Jasmine Grows Up

Grace, left, gives Jasmine some advice ...

Six months old!  We are in that lull between adorable, cute-puppy-who-can-do-no-wrong phase, and the exciting and sometimes challenging adolescent phase.  Right now things are fairly quiet and easy and comfortable. 

After a rocky period of recurring UTI's, the potty training is FINALLY under control!  Yay!  Jazzy is just as cute and sweet as ever - giving me little nose bumps along my face until she finds just the right place to give me tiny sheltie kisses.  Her tail wags all the time.  She is so happy!

She is super smart, and if I spent more time teaching her one-on-one, she'd be a genius!  She still offers sits for anything and everything that looks interesting, which is a lot when you are a puppy.  She knows signs for good girl, stop that, quiet, off, sit, down, come, stay, right and left spins, outside, go potty, time to eat, and probably some others I forgot about.  She is learning to crawl and jump over my outstretched leg.  She can shake hands and target her nose to my fist.  She is learning to weave through my legs when I walk, but this is tricky because sometimes she misjudges the distance and bumps into my legs.

Jasmine likes to carefully and meticulously pull the stuffing out of her toys.  But I can't complain too much, since she is very good about not chewing my stuff.  I can even trust her to behave while I take a nap on the couch now.

She shows physical signs of growing up, too.  Her adult teeth are just about completely in.  And her sheltie coat is coming in longer now.  On her tail, it is very noticeable and she has gotten a little ruff of hair that pokes out all around her neck.  She looks a bit scruffy at times, but it's so endearing.

Jazzy has a bit of her own agenda, and it can be hard to get her in from the yard during the day.  If I can catch her eye and signal her, she comes just as fast as her legs can carry her.  But usually she is hunting for bugs or digging in the dirt and she doesn't see me.  Night time is easier.  I can just flash the porch light once and she comes running.  Although, I have noticed that if she's way out across the yard she may not always see the light.

She still occasionally bumps into things (or me!) when she misjudges distance.  And she doesn't usually see treats dropped until I point them out to her, even if she drops them herself.  But she races around the place with the rest of the pack - no fear for this one!  She chases and runs and jumps and tumbles! She loves to race through the agility tunnel too!

Jazzy compensates so well that unless I really watch her, it's hard to tell that she has trouble seeing her friends.  But her body language and expression change in mid stride when she loses sight of them.  She continues running, but there is a slight confusion in her step and a quick head turn back and forth while she searches for them.  As she catches sight of them again, she's off with renewed determination once again. Jasmine is such a fun girl and so full of joy! 

Treasure’s friends need your help!

I know everyone enjoys reading Treasure’s blog!  Maybe you live with a double merle and know how wonderful they can be!  Or, maybe you just have been inspired by Treasure, Grace and Jasmine, and how normal a life they are able to lead. 

Treasure has some new paw pals that need some help.  They have been overlooked because they are a bit different, like her, but they are great puppies looking for loving, committed forever homes.   Maybe you are looking for a new family member, or maybe you know someone who is.  Please take the time to read about these adorable double merle puppies, and visit their Petfinder pages.  Let’s help find them the homes they deserve!

This is Crystal.  She’s four months old and loves to play and rough house with her siblings.  She enjoys playing with people too and has a lot of energy!  Crystal has vision in one eye and hearing in one ear.  She needs a family to give her a chance to shine!  Crystal has already been crate trained and is receiving early socialization and handling, so she can fit right into her new home!  She sounds like she could be a lot of fun!  For more information about Crystal and to find contact information, here is her Petfinder page http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21883053?rvp=1   

Tell them Treasure sent you!

