go to your house and I can't find you there, I get whiny. I tried to lay down on your bed because I know how that brings you running faster than anything.

Where are you? Come home, please!

Can you help us bring Regal home?

Hi all,

My real-life playpal Regal (who does not have a dogster page), is missing.

He has been gone since last Friday. He slipped his collar during a fireworks display. His mom is one of my mom's best friends, and Regal and his sister Queenie are the two dogs in the world mom and I see the most, after her own dogs! About 3/4 of the pictures on my page are taken on playdates at Queenie and Regal's or at the lake with them. They were with me on my first boat ride, and eye stalk duckies with me!

We are absolutely devastated, and know that he probably just wants to get home to his family very badly.

Please cross post the information if you are able:

Here are pictures of Regal:

Regal 1

Regal 2

He is a 52 lb, blue merle, neutered male. He was lost on King Hill Road on the border of Newark Valley and the Town of Maine in Broome County, New York.

Here is the listing I posted on a local chat site, and petfinder missing pets listsing that I put up as well. I really am trying everything I can think of to help Brenda and Queenie get him back home, do you have any advice?

Please pass the word along, especially if you know people in the Southern Tier of New York or across the border in Pennsylvania.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it...

Hi all...

The temporary dogster hiatus resulting from laptop virus has now ended.

Things are going well here, but very busy!

KPA is both very challenging and a lot of fun for mom and I both. We're over halfway through - hoorah! We've been rounding up people for the next KPA workshop weekend, we need six "green" dog/handler pairs meaning they have never even used a clicker before. (WTH?!) So far, I think we have five teams, some of them are even my playmates! Queenie the ACD might come with Brenda, Brenda's mom "Bunk" and Cinnamon, the five month old Red ACD, a lady named Gina and her doxie mix "Dude," our dogster pal Daisy the beagle and her "she" Chyenne, and our dogster pal Chris and her pup Rocco. I get to go home for that part of the day, because the assessment is on how well mom trains people, not me!

Things have been super-busy with school, state forest adventures with Monte and I, and training classes five nights (and one weekend day) a week. At mom's trainer/KPA instructor's recommendation, she is now starting to accept private clients; and will be seeing her first tomorrow, a beautiful doberman named Bella with a disabled handler that needs a little help. Mucho exciting-o!

Hey, for dogster Whole Dog Journal subscribers, check out the Letters to the Editor section. That big, beautiful brown Newfie boy is a student in one of the classes mom works with at CWC! We always knew Rufus would be a star! He was in both puppy class and Manners Level I, and should be starting with the Level II class in two weeks. Knowing how Rufus grows, he'll probably be 10x as big as he was last time I saw him at MLI graduation!

;o)

Speaking of Newfies, big humungous hugs to our bestest dogster Newfie pals...Elvis, Stitch, Audrey and the two-leggers behind the Newfie personas. We love you guys, and are sorry we weren't around when you were going through a hard time.

Anyway, long day today...big day tomorrow! Enough of this tomfoolery, we're off to get some sleep.

Hold me back!

One of my KPA classmates is the rescue coordinator for a shelter not too far from here.

She is trying to convince me to take one of these beautiful puppies because she knows that I love love love chows, in spite of all the temperament "quirks" that often make them unadoptable. She wants a chow experienced person to give one or both of them a home, and it is taking every ounce of self-control in my body not to take one...or two.

*grabby hands*

We kicked @$$!

Hi all!

We are VERY sleepy after many, many, many hours of training over the last few days.

Just wanted to tell you, before we make Monte and the hubby drag us gals up the stairs, that the ladies of the house officially kicked butt at KPA this weekend, and had an unbelievable time together doing it. (Thanks to Asher, Storm, Gio, Risa, and anyone else I might have forgotten from the homework thread for helping me with the Rally plan! If I forgot anyone, forgive my for being so drain bead.)

Our brains have been reduced to mush, and we are probably going to give ourselves a training vacation tomorrow (Mokie might get two days' worth of break, but the mom better not procrastinate too long on her lessons!).

As nervous as mom was Friday, she is equally confident now. Silly mom. I already knew I was the smartest girl in the world, so my personal success was really no surprise to me. What a great and exciting challenge it was, and I'm so glad we were able to share and conquer the task together.

;o)

For now, we must sleep.

À bientôt! Details some other, more conscious, time!

It's bedtime but...

Quick!

Marty is my pick for petfinder dog of the day. Poor guy, someone needs to give this boy a home, ASAP!

The beach?

Hi all!

OK, on quick because I have homework to do, but the hubby mentioned today he'd like to take me to the beach for a day trip this summer. (Without dogs! Is he trying to kill me here?)

Anyway, I know we have lots of East Coast friends, and we are trying to find a beach that is: within about four (maybe, maybe five, but it's pushing it) hours' drive of Binghamton, and has relatively easily accessible parking. If there are any fun dogster pals that we could meet for lunch or dinner, all the better!

Any ideas? Do you want to help me find the right place to visit the beach, even though it's kind of sad because of how much I'll miss my children and weep for their lost opportunity to experience the ocean?

What's New?

So we've been keeping busy with swimming and playdates and all kinds of fun adventures and have briefly neglected our dogster pals. If anyone sent rosies or surprises and did not get a thank you, it will be on the way, we promise!

Anyway, there has been exciting progress on our Kathryn Beals portrait, and it is almost ready. Wait until you guys see it completed! I've already seen the final draft, but can't get back to Kathryn until I runs it by the dogfather (hubby) tomorrow morning. Check for progress reports at www.howipaint.com for the latest sneak peak!

What a weekend!

Sorry we haven't been around much, pals!

Mom and dad took Monte and I to Long Pond State Forest this weekend! It's over 3000 acres of beautiful grasslands, forest, creeks and a big lake.

We had such a nice time. We got there and did a mega-hike through the woods. I got to be off leash for a while in the big field, but mom wanted me and Monte on leash for our walks. Good thing, because we came around a blind corner on the path and nearly ran into a porcupine! I wanted that big spiky toy, but mom and dad said NO WAY! That porcupine ran away when he saw us coming, I think he was skeered of me and the big tough guy, Monte.

I was a tracking fool. I couldn't believe how many delightful smells this placec offered! Mom had a lot of fun watching me do my tracking thing, she thinks I'm a natural! There were all sorts of different areas, each with its own collection of beautiful aromas. We walked through a forest so deep it was almost as dark as night time in the middle of a sunny day! There were great grasslands, then we walked through the hardwood forest, which wasn't quite as dark and had the tallest trees I've ever seen! The grassland fields were the most fun though, because I got to go off my leash and have a bit of a romp with the pig.

I also got to swim! It was so much fun even though there was a lot of yuggy seaweed! Swimming made my leg (which I hurt at my play date last weekend) feel a lot better. I knocked mom's backpack into the water, thank goodness the camera and cell phone were ok! Mom was throwing my bumper for me to fetch in the water, but I got tired of that and brought her a stick instead. Hello! Dogs in the forest play fetch with sticks, NOT bumpers!

I sure do like going to the state forest. I think enjoying the state forests makes mom feel a little better about the ridiculous taxes New York State residents and home owners pay. She said that we're going to do some camping in the state forests.

This will be so different from when we go camping at real campgrounds, because we'll be the only people for miles staying there! You have to be very, very careful in state forests because they are one of the last refuges for bears and coyotes in the state. The population of black bear especially has exploded, so being off lead in these places is sometimes a bad idea, especially since some momma bears are just starting to venture out with their cubs, and they can get nasty!

Anyway, figured I'd fill you all in on the weekend. Mom has been slacking on her KPA coursework, so we have to bust our butts to catch up this week. We'll see you when we return from our studies, friends!

Chicken Haiku

Damn you fowl chickens!
So close, yet so far away
Get in my belly!

This is for the chickens at Seamus and Kimmy's house (bka Dakota and Mona's house).

Remember last year when mom and dad bought little chicks for Seamus and Kimmy's rooster? Those little chicks drove me, Monte AND the kitties nuts when they spent the night at our house, all six of them!

Well now, they're big chickens! Three of the six have died, but there are three left, plus a couple of different hens, and a big rooster with a pretty tail! Loud and flappy, crazy @$$ chickens.

I like to stand outside of their fenced in area, watching, waiting, scheming. I plot their demise.

What a weekend!

Hi guys!

What a weekend! First, we got our awesome sketch by Kathrn Beals to start our weekend out. Then on Saturday, mom took me to school, but it wasn't like a regular class, it was Karen Pryor Academy weekend. What an awesome and fun challenge the weekend was for her and I.

Right now, there are five dogs/handlers in KPA. There is a nice man named Doug and his 13 week old yellow Lab, Tiegan. Doug feeds raw, so we had fun talking to him! There is also a lady named Peggy who has a very handsome sable German Shepherd named Bo, another lady named Leanne with a pitbull/boxer cross named Gertie, and finally a lady named Laura who has a Border Collie named Emma. Next time around, there will be a lady named Suzette with her Akita, I guess they took the class last time but finished incomplete, so they are resuming the course.

Mom and I did great, and we passed with flying colors! Steve and Abby said that we were well beyond the lessons! The consensus among all KPA students is that Lick It! was pretty much one of the toughest exercises of the entire course. I had the best Lick it in the class by far, they said it was amazing!

We had to demonstrate the behaviors mom had taught at home, then were tested on teaching new behaviors. Mom had to shape a behavior in me in four minutes, and put it on cue in fifteen clicks as part of our assessment. Piece of cake! Then she had to develop a detailed shaping plan for a complex behavior as her written assessment.

The peer reviews really made mom and me feel wonderful. The other students said that I am very in tune with mom, always watching or looking for her, great eye contact, and that I was very attentive to her body language. Mom says that is both a blessing and a curse in training a dog like me, she has to be SO conscious of her body to avoid giving inadvertant cues!

Saturday after KPA it was my grandma's 50th birthday, so we had to go right from school to her party! I got to see my favorite kids, mom's niece and her nephews. I also got to play with my rescue-mate, Bella - grandma's English Springer Spaniel. Then I went swimming - woo hoo! Mom thought I would be tired when I got home from such a long day, but I saved a little energy for wrestling up that big pig of mine!

Then, this morning, mom logs into dogster to see what the heck happened while we were gone, and lo and behold, I'm DioTD! HOLY MOLY! Thank you dogster for capping off such a wonderful weekend in such a special day. You guys must have known how great I did at KPA and wanted to celebrate with me!

;o)

So let's celebrate! Thank you HQ, and thank you Kathryn Beals and Karen Pryor for an awesome weekend!

Our Portrait!

As you can see from my main pic, Kathryn Beals has started our portrait!

View the progress at www.howipaint.com

Kathryn is a very nice lady and has donated her services to all sorts of rescue organizations, and even to some great causes here on dogster! If you go to the gallery on her page, I'm sure you'll see a number of familiar dogster faces.

