July 31, 2008 - Mika takes a bite!

Mika got her first bite on a sleeve today in class. We've been taking turns working each dog on bite work in front of the class; today was Mika's day.

We started out with Mika on a 30 foot long line, with me holding her back about 5 feet down on the leash. The Helper, a person whose job is to tease the dog with a tug toy, taunted Mika with the toy, waiting for her to bark and lunge at the tug. When her prey drive for the tug increased, the toy was swung in where she could bite it. This is called "giving the dog a win." Once she had a hold of the tug, The Helper pulled back on the tug and the dog firmed up her bite, not wanting to let go. Once she had a strong bite, The Helper let go and the dog was allowed to carry the tug in her mouth. I ran her around in a circle while she carried the tug, lap after lap, building her confidence in getting the win. Periodically I swung her around back to The Helper so he could either pet her or tug on the toy to help keep her grip strong. After several laps I cradled her head and pet her to calm her and give her assurance that she is doing a good job. Then I made her release the tug by picking her up with one hand around her waist and the other grabbing her collar. I hoisted her up and spun her to get her to loosen her grip. Eventually she will learn to "out" the toy on command but she's not solid on this yet so we don't use it in intense bite work until she's got it down strong, otherwise she will learn to fight over the toy or be always afraid that I will try to take her toy away.

Because Mika's drive is building really well, she got to move on to the puppy sleeve. The process is similar to using the tug toy at this stage. The Helper doesn't actually wear the sleeve yet, he just carries it and teases the dog with it. Ultimately, when her prey drive was high, she was allowed to bite the sleeve, and proudly carry it out the door and all the way to her crate. She then released the toy and went into her crate to cool down. We always end on a high.

Mika's prey drive is developing nicely. She's probably the second most driven dog in the class, the first being her brother who has been working bite work for 4 weeks longer than the rest of the class. The instructor even complemented me on the dog, saying that "she is a really neat dog." I know a couple of the other students with male dogs from the same litter as Mika are a little bothered that she got to take the sleeve before her male siblings! HA!

July 30, 2008 - A Big Day

Mika had a big day today. This morning she passed her level one requirements which consists of a:

• Finger Point - The handler points to a target (in this case a paper plate with a treat on it), gives the dog the command "run", and sends the dog out to the target. The target is about 8 ft away.
• Sit Stay - The dog must sit while the handler walks out 6 feet. The dog must stay in a sit for 30 seconds.
• Down Stay - Just like the sit stay, only the dog is in a down.
• Hand Kiss - The dog follows the handler's open hand as he leads the dog around his body and into a sitting position at the handler's side.
• Loose Leash - The dog walks next to a handler with the leash loose at all times. If the dog starts to stray, the handler can call the dog's name or say "come" to get the dog's attention.

In the coming weeks we will build on these and sit stays will be longer, plus new requirements.

Other exciting events in the world of Mika...

Mika got her first taste of the electric collar. It was my first experience too.

Dogs get collar smart and learn to act a certain way only when a specific collar is on. To avoid this, Mika's been wearing the e-collar for a few days now, getting used to having it on. Then, just before I planned to use the collar for a correction, I put a fur saver choke chain on her neck. Then, I wait for her to display the undesired behavior and gave her a correction.

By putting the choke chain on, she will associate the correction from the choke chain and not the actual e-collar. Down the road, I can phase the e-collar out and she can wear a loose choke chain always believing that she could receive a correction at any given moment from the dummy choke chain. We use a choke chain because in the show ring, only a choke chain can be worn. For the average pet owner, the same concept could be applied to a regular flat collar or even a dog tag. For the first week or so of using the e-collar, you will have to put the dummy collar on just before beginning corrections to reinforce the belief that the dummy collar is the source of the correction. Never give a correction without the dummy collar.

For Mika, the behavior I want to extinguish is barking in her crate. She acts up in her crate to get my attention, even going into a fit scratching at the plastic pan in the bottom of her crate. This behavior is difficult to correct using treats, or even a pinch collar because it takes place primarily when I am not in the room. I hear her barking from the next room over but by the time I reach her she will not associate the correction with barking and she will only learn that if she barks, I come running in the room. With the e-collar I can give her a timely correction from another room. If the timing is really good, she will only need a couple of electric corrections to understand. I've never been a fan of the e-collar but I think if it's done right, it can reduce the learning time significantly and save the dog from countless corrections on the pinch collar. I only give her the minimum correction level needed to get her attention. There should be no pain involved, only a strange tingling sensation.