This is Snow.  She’s also four months old (these three puppies are all littermates!).  Snow is white, just like Treasure!  And, if you recall, Treasure’s name used to be Snowy!  This girl really needs some help finding the perfect home.  Unlike her brother and sister, who both have partial hearing and sight, Snow is totally deaf and has limited vision in both eyes.  She may require some more adapted training techniques such as what you’ve read about here on my blog.  But you only have to read about Treasure’s (blind and deaf) and Jasmine’s (deaf and partially blind) escapades, to know that Snow will greatly enrich someone’s life.  Snow enjoys playing and cuddling and is more laid back than her siblings.  She is crate trained and is being socialized and handled often so she can make a smooth transition into a new and loving home.  Visit Snow’s Petfinder page to learn more about her and how you can make her a member of your family!  http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21883072

Frost is the boy of the group, also four months old.  He has hearing in one ear, good vision in one eye, and has some vision in the other eye.  Frost has a lot of energy and is a busy sheltie boy.  He likes to play more than he’s a cuddle bug.  He’s happy and healthy and ready to go, go, go!  Could he be the dog for you?  Frost is also crate trained and is being socialized and handled frequently.  He has very pretty markings, too!  He would like an active home all his own!  Check out his Petfinder page for more information and to find out how to apply to adopt him!  http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21882987

                                                                                                                                                                 

Gotcha!

Treasure and Timmy asking for a cuddle.

Gotcha!

©Debbie Bauer 2012

Most dogs don’t like being reached for. It is a threatening movement to them and they will instinctively move away unless they are taught otherwise. Sometimes this teaching happens without us needing to put forth any special effort. If the dog learns that people reaching for it mean good things happen, for instance. Some dogs learn to distinguish between pleasant reaching and not -pleasant reaching based on the person’s voice tone and body language.

With a deaf or blind-deaf dog, you will not be able to rely on your voice to be reinforcing, encouraging, or praising. A deaf dog will only see you reaching and lunging toward it suddenly. It is important to keep your facial and body language as calm as possible when you do need to reach for your dog. Deaf dogs are very observant to any visual cue. They will learn to react to even the slightest changes in your body language that indicate you are getting ready to reach for them. If the dog learns it is faster than you and you will not be able to reach it, you are in trouble! It’s best to teach your dog how to enjoy being reached for before bad habits develop.

To read the rest of this article, click below ...

http://www.your-inner-dog.com/Gotcha.pdf 

Adventures in Odor 5

Well, we had the good and the not-so-good today at class.  Treasure had a hard time finding an odor hide under some metal steps.  She kept finding the odor, but then she kept going the opposite direction along a long wall, but away from the steps.  After she got across the room, she would follow the odor back by the side of the steps, but never actually made it to the hide.  After letting her look for a while, I resent her and we added some food to the hide.  Success!  I was feeling a bit discouraged ... my issue, not hers! 

But I didn't need to feel badly.  She found the next odor hide in an Easter Egg, inside an Easter basket.  This reminded me of last year's egg hunt where Treasure found all her eggs hidden in the field!  It also got me thinking of some fun ways to make her nosework demos more interesting ... I can find all kinds of props to go with the season or an upcoming holiday!  I'll have to get on that idea!  We watched a demo using several cute salt and pepper shakers in a line with odor hidden in one of them.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to try that one, but I enjoyed it anyway and many of the shakers were cute sheep, which, when you have a herding dog, are always a good thing!

We did an odor hide under a shade tarp which was spread out on the floor.  I wouldn't have thought of that on my own.  Treasure was a bit surprised when she stepped on the crinkly tarp, but she found the odor.  The first time she smelled the tarp right where the odor was, but then turned away from it looking in the air for the hide.  The next time she came back and circled right on top of the odor.  Good girl!  

And the last one I paired with food to try to get her to jump up onto the wall where there is a ledge.  At home, where she knows things and feels comfortable, she will put her front feet up on me or other objects, but she has a hard time knowing just how and where to jump because she can't see that things are solid and where they are in space.  She stretched her nose way up to get the food at the hide, but it wasn't quite high enough for her to actually need to jump up.  I tried to lift her front, but that didn't work too well, so I just let her stretch and eat the goodies. 