OK, off to Karen Pryor Academy for the whole weekend. You kids stay out of trouble now, y'hear?

In Honor of the Black Dogs

"Contrary to Ordinary"

The Black Pearls of the Dog World

The author, Chris Benton, has given her permission to reprint this story and permission for you to use and pass it on to everyone. Her recommendation is that every person who takes an obedience class, adopts a dog or gets a puppy, should have a copy of this story.

After I was discharged from the Navy, Jim and I moved back to Detroit to use our GI bill benefits to get some schooling. Jim was going for a degree in Electronics and I, after much debating, decided to get mine in Computer Science.

One of the classes that was a requirement was Speech. Like many people, I had no fondness for getting up in front of people for any reason, let alone to be the center of attention as I stuttered my way through some unfamiliar subject. But I couldn't get out of the requirement, and so I found myself in my last semester before graduation with Speech as one of my classes.

On the first day of class our professor explained to us that he was going to leave the subject matter of our talks up to us, but he was going to provide the motivation of the speech. After agonizing over a subject matter, I decided on the topic of spaying and neutering pets. My goal was to try to persuade my classmates to neuter their pets. So I started researching the topic. There was plenty of material, articles that told of the millions of dogs and cats that were euthanized every year, of supposedly beloved pets that were turned in to various animal control facilities for the lamest of reasons, or worse, dropped off far from home, bewildered and scared. Death was usually a blessing.

The final speech was looming closer, but I felt well prepared. My notes were full of facts and statistics that I felt sure would motivate even the most naive of pet owners to succumb to my plea. A couple of days before our speeches were due, I had the bright idea of going to the local branch of the Humane Society and borrowing a puppy to use as a sort of a visual aid. I called the Humane Society and explained what I wanted. They were very happy to accommodate me. I made arrangements to pick up a puppy the day before my speech. When I went to pick up the puppy I was feeling very confident. I could quote all the statistics and numbers without ever looking at my notes. The puppy, I felt, would add the final emotional touch.

When I arrived at the Humane Society I was met by a young guy named Ron. He explained that he was the public relations person for the Humane Society. He was very excited about my speech and asked if I would like a tour of the facilities before I picked up the puppy. I enthusiastically agreed. We started out in the reception area, which was the general public's initial encounter with the Humane Society.

The lobby was full, mostly with people dropping off various animals that they no longer wanted. Ron explained to me that this branch of the Humane Society took in about fifty animals a day and adopted out only about twenty. As we stood there I heard snatches of conversation: "I can't keep him, he digs holes in my garden." "They are such cute puppies, I know you will have no trouble finding homes for them." "She is wild, I can't control her." I heard one of Humane Society's volunteer explain to the lady with the litter of puppies that the Society was filled with puppies and that these puppies, being black, would immediately be put to sleep.Black puppies, she explained, had little chance of being adopted. The woman who brought the puppies in just shrugged, "I can't help it," she whined. "They are getting too big. I don't have room for them." We left the reception area. Ron led me into the staging area where all the incoming animals were evaluated for adoptability. Over half never even made it to the adoption center. There were just too many. Not only were people bringing in their own animals, but strays were also dropped off. By law the Humane Society had to hold a stray for three days. If the animal was not claimed by then, it was euthanized, since there was no background information on the animal. There were already too many animals that had a known history eagerly provided by their soon to be ex-owners.

As we went through the different areas, I felt more and more depressed. No amount of statistics, could take the place of seeing the reality of what this throwaway attitude did to the living, breathing animal. It was overwhelming. Finally Ron stopped in front of a closed door. "That's it," he said, "except for this." I read the sign on the door. "Euthanasia Area." "Do you want to see one?" he asked. Before I could decline, he interjected, "You really should. You can't tell the whole story unless you experience the end." I reluctantly agreed. "Good." He said, "I already cleared it and Peggy is expecting you." He knocked firmly on the door. A middle-aged woman in a white lab coat opened it immediately. "Here's the girl I was telling you about," Ron explained. Peggy looked me over. "Well, I'll leave you here with Peggy and meet you in the reception area in about fifteen minutes. I'll have the puppy ready."

With that Ron departed, leaving me standing in front of the stern-looking Peggy. Peggy motioned me in.

As I walked into the room, I gave an audible gasp. The room was small and spartan. There were a couple of cages on the wall and a cabinet with syringes and vials of a clear liquid. In the middle of the room was an examining table with a rubber mat on top. There were two doors other than the one I had entered. Both were closed. One said to incinerator room, and the other had no sign, but I could hear various animals' noises coming from behind the closed door. In the back of the room, near the door that was marked incinerator were the objects that caused my distress: two wheelbarrows, filled with the bodies of dead kittens and puppies. I stared in horror. Nothing had prepared me for this. I felt my legs grow weak and my breathing become rapid and shallow. I wanted to run from that room, screaming. Peggy seemed not to notice my state of shock. She started talking about the euthanasia process, but I wasn't hearing her. I could not tear my gaze away from the wheelbarrows and those dozens of pathetic little bodies.

Finally, Peggy seemed to notice that I was not paying attention to her. "Are you listening?" she asked irritably. "I'm only going to go through this once." I tore my gaze from the back of the room and looked at her. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out, so I nodded. She told me that behind the unmarked door were the animals that were scheduled for euthanasia that day. She picked up a chart that was hanging from the wall. "One fifty-three is next," she said as she looked at the chart. "I'll go get him." She laid down the chart on the examining table and started for the unmarked door. Before she got to the door she stopped and turned around. "You aren't going to get hysterical, are you?" she asked, "Because that will only upset the animals." I shook my head. I had not said a word since I walked into that room. I still felt unsure if I would be able to without breaking down into tears. As Peggy opened the unmarked door I peered into the room beyond.

It was a small room, but the walls were lined and stacked with cages. It looked like they were all occupied. Peggy opened the door of one of the lower cages and removed the occupant. From what I could see it looked like a medium-sized dog. She attached a leash and ushered the dog into the room in which I stood. As Peggy brought the dog into the room I could see that the dog was no more than a puppy, maybe five or six months old. The pup looked to be a cross between a Lab and a German shepherd. He was mostly black, with a small amount of tan above his eyes and on his feet.He was very excited and bouncing up and down, trying to sniff everything in this new environment. Peggy lifted the pup onto the table. She had a card in her hand, which she laid on the table next to me. I read the card. It said that number one fifty-three was a mixed Shepherd, six months old. He was surrendered two days ago by a family. Reason of surrender was given as "jumps on children." At the bottom was a note that said "Name: Sam." Peggy was quick and efficient, from lots of practice, I guessed. She lay one fifty-three down on his side and tied a rubber tourniquet around his front leg. She turned to fill the syringe from the vial of clear liquid.

All this time I was standing at the head of the table. I could see the moment that one fifty-three went from a curious puppy to a terrified puppy. He did not like being held down and he started to struggle. It was then that I finally found my voice. I bent over the struggling puppy and whispered, "Sam. Your name is Sam." At the sound of his name Sam quit struggling. He wagged his tail tentatively and his soft pink tongue darted out and licked my hand. And that is how he spent his last moment. I watched his eyes fade from hopefulness to nothingness. It was over very quickly. I had never even seen Peggy give the lethal shot. The tears could not be contained any longer. I kept my head down so as not to embarrass myself in front of the stoic Peggy. My tears fell onto the still body on the table. "Now you know," Peggy said softly. Then she turned away. "Ron will be waiting for you."

I left the room. Although it seemed like it had been hours, only fifteen minutes had gone by since Ron had left me at the door. I made my way back to the reception area. True to his word, Ron had the puppy all ready to go. After giving me some instructions about what to feed the puppy, he handed the carrying cage over to me and wished me good luck on my speech. That night I went home and spent many hours playing with the orphan puppy. I went to bed that night but I could not sleep. After a while I got up and looked at my speech notes with their numbers and statistics. Without a second thought, I tore them up and threw them away. I went back to bed. Sometime during the night I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I arrived at my Speech class with Puppy Doe. When my turn came, I held the puppy in my arms, I took a deep breath, and I told the class about the life and death of Sam. When I finished my speech I became aware that I was crying. I apologized to the class and took my seat. After class the teacher handed out a critique with our grades. I got an "A." His comments said "Very moving and persuasive."

Two days later, on the last day of class, one of my classmates came up to me. She was an older lady that I had never spoken to in class. She stopped me on our way out of the classroom. "I want you to know that I adopted the puppy you brought to class," she said. "His name is Sam."



by Chris Benton

Please Spay And Neuter Your Pets

My favorite rescue dog today is...

Wow, it's been a while since I posted one of these entries!

I was looking at petfinder, and found Rex!

Doesn't he have the funniest ears you've ever seen?

Tag!

My bestest girl Summer, spleen provider and lover of raw food and training theories, has tagged the cub!

Name four jobs that you've had.

1. Pants biter. When I was a puppy, I sure did like biting pants! Mom has the jeans with the holes in them to prove it!

2. Dog trainer. When Monte came here, I thought he acted like an IDIOT! I had to show Monte how nice doggies act.

3. Karen Pryor Academy attendee: Starting this weekend, mom and I are a student team at Clicking with Canines, trying to get mom certified as a Karen Pryor Clicker Training partner so she will never have to work in a stupid cubicle again!

4. High fashion model/stunning beauty/world's prettiest mutt. I've won five or six photo contests both on dogster and in photography competitions on other sites, I'm even in a book! Everywhere we go, people tell momma how pretty I am. I'm even getting my portrait painted by an amazing artist, to capture my stunning loveliness on canvas for posterity!

Four places where you have lived or stayed.

1. Kill shelter in Georgia with my litter. :o(

2. Shelter in rural Pennsylvania, the place was like something out of Deliverance!

3. My forever home! I love this house, I have a great yard, a park down the street to play in, lots of toys, lots of raw food, Monte, mom and dad...what more could a girl ask for?

4. A cabin in the Adirondacks, with mom, dad, and Monte boy.

Four places where you have been.

1. Finger Lakes wine trail, they love me there!

2. To work with mom

3. Doggy school at Clicking with Canines.

4. To Syracuse to play with Bubbles at the dog park!

Four places you'd rather be.

1. Someplace I can go swimming

2. Running in the field at Aunt Brenda's with her two Australian Cattle Dogs, Queenie and Regal

3. School!

4. Someplace where there are lots of squirrels, deer, woodchucks, foxes, rabbits, and lots of other furry animals, especially for me to chase!

OK Now I'm going to tag...

Asher because his mom is an awesome friend and dog trainer.

Moxie because she is such a great friend and a fellow BPAL addict!

Winnie because her mom always makes us laugh and will be our "near neighbor" starting next semester!

Sirius Black because he's named after a character from HP, his momma brings the yummiest surprises to our house, and because soon, we're gonna be able to set up a play date together!