Mika also learned how to "out" when she's playing high drive prey games. When she catches a ball or a tug, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get the item back from her. She latches on and tries to figure out where she can go and hide with the toy so she can can lay down and chew it to her heart's content. In order to keep the game going and to keep her prey drive up, she needs to give up the toy so we can reinitiate play with her.

To achieve the "out", once Mika bites onto the toy, she gets the "out" command and a tiny pop on the pinch collar. As soon as she gives up the toy, she is rewarded by resuming play.

July 29, 2008 - Are you my mommy?

Back in the dog sitting business already...Mika and I are puppy sitting tonight for one of the Malinois babies. This little guy hasn't been adopted yet so I agreed to watch him for my neighbor who has a 6-week old pup of his own plus a 5-month old Malinois and a 1-year old lab. He has his hands full and needed the night off from two tiny babies!

Poor Mik is being harassed by the pup who thinks she is mama and screams at her to nurse him!!

Today in class - Finger Holds
A forced retrieve is where you teach a dog to pick things up in his mouth and bring it to the handler on command. Most dogs already know how to pick things up with their mouth but generally just items that strictly benefit the dog itself (his favorite ball, a fun looking stick, the shoe he wants to chew, etc.). A forced retrieve would basically be teaching a dog to fetch and hold items that you, the human, want them to carry (a small wooden dumbbell in agility, a bird in hunting, a beer for the lazy bum on the couch, etc.).

Finger holds are the first step in teaching dogs a forced retrieve. Today we had a hands-on introduction to finger holds. How this works is that you stick your thumb in your dog's mouth and cradle the lower jaw with the rest of your hand. With your other hand you brace the dog's head so he can't back away from your thumb. You hold your hand in the dogs mouth until he stops trying to chew up your thumb, stops trying to spit out your thumb, stops resisting. The moment the dog calmly hold your thumb in his mouth is when you click, remove your thumb, and give a treat. Repeat and repeat, increasing the time the dog holds you thumb in his mouth. Ultimately the dog will open his mouth and calmly hold your thumb on command. The finger hold lays the foundation for holding other objects.

Why your thumb? Because you have utmost control over whether or not the dog spits it out. It's much harder to try to keep an object in the mouth. The drawback is that the dog can really chew your hand up if he wants to.

The older Malinois puppies, including Mika put up more of a fight than some of the younger pups. We did two sessions of Finger Hold today and in the morning Mika resisted but caught on quickly. In the afternoon she faught hard and chewed up my hand pretty good. We stopped early and will continue again when I have a glove.

July 28, 2008 - Swimming 101

Finally, Mika had her first swimming lesson!! I've been dying to get her out into the water but didn't want to go alone. What if it doesn't go well and Mika needs rescued??? I am a lousy swimmer and felt sure I should have backup.

I am really glad I waited till I could have help, though not because things went poorly. Actually Mika was great, but I went into total nervous mommy mode rather than an objective trainer. Two of my fellow students, Kari and Stephen, coached me through the process and I am grateful!

Kari taught Mika's brother, Walter, how to swim with a life jacket so that's how we started Mika out as well. We used a tennis ball bumper (a long tubular shaped tennis ball with a rope on the end) to lure her out into the water. I teased her with the bumper and when she got amped up I threw it out into the water and let her give chase, keeping her on a long leash. We swam her at a boat dock which worked well because she could ease her way into the water without a big drop off.

Mika went after the bumper and seemed a little started by the water, but she didn't run away, she just looked unsure. I walked out into the water a bit to let her know she was doing the right thing. Still unsure, we decided to remove the life jacket to unburden her of the weird sensation of wearing the bulky clothes.

From there it was in and out of the water, teasing her with the bumper, throwing it a bit further each time, letting her go after the ball, and LOTS of cheers and praise when she nabbed the toy.

As we threw the toy a bit further each time, Mika ultimately reached the point where the water depth would no longer allow her to stand. She hesitated for several moments, contemplating whether or not getting that bumper was worth her going a few inches further and a few inches deeper. It was exciting to see her work through the conflict and ultimately to stretch herself a it further to get her prize. "Yeahoo!!!! Good girl!!!"

Headed back from the park, Stephen, the dogs, and I were soaked in river water. We decided if anyone saw us and asked about our clingy wet clothes we'd tell that we just came from a wet t-shirt contest and Steve won. ;)

July 27, 2008 - Oh baby!

I made a whirlwind trip to Kansas City with some fellow students who wanted to get Malinois puppies from the same kennel that Mika came from.

Lisa from Australia and Stephen from North Carolina spent the day at the kennel, working with the breeder while I watched Mika and Lisa's rescued black lab puppy named Mishiko.

Check out photos of the darling 6-week old Mal babies so you can get an idea of what Mika would have looked like as a tiny pup...





