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| Picture of Brandon with some of his Christmas goodies (Brandon also has his tongue sticking out!) |
And now, hes not only a nice handsome dog - hes also serving as a Search & Rescue dog! 
Im so proud of my boy :) A (very) quick recap with the dates/months of when Toby came/left/graduated... We first picked up Toby on May 30th 2009, and he didnt return to the guide dog school till April 16th 2010. In October 2010 I heard that Toby was being Career changed due to allergies, but would hopefully be working as a service dog. In November 2010 I got the email telling me Tobys allergies were so severe, that he was going to be adopted out as a pet. BUT in December 2010 I was surprised with the news, that Toby would be heading into the "Search & Rescue" work! Toby decided after all, that working was way more important then his allergies! I would like to wish Toby the best of luck with his job, and... a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOBY! I love (and miss) you :) Rudys (and Tobys) RaiserDont worry, I still miss my little fur ball Rudy... 
Meet Simon!This a tall and hansome young shepherd mix was in several different homes before we had the pleasure of meeting him. Needless to say Simon didnt really know whether he was coming or going. Once we entered the courtyard at his home, we were greeted by loud and macho barks. Once inside it was abundantly clear that Simon was mainly interested in being the center of attention. His persistence almost always surpassed that of his new owners. Simons biggest challenge, however, was his aggressive behavior towards other dogs.
Right off the bat we introduced a tool called the drag line. A drag line is a leash that you use indoors. The drag line would help manage Simons habit of guarding the front door and prevent any negative incidents from occurring. Simon also had a tendency of harassing everyone in the room for attention with such behaviors as mouthing and pawing. As a large and still growing dog, this behavior could pose a serious problem down the road. Making sure that Simon was not dictating his owners behavior was accomplished by implementing a Nothing For Free policy. Simon would have to learn to earn peoples attention by exhibiting acceptable behavior.
Simons dog aggression is an all together different issue and will take time to recondition. For help with dog on dog aggression or information on techniques like Nothing for Free visit Zen Dog Training Online.
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| Picture of Rudy in a sit-stay, he looks soo happy and you can really see his tan markings on his face! |
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| Copy of Rudys recentest report card (December) I should hopefully be receiving his January report card soon! |
Meet Karma! Karma is a fluffy doe-eyed Havanese. He is absolutely adorable and as you can imagine a magnet for attention. Karma shares a home with five humans in a large high-rise. Theres never a shortage of willing participants to lavish attention on him. At times there can be a lot of unpredictable activity in the home which can be very overwhelming for a dog like this. In the last month hes resorted to barking at even the slightest stirring, and in a multi-level apartment complex this is a disturbance which later can lead to serious consequences for his owners.
With a household this large and this busy, it can be an epic challenge to get everyone on the same page. Without a steady schedule, it can be difficult for Karma to feel safe and secure in his surroundings. When a dog feels insecure, there are many ways in which he might act out. Left uncorrected, this could lead to other more drastic behaviors. Before things got too out of control, Karma had to learn that barking was not the way to solve his problem.
We introduced many games to help not only build up Karmas confidence, but also to include every member of the family. It can get pretty confusing for a dog living in a busy environment, so we wanted to make sure that Karma get some clarity. One one the games we played with Karma was the Name Game. Name Game has multiple applications such as teaching Karma to come to us for the exchange of a treat. This game would prove very useful when strangers appeared at the door. Instead of barking Karma could play this game and he could play it with every member of the family.
For more information about the various applications of techniques like Name Game, visit Zen Dog Training Online.
Meet Sully!
(Movie of Rudy trying to see whats inside the bag that The Hound Dogs sent him - the gift bag is still inside the box!)
Meet Nora!
Meet Roux! This sixteen-week-old newly-adopted hound mix has a real lust for life! Bouncing, jumping, scratching and mouthing, anything to get your attention, and any attention will do. Rouxs owner wanted help get control of these problematic behaviors before things got out of hand. Its easy to forget that even negative attention serves as a reward to a dog looking for consideration, especially when they are barking up a storm or chewing on your furniture.
Your first line of defense against unwanted behavior is to Outsmart your dog. This entails a whole arsenal of management strategies, like having the proper tools, such as indoor leashes and treats. These tools prevent your dog from making the wrong choice in the first place. Managing your dogs environment is another way to illustrate good decision making, by crating or setting up safe areas to confide your pup in while you cook dinner.
There are times when you may fail to get the drop on outsmarting your pooch and poor conduct will commence. Lets say your pup displays attention seeking habits such as play biting you, in times like that, outsmarting or managing the situation just isnt an option. The fastest way to ensure that the behavior stops, is to indicate disaproval and to remove your attention. This will teach your dog that the only way to GET your attention, is by acting the way you prefer them to.
For more information on the Zen Dog Training System, visit Zen Dog Training Online.
Meet Bella! Bella is a two-year-old Yorkie/Jack Russell cross who had lived with two other families before moving in with her current owners. In her newest home she was so fearful of strangers and loud noises that it had resulted in her owners completely abstaining from actual walks. Bella would panic and pull violently towards the house on a regular walk. She even began barking at the construction going on at the neighbors. She was simply terrified of the world outside of the house.
When dogs are subjected to a lot of inconsistency, they often lack a sense of security with their surroundings. Desensitizing a dog from things that seem scary is a way to help acclimate them to big changes. Bellas owners were asked to bring Bella outside to a section of the neighborhood that felt tolerable to her and just sit. As Bella began to get anxious and nervous her owners were instructed to use what we call Jolly Talk.
Jolly Talk is basically using a calm but confident tone to say things to your dog like "Its fine, Buddy" or "Relax." Using Jolly Talk with random treats helped Bella to build a positive association with the outside world. When desensitizing a dog you must be very careful not to push the dog over threshold. This mean that you want to start out with something simple and work on that until your dog no longer shows signs of fear or nervousness rather than get your poor pooch in over their heads.
For more information on Jolly Talk, visit Zen Dog Training Online.
Meet Penny! |
| Picture of Brandon & I doing a slow forward in "Mary Joes" (fabric store), Brandon is doing a great job at keeping a loose leash! |
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| Picture of Brandon in a down-stay inside Mary Joes, with me standing beside him |
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| Picture of Brandon & I, again doing a forward walk inside Mary Joes - Brandon is still maintaining a loose leash! |
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| Picture of Brandon in a down-stay beside my sister at Best Buy; they did a great job working together... with me there to distract him! |
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| Picture of Brandons Christmas goodies, including dog treats, his full stocking and some stuffies beside the stocking |
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| Picture of Brandon with the pink pig stuffie he got for Christmas, you can see some of his other gifts in the background |
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| Picture of Brandon playing with his bottle crunchy toy, his other Christmas goodies are surrounding him |
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| Picture of Brandon playing with his Christmas lamb stuffie |
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| Picture of Brandon playing with his cute "calipiter" stuffie |
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| Picture of Rudy & I sitting on the sidewalk, with lots of traffic in the background (puppy meeting) |
Meet Indy! |
| Picture of Brandon in harness at puppy class doing a "forward walk" |
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| Picture of Brandon in a down-stay beside me |
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| Picture of Brandon in a sit-stay in front of me |
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| Picture of Brandon in a stand-stay |
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| Picture of Brandon in another stand-stay going up against the other dogs for the "Puppy Olympic" gold medal... |
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| Picture of myself blindfolded and trying to take Brandons harness off (then count to 10 - and put it back on) |
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| Picture of me still blindfolded, and now succeeding at putting the harness back on |
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| Success! Picture of Brandon in a stand-stay beside me and his harness is on correctly! |