Growing old with my dogs

OK, any of my close friends know that I'm NOT a fan of sweet wine and much prefer drier wines, but otherwise, this holds true for what I want out of my life in relation to the dogs I hope to share it with:

When I am Old...

I shall wear Turquoise and soft gray sweatshirts...
and a bandana over my silver hair...
and I shall spend my Social Security Checks
on Sweet Wine and My Dogs...
and sit in my house on my well-worn chair,
and listen to my dog's breathing.

I will sneak out in the middle of a warm Summer night
and take my dogs for a run, if my old bones will allow...
and when people come to call,
I will smile and nod as I show them my dogs...
and talk of them and about them...
The Ones so Beloved of the Past
and the Ones so Beloved of Today....

I still will work hard cleaning after them
and mopping and feeding them
and whispering their names in a soft, loving way.
I will wear their gleaming drool on my throat like a jewel,
and I will be an embarrassment to all, and my family...
who have not yet found the peace in being free
to have dogs as your Best Friends....

These friends who always wait,
at any hour, for your footfall...
and eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep,
to greet you as if you are a God.
With warm eyes full of adoring love
and hope that you will stay and hug their big, strong necks...
and kiss their dear sweet heads...
and whisper to them of your love and the
beautiful pleasure of their very special company....

I look in the Mirror...
and see I am getting old....
this is the kind of woman I am...
and have always been.
Loving dogs is easy, they are part of me,
accept me for who I am,
My dogs appreciate my presence in their lives...
When I am old this will be important to me...
you will understand when you are old....
and if you have dogs to love too.

Author Unknown

Friends, I'll "see" you soon!

OK guys, I know I have some pmails I really need to respond to, but I'm only on for a minute.

This weekend and coming week are going to be crazy for me, between closing on a mortgage refinance, KPA workshop weekend coming up, assisting at school, plus family birthdays, I don't know how much I'll be around!

So if you sent me a pmail and I haven't responded, I'm not being a jerk, just tardy on responses for a bit and I'm sorry.

:o(

Hopefully, I'll make superincredibleamazingawesomelyunbelievable progress on my KPA lessons early in the week and will be able to get to them before the weekend, but if not, after KPA I'll respond to all my pmails and debrief!

See you guys soon, stay out of trouble!

Mom assisted in her first training class last night!

Hi guys!

So as our pals know all too well, mom and I have been working super-mega hard on her Karen Pryor Academy curriculum. We're having a great time!

But last night, the strangest thing happened. Mom left in the evening, without me and pig! This is weird enough, but then dad came back without mom in the car, so I got a little upset. Being momma's girl, I tend to get whiney when I don't know what the heck she's doing or where she is or when she's coming back, darn it mom where are you?!

So I waited. And waited. I'm a little miffed at this point, but holding it together. I know there is meat in the freezer for my dinner, but dinner-lady is nowhere to be found. My belly is growling here!

Then I hear a car door outside. Pupils dilate, nostrils flare...could it be? Yes! It's mom! But wait...something is strange about the woman. What's that scent? Holy moly, she smells like my school! I close my eyes, wiggling my whole body, tail sweeping back and forth rapidly, I press my body into hers. I glue my nose to her jeans, and methodically move from ankle to knee via the shin, then back down again. I smell her hands for a minute. The awful truth becomes evident...mom went to school without me.

I'm torn between being angry with her for being such a traitor (how could she go to my school without me? I know she was there, I smell school and my teacher!) and being fascinated...she smell, not only like school, Steve, treats, slobber, her perfume, muddy sneakers, but there's something else...puppies!

Yes, mom smelled like puppies! She must have been playing with the little tykes without me. I thought we were a team, and the betrayal was almost overwhelming.

Lucky for mom, she made it up to me. She gave me a huge five pound chunk of beef, and let me have my fill as an appeasement gesture.

Mom was all happy when she got home, telling pop about all the fun things they did with the puppies and how she even got to teach part of the class! I think she was talking to dad about going back to assist another class tonight, Manners Level I. I hope to God she's pulling my leg, because if she comes home smelling like school, Steve, and even more doggies tonight, I'm going to have to alpha roll her for not bringing me along, or maybe fit her with a prong collar. That'll teach her!

Darn it, mom, you're grounded! No more Clicking with Canines without the cub, I say!

To my secret admirer

OK, I'm horrible at guessing games. But someone very sweet has sent me lovely anonymous rosies, and they won't reveal their identity.

In honor of their generosity and kindness, the lyrics to a wonderful Ella Fitzgerald song:

Somebody loves me
I wonder who
I wonder who he can be;

Somebody loves me
I wish I knew,
Who can he be worries me

For every boywho passes me
I shout, hey! maybe,
You were meant to be my loving baby;

Somebody loves me
I wonder who,
Maybe its you.

Anonymous Secret Admirer Rosette

If the person who sent me such a sweet rosette reads this, is there any way you could give me a clue as to who you are?

Saw this in the forums and it about broke my heart!

What a beautiful, wonderful poem.

I'd like to dedicate it to my pal Archie. I shed many a tear when you went to the bridge, pal.

Lend Me a Pup.
-author unknown

I will lend to you for awhile,
a pup, God said,
For you to love him while he lives
and mourn for him when he's dead.

Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,
or maybe two or three
But will you, 'till I call him back,
take care of him for me.

He'll bring his charms to gladden you
and (should his stay be brief)
you'll always have his memories
as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,
since all from earth return
But there are lessons taught below
I want this pup to learn.

I've looked the whole world over
in search of teachers true
And from the folk that crowd's life's land
I have chosen you.

Now will you give him all your love
Nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come
to take my Pup back again.

I fancied that I heard them say
"Dear Lord Thy Will be Done,"
For all the joys this Pup will bring,
the risk of grief we'll run.

We'll shelter him with tenderness
we'll love him while we may
And for the happiness we've known
forever grateful stay

But should you call him back
much sooner than we've planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes,
and try to understand.

If, by our love, we've managed,
your wishes to achieve
In memory of him we loved,
to help us while we grieve,

When our faithful bundle
departs this world of strife,
We'll have yet another Pup
and love him all his life.

Lick It!

Hi guys!

So as many of you know, mom is currently attending Karen Pryor Academy for dog training.

Anyway, the lesson we're working on now is capturing, and mom's really working on getting her clicker timing up to speed.

The first exercise is called "Lick It" and mom has to click at the exact moment I lick. We work in three minute sessions, where she times the session and counts the number of CTs received, then she calculates the rate of reinforcement (minutes divided by number of CTs) and charts them on a graph to see our rate of improvement.

At first, I would only get two or three licks in a three minute session, but after those first couple of three minute sessions, mom saw my rate of reinforcement increase pretty dramatically relatively quickly!

Once I get to a rate of reinforcement of 15 or higher, we work on adding a cue, and then the sessions drop down to one minute each, with the same record keeping mentioned earlier.

We're reliable at about 13 CT/min right now, so we're almost ready to add the cue. Boy, was it hard to get the timing of the clicker right for my mom, when it's such a quick movement, but I'm teaching her, don't worry!

Give it a whirl, if you've got the time...and just LICK IT!

My Dog

"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all‑powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever ‑ in case I need him. And I expect I will ‑ as I always have. He is just my dog." ‑ Gene Hill

A Christmas Poem

I'm not sure who the author is, but thought I would share this with the dogster community...I'd happily update the entry to give credit, if anyone knows who the author is:

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The stockings where hung by the chimney with care
In the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

But at the North Pole sudden changes arose
All down to Rudolph and his ruby red nose
Clipboard in hand, a breed expert arrived
He motioned to Santa saying," please step aside".

A smooth haired coat and a muscular build
A broad deep chest our Rudolph did yield
The breed expert's pen, created pages of ticks
Then he suddenly called out "good lord, we've been tricked!"

"This creatures no donkey and clearly no horse!
I know these things! I've attended the course!"
Look at my clipboard the boxes are full!
It's very obvious to me: Rudolph is a pit bull!

Out with the measuring sticks, he explained to Santa the law
And he measured poor Rudolph from shoulder to floor.
As the spectacle continued Santa said with a sigh,
"He's a reindeer you fool! Why must he die?"

"The law is the law" the expert said standing tall,
Then picked up his mobile and made a quick call
The sound of sirens filled the peaceful night air
and Rudolph removed to who knew where?

Days turned to weeks and confused and alone
Rudolph pined for the place he called home
As the first snow started falling Rudolph gave up the fight
And he took his last breath on a cold winters night

You may think this is funny, if a little untrue.
But how would you like it, if it happened to you?
If your dog was taken because of its look?
Because it ticked enough boxes in some silly book?

Regardless of parentage it doesn't matter what breed
If it ticks enough boxes then it's a done deed
So humor me here and pretend this is true
Think how you would feel if it happened to you.

Cuddle your hounds while you have them close by
For some spend this Christmas, waiting to die.
Now back to the story, it doesn't end there
One more short verse I need to share

Santa fetched Rudolph's body and cried for his friend
And swore to himself, this would not be the end
And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight
"The law is wrong, please help us to fight."

Turkey Tag!

I was tagged by one of dogsters' handsome-st frenchie boys, Georgie, and the lovely English gentleman, Tyler!

Here are the rules:
Because it’s Thanksgiving time, there is a change to the rules.

Each player needs to tell seven special things they are
thankful for. Tagged dogs must post the rules in their diary
and their 7 things. Then choose 7 pups to tag and list their
names. Let them know by pawmail or rosette that they have been
tagged and to read your diary for the instructions on how to
play.

Seven Things I’m Thankful For:
1. I'm thankful for my forever home, and for people who are willing to look past breed stereotypes
2. I'm thankful to my parents, for the hundreds of adventures we've had together.
3. I'm thankful for Monte, who lets me wake him up all the time for extreme wrestling matches
4. I'm thankful for the opportunity to have met some dogsters for real-life playdates!
5. My raw food diet, because for the first time, I'm excited to eat!
6. I'm thankful mom doesn't make me wear clothes. I would MUCH rather be nekkid.
7. Abbie at Clicking with Canines, for making agility class so much fun!

I tagged:
Carmen Von Woofer
Vance
Mia
Gio
Risa
Mattie
Kaya

A Beautiful Poem

To Flush, My Dog

Poem lyrics of To Flush, My Dog by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.


Loving friend, the gift of one
Who her own true faith has run
Through thy lower nature,
Be my benediction said
With my hand upon thy head,
Gentle fellow-creature!

Like a lady's ringlets brown,
Flow thy silken ears adown
Either side demurely
Of thy silver-suited breast
Shining out from all the rest
Of thy body purely.

Darkly brown thy body is,
Till the sunshine striking this
Alchemise its dullness,
When the sleek curls manifold
Flash all over into gold
With a burnished fulness.

Underneath my stroking hand,
Startled eyes of hazel bland
Kindling, growing larger,
Up thou leapest with a spring,
Full of prank and curveting,
Leaping like a charger.