Special shout out to Meghan for the darling photos!

July 26, 2008 - Paying the Price

Having spent yesterday evening out at Trader Joe's and then at a movie, Mika did not get worked during the evening hours. Today, I am paying the price. She is wild, unfocused, and acting like she's starved.

Typically I take her to lecture with me and I put her on her climb bench where she falls asleep until I am ready to work with her. Today I had to keep her crated during most of lecture because I couldn't control her and pay attention; she was driving me nuts! She kept sticking her nose in Christine's hair, licking people, barking at me, breaking her climb, putting her big paws on me, eating crap off the floor....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

After I crated her, everyone kept asking, "Where's Mika?"

I had to put her away...for her own protection.

July 25, 2008 - Utopia

I found my utopia 20 minutes from school at Trader Joes. I am no stranger to Trader Joes; I became a fan during my first trip to Phoenix, AZ and have made a point of shopping there on every return trip. But to have one that I can shop at any time I have a whim, is heaven on earth!

I have never found so many vegetarian options in one place; every aisle brings new delight! Spinach wraps, horseradish hummus, veggie jambalaya, sweet potato fries...I thought I was going to pee myself I was so giddy!

I need to get a HUGE cooler so I can bring food home with me when school ends.

On other news...
Mika and I did a narcotics demo today.

In a large training building there is a wall with several round cubby holes. One of the holes contains a pseudo cocaine scent. The objective is to teach the dog to find the scent and either sit or lay down to indicate when they have found it. Today Mik and I did some foundation work by first teaching her an association between the tennis ball and the smell of cocaine and second an association between the cubby holes and a flying tennis ball. Find the smell in the cubby, find the tennis ball.

She did great for her first time. Lot of drive for the ball, which is just what is needed!

July 24, 2008 - Mika vs the Open Tunnel

Check out Mika in the open tunnel, one of the agility course obstacles...

July 23, 2008 - What's wrong with this picture?

I finally got the video camera up and running and let's just say it hasn't done anything to help my training. Why? Because as it is I don't have enough hands to manage the leash, clicker, treats and other various training tools. And now I want to add a video camera to the mix?!? Not the best idea.

Check out Mika's video debut and you'll see what I mean. Basically the dog is off doing whatever she wants, ignoring my commands, eating crap off the floor, and looking cute as can be in the process. But all that makes for just plain bad training. So enjoy it this once. After today, the camera goes on the tripod. :)

Um, whose annoying voice is that on the video? Makes me want to stab my ear drums out...

July 22 - C'est une fanny pack?

Hung over from the weekend. No drinking, just worn out. Seems like everyone is...lots of nodding heads. I even watched one student dozing while her dog proceeded to eat the entire contents of her bait apron. Probably should of woken her but, well, I didn't want to expend the energy.

About the bait aprons...
I feel I should warn you if you ever see me about town wearing my bait apron, no it's not a fanny pack.

I pretty much keep my bait apron on during all waking hours and sometimes I forget and wear it to bed. It has a habit of nestling in right under one of my fat rolls where it hides till morning. Ultimately I discover it when I strip to take a shower the next morning. (I should probably mention that while it's not to be mistaken for a fanny pack, it does make an excellent loin cloth! ;)
Today, when I went to replace the cell phone I drown in a cup of water, I showed up at the cell phone store wearing my bait apron. The staff at AT&T were great to work with. They switched out my phone and even helped me get a new 816 phone number instead of a St Louis area code, but I couldn't help but feel their stares and glances. Their eyes said it all, "Is she REALLY wearing a...fanny pack?"

It's not a fanny pack, damn it! It's a bait apron!

July 21 - Oh hell....thank heaven!

Mika and I get Mondays off, which is nice for running errands, making vet appointments, etc. We tried to run every errand we possibly could while back in KC, including a trip to the vet for a rabies vaccination, a stop at Dressler's pet supply, then on to the election board to vote early, a quick visit at my old job to see friends, and finally on the my mom's work to show Mika off.

Each of these stops only help in the socialization process. More people to meet, more new experiences. Sometimes I am surprised by things we encounter and how she reacts to things. For example, while at my old job someone walked by pushing a wobbly old cart. Mika spooked so I realized this is something she needs to become accustomed to. I asked the employee to walk by again and again until Mik became comfortable. I also had the opportunity to expose her to riding in an elevator, which she handled pretty well. I find if you give them a command like sit or down on the first sign of nervousness, it gives them something to do other than just freak out.

