Breakthrough!

Woo hoo! Phoebe is now coming out of her crate to go to the back door without the aid of a leash. She follows my leg like glue (so long as I don't look at her) and then heads out the door. She has beaned herself in the head on the glass door a couple of times in her haste to get outside. Pretty funny, poor baby! This was a major hurdle for her and I am absolutely thrilled!

Welcome Phoebe

Her name has been decided (at last!). Phoebe it is, thank you all for your input! Brian got the final say in the end since he has to live with her for now. So welcome to your foster home Phoebe, I am looking forward to seeing your progress over the coming months and helping you come out of your shell. Here she is this morning.

Her progress thus far: she still needs to be put on a leash to be taken outside but she goes out right past me. Once she is out there she is happy, she does her thing and is even starting to play chase games a bit with the other dogs. She really likes Toque and Sobe the best (Heidi gave her a nice dane paw smack so she is not the favorite). She has decided that inside the house is the only way to go and she scratches at the door like a little fiend if she thinks she has been left. She still spends most of her time in her kennel in the house, but she comes out more and more. She put her paws up on the chair yesterday, she was curious about Toque being up on the chair. Of course as soon as you look at her or acknowledge her she shoots back into the kennel. But, she is no longer plastered at the back of the kennel as far as she can squeeze herself. She is at the front and is comfortable enough to rest with the door open now. She still won't take food from my hand, but cheese is a great motivator and I have high hopes for that and I'll keep trying. She is eating with us in the room which is progress. She is booked for a grooming appointment on the 29th (they are aware that she bites, of course little biters cost extra). Hopefully she is ready for that, but regardless she stinks and is leaving clumps of matted fur everywhere so she is getting done like it or not and I will take her somewhere so that she doesn't associate me with the experience. That is it for now. I'm going to try peanut butter on a spoon today and see if she goes for that.

Cai was learning to lick his lips yesterday. Another ridiculous trick but what the heck. Sobe and Jorja are learning to do handstands, I'll try and get a little video of that progress for all you interested folks!

Really stupid pet trick

No, I haven't decided about the new dogs name, although a friend has suggested Snappy Von Bitenstein and I have to say that one has kind of stuck!! (No I will not call her that, honestly).



In the meantime I was doing some free shaping with Heidi. Don't ask me how this came up, it just did! I started putting it on cue (the hand signal of holding my nose) but I'm not sure that I really want to encourage this behaviour! For those of you wondering about Heidi's deafness, she can hear the clicker (so long as it isn't in my pocket or behind my back) but voices are pretty much out (unless I scream at a distance which I have to say has been pretty handy).

The name poll

For some reason this little foster girl is not speaking to me and letting me know her name. So here's the shortened list, have a look at her picture (below) and let me know your choice! :) She is about the size of a pomeranian or small sheltie.

Aspen

Dot

Tilly

Phoebe

Simple Progress

I am happy to report that we have succeeded in our goals. I am now able to clip the leash on and off Shiloh while she is in her crate without being bitten. I did get her on my lap with some struggle and some snapping. I think she is learning that I am more persistent than she is! She is now coming in and going out the door with me standing at the door (going out is the double whammy of lino and evil person so I still have to hold the leash). She is also scratching at the back door to come in! Yay! Yesterday she ventured out of the crate with the other dogs around. She still bolts back when I look at her though. Simple steps.

A couple of random photos

Cai weaving in Quesnel, always a good time! The truck packed to the gills on the way south, add one more big crate and the suitcases and that was how full the truck was!

Shiloh at the back door looking not too weird. :)

Doggie Detox Days 1-5

Day 1
Shiloh (soon to be renamed, haven't thought of anything good yet but it won't contain the word "shy") is transported from Adams county into my care along with four other puppy mill rescues. Shiloh has not been out of the kennels like most of the other dogs that were rescued. She is a complicated case, extremely shy and a biter. Unlike the others she has not had a chance to be in foster care or warmed up to her caregivers. Long car ride for her in her little kennel but she managed just fine. I did not let her out of the kennel until I got back home, and even then waited an hour or two to bring her out. One thing you don't do with a biting dog is stick your hand in the kennel to get a leash on, so I unceremoniously turned the kennel upside down and shuffled her out. First thing she does of course is hide in the corner, but at least I was able to get the leash on her without being bitten. Off we go outside. First time she's seen a leash, so i dragged her out the door (first time she's seen a sliding door, steps, and grass). Lucky me, she had on a regular cheap collar that broke. One free puppy mill dog loose in the back yard. Oh dear god are my thoughts, how stupid was that that I didn't put the martingale collar on her right away. Thank god for Brian's excellent fencing, there is no place for her to make the escape. If there was it would have been game over as she ran around the perimeter looking for her escape. Brian and I managed to corner her inbetween the house and the shed. He kept her from escaping while I ever so gently held out my hand (carefully sealed inside the puffy winter jacket). She snapped, snapped, snapped and then let me get my hand up behind her ears. If you ever have to pick up a biting dog the easiest way to get them without being bitten is to scruff them like a cat. Hold on to their neck folds nice and tight so they can't swing their heads around to bite you. Scruff her I did, holding on for dear life as I knew I was only going to get this lucky once. Into the house we went and on went the martingale collar so she couldn't slip another one.
Detox has begun, I put her in her kennel with the non-slip collar and a leash attached. This is essential so they a) don't ever figure out that slipping their collar works to get away; b) the attached leash gives me easy access to the dog without being bitten; and c) I can interact with the dog at a distance.
Days one and two consist of complete kennel rest away from commotion, on leash potty breaks only and fasting.
The kennel rest away from my herd helps the new dog to settle after the noise of a shelter and cold concrete plus they do not have to try and establish themselves in my group. As well, this allows me to see if the dog has any contagious diseases or extra critters. On leash potty breaks only helps the new dog learn that pottying in front of me is not a bad thing (many dogs have been punished for going to the bathroom in front of people) and I get to see what the dogs behaviour is like in general with the security of the leash. Fasting has three purposes. First is to help the dog get whatever food that their previous home or shelter has been feeding them out of their system so their gut can handle the new diet I give them. Secondly shelters, transferring homes, crate training, new environment etc. is very stressful. I find that if you feed new dogs in the first day you end up with a diarrhea problem and then you have to further stress by bathing. Third is I am making the dog hungry so that it will want to take food from me (this is really the most important I think). It is essential that I develop a relationship with the new dog so they can learn to trust and learn how to earn reward for good behaviour.
For Shiloh, Days one through three were all focused on getting her comfortable with the leash and going outside. I tied two leashes together so she could have twelve feet between myself and her. By day two she was doing better and following along for the most part so long as you don't look at her. The lino is still scary but she is getting over it. I have been dropping the leash for her as she gets outside so she can potty with me standing in the yard. It is too much for her to potty on the leash even at twelve feet but she can manage with me in the yard which is great. Her kennel is in the computer/t.v room so she sees us regularly now, sees the dogs and is getting used to house noises.
Day four I cut her back to one leash. Again, very stressful for her to be a mere six feet away now but as the day progressed she got better and better. She also was subjected to being forced to be near me at a distance of four feet while I watched t.v. on leash with no access to her kennel. This met with a lot of resistance, she was trying desperately to chew through her leash, back out of the collar, and find any means of escape. After about a half hour she gave up somewhat and lay down on the dog bed next to her closed kennel and gave me the evil eye.