Leap! thy broad tail waves a light,
Leap! thy slender feet are bright,
Canopied in fringes;
Leap! those tasselled ears of thine
Flicker strangely, fair and fine
Down their golden inches

Yet, my pretty, sportive friend,
Little is't to such an end
That I praise thy rareness;
Other dogs may be thy peers
Haply in these drooping ears
And this glossy fairness.

But of thee it shall be said,
This dog watched beside a bed
Day and night unweary,
Watched within a curtained room
Where no sunbeam brake the gloom
Round the sick and dreary.

Roses, gathered for a vase,
In that chamber died apace,
Beam and breeze resigning;
This dog only, waited on,
Knowing that when light is gone
Love remains for shining.

Other dogs in thymy dew
Tracked the hares and followed through
Sunny moor or meadow;
This dog only, crept and crept
Next a languid cheek that slept,
Sharing in the shadow.

Other dogs of loyal cheer
Bounded at the whistle clear,
Up the woodside hieing;
This dog only, watched in reach
Of a faintly uttered speech
Or a louder sighing.

And if one or two quick tears
Dropped upon his glossy ears
Or a sigh came double,
Up he sprang in eager haste,
Fawning, fondling, breathing fast,
In a tender trouble.

And this dog was satisfied
If a pale thin hand would glide
Down his dewlaps sloping, --
Which he pushed his nose within,
After, -- platforming his chin
On the palm left open.

This dog, if a friendly voice
Call him now to blither choice
Than such chamber-keeping,
"Come out!" praying from the door, --
Presseth backward as before,
Up against me leaping.

Therefore to this dog will I,
Tenderly not scornfully,
Render praise and favor:
With my hand upon his head,
Is my benediction said
Therefore and for ever.

And because he loves me so,
Better than his kind will do
Often man or woman,
Give I back more love again
Than dogs often take of men,
Leaning from my Human.

Blessings on thee, dog of mine,
Pretty collars make thee fine,
Sugared milk make fat thee!
Pleasures wag on in thy tail,
Hands of gentle motion fail
Nevermore, to pat thee

Downy pillow take thy head,
Silken coverlid bestead,
Sunshine help thy sleeping!
No fly's buzzing wake thee up,
No man break thy purple cup
Set for drinking deep in.

Whiskered cats arointed flee,
Sturdy stoppers keep from thee
Cologne distillations;
Nuts lie in thy path for stones,
And thy feast-day macaroons
Turn to daily rations!

Mock I thee, in wishing weal? --
Tears are in my eyes to feel
Thou art made so straitly,
Blessing needs must straiten too, --
Little canst thou joy or do,
Thou who lovest greatly.

Yet be blessed to the height
Of all good and all delight
Pervious to thy nature;
Only loved beyond that line,
With a love that answers thine,
Loving fellow-creature!

With thanks to my beautiful pals George and Yvie, for sharing on their pages!

My dogster anniversary!

I've been on dogster for two years today! What a great time it's been!

Here's to hoping to offer all of you the pleasure of seeing how friggin' cute I am for many more years to come!

Love tagged!

OK guys, I got love tagged by my pal Joey, who possesses the cutest nose on dogster. Here's how it works.

You pick our three pups that you LOVE (only 3? that's hard) and say what you love about them! Send them a pmail or rosie to know you have love tagged them, and pass the fun along to another pup!

My first pic is Otis:

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/203395

Otis is very funny and friendly, and oh so handsome. That boy's smile is a ray of sunshine in even the cloudiest of days, his bully grin is without comparison. Otis is caring and kind, funny and sweet, and all around, one of the best pals a girl could ask for!

My second pic is Woody:

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/217014

Woody is one of my oldest and dearest dogster pals. His mom is a very special and wonderful lady, someone who is dear to my mom's heart, even though they don't get to chat as often as they used to, she still ADORES the lovely Miss Gina, and sends prayers and love and positive energy to their whole pack in NJ whenever she gets a chance. Lucky is the woman (and dog) who has a friend like Gina, Woody's mom. Plus Woody is SUPER handsome, and he loves Mystique, who is another pup with an amazingly wonderful and beautiful momma.

Which brings me to choice three, Mystique!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/214488

Mystique has been my best dogster pal for such a long time. I even got to play matchmaker for her, and if I may say so, hooked her up with one of the most handsome and chivalrous pups on dogster. Just like with Woody's mom, Mystique's mom and my mom don't get to talk as much as they used to. It makes mom sad. The times that she spent on the 'puter talking with Mystique's mom were filled with laughter and tears, depending on the day, or even the minute sometimes. Mystique's mom Brandy has an amazing heart, and opens her home to all kinds of animals who are in need of love and a home.

New Group!

Hey guys!

I just made a new group called Holistixperience.

It's for those that tend to look for holistic treatments in the care of their home and companion animals.

If anypup would like to join us, we would love to have you. We could only benefit by sharing with more pups, so everyone is welcome!

Please p-mail me or search for the group and send a request that way.

I AM LOVED!!!

Here's the newest dogster tag craze - being loved! Pick 3 dogsters you think are really pawriffic and paw a little about why! Let them know how much they are loved with a rosette or by paw mail! I'm guessing you can't love tag the ones that have 'tagged' you?!?!?

I am loved by the ever so handsome Butch!! Butch is a wonderful friend, who has taught me the value of a good belly laugh on a rainy, dreary day...the fine art of canine seduction, and the joy that a really good dog toy from a friend can bring to a couple of silly pups. His humor and kindness are a large part of what I love about dogster, and friends like Butchie are few and far between.

So many to choose from, but here are my three:

Mystique: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/214488
Mystique has been a wonderful dogster pal of mine for almost two years now. She is beautiful and kind, smart and funny, and always willing to lend an ear. When our pack has gone through tough times, we can count on her friendship, she has seen us through so many trials and tribulations, both with two leggers and four. We've cried and laughed with her more times than we can count. Sometimes, when Mystique has a naughty at home, it makes mom feel like Monte isn't the only pup who on occasion likes to drive his mum crazy! Mystique is a very elegant and admirable friend, one that anypup would be lucky to call their pal. Mystique, we miss you since we don't get to chat as much as we used to, but you live in our hearts and are a special part of every day, whether we get to chat it up or not. SMOOCHES!

Woody: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/217014
Ahhhh...sweet Woody, where does one start? You are dogster's knight in shining armor, always chivalrous and polite, ever the gentleman, and with a smile that is enough to break any girl's heart. I remember introducing you to my best pal Mystique, and smiling to myself watching your love for each other blossom. Your smile and friendship has given us strength in times of need, and your warm sense of humor are appreciated, more than you know. Your two legger is a very special lady, and your entire pack is so well-loved by ours, if I could only give you all the hugs I've been saving for you in the year+ that we've been pals. We really miss you guys. We think about you all the time, wondering if you're smiling, how that beautiful mom of yours is doing, and praying for Archie's health. Friends like you guys are truly a gift from heaven. God bless you all, and thank you for all that your friendship has meant to us.

Zeke: http://www.dogster.com/dogs/227587

You are as handsome as you are kind. True to your breed, you are a very loyal and devoted friend. We can always count on that silly black tongue of yours to make us smile, and you and your sister seem to know, somehow, when mom could really use a little sunshine in a dismal day. On those days, we log into dogster, and lo and behold, will find a note, or a rosie, or just a picture of you in one of our old inbox messages, and the cares of the day seem to melt away. Whenever we need to smile, you are one of the first pups we look to. When I think of Zeke, I think of a wonderful friend, one that we care deeply for and love hearing from. You handsome devil, you! We love ya, buddy!

Two years old!

Hey guys,

So I'm DOG TIRED after a very exciting birthday party with a bunch of doggy and two-legged pals, but I just wanted to swing in here and say I'm so thankful to all of you who have given rosies or made pictures or just sent wishes of fun and love.

You guys really know how to make a gal feel special! If you read my last entry, you know we're out of rosies for a while, but we will do our best to show our appreciation as soon as possible!

July Nineteenth!

July Nineteenth,

You are so very far away.

This makes me sad, because until you are here, I have no rosies for my friends.

However, if you were here today, I would have missed my birthday.

So, um...if you're not busy on Thursday, I will have turned two by then, and that might be a great time for you to get here with my next rosie delivery.

Don't you understand that Monte was sick and we needed to give them to our friends and well-wishers?

I look forward to our rendevous with great anticipation.

Lazlo!

Today's rescue doggy is Lazlo. He's a SUPER handsome pup, and reminds my mom of her favorite English Springer growing up (Willie) who had one brown eye and one blue eye.

Here's his link:

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi? petid=8625672

And his sad story of how he came to, once again, be needing to find himself a home, hopefully this time, forever.

Lazlo is a big, beautiful teddy bear! He has one brown eye and one piercing blue eye. He was adopted from us three years ago and was recently returned because he frequently dug under the fence and escaped from his yard. Lazlo does very well on a run or long tie-out, but doesn't like to stay out alone for long periods of time. Lazlo's heart's desire is to be with his family. He loves kids and is very gentle with them. He also loves the company of other dogs. This sweet guy has really come out of his shell since we first took him from a shelter in WV. He had been abused by the people who supposedly took care of him and trembled with fear when he first arrived at his foster home. He now loves to greet people and would make an excellent therapy dog. He's an awesome dog!

This dog looks just like me as a pup, only a different- color!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=829 4596

Lena! We LOVE YOU!

For those of you in VA, check her out. She's one of the cutest puppies I've ever seen!

My name is Lena (aka 'Choo-Choo') and I am a 4 month old Chow/Poodle mix. I was a little shy at first, but now I am doing wonderfully in my foster home. I like lots of attention and being petted, but do have a little trouble sitting still. I like trying to swim in my water bowl, willingly share my food, and am doing wonderfully with housetraining. I am current on vaccines and due to be spayed soon. I would like a home with other pets because I get a little sad when I am completely alone. I do well with adults and would be fine with older children. I am cool around the cats and love the dogs. Overall, I am a very good catch.

Give Bear a home!

OK guys...he's like a BIG, BLACK fuzzy wuzzy version of me! How could someone NOT want this dog? Mom would snatch him up in a heartbeat, if she thought she could convince dad...

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi ?petid=7614911

Bear is about 3 years old, he came to the shelter on 5/25/06. He came in because grandchildren entered the picture and no one wanted to take the time to teach Bear about children. :( Bear is shy at first but very friendly once he gets to know you and he's getting less and less shy everyday!

If there was a way to embed his picture, I KNOW one of you would fall in love with him. The poor guy has been at the shelter for over a year...being a big, black, male dog, he's really struggling to find someone to love him.

:o(

The best loan I've ever taken out!