Back at home I took a nap with my boys before loading up the car with all the things I forgot to take with me when I moved in. Mika and I were on the road by 5 p.m., headed back to school. Mika promptly fell fast asleep and it was smooth sailing until we hit Columbia when I noticed my check engine light came on.

I pulled over at a gas station to check my gas cap, oil, and coolant. All the fluid levels were full and the car's performance seemed normal. It was after-hours so getting the car serviced in Columbia was not a possibility. I made the decision to drive on and called my family to warn them to be on call if I had any further trouble. I promptly climbed back into my car and proceeded to drop my cell phone into a cup of water intended for the dog. Oh #!@%*! Yes, the cell phone I was counting on as my life-line in case of an emergency suffered a VERY untimely death.

With 2 hrs to go and the sun going down, we headed on toward St Louis, sweating bullets the whole way. Ok, I was sweating bullets; Mika was sleeping. The whole rest of the way I was praying and memorizing mile markers in case I needed to know exactly where we were. "Dear Lord, please let us make it back safely!" One hundred and forty miles and several a capella church hymns later we made it safely back to school. "Praise Jesus!"

It was so great to go home for the weekend, but even more of a relief to make it back to school. Now, if I can just figure out what's wrong with my car...

July 20, 2008 - Show and Tell

My first full day home from school...Mik and I spent the day making the rounds.

Meghan and my mom got to meet Mika the day I moved in to school. We only got to spend a brief moment with her then so this weekend allowed them a chance to get to know her a bit more and see some of the basic training we've been doing.

After lunch Meg and I took Mika up to see my brother, Mike. Naturally we had to take her bench and training toys in tow. Once there I put her on her bench where she stood and stared at the plasma TV--stone still--for a solid 3 minutes, which is a long time in dog years ;) I tried to do a demonstration of the Ball on the Wall game that builds prey drive but quickly learned you need more than a 6 foot radius to make the game effective, otherwise you just end of looking dumb, and the dog acts like she doesn't even want to know you. Overall, I think Mika was able to impress but I don't know about me ;)

The next stop was to Casey's house for a quick visit and demonstration. Poor Meghan had to listen to my spiel over and over as I played the part of proud mama everywhere we went. We headed home after we left Casey's.

The various outings that day were great training for Mika. She met a lot of people and got to practice her climbs, sits, stands, and downs in a variety of environments. This is called proofing, when you test the behavior in different locations and with different distractions around. It is recommended by our instructor to practice training commands in at least 5 different environments. Mika has undoubtedly had more proofing than any other dog is class. I try to take her any place dogs are allowed I can so she can see, hear, and experience as much as possible while she is young.

July 19, 2008 - Hit the Road, Mik!

Today we did a lot of hands-on work with the dogs. We put the dogs on their benches and practiced sits, downs, stand, sit stays, down stays, etc. Teaching the dogs to "climb" and stay on the benches is the most practical thing I have learned and something every owner should teach their dog.

The rule of the bench is that the dog can stand up, sit down, or lay down as she pleases, as long as she stays on the bench until you give her the "FREE!" command. Once the dog has this down, the same principal can be applied to a couch, a dog bed, a coffee table, or any other place you desire.

Tired of having the dogs under foot when you are cooking? Put them on a "climb",
Don't want you dogs to rush guests when they come to the door? Put them on a "climb".

For more extensive training the bench becomes even more useful because you can practice sits, stand, downs, etc., and it keeps the dog from running away while you are working with her. It also helps her to keep good form on downs and sits because the bench doesn't offer much room for sloppy posture.

After class was over and we'd has a lot of practice with sits and downs, Mik and I loaded up the car with her bench and a "diaper bag" full of leashes, toys, food, and other necessities and we hit the road. We headed for home so I could show off my baby girl.

The trip went by quickly because I was anxious to get home and see my boys who I have missed terribly. Plus I wanted my dad to meet Mik and put his mind at ease about her size. We've never had a dog over 25 lbs, so knowing that Mik will be 60-70 lbs is unsettling. How will she fit in? How will we dog proof the house against a dog big enough to get into lots of trouble? Do we have room for a dog this big?

Mik and I arrived home at 9:30 p.m. which only left time for quick introductions before bed. So far she is winning everyone over, dad included, with her sweet soulful eyes and her soft fur. Oh, and her big ears too!

More introductions tomorrow!

July 18, 2008 - My Boudior

You've seen my room, but now you can see it fully furnished...
Amenities include lovely red curtains, windows painted black for privacy, and a visual security system!

July 17, 2008 - Wipe out!

"Man down! Man down!"

Yes, I was the first one in the class to eat dirt. It also happened to be the first time I volunteered to do a demonstration. Picture this...