Today (day 5) I have taken the leash off in the kennel and left the kennel door open. With no other dogs in the room she has come out of the kennel a few times, success! As soon as I turn to look at her and tell her she's a good girl she shoots back into the kennel though, and she refuses to come out with another dog in the room. We have two goals today. First is to get the leash on her to go outside without being bitten. The second is to get her on my lap for fifteen minutes of touch the person time. I have been hand feeding her her meals. She has thus far refused to take anything from me but yesterday was the first day she ate something in my presence (yay for chicken necks!). She is making steady progress, a little bit each day.

The Washington Post

Hi all!

Well we have arrived, it is official. After a long journey (with a great stop over in Kamloops to visit) we made it here to the US. Customs was not a great time, they did not know what to make of a crazy dog lady travelling with seven dogs. I got detained for two hours. First they totally ignored me then they put me behind a wall on a bench (reminded me of the Group W bench from the Arlo Guthrie song Alice's restaurant!) so I couldn't see while they went through my truck. Yes, even with the dogs in it they went through it. Needless to say I was a quivering wreck by the time the inquisition began but we made it through, they gave me my passport back and off I went. Unfortunately, Heidi and Toque can not behave themselves left to their own devices in the front seat for two hours. Heidi ate all seven international health certificates and my address book (thankfully the customs agent had my passport or that would have gone bye bye too) and Toque, in casual Toque style flipped the lid off my iced tea and drank it all (about 750mls worth). So off we went, some of us shaking with anxiety (that was me) and some of us shaking with sugar rush (that would be Toque).

I stopped of at the Noah Centre to let the dogs out for a run (great place for some safe off leash exercise if you're travelling by the way). Playing chuck-it Toque (in her sugar rush not that she needs any extra speed) whipped herself into a frenzy for the ball and managed to get herself T-boned by Jorja. In her haste to tell off Jorja for standing in the way and get the ball at the same time she injured herself. One little scream and up came the hind left leg. She hasn't put it down since.

I drove the rest of the way down, got everything unloaded and the dogs all settled (by this time it was 8 o'clock). I spent the night worrying about my little Toque. She was off to the local vet yesterday morning for exam and x-rays. I had to leave her there for the day as the transport for the mini aussies was already planned.

The transport went well, I drove to North Bend to pick up the dogs (lovely spot, mountains and forest very pretty) and then drove them up to the Skagit Casino for the exchange with Kim. The casino cops were unhappy about us meeting there (apparently "transactions" on casino property are not allowed, ha!) but all was well in the end. Of course I forgot my camera yesterday to take pictures of the dogs during their adventure. They were all really good, Cyrus rode up front with me to keep my company (the whole time he would look over at me then look away really quick, he was trying not to get caught being social :) ) Penny is off to Kim's, Scruffy and Don Juan and Cyrus to the shelter and Shiloh (who needs a new name that does not contain the word shy) is here.

I arrived back home around 4:00 and was then off to pick up Toque at the vet. She has dislocated her knee. The vet tells me he put it back into place and showed me the xrays. A very nice vet, but not a sports medicine guy. Anyway as a side benefit I got to see her hips which are beautiful. She is still refusing to set down the leg which has me worried tremendously. Did the kneecap slip back out? What do I do now? I have a call in to another place that has a hydrotherapy pool and have sent a message to Dr.Jeff Bowra at the SPAW in aldergrove for advice. So much for weave training! I just hope that this is an injury she will be able to recover from without surgery. They were unable to determine the state of her ACL because of the swelling. So I guess we wait. Poor baby, she wants to play but she can't.

Shiloh the puppy mill dog is very much a puppy mill dog. Of course, night one she slips her collar and is loose in the back yard. Not a problem since the fence is excellent there is nowhere for her to go but definitely a pain in the you know what. Brian and I managed to corner her (she is a little biter the brat, thank god for down coats). I picked her up and brought her back in the house. Round one for her unfortunately but what the heck. She has started doggy detox. I'll write separate posts for her and her progress. That's all for now, I am off to work the dogs!