A LOAN FROM GOD

God promised at the birth of time, a special friend to give,
his time on earth is short, he said, so love him while he
lives. It may be six or seven years, or twelve or then
sixteen, but will you, till I call him back, take care of him for
me? A wagging tail and cold wet nose, and silken velvet
ears, a heart as big as all outdoors, to love you through the
years. His puppy ways will gladden you, and antics bring a
smile, as guardian or friend he will, be loyal all the while.
He'll bring his charms to grace your life, and though his stay
be brief, when he's gone the memories, are solace for your
grief. I cannot promise he will stay, since all from earth
return, but lessons only a dog can teach, I want you each
to learn. Whatever love you give to him, returns in triple
measure, follow his lead and gain a life, brim full of simple
pleasure. Enjoy each day as it comes, allow your heart to
guide, be loyal and steadfast in love, as the dog there by
your side. Now will you give him all your love, nor think the
labor vain, nor hate me when I come to call, to take him
back again? I fancy each of us would say, "Dear Lord, thy
will be done, for all the joy this day shall bring, the risk of
grief we'll run." "We'll shelter him with tenderness, we'll love
him while we may, and for the happiness we've known,
forever grateful stay." "But shall the angels call for him,
much sooner than we've planned, we'll brave the bitter grief
that comes, and try to understand."

Author Unknown

My dogster twins...

OK, we always get compliments on what a unique looking pup I am. I've never seen another pup that looked like me, until dogster!

Check out these ladies, and tell me they aren't my dogster twins...

D.O.G. and Paws!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/553619

http://www.do gster.com/dogs/167968

What FINE looking ladies, if I do say so myself!

About our tags..

I know we got tagged and that we have some tagging yet to do. For those pups who tagged us and for whose tags we have not yet been able to return the favor, I'm sorry. One of mom's favorite-est people in the world passed away, and we are very busy this weekend with funeral arrangements.

Once things calm down around here,we will resume our tagging duty with dignity and aplomb.

Sorry, guys! Be back soon!

Tagged by Benoni, Hannah, Casey the Big Red Wonder Dog, and- Booker!

OK, I'm at it again kids...

Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. I like to go camping with mom and dad and Monte.
3. I like my pet kitty Ahab, and lick his ears to keep 'em clean!
4. I like being the only girl at the dog park, surrounded by big slobbery Saint Bernards!
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Vincent
2. Joey Bagadoughnuts
3. Jackie Poo
4. Cognac
5. Sinbad
6. Sir Snickers Alot
7. Fun Loving Five!

Today's rescue doggy is...

Jasmine!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.c gi?petid=8354430

What a pretty bully girl...young, brown and lovely - like me!

Anybody want to hug and smooch all over that cutie pie, or what?

Yep, Tagged Again!

Daisy Mae, you sweet thing, let's do this!

Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. I like to go camping with mom and dad and Monte.
3. I have lots of godmothers...that's what all mom's friends call themselves in reference to me!
4. I paw at my brother's big nose whenever I want him to come play with me.
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Rocky
2. Fabulous Conway Sisters
3. Bubbles
4. Raskol
5. Zeke
6. Duchess
7. Vance

This is fun!

That's right, ANOTHER tag!

This time, by the ever so handsome original BAMF himself, Zeus.


Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. I like to go camping with mom and dad and Monte.
3. I have lots of godmothers...that's what all mom's friends call themselves in reference to me!
4. I paw at my brother's big nose whenever I want him to come play with me.
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Greta
2. Butch
3. Nutmeg
4. Paws
5. Mocha
6. Flurry
7. Darby, CGC

This is fun!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Bear!

Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. I like to go camping with mom and dad and Monte.
3. I have lots of godmothers...that's what all mom's friends call themselves in reference to me!
4. I paw at my brother's big nose whenever I want him to come play with me.
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Second Chance
2. Sirius Black
3. Bellamy "Scarlett"
4. Joey
5. Gus
6. Piper
7. Otto, Registered Service Dog

This is fun!

Tagged again!

I've been tagged by Carmen!


Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. Mom and my 'gility teacher say I'm one of the smartest pups around!
3. Sometimes I am very shy around strangers.
4. I paw at my brother's big nose whenever I want him to come play with me.
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Xena, Warrior Princess
2. Kelev
3. Big Pappi
4. Arguss
5. Lara
6. Sinty & Samantha
7. Peanutty

This is fun!

Tagged again! BOL!

I've been tagged by the ever so cute Parker! Hooray!

Here are the rules of the game!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. My favorite thing to eat is venison
2. I hate it when Monte slobbers all over me and my pretty fur gets all crusty.
3. I love Chardonnay. I turn my nose at any other wine my mother has, but I'm all up for a sip of Chard if I can convince her to share (but just a taste!)
4. I paw at my brother's big nose whenever I want him to come play with me.
5. I think God made every dog on the planet specifically to be my best play mate.
6. I have my own myspace page!
7. I LOVE swimming, but Hate Hate Hate baths!

This time, I'm tagging...

1. Sabrina
2. Dickens
3. Kitai
4. Naila
5. Meatball
6. Missy
7. Zeke

This is fun!

I got tagged!

I got tagged by my divalicious pal Bella Bean and my handsome pants friend Otis.

Here's how it works!

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to bark them a pmail that they have been tagged and to read your Diary, or, send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!

1. I am very shy around strangers, until I get to know them.
2. I am the only mutt in my agility class.
3. The only time I ever said "no" was when I misunderstood the question
4. I would pick winter over summer anyday, if it were not for summer swimming!
5. I've gotten to meet one of my dogster pals for play dates! (Bubbles!)
6. I've won three pretty big pet photo contests!
7. Mom is having a portrait painted of me and Monte for her and dad's anniversary!

My seven tags:
1.Mystique
2. Woody
3. Carmen
4. Summer
5. Blake
6. Onyx
7. Tucker

Otis makes me laugh!

Look at this face!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi? petid=8336927

What a cute, funny dog. Poor guy is blind and deaf, but looks like he has a whole mess of character! He's not too far away from here...I'd snatch him up in a heartbeat if I could and let him live out the remainder of his days in peaceful happiness.

Unfortunately, I'm sure Monte would have other ideas.

Sorry we've been missing lately!

Mom's excuse is that it's the end of the semester...my question is, what the heck is a semester and why is this thing interfering with my dogster?

Anyhoo, here is the rescue dog of the day:

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?p etid=8382382

I know that the designer (hybrid) breeds are really popular right now. This rescue usually pulls from Ohio, and takes a lot of dogs out of auction

"This is Annabel. She is what they call a Yorkie-Poo , which is a fancy name for a Yorkshire Terrier / Poodle cross. She is small and sweet. SHe is about a year old. She was rescued out of a puppy mill. "

I don't know a lot about this particular rescue, except that their adoption fees are somewhat high. But so are breeder costs (even from a BYB), and these dogs really need homes. So, anyone in for giving Annabel a forever home with lots 'o love?

Check out Xena!

This little warrior princess needs a home! Can you, or someone you know, help?

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi? petid=8001145

This fawn sweetheart is only 12-14 weeks old. She has been vaccinated, wormed, and on her way to housebreaking.

Today's rescue pup is...

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=778 5186

Birdie!

She's a beautiful bully girl, if anyone is interested in giving her a great home, I'm sure she'd make a wonderful furkid!

Notes: Hi! My name is Birdie, and I am a very friendly and happy 12-week old brindle-colored Pitbull mix puppy! I was rescued from a shelter in Kentucky where scores of healthy and friendly puppies like me get euthanized every day because they have no space. Boy, am I grateful to be here, and wow do I love the snow! It's incredibly fun to run around in a fenced yard, sliding down hills and snowplowing with my front legs while chasing snowballs! The great rescue folks are getting me all fixed up too...I was covered in itchy, painful flea bites when I came, but got a very soothing bath and am on the road to recovery. My foster mom says I'm unbelievably cute and that my fur is incredibly soft. She isn't sure how big I will grow to, but guesses around 45-50 pounds. She says I'm not nearly as stocky as lots of Pit mixes. I'm super friendly to all of the people that I've met, and my foster mom is making sure to get me socialized with all kinds of people since I'm in that critical puppy period of socialization. She says they all coo and "ooh" and "aah" when they meet me, which seems like a terrific thing! I also love all the other dogs with whom I'm being fostered, and really like playing doggy games with them. I'm off to a great start with the housebreaking thing, and am doing well getting accustomed to a crate. I'm also getting used to having a collar and leash on for the first time! I've already learned "sit" and am working on learning my name and to "lay down." My foster mom says I'm darn smart! I am healthy and vaccinated and looking for my chance at a loving forever home. If you are interested in me, please fill out an adoption application at www.cayugadogrescue.org and live within 1 hour of Ithaca, NY. The rescue folks do home visits on all applicants and can't travel farther than that.

Rescue dog of the day!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=793 1909

See, you CAN get designer dogs in rescues!

Charlie, good luck, you cutie pie!

Hi! My name is Charlie and I am a goofy, sweet, funny 1-year old, 85-pound, neutered male Labradoodle (half Labrador, half Poodle). I am a sweet, sweet guy and I love affection (I melt into a puddle on the floor when you pet me and rub my belly), love running around in a fenced yard, love playing with other dogs, and love training (the treats are awesome, and I'm good at it and get tons of praise)! I'm a dog obedience graduate and know things like "sit," "down," "wait," "leave it," and "paw." I'm crate-trained, which is a good thing, because at my age still, I cannot be left free in the house when you are not at home. Being true to my Labrador genes, I chew stuff up! Yup--toys, dogbeds, even furniture once in a while. Oops! I don't mean to do wrong, I just don't understand. That's the main reason that mom and dad (who love to so much) are looking for a new home for me. They work a fair amount, and that means that I have to spend so much time in my crate. I get really bored, and they feel so badly about it. They think I would be much happier in a situation where someone was around more often, so I could be out of my crate and getting love and attention. They also think I would be ridiculously happy if someone was interested in doing more dog training and agility with me, because I really love to use my mind and learn things. They want you to know some funny things about me...I love having another dog in the house and would really prefer to go to a new home with another dog. I get jealous when the other dog has a toy, and I do this thing that cracks them up--I gaze at the toy with longing while making this hysterical moaning sound that apparently sounds like "Chewbacca" from Star Wars! I also love to play fetch, and "chase me." Some of my favorite things are batting around ice cubes, chewing on a soaked-wet-and-then-frozen rope toy when it's hot out, wrestling with other dogs, hiking (though I get tired out, I'm not a distance hiker!), playing with squeaky toys (but you have to watch me or I'll chew them apart), and Kong toys! Oh, I LOVE Kong toys filled with biscuits and peanut butter! Mom says I'm goofy and remind her sometimes of a little puppy! One thing you should know--despite the reputation of Labradoodles as "hypoallergenic" I don't think I am! I shed!!! I'm great and friendly with new people, and super loyal and loving. I'm looking for a home that is loving, fun, active, has another dog (I hope) and where I will be a very active center of my family's life. I'm healthy, up to date on vaccinations, and ready to meet you! Please fill out an adoption application for me at: www.cayugadogrescue.org and live within 1 hour of Ithaca, NY. The rescue folks do home visits on every applicant and can't travel farther than that.