Following lunch, the class met in the large training building to practice name recall. For the demonstration a dog is tethered to a cable that spans the length on the training room. The dog and handler (Mika and me) stand in the middle of the room. A helper (another student) stands about 50 feet away. The helper calls the dog by name in cheerleader fashion: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Hopefully the dog will respond and come running to the helper and receive lots of clicks and a treat. Then, the handler (me) calls the dog back: "Mika, Mika, Mika!" Click and treat.

After a couple of turns back and forth, the instructor tells me to run backwards as the dog comes to me. This makes the dog have to travel a greater distance to reach the handler. As instructed I began running backwards, cheering the dog on and clicking the clicker with gusto. One moment I was cheering...the next I hit the floor!

I think my ass hit first, then my head, then my feet. Upon impact I bounced off the rubber flooring and my legs flew over my head, then rocked back. Next thing I knew my dog was climbing on me, full of exuberance. I mistakenly thought she was happy to come to me when in fact it was all the treats that spilled out of my bait onto the floor that brought her such joy.

After that the instructor said, "Um, why don't you not run backwards next time." Yeah, ya think?

There are video cameras all over the school, with at least 3 in the large training hall. All I can say is the footage of my fall better not end up on the Internet!

July 16, 2008 - Bad Dog!

Some internal switch has been flipped in my dog that has caused her to transform from meek little Mika to a holy terror of a puppy! Anyone who has worked with Mals would probably tell me I'm finally seeing her true personality.

Last week I worried how I would increase her prey drive. This week I wonder how in the hell I will contain it. The past few nights when we play Ball and the Wall, I've seen her energy up. But today, we had a chance to introduce the dogs to the agility course--nothing serious, just expose them to it--and Mika's prey drive went through the roof. I lured her through the weave polls, jumped her through the tire jump, over the A-frame, and through the open tunnel. At first she was scared and confused about the tunnel so we shortened it up and I crawled most of the way inside to encourage her. After that it was game on!

I sent her through the tunnel again and she shot out of it like a bat out of hell. I gave her tons of praise and a treat. After that we quickly ran out of treats so I put her in "Climb", which means she gets up on a painter's bench and has to stay there until I give her the "Free" command. She can stand, sit, lay down, and move around on the bench, but she cannot get off the bench until tell her she can. We've been practicing this daily and testing it in different scenarios with various distractions and she's pretty consistent, until the agility course, that is.

Today she was so loaded into the excitement of activity that after about 3 minutes on the bench she literally vaulted off the bench and flew around the training hall, crazed. I couldn't catch her and I couldn't call her. She was wild!

After a couple of laps around the room one of the instructors stomped on the leash as she sailed by and....snap! She reached the end of the leash, at full speed and it threw her back. She knew she was busted. After that all she wanted to do was get back to me and get her little butt back on the bench.

So the lesson here for me is to make sure her "climb" is tested and she is really solid when there's lots of excitement going on. The instructor suggested keeping her on a longer lead--like 15 feet or so--during these exercises so that I have more time to get a hold of or step on the line if she breaks her "climb".

July 15, 2008 - Weary Bones

Ugh! I have CCD legs!

What's CCD legs? Well, when I was younger we used to go to Catechism classes on Wednesday nights and my legs would be so tired they would ache down to the bone. It happened ever Wednesday night, without fail.

Today I got CCD legs shopping with 4 other girls from class. Yesterday the girls tried to shop at Costco, even got inside without a membership ID, but got shut down at the check out stand. So I agreed to get the ladies inside to shop using my pass.

Among the 5 of us that went to Costco we bought 8 dog beds, countless cases of soda pop, and 10 big bottles of rubbing alcohol. Then we raided the concession area and got frozen yogurt and berries. All that was fine, but then we headed to Petsmart and that's when I wore down.

I have never seen people more analytical about whether to buy this tug toy or that, this collar or that, these vitamins or that. We were there 2 1/2 hrs. I finally sat down on the shelving and just waited and rested my CCD legs.

Finally I am back on campus and Mik and I have been having some fun. She's been playing with her new toy, a fleece rope tug. Then we did some free shaping where she played with a skate board while I give her treats every time she put her paws on the skate board to reinforce the behavior. We'll keep free shaping with the skateboard over several sessions and maybe she'll end up riding the skate board like that English bull dog that was on Oprah last year.

We also worked on Mika walking right next to me on a leash. The objective is for her walk close on my left side, so in tune with me that when I turn, she stays right in step.

I've been getting lots of great help from one of the Master students. I am so grateful for her help because it gives me a chance to make mistakes in front of someone who isn't judging me or grading me. It really takes the pressure off.

