Lick a Stick and Go Jump...by Lisa Harmon

Kenai had another accupuncture appt Wednesday, and gave Dr R a glimpse at his panicky puppy mood: he was scared of the not quite shiny floor he’d walked on twice already, scared of the tech he’d been playing smoochies with Friday, and scared of the two kittens in the boarding window. Kittens? Not like they’re sabre tooth tigers, baby love… But he dutifully held still, for the most part, and by halfway through his puppypuncture, he was heavy lidded and half asleep on his feet. When we left to go pay he was determined to go back in the room for more! Once he gets used to the proceedure, I’ll be able to get pictures. The floor, techs, and kittens, btw, weren’t scary anymore, and he was looking for fun. One thing I need to do is find a way to get him more exercise. He’s getting back into that intense critter chase state again, and I’ve had to return to the gentle leader just to take him out for his after meal business. That is something I could go the rest of my life without. BB is still spaz pup after his puppy puncture session Tuesday, though he is less uncomfortable. Evidence: he puts more weight on the gimpy leg, and doesn’t worry as much about his back half being messed with. Thank heavens the weather has turned cool a month early, and oh my does it feel like a lovely fall is about to appear. The cool air makes a girl want to snuggle into a soft sweater and leave the windows open. The sumac is already turning red, and the dogwoods are starting to color too. Yummy. Our training time with Lisa Friday was buckets of fun. While he’s in this “intensity” state, ya can’t really train or practice in a formal way and expect it to stick. So we did it sideways. All play, yet the groundwork for later public work was being laid all the same. Lisa pulled out all kinds of new things (she really has cool stuff, he thinks); hula hoops, yoga mats, bright shiny cones, baby gates…Kenai didn’t like the noise the sand in the hula hoops made, so we got him to walk over them on the floor. You would think a dog used to our living room wouldn’t care! His hesitancy pointed out something else I’d missed in his puppy socialization: walking over and through obstacles. Being somewhat unsteady, I tend to remove things in my walking paths. That or just walk around them. So he learned to walk around with me. Problem comes when there isn’t room for his big butt and my bigger butt both! When one of us has to navigate an obstacle, he has a tendency to steer clear regardless of where that puts me. Often times in such a situation, he knows the “behind” word, but that puts his shoulders behind my behind and doesn’t allow me to use them for balance. There’s always going to be times when that’s unavoidable, like the anti-shoplifting tag detectors we have to walk through in stores. But boy can step over some stuff easier than me. See, he’s not a clutz and I am, at least I am now. Even as a puppy, Kenai was THE most perfectly well co-ordinated Dane puppy I’d ever seen. Not once did he trip over his own feet, and they were, ach-hum, substantial. They all do that, but not him. He never did the “crooked run” either, where the back end is going sideways while the front end was going forwards, until he could get all the parts working together. He was just like an adult, only smaller in proportion. For a short time anyway. Kids toys, curbs, and other small stuff he can learn to walk over now that this here gymnast turned balance challenged non-gymnast just stumbles over stuff. It’s not like he’s short and would have to jump. He could walk without picking his feet up much higher than normal. Latching onto whatever develops and running with it is Lisa’s greatest skill. She just goes with a dog’s flow. She decided to make an obstacle course of her training center, and it’s construction was well supervised. He loved the kitty tunnels, especially if you played peek through them: that’d get a big slapped-down play bow. I rolled the hula hoops around, and Lisa played peek through them too. If I’d been thinking, I would’ve suggested rolling the hula hoops while running with them. Anyone remember that game as a kid, running along with a hoop? Not that I’d do it, but I’d suggest it to Lisa… An empty plastic jar was fun to chase, until it chased him. Wee one ran home to momma and played his own peek: peek around me to see if its safe! Scaredy pup-o-mine. I got up and played keep away with it, then it was a big trophy for him to bat around. We got him to start walking through tight spaces, working on a bad habit he’d developed about a year ago: refusing elevators and bathroom stalls. Tight spaces don’t bother him here at home, but that’s all his recent lack of comfort in public. They didn’t bother him anywhere when he was little. Until you’ve had a service dog, or are close to someone who does, it is nearly impossible to think of all the “obstacles” and “pitfalls” to prepare a puppy for. I’m just amazed at the breadth of an SD program puppy raiser’s awareness. I read in a post about Talos (blog link to the right) getting a chance