Rescue pup of the day!

This one isn't even near my area, but he's so adorable! Check him out!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?p etid=7981140

Paxton, I hope you find a home soon, because you are heart-breakingly cute!

Rescue pup of the day!

OK guys...I haven't posted in a couple of days because things have been crazy.

BUT, Mom is in LOVE with this guy. We'd take him a heart beat, if we could. He's very stunning, but is a special needs guy. He's been in rescue since mom brought me home over 1 year ago...anypup interested in a new brother?

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.c gi?petid=4509171

Look at this gorgeous fellow! Have you ever seen such a handsome gent? Rex came to our rescue almost a year ago and he's still waiting patiently for the right person to come and sweep him off his paws. Poor Rex was a canine casualty of the war in Iraq. When his owner was deployed, Rex had nowhere else to go but to the city shelter in Paris KY. At 2y/o, Rex is a lively dog with loads of energy and enthusiasm. Being deaf doesn't stop this guy from doing everything that any hearing dog can do...with gusto! Rex is very intelligent and knows hand signals for many commands like sit, down and come. He's also very athletic and can leap a four foot fence from a stand-still! He's a natural for agility, flyball, backpacking or any other doggy sport. Rex is kind of macho, a "guy's dog". He's the perfet side-kick for an active youg man who wants a dog to go everywhere and do everything with him. We are looking for someone who hasexperience handling assertive breeds such as Rotties, Dobies or German Shepherds, etc. Rex is by no means an aggressive dog. He just needs a calm assertive owner who will set firm boundaries in place and be consistent with training Rex to respect them. So, if you're an active, assertive person (male or female) who's looking for a beautiful, intelligent, exhuberant, athletic clown dog to share your life, please consider Rex.


[IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c216/Mocha_Bear /NY461_4509171-1-x.jpg[/IMG]

Vote for me?

Please?

If you've got a minute?

http://www.picmydog.com/vote/21e90cc0599e198a40a4 eada807cc7f0

Diary Help?

Hey guys....

So mom figures that, since my page has over 5,000 views already, it might be a good way to give some special rescue pups a little exposure. So each day, she tries to find a supremely cute pup on petfinder, one that needs a home, and post about the doggie in my diary, to maybe help find him/her a home.

Anyway, is there a way to insert images into diary entries? Lately, when my pals have left me rosies, I can see images inserted into the comments that come with them. Can you do the same thing with a diary entry?

Today's rescue pup is...

A cutie pie! Momma grew up with beagles, and says this one is super cute! Anyone in Upstate New York interested in taking this peanut home with them and giving him the love he deserves? He did GREAT on his temperament test!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi? petid=7941937

This is “Ringo”, a very sweet beagle that came to us as a stray running free in the country and had no owner looking for him. Not knowing his story, we took him in and are now trying to find him his forever home. Our vet says he is about 2-3 years old. After doing his temperament test we observed that he is just a laid back boy that is extremely friendly and would love to be someone’s companion that could also have full access to the couch. If you would like to meet “Ringo”, contact the Front Street Dog Shelter!

Today's pup is....

MOLLY!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi ?petid=7913380

Molly's a beautiful GSD/Rottie mix. She just came into the Binghamton Human Society late last week, so there isn't any information listed on the site yet. But if you're looking at her link and loving that face, contact BHS for more information about this beautiful girl!

Today's Rescue Doggie Is....

Nikki!

Nikki's at the rescue Monte came from. She must be new there, but she sure is a cutie pie!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?p etid=7915462

Nikki was born 4/24/06 and weighs about 30 lbs. She was tearfully given up because of the severe problems that Adelphia Cable is having in Coudersport, PA. Her owner must move far away and Nikki couldn't go. She's a shaggy little thing with an incredible disposition and is about the cutest ever!! We are told that she is struggling with housetraining and will need some effort in this area. She's a happy, healthy, charming, short legged little girl. Each Joyful Rescues pet has been thrown away at least once. Pets are not disposable because your life has changed. Before you decide to bring a pet into your home, make absolutely sure that it will be a life time commitment. When our pets leave us we want them to go to their forever homes.
Joyful Rescues has no funding with the exception of our adoption fees and miscellaneous donations. The fees for our puppies/dogs run $200.00-$300.00 each. For a senior or high maintenance dog (behavioral/medical issues) the fee will be more negotiable. In general our fees include spay/neuter, all age appropriate vaccines, micro-chipping & registration, a 5# bag of Science Diet food, worming & flea control - a "complete" pet. Pet Care and Vet Bills are expensive, you must be ready to take on this financial (as well as emotional) responsibility.

Good luck, Nikki! You're a cutie pie! Hope you find a home soon!

Rescue pup of the day!

OK guys...we decided that whenever we get a chance, we'll pick a cute pup in need from petfinder and give them a little added exposure right here in my diary! These doggies will be in the New York/Pennsylvania region, or at least come up in regional searches from those areas.

Today's doggy is:

Lucy!

To adopt Lucy, you must live within forty five minutes of Ithaca, New York!

http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi? petid=7511278

Hi, my name is Lucy, and I am a very sweet, friendly, easygoing, happy, 10-month old, petite, 40-pound Labrador Mix. Would you believe--at my age!--that I have just had a litter of puppies! It's true! Just 4 weeks ago! I'm a little surprised myself. One day I am visited by a very handsome fellow and next thing I know I have 9 little puppies following me around everywhere. It's tiring being a mom, but I'm doing a terrific job taking great care of them all. They are adorable and sweet and I love them very much. All of us are in a terrific, loving foster home with many other dogs (both big and small), and I really like them all. I'm great with dogs, but I have to admit that I like to chase cats if given the chance. I'm a lovely young girl with a terrific temperament and personality, I'm already housebroken, I know how to sit and have great house manners. I guess I'm thoughtful. In my original home (where I was before I got pregnant and then was surrendered), there were children so I'm good with kids. I am spayed and up-to-date on vaccinations and really healthy! If you think you are interested in me, please fill out an adoption application at www.cayugadogrescue.org and live within 45 minutes of Ithaca, NY. The rescue folks do home visits on every applicant and can't travel farther than that.

YAY Lucy! Good luck finding your new home, you sweet angel!

A Mutt's tale (taken from the Fabulous Conway Sisters'- Fabulous Post in the forums!)

Dudley wasn’t sure how many weeks he’d been in the animal shelter, but it seemed like forever. Each day was the same as the one before and he spent most of his time sitting on the wooden palette in his pen, staring at the wall and waiting for dinner. His life with his former owners, brief though it was, hadn’t been great - he wasn’t loved or wanted - but even that was better than this, he thought.

He occupied himself by watching a fly on the wall until he heard some of the other dogs barking a greeting to the old bloodhound Humphrey, as he made his morning rounds.

Behind his back the others called him “Harrumphrey,” because of his habit of “harrumph!-ing” whenever anything displeased him, which was most of the time.

Humphrey was the mascot of the shelter, allowed to roam the building as he pleased, and he slept overnight in the office. He’d lost a hind leg years ago when a nearsighted hunter couldn’t tell the difference between a bloodhound and a deer, so the shelter staff didn’t have to worry about him wandering very far.

Humphrey paused in front of Dudley’s pen and inspected the young mixed terrier, which made Dudley even more uncomfortable. He hung his head a little lower and avoided Humphrey’s stare.

“You boy... look alive!” Humphrey ordered. “It’s opening time and the people will be coming.”

“Alive?” Dudley sighed. “Alive for what? Nobody’s going to want me. Not even my mama wanted me. They said I was found in a dumpster when I was a puppy.”

Humphrey pondered that for a moment.

“Of course you were,” he drawled. “Put you there for safekeeping, she did. No place safer than a dumpster - solid steel. Nothin’ could have happened to you there, I promise you that.”

“My former owners didn’t want me either,” Dudley explained. “Said they didn’t have time for a dog. Said I ate too much. Said I cost too much. Said I didn’t match their furniture. Said they wanted a human baby instead.”

“Harrumph!” grunted Humphrey. “Some humans are too stupid to take care of themselves, let alone cohabitate with a superior being. It was their loss, I assure you. Why, look at you! You’re a fine specimen of a...well, anyone can see that you’re obviously a....um...

“A mutt,” said Dudley resignedly. “Go ahead and say it, everyone else does. My former people called me a mutt, everyone that comes down this aisle points and says ‘oh, he’s just a mutt,’ and then they go look at the purebreds on the other side. I’m not even sure what a mutt is, but I know I am one.”

“Just a mutt!” Humphrey sputtered. “Why I’ll have you know there’s nothing better than a mutt! Mutts are healthy, intelligent and brave. Haven’t you noticed that the bluebloods on that side are usually only here for a few days, while some of you mutts are here for weeks and months?”

“Yeah,” said Dudley, “because nobody wants us.”

“Balderdash!” Humphrey roared. “It’s because we can hardly stand to part with you! Mutts are some of the most cherished members of the canine community.”

“If we’re so great, what is a mutt?” Dudley asked suspiciously.

“A mutt?...I can scarcely believe you don’t know. A mutt is, well, it’s an old...newfangled term meaning, let’s see, how should I put this?...it’s short for, uh...hmmm...yes! It stands for ‘Magnificent Under-Touted Terrier’ ... M.U.T.T.”

“Manigifent under-tooted terrier?! What’s that?” Dudley asked, perking up his ears.

“MAGNIFICENT under-TOWted terrier. Touted means ‘praised and appreciated,’” Humphrey replied confidently.

“Really? Is that true?” Dudley asked.

“Absolutely. It’s even written in the Good Book...Neuteronomy chapter 3, verse 16, I think.”

“Well, I’ll be...” Dudley shook his head in wonder. “You mean that big boy in the next pen is a M.U.T.T., too?”

“One of the rarest. That’s a Lithuanian Liver-Spotted Lop Ear.”

“My! And that longhaired girl over there is also a M.U.T.T.?”

“You’ve got a good eye - she’s a, um... Moroccan Multi-colored Mongrel.”

“Whoa...that does sound unusual. And what about him?” Dudley asked, pointing to a little dog who almost defied description.

“Him? Why he’s a....a Chinese Curly-Q-tailed Cur.”

“Goodness! Do they know they are M.U.T.T.’s?” Dudley asked.

“I’m sure they do,” Humphrey said, lowering his voice. “But one of the distinguishing features of a M.U.T.T. is modesty - you don’t want to brag all over the place and make the pedigreed dogs feel bad.”

“I see,” Dudley said and shook his shaggy head.
Now then...it takes more than M.U.T.T. status to get out of here and into the right home. Do you do any tricks?”