It's hard to believe that I get to wake up and do this everyday. I am blessed that God gave me this opportunity and that he put so many people in my life to help make it happen, especially my family who pushed me to seize this chance when I would never have thought it feasible. It's not easy to go live your dream when you have debts and responsibilities, but because of their insistence I am here. I am truly blessed and loved!

July 14, 2008 - Don't screw up!

Mondays are typically an off day for me but today we had a half day of class so the instructors could continue to check in with us as we acquire our new puppies. They don't want us screwing up our pups! So far there are 5 Malinois puppies (Mika's litter), a couple of German Shephard pups, a doberman, a couple of labs, and a golden retriever. More puppies will arrive this week.

In class we practiced making corrections on the leash. The instructor held the end of the leash in his hand to simulate where the dog's leash attaches to the collar. We took turns popping the leash to make a correction. The instructor corrected our posture and let us know if our pops were crisp enough or if they were more of a pull or a drag. This was much needed practice for me because my corrections have been pulling the dog off balance.

This evening Mika and I were outside while one of the students was doing tricks on his bike. She started barking and growling at him. I gave her three corrections on the pinch collar and they were draggy and pulling her. Naturally they didn't phase her and she kept barking. Then, I realized what a crappy job I was doing and on the 4th correction I popped the collar just right: quick, crisp, and I didn't pull her off balance. Wouldn't you know it, it was the 4th correction that did the trick!

Tomorrow begins week two of classes. Everyday after class we have what's called "Bosses." Bosses is basically cleaning detail. We rotate between cleaning the big training hall, the small training hall, poop detail, and cleaning the lobby of the school. Last week the advanced students taught us what we needed to do and this week us grunts gets to be the "Bosses". I just checked the schedule and guess what??? I am one of the Bosses for week two....holla!!!! "Clean this!" "Wipe that!" "You missed a spot you worthless excuse for a human!"

I hope this doesn't go to my head... :)

July 13, 2008 - Personal Day

As I mentioned previously, Sundays and Mondays our our typical days off. This is a time to catch up on personal stuff such as stocking up on groceries, doing laundry, and taking a nap!!

Today I woke with a killer headache; one where you remember why it's good you don't own a gun. I pushed through and managed to get some things done.

Mika and I visited Petco in our unending quest for just the right flat collar. We (and by "we" I mean me!) fell in love with a pink plaid one but they didn't have it in her size. We've tried other locations with no luck. But the trip was not a waste because it was great socialization. We encountered a lot of sights, sounds, and people. It was adoption day so there were cats meowing, dogs barking, birds chirping, mice running, and vacuums sucking. Mik was a bit overwhelmed but it was a good experience and one we need to repeat.

I also managed to scope out a health market where I got some of the vegetarian goodies I've been missing. Then I rounded out my trip with a stop at Walmart for nasal douching supplies (saline to clean out my nose in the hopes of warding off sinus infections).

By about 7 pm I was finally fully functional. Mika and I found Route 66 State Park where we walked for 30 min. until the sun went down. Back at school we did laundry and played Ball to the Wall, where we get the dogs amped up over a toy. (I'll have a video camera soon and can post footage so you know what I mean.) It's pretty funny to see the tiny puppies get riled!

The game is done with the dogs wearing a flat collar but since we haven't gotten one for Mika yet, I borrowed an agitation collar from another student so we could participate. An agitation collar is a fat leather collar about 3 inches wide. Mik looked like a miniature tough girl. SOOO CUTE!

All the activity late in the evening wore the poor girl out. You would have thought she was dead laying in the training room passed out, and I could hardly rile her to go get the laundry.

She's tucked in bed now and I should be too!

July 12, 2008 - Baby's first poopie!

This is one of those times you all should be glad my camera is broken. Mika mad her first poopie today and undoubtedly I would have attached a photo of said poopie if I had a camera.

Yes, I'm sure it's not her first poopie ever but it's the first one since I took over her care on Thursday. Hard to believe it's been three days and this is the first one! She's not much for going potty in general. I am lucky to get her to go every 14 hrs, which is disturbing because a dog her age should be going every 5 hrs. Apparently she did this when she first arrived here at the school several weeks ago. So the good news is it's not me to blame! Even the trained staff couldn't get her to go in the beginning.

The other good things is that a steel bladder like hers will only help my social life. I can start going out on drunken benders every night and I won't have to worry about when my dog needs to be let out to potty! Sweet!

In other news...
Today's class was really exciting today because we started working our own dogs in class. Not everyone has secured dogs yet but many will get them over the weekend. The focus of class was to help students picking out puppies know what to look for and what to do with the dogs once we get them. This class was SOOO helpful to me because I discovered I was doing some things wrong and I can correct them not that I know better.