to play in an agility tunnel, and thought about him the moment we showed Kenai a tunnel. I’ve read other puppy raisers’ blogs and how they planned outings specifically so that the puppy would walk on concrete, grass, tile, vinyl, stainless steel, sand, gravel, laminate flooring, carpet…every conceivable surface texture. Then every conceivable sound, or person, or animal. Puppy raisers are amazing, well and beyond. I’ve raised pups all my life, but never for as difficult a working life as an SD, and I’ll tell ya I never once really thought about what surface we were walking on! I’m waxing lyrical, aren’t I? Sorry. Typically, Kenai wouldn’t take treats so we were forced to be creative. He is ga-ga for butter, so he got to lick a stick. I swear this dog belonged to Paula Dean in a past life.  Then Lisa discovered the problem I’d been slammin up against all his life: he loses interest in toys and treats quickly. Even the toy on the rope he can chase like a maniac. What Kenai wants? To sniff, to shred a plastic bag or two, sniff a bit, check in with me if I move, sniff around this and that, play a game of keep away, sniff, get his rump rubs, and sniff some more. The nose. Behold the power of cheese? Not.   With Kenai not caring about stuff on the floor, we decided to up the ante and make him work for his tailored-to-boy reward. He learned a new command, “go jump”! Much like herding a horse into a chute, if he could go around he would. But with just a bit of guiding towards it via his collar, or some luring, over he went without a second thought. He’s a pretty tolerant fellow, once his initial uncertainty is dealt with as a rule. The “go jump” wasn’t his idea of great gobs of fun, but he’d do it if I wanted. The reward part is great gobs of fun, though. True to form, Kenai didn’t care for a lick of butter after his “jump”, so he got a rump rub instead. He didn’t show Lisa his flamenco puppy dance but she did get a rise out of him. He-he funny butt! That was Kenai’s training session this week, and we all enjoyed it. Boy were we bushed when it was over, though, and headed home with the intention of getting a nap. BB was scheduled for his puppy puncture session, but Mom wasn’t going to take him, I discovered. She has a cold, worse than mine at the moment. But he really needs the pain relief and relaxation, so I bucked up and put him in the car. To tire out the nascar engine powering him, first stop was the puppy store. All over he trotted, everything he sniffed, everyone he tried to con into a game of some kind. The best adjective for BB is “irrepressible”. His sense of fun never quits. Neither does his pulling like a sled dog until he’s as lathered as a wore out cutting horse. He’s what you might call greenbroke. The call came before we left the store: the vet canceled to take her sick child home. Understandable but disappointing. Screaming legs or not, I decided to give Beebs plenty of an outing so he goes home tired. So up in the car he went, and off we go to the park. Now BB is still deeply disturbed by children, and what should be there but a few toddlers. Oy. Well, I take him out anyway and hurry to the open soccer field to let him indulge the nose awhile. Anytime kids started coming near us, I move on. This gave him a chance to see them, hear them, watch them but not have to interact. We went to the playground area not being used, and he smelled everything that didn’t fly away. Good boy. Smell the kids scents, and swipe the slobber off with a towel. (BB foams). He was tired enough after 15 mintes of walking that we actually started getting a loose leash, believe it or not. Good thing too, since I was ready to drop. I don’t trust him enough to let small children pet him yet. He might scare them with his sudden barking. Older kids he’s better with, but still not the little ones. Associations from my neice. Had it been Kenai, no problem–he’s very good about toddlers and lets them do pretty much anything. Not Beebs. Kids freak him out. With my legs shaking and losing control over my feet, I decided to take home chinese. Steak in the fridge or not, I wouldn’t be able to stay up long enough to cook. So BB got to wait in the car while I ordered, and we watched all kinds of stuff together while the order was being made. A man walked right past the car and no growl came. Good boy! See the nice old lady with the walker? What a good boy…its a busy parking lot, and he was too tired to fuss about anything. Yippee! Gotta tell ya, BB is the slobberiest foam slinging dog in creation. Wow. Cujo got nothing on him. It got bad enough I hit  the AC to turn the car into an icebox. That slows down the slobber manufacturing. When ya have to wipe the inside of the windshield to see where you’re going, ya have to do something different! Both boys crashed hard, me right along with them. I’ll need the weekend to recover enough to cook those steaks, too. Ouch. Hopefully Mom’s cold will get better soon, and hopefully it won’t wipe me out as well, because BB woke up and wanted to play.

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