“Not really. I can have a ‘conniption fit’ - at least that’s what my former owners used to call it.”

“You don’t want to overdo it now. A modicum of restraint is called for,” Humphrey cautioned.

“Gee, you certainly use a lot of big words,” Dudley said.

“My former owner was a librarian. May she rest in peace,” Humphrey said as his voice trailed off.

“Oh...I’m sorry.”

“Never you mind...I’m as content as a hound can be,” Humphrey assured him, trying not to look too hard at the concrete and wire that made up his world, where lace curtains and a comfortable couch used to be.

“You need to put your best paw forward, show your best qualities. You are brave aren’t you?”

“Oh yes! I once killed a rat that was as big as a house!” Dudley boasted.

Humphrey squinted his eyes a bit. “And you are honest aren’t you?”

“Absolutely!” Dudley assured him. “...err, actually it was most likely a really big mouse.”

“...and sincere?” Humphrey pressed him.

“Quite. Um...the mouse was suffering the effects of poison,” Dudley admitted.

“Then that’s that,” Humphrey concluded. “I hear some humans headed this way...chin up, chest out, show ‘em what you’ve got.” And with that Humphrey marched off toward the office.

The human couple hesitated in the doorway of the kennel for a moment...so many dogs to choose from. They started down the aisle, reading the cards attached to the pens, stopping to let dogs sniff their hands and to give them a scratch under the chin. They seemed kindhearted.

“Look dear,” the woman said. “Isn’t that one handsome?”

“Too big,” the man answered. “He’d eat us out of house and home. I like the look of that one there,” he said, pointing to one of the purebreds.

“She is pretty, but too much grooming required,” the woman said. “What’s this little guy here?” she asked.

“Him? That appears to be a genuine mutt.”

Dudley’s ears pricked up in an instant. They were talking about him!

“Yes!” he barked as he jumped off his palette and ran to the front of the pen. “I’m a M.U.T.T., and a magnificent one, too! I’m intelligent and loyal - and I’m brave - I once killed a rat as big as a...nevermind...I’m not afraid of anything. Arf! If a burglar ever breaks into your house, I’ll bite him on the ankle! Woof! Why, I’m so valuable that my mama put me in a dumpster for safekeeping.”

“He’s a spunky little guy, isn’t he?” the woman commented.

“And look at this,” Dudley barked, standing up to get their attention. “I can jump, and spin in circles, and chase my tail, and rollover, and dance on my hind legs, and beg...and show my belly...and...,” until he toppled over from the effort.

“What was that?!” the man asked.

“I believe that’s what my grandmother would have called a ‘conniption fit,’” the woman laughed. “Oh, isn’t he precious? He’s just the sort of energetic dog we want. What do you think?”

“I think we’ve got ourselves a genuine mutt,” the man answered with a smile.

Dudley beamed with joy as his new humans filled out the paperwork in the shelter office. He danced when they put a new red collar and leash on him, and he helped carry his leash in his mouth on their way to the parking lot.

Humphrey watched as the humans picked up the little mutt and gently loaded him into their car, and as Dudley jumped around on the back seat and then gave a goodbye “Arf!” as the car drove away. He turned and walked back down the kennel aisle, stopping to wipe at his eyes with a paw.

“Goshdarn cat allergies!” he muttered. “I’ve got the weepy-sneezies again.”

The other animals looked at him with understanding and they, too, pretended to have an allergy attack. Even the cats.

©Copyright Jim Willis 2002
From the book "Pieces of My Heart - Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature

Adoption!

Please help! After two long years of being on a waiting list

for a dog, we have been notified by breed rescue that, at long last,

our number has come up and ... WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!

We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know

how time consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just

wouldn't be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be

arriving on Monday we MUST place the children up for adoption this

weekend!

They are described as:

One male -- his name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix),

light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent

disposition. He doesn't bite. Temperament tested. Does have

problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had chicken Pox and

is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy

eats everything, is very clean, house trained and gets along well

with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little training

he should be able to read soon.

One female -- her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix),

strawberry blonde hair, green eyes quite freckled. Two years old.

Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumb sucker. Has been

temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting

occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very

healthy and can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little

girls and little boys but does not like to share her toys and

therefore would do best in a one child household. She is a very

quick learner and is currently working on her house training.

Shouldn't take long at all.

We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what's

right for them. That is why we contacted a rescue group. But we

simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may

hurt our new puppy.

I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we

have a real emergency here! They MUST be placed into your rescue by

Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at

the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has

to be our new puppy.

-- Author Unknown

Keep your dogs safe in the office!

This is a horrible story that hopefully none of us have to go through. I was sick to my stomach to read this but wanted to pass it along to you guys as an FYI. After doing a little research on this I have come to find that this is a common occurrence or at least more common then you would think.

http://www.newsday.com/features/consumer/ny-lspets 5062383jan22,0,2891784.story

I AM a Winner!

Howdy pups! Great news! I just won my third, that's right, third, photo contest! Carealotpets had an online photo contest, and my picture was chosen as the winner! Mom just got the call from them last night, and was so proud of me!

Mum says I must be one of the cutest mutts around...or how the heck else would I obtain such prestigious honors?

Bark for a Park!

Hi all!

OK, so we have a dogster pal named Bubbles. Bubbles is my very biggest friend. Whenever we get to have a play date, momma makes me all soft and shiny so I can be freshly covered with slobber from Bubbles and my bro.

Bubbles has his very own dog park! Well, maybe it's not named after him or anything, but as far as I can tell, he OWNS this place. When we go there, we have SO much fun. But it is an hour and a half drive to get there. I want my very own dog park so I can show Bubbles a fun place to play too, you know, return the favor? Also, mom thinks that we deserve it, they try to kick us out of some of the trails in town, so why not give us our own place?

Anyway dogster, if you or anyone you know has furfriends in or near Binghamton, maybe you could lend your support to my petition? There is a way to sign listed right on my page. Eventually, fundraisers and committee development will need to happen locally, when we are getting ready to approach the Department of Parks and Recreation. I offer free playdates at the new Binghamton Dog Park to anypup who's willing to support it!

Mokie

Agility - hooray!

So guys, agility is going great! I had my second class last night. My teacher Abbie is mega-fun. There's only one other doggie in my class, his name is Simon. Simon is an Australian Cattle Dog. He looks just like my friends (who are, unfortunately, not on dogster) Queenie and Regal.

Well, every Friday mom gets out of work early. Her and Queenie and Regal's two-legger (Brenda) grab a bottle of wine and take me over to Brenda's house. She has a huge field, edged with woods and a creek, so we run as fast as we can all afternoon. Mom laughs because she says I run so hard it looks like I'm kicking my ears with my back legs! Fridays are SO fun.

Anyway, it sure did make things hard at doggy school having a classmate who looks just like 'em. My teacher means business, and no play time until the end of class, so we can stay F-O-C-U-S-E-D. We didn't get to have play time at the end of the first class, but last night she let us play. Abbie said I have wonderful play skills! Mom says even though I get a little nervous around people, I sure do play well with other doggies. Simon needs to work on his play skills, the poor guy. At least he has better manners than Monte - BOL! I'll help him develop those play skills, don't youpups worry!

'Till next time!

Mokie

Agility tonight!

Oh my Dog! I get to start agility school tonight just like a big girl! Mom says my new teacher's name is Abbie. Abbie has been all over the world to compete internationally with her doggies, and mum says she's great!

I can't wait to check it out, I'll have to keep everypup posted. Mom says lots of competitions don't allowed mixed breeds, but I know mom will love me best of all, even if I'm the slowest dog in class....but I bet I won't be, because I love to run FAST!

Mum says I am a girl with lots of energy, and that she needs to find a release for some of my pent-up energy....if she walked me as often as I wanted her to, she would be out of a job. So, wish me luck pups, I'm off to rock the agility field!

Two things....

First, I've found my dogster twin! I got a pal request from the most stunningly lovely little gal, named Paws, and get this folks....she is like my body double! It's insane how much we look alike! Mum was so excited, because she never saw a doggy that looked like me before. Check out her page:

http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?i=167968&j=t


Second, I start agility soon! How exciting is that? Not this coming Wednesday, but the following, so I'll keep you updated!

Vote for Mocha!

I'm in a photo contest...anypup want to throw some votes my way?

http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photoconte st/vote?contestId=721&entry=150751

Thanks!
Mokie Bear

A Bear in her natural habitat...

A studebaker! Just kidding, enough with the Fozz E. Bear jokes. We went to the Adirondacks this weekend, and had a wonderful time! We got to run in the woods and in a beautiful stream off leash, and it was so lovely and beautiful. Long car rides make for good naps on momma, but it sure was wonderful to get our butts home again. Surprisingly, I don't think the kitties really missed us very much! Regardless, its fun to go and stay in a new place, but there is certainly no place like home. Good to be back!

My Tail of Devotion for ?Mocha Bear?

This is a special Tail of Devotion

See All Tails of Devotion

Camping, anypup?

Whoa! We went camping this weekend....Monte and I had never braved an evening in the great outdoors before.

What a great time we had! There were eight two leggers with us, and they were NUTS about us, even though some of the girls got a little grossed out by Monte's slobber (hey, it happens to the best of us).

Anyway, I have found my official calling in life....I'm a swimmer! Yep, that's right lads and lassies, I am a swimming fool! You should have seen me go....mom and dad were so proud! I looked all little and skinny when I got out, but one good shake brought the fluff factor back to the max. Monte, needless to say, has not yet lifted his girth off the bottom of the lake, he just likes to plod around in the water, maybe only up to his belly!

We toured the wineries, and Monte and I made many friends. We got so many walks, went swimming, hiked waterfalls...we were VERY tired on the second evening after such an exciting day!

Bad news...and good news

Which do you guys want first? Let's start with bad news....last week, there was a very, very bad flood in our area. Our house was only two blocks outside of the forced evacuation zone. Luckily, our house made it through high and dry....never been so glad to live on a hill! Some peoples' homes ended up floating down the river, one broke apart against a local bridge...so, they declared a state of emergency for our area. Roads have been washed out, floodwalls breached, emergency shelters have been set up. If you are reading this, please say a small prayer for all of those who have suffered or lost as a result of the flood.

Luckily, things are getting better. Times like these bring out the best in most people, and help us all to realize how blessed we are for everything we have. Our family feels very thankful and blessed to have come through relatively unscathed...

Now, for the good news - tomorrow is my very first birthday! Mom said she got presents for me, so I can't wait! Next time I bark at you all, I'll be a BIG girl!

Mokie

On being thankful...

I am very, very happy with my life as a rescue mutt. I have been blessed with a home which tolerates my puppy antics surprisingly well. I have a mum and dad who love the poo out of me, and try their very best to take wonderful care of me. I have a big brother, and a kitty brother and sister.