All I know is how to train dogs to be pets, and anyone who has met my boys will question even that. But when you're training a working dog you have to throw 70% of the rule book out the window. For example, with a working dog you don't leave toys down for the dog to play with at her own whim.

So the first thing I had to do after class was take 6 toys out of Mika's crate. The reason for this is because play time needs to be a time when our dogs increase their drive. We need them to have a high drive in order to do agility, tracking, narcotics search, and protection work. So that means that toys need to feel special and not something they can literally pick up off the floor at any given moment.

Mika gets play time with me every day, multiple times a day and each time we end play on a high. If I wait for her to stop play on her own when she wears out or is no longer interested, over time her general drive will decrease. The tennis ball or the tug toy we play with will no longer feel all that special or interesting if she has her fill every time she wants. The trick is to always keep her wanting more.

We did a class training exercise today where we played a game with the dogs to increase their drive. A couple of the dogs have such a high prey drive for the tennis ball that they literally salivate trying to get the ball. They are totally addicted to the ball!

That need to go for the ball at all costs becomes the basis for narcotics search, for example. In training, tennis balls are laced with the smell of cocaine, or marijuana, or even the smell of a dead body in the case of training cadaver dogs. These dogs learn to associate the "gotta have it" tennis ball with the particular scent. Ultimately for finding the scent they get the reward of the tennis ball.

So naturally you can see why a dog must have a high drive for the tennis ball in order to be successful, otherwise what becomes the dog's motivation to seek out the smell of crack? Find the crack and the dog get to enjoy the high of his tennis ball!

Holla!

This is a shout out to my baby Klaus. My sister, Meghan, is sending me photos since he can't be here with me. This photo tells me he hasn't lost his sass even though I am not there...

I love and miss you sweet boy!! Oh, and you too Meg!

Practical Pet Tip #1

I'm calling this post "Practical pet Tip #1" assuming there will be more to follow. And no, the match stick tip doesn't qualify as practical!

I hope this doesn't come off preachy but I learned some great tips today about dogs and heat exhaustion that I want to share, so take note because this is really practical advice for any dog owner and can be life-saving:

Dogs can get overheated even on overcast days. And it doesn't always have to be a million degrees outside either. Intense play and not knowing when to make your dog quit can also lead to heat exhaustion.

No matter how it happens, there's a good tell-tail (cute, huh?) sign that your dog is in need of quick intervention. If when you look at your dog you think to yourself, "I've never knew my dog had such a long tongue," you've got a dog that is close to overheating. When the tongue appears unusually long, you want to act quickly to get your dog cooled down. Here are some ways to help your pet recover quickly...

1) Hose the dog down. Make sure you wet the pads of the feet because this is where heat escapes. Hosing down is thought to be better than putting the dog in a cool bath because the bath can sometimes cause the dog's temp to drop too low. Going from very hot to very cold isn't healthy for the dog. Hosing down doesn't shock the dog's system as much as a bath. And don't worry if the water from the hose is kind of warm. Chances are it's still cooler than the dog will be at over 102 degrees body temperature.

2) Pour on or spray the dog with alcohol. Why? Because alcohol evaporates quickly and will draw heat away from the body and give a cooling sensation as it dries. Keep a spray bottle of alcohol handy when you exercise your dog.

The best thing of all is to take measures to keep your dog cool from the get-go. Keep lots of water on hand for your dog, spray him down with alcohol occasionally, and make your dog quit when you think he's has enough, even if he doesn't know when to stop.

This tip is dedicated to my baby Moe, who loves to run the length of the yard incessantly, hunting bunnies and birds. He would never come in out of the heat if we didn't make him! :)

July 11, 2008 - Friday is the new Thursday

While the rest of you gear up for the weekend, for me Friday is the new Thursday. Here, we attend school Tuesday through Saturday, with Saturdays being the day when local clients bring their pets to the training center to participate in group training classes with their pet dogs. The center will be a buzz of activity.

Today we learned about various training approaches, one of the funnest being Free Shaping. Free Shaping has to be the most non-invasive form of training out there. You simply watch a dog freely react to his environment and when he displays behavior your like, you use a clicker to mark the exact moment the dog is doing the desired behavior. The click from the clicker signifies a reward treat is coming. This is a great way to get the basic training process started with new dog because you can mark the moment when they sit or lay down and teach them that these are desired behaviors. We will be practicing Free Shaping tomorrow and next week.