I also have some of the most wonderful friends in the world, many of them here on dogster. Those of you whom I love, know of my love for you. However, I would like to give a public thanks to my pal Woody, his bro Archie, and his two-legger. What wonderful friends indeed, who have allowed me to begin a reign of terror in plus. Also, now everyone knows who to blame if I start causing trouble in plus:

;o)

Giving out these rosettes and stuff, I feel like some sort of academy award winner. "I'd like to thank all of my friends and fans. I'd like to thank the little people (or should I say pups?)" all that corny junk. Tonight, I shall master the art of the Miss America wave, believe that.

To those pals whom I love so much and don't have rosettes to give until next month...feel free to bask in sweet little Mokie kisses and slobbery, slimy, semi-gross Monte kisses in the meantime, and take no offense, comrades.

Anyway, I am off for an evening of rump shaking and frolicking with mom, dad, and Monte. Rest assured, this is not the last you pups will hear of Miss Mokie Bear! And Woody, I could give you smooches all day! Thanks, my handsome friend!

New brother!

Hi everypup! Guess what? Mom rescued me a brother! She said that I was a high energy dog, even with lots of games and long walks, and that I needed someone to "wrastle" with to wear me out!

Last Friday, with her pal (my auntie Brenda), mom made the three hour trip (each way) to bring him home. Fridays are usually me and mom's special days together, so, needless to say, I was NOT particularly pleased with mom when I had to stay in my crate during the afternoon instead of playing!

But, she got home at night time, and me and dad were hanging out in the front yard together, when all of the sudden, her and Aunt Brenda pull up and...out of the car comes this huge Saint Bernard (Monte)! I wanted to see my mom, and he started getting all growly and barky with me - the nerve of this guy! Mom and dad put him in his place, and mom paid attention to me to show him who leads our pack - go mom!

After the initial annoyance of realizing I no longer had exclusive doggy rights to our house, I decided to give the big lug a chance at friendship...now, happily, we are best pals! I LOVE playing and wrestling, bumping into stuff all over the place, this is great! If we play after he has a drink, he tends to get much pleasure from slobbering all over me, so now I have to get brushed more often than I used to, to keep myself looking lovely and perfect, which is what I'm sure all my fans expect of me!

Now, every day, I have a big brother to love and play with! Mom and dad have both been pretty busy with the two of us, but Mom says, as soon as she can get some pics of my new brother online, she'll make him a dogster page too! I can't wait for him to meet all my wonderful friends!

Smoochies,
Mokie bear

New brother!

Hi all! Great news! Mom and dad put in an application with a rescue to get me a new brother, and got approved! Friday, mom and her pal Brenda are going to have a lunch date and a road trip to bring him home to me! He's about three hours drive (each way) from home, but mom says it will be very worth it!

He's a year and a half old, and is a purebred Saint Bernard. Can't wait to introduce him to all my dogster pals, wait till you guys see how handsome he is!

*Yawn* *Stretch*

Oh, hello friends! What a big day I had yesterday! I had to get up really early in the morning, and go for a ride in the car to my doctor's. Dad had to drop me off and leave me there...that was the first time that ever happened, and it better be the last! I got "fixed" (whatever the blast that means), microchipped, and had blood work, as well as having my rear dew claws removed. Last night I was wobbling like a drunken sailor, and my belly hurt so I kept getting sick...

:o(

Luckily, this morning, I was feeling pretty good. Daddy took the day off from work to stay home with me and take care of me - thanks, Dad! Mom and dad said that when I am feeling better, they might take me to get a new brother!

Keep your paws crossed, folks! I sure would love to have someone to play with...so far, I've never met a dog I didn't like, and a new brother may (just might) distract me from chasing Ahab and Eartha so much!

Smoochies,

Mokie

Hath anyone theen my teeth?

For the latht couple dayth, I have been lothing my teeth like crazy! I'll be chewing away, on whatever (mom, dad, kittieth, bully sthick...) and all of the thudden, a tooth will fall out! How am I thupposed to chew and bite everything with no teeth?

To be honetht, I thertainly do not apprethiate the new nomenclature mom has been applying to me...snaggleputh! I hope they come back thomeday...I sure do like chewing thingth...

Mom thaid maybe the tooth fairy will come vithit! I don't know who thisth broad is, but I'm hoping when she showth, she'll be equipped with a nice new set of chomperth for me...

All I want for Xmath is my two front teeth...but if I could get the retht of them too, that would be great!

Mokie

Tucker is a great pal...

First of all, mom has gotten some REALLY good and helpful advice in the forums lately...thanks so much to all our pals!

We got a very special Xmas present from my new pal Tucker...Tucker's mom made a Christmas picture of me for the site! Dad has to convert the file into a .jpg, and mom said she'll have to arm wrestle him if it doesn't go up soon! I can't wait to show you guys how cute it is! Tucker and mom...THANKS SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Mom and dad got a pretty decent pic of me last night under the tree, so maybe we'll have to put that one up too!

Happy dogidays!

Mokie

Wow, Thanks Mom and Dad!

Yesterday momma came home from work on her lunch break to see me and guess what? Treats! Toys! Lots and lots of wonderful goodness from jeffers pet in a unassuming brown cardboard box. All kinds of puppified deliciousness my eyes did spy...grizzly nu treats, new bully sticks (way better,by the way, than the ones mom spends twice as much on at the pet store), something called a Natural Balance roll...natural balance potato and duck treats, I LOVE THIS PLACE! The funny thing is, just the other day, I spied mom on the computer buying a bunch more stuff from jeffers, saying something about Christmas presents and a stocking...

Unfortunately, there was something exceedingly suspicious in this parcel...something velvety and jingly that mom says she's going to make me wear for pictures....grrrrrrrrrr....keep your eyes on my page, I'm sure she'll share with all my pals!

Mokie

What a great weekend!

Saturday was one of the best days ever. Dad and mom have these friends Brenda and Hank, and we went up to visit. Brenda and Hank live with two of my best pals, Queenie and Regal the Australian Cattle Dogs! All afternoon Queenie and Regal and I ran through the fields together and played in the creek, it was the longest period of time I've ever gotten to spend off leash, running through nature with two of my best pals!

Thanks Brenda, Hank, Queenie and Regal for a very special (and fun) day...

The bad news...mom and dad INSISTED I get a bath yesterday, but at least I'm all shiny and soft and clean and sweet-smelling now!

Can't wait to come play again, I wuff you guys!

Alas, my fair greenies, I must bid thee farewell

Hey guys! Horrible news! Greenies, one of my favorite things IN THE WORLD aren't very good for doggies! I have a friend on here, and he lost his baby boy to a greenie, and he isn't the only one, there are a few people here on dogster who have lost their perfect angels to a treat.

Momma was a little sad when she found out, because if I may say so, I am a greenie fanatic. But she said its better safe than sorry, and that she is glad I am such a fan of bully sticks so there is still something for me to chew on and play with.

I'm not trying to tell anyone what kind of treats their doggies should have, but if you feed your doggies greenies and would like a little more information, check the forums. I know all doggy mommies and daddies probably want to at least have as much information as possible on the treats and food that they give their furkids, so I just thought I'd let you all know, because we had no idea!

A dear John letter to my greenie:

Dear Greenie,

We had some good times, didn't we? Me and you, we've been through a lot. Unfortunately, I don't think its going to work out for us. Sometimes love just isn't enough, I guess. Momma says that if there's any chance I could cross a bridge just for a silly treat, that treat must not be the one for me. Wish it didn't have to end like this...we'll always have the good times. I have a new love now, named bully stick, and we are getting along famously. I wish you didn't hurt Bart, and am sending a puppy prayer to him over the bridge...

Mocha

RIBBONS!

Ribbons! You guys love me, you really love me! Who would have thought a little mutt girl like me could find so many wonderful puppy pals and puppy parents...dogster is so much fun! They don't have mixed breed dog shows around here, so these are the only ribbons I'll probably get, but I am so thankful to everyone for the bones and ribbons - don't you guys think my dogster pals are THE CUTEST? Wish we could all get together and play...

Mocha the Merciless

I'm a SNOW ANGEL!

Hi guys! I just had to tell you about this snow stuff! Yesterday, mom took a half day from work and took me outside to go potty, and all this cold and pretty white stuff was falling from the sky! It was all over the ground, and at first I was a little scared and didn't really want to get my paws wet. After working up my courage for a couple minutes, I ran down the stairs and FELL IN LOVE with the snow! I was running around, and eating it, and throwing it all over the place! Mom was laughing so hard that I'd be amazed if you guys didn't hear her! Afterwards, dad made a fire in the fireplace so we could all cuddle up and get cozy, but I would have played outside all night if they would have let me...

My whole litter may have come out of Georgia, but a southern belle I'm not! Mom and dad may not be particularly excited about months of this stuff covering the ground, but I think my playing in it ought to give them a few good laughs and make this one of the best winters ever! I hope to see lots and lots more of this fun snow!

Mom keeps talking about something called "Christmas." I don't know what this is yet, but every time I hear her talking about it she says "toys" and "presents," so I am VERY excited to find out about this Christmas thing! I'm not sure why she keeps saying they need to get me a "stocking", and they seem to be very worried about me and something suspicious-sounding called "the Christmas tree." I'll keep you posted as to how things develop!

Mocha

Mom's bedtime prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
Take Mocha's puppy teeth soon,
for my husband's sake.

Amen

The dog in the mirror

Dear pup pals,

You guys aren't going to believe this. Mom and dad have this floor to ceiling mirror in the kitchen, and there is a dog, who lives in that mirror, that looks JUST like me! Sometimes, I just lay there and stare at her. Other times, I give her kisses. But sometimes, I will sneak up at her, and then when she sees me I jump and bark and FREAK out! And if there is one thing I know about her already, it's that this girl is a BIG-TIME copycat. I wag my tail, she wags hers. I lay down on the ground and stick my butt in the air and start shaking it like a mad woman, and she does the same. I freak out, SHE freaks out...it's starting to drive me nuts!

I am a little wary of this new addition to our home. I know my brother and sister are always around (Ahab - the three legged cat/lion and Eartha Kitty), but I kind of liked being the only doggy around...I'll keep you posted as to how our relationship develops.

Slobbery x's and o's

Mokie

First day on dogster...

Hello! I'm Mocha Bear! I'm new to dogster, and can't wait to make some new friends. Mom and Dad are working hard on getting me socialized, and there are LOTS of friends for me in my neighborhood. My favorite friend is Bella, she's grandma's english springer spaniel pup. We came from the same rescue and are both 12 weeks old. I also like to play with Daisy (the pomeranian), Queenie and Regal (Australian Cattle Dogs), and Chino, Uncle Ben's red-nosed pitt. Out of all my friends, I'm the only mutt!Whenever we go for a walk, people try to guess what breed I am...everyone says I look like a little bear cub!

I love new friends, and hope to meet lots on dogster!

Lovely to meet you...

Mokie

slobbery x's and o's