We also had a Q & A session where students were able to get clarification on a lot of the information covered for the week. Many students are just starting to get their puppies and, like me, they are worried about doing something wrong and screwing their puppies up during the crucial early weeks. The things these puppies learn when they are tiny with become their default behavior for the rest of their lives. The idea is to do everything you can to make that default behavior something desirable. Otherwise you'll have to try to correct any unwanted default behaviors which is harder than setting them on the right path to begin with.

In the afternoon all the students were invited to "the ranch". The ranch is the home of the school founder and instructor. He has 250 acres, much of which is open land intended for the purpose of dog training. Here we can practice tracking, recall with our dogs from far away distances, and as a reward our pups can swim in one of 7 ponds! Students has access to the fields anytime they desire and we can even camp out there if we want. (So if anyone wants to come for a visit and camp, just let me know!!)

Mika was also invited to the ranch and there we watch Schutzhund demonstrations as well as AKC obedience demonstrations. It was hotter than hell and she couldn't wait to come home and pass out. Me too, actually!

P.S. - I discovered that Mika has webbed toes so I'm just sure she'll be a stellar swimmer!

July 10, 2008 - Settling In

Today is the second day of class and we spent the morning session talking about the course requirements and grading system. Too many requirements to detail here. We also talked about how to care for our puppies per the school's requirements.

I got my baby girl today! She is officially mine now! She is sleeping, finally as I write this post. Her favorite past times are eating my shoes, eating my shoes, eating my shoes, and eating the cords to my various electronics.

We have our first assignments with the dogs. We are working on the basics...hand feeding with a clicker, sits, downs, etc. The sits and downs are to be done with the dog sitting perched on a utility bench. The utility bench becomes the place where the dogs rest and stay when we are not training them. It's impressive to see all the class dogs lined up in a row sitting on their perches waiting to be given the command to climb down.

The best part of the day, aside from becoming a dog mom again, was when the instructor evaluated the dogs that students brought from home. The purpose of the eval is to help the student get a feel for whether or not their dog is suited for the type of training and what, if any, obstacles they are likely to face when trying to train the dog. Potential issues that would make training more difficult are...

1) If the dog is not treat motivated. This means that the dog will otherwise have to be trained using some amount of force. (IE - using a treat to motivate the dog to sit vs. physically pushing the dogs button into a sit.)
2) If the dog is fearful being handled by a stranger. This is an indication that the dog is likely to be stressed during the training process if handled by anyone other than the dog's owner.
3) If the dog becomes and remains timid after receiving a collar correction. This is another sign that the dog will likely be stressed. It's better if the dog rebounds quickly.
4) If the dog becomes and remains timid following loud noise. Dogs used for narcotics search, for example, need to be ready to do their job in conditions where things are falling around them since crack houses are rarely pristine and orderly.
5) If the dog has no interest in chasing a ball. Prey drive toward a ball is the segway to teaching dogs how to search for narcotics. The ball becomes the reward!

One other interesting thing I learned---how to get a dog to poop when you need them to. Light a match, blow the match out and let the match cool, then insert in the dog's butt. No, I'm not kidding! Something about the charcoally stuff on the end of the match works like a suppository.

Why would anyone want to do this? Because if your dog poops in the show ring or on a trial field you are automatically disqualified. So stick a match in your dog's butt just before you are due in the ring and...voila!

You may be asking yourself, why not use a regular suppository? Because matches are much cheaper! Duh!

Gotta go potty Mika now. Don't worry, I'll stick to the natural way!!! ;)

July 9, 2008 - First Day of Class

As promised...here are photos of my room. This is before I added my personal affects.















Today was the first day of class. There are 23 students in the program and 7 master level students.

Lots of big changes to come in how I handle dogs. I will be hand feeding my new puppy in conjunction with a clicker from here on out. We also have to weigh our dogs daily and take their temperature daily too. This will show any changes in the dog's health.

We have to be ULTRA careful with so many puppies coming to school...fear of parvo and other diseases. We have to potty our dogs on gravel rather than grass because we can clean the gravel with chlorox but grass and soil become difficult to keep from spreading disease.

July 8, 2008 - Move in day!

Hi all! I moved in to my room at school today and got a chance to meet my new baby girl. See photos below.

She is 4 months old and the pick of the litter! The staff person that has been caring for her wanted to keep her out of all the others! I will be taking over her care on Thursday.

At 9 am tomorrow we have orientation followed by lecture in the afternoon.

I've met a couple of other students already...one from south carolina, two from australia, one from virginia, and one from just down the road in Desoto, MO. I was hoping she was from Desoto, KS so we could share a ride home and save on gas...no such luck!

My bedroom is about 8 x 12 and pretty ghetto fab. I like to call it "my closet." Photos of my room coming soon!

Photos of Mika...