She sleeps in the car on the way home, tired and content from her day's work.  It's nice to see her be able to do something she enjoys so much! 



Adventures with Odor 4

We were back at class this week!  It was nice to be inside on such a cold blustery day!  We have been quite spoiled this winter with little snow and temperatures way above normal, so today was a bit of a shock to the system!  It was even snowing when we left.

I was a bit surprised when we arrived to learn that there was odor hidden in the lobby for us to find.  It had been there for a little over an hour waiting for us all to come in.  I have been doing mostly pairing odor with food for Treasure for the past two weeks.  If you remember, she was having trouble with getting in close to the hide when I hid odor by itself.  So I was a little nervous as to how she would do with just the odor.  Well, I didn’t need to worry.  Treasure went right to work and found the odor on a table leg in less than a minute.  Good girl!

Then we did a practice for the ORT (odor recognition test) in a back room.  There were 12 boxes laid out in two parallel lines about 10 feet apart or so.  One of them had only odor hidden in it.  These had also been sitting for longer, about an hour and a half I guess by the time we got to them.  I have always done hides that haven’t aged very long, just due to the nature of my practicing.  I would imagine that letting the odor sit longer could actually be easier for the dog to find, since a large pool of scent would settle around the hide.  But in either case, I need to start aging the hides I set for Treasure.  The ORT is done on leash and I let Treasure wander a bit as she searched for the scent.  She found the right box, no problem!

We did five total hides today at class.  We did another one that had been aged for about an hour and a half.  The box was up on a chair and had a small hole in it to allow the odor to get out.  Treasure found it but took her time pinpointing that hole where the scent came out of the box.  The issue appeared when we did the next hide, which had not aged but was in the same general location as the previous aged hide.  Treasure picked up the odor right away from the previous hide (remember it had been sitting there for awhile and built up quite a scent pool around it and under the chair).  Treasure went right to that chair and placed her nose exactly where the hole of the box had been previously.  The box was no longer there, but she knew where that scent had been and had been coming from.  Unfortunately, she did not find where the actual hide was without help.  She got close to it, but not right on it and she was getting a bit frustrated and trying to go back to the older scent, so I helped her out. 

Normally when we practice, I do 3-4 hides in a row in the same general area, but I move the hide around, so Treasure is pretty good about finding the most recent odor and sorting out the lingering older odor.  But we have not done aged hides, so she was a bit confused as to why there would be so much left-over odor in one spot when she was actually supposed to look somewhere else for the newer odor.  We’ll have to work on that. 

We ended with an easy hide paired with food, to make sure Treasure had quick and easy success after being frustrated by the last one.  I made a new tuna treat recipe this morning before class and Treasure was really enjoying them, so I think she forgives me! 

The Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

Double merle dogs are often born visually and/or hearing impaired.  These impairments are not necessary.  They can be prevented simply by educating people about responsible breeding practices.  There is no need to gamble with a puppy's well-being to obtain the popular merle color pattern.  Please never breed a merle dog to another merle dog!  Innocent puppies will pay the price! 

This sweet puppy was scheduled to meet a gruesome death simply because she was born deaf and visually impaired. It was not her fault that she was born with those impairments.  They could have been prevented if only the humans did not breed two merle dogs together.  Please help to educate others about the dangers of merle to merle breedings. 

Thanks to the good hearts of her rescuers, this puppy is now safe!

Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

©Debbie Bauer 2012

Despite the efforts of many in educating others, there still are so many double merles showing up on the internet and in shelters needing homes. Why aren’t people listening? Why are they continuing to produce dogs with these impairments? And for every dog that ends up in a rescue or a shelter or a home, there are so many more that are being killed shortly after birth for a crime they didn’t commit. They didn’t ask to be bred this way. People made the decision to take a gamble with their lives.

This is not just a problem restricted to shelties. This just happens to be my breed of choice. There are many breeds of dogs that carry the merle gene.

This article has been updated, please click below to continue reading
http://media.wix.com/ugd/e50a84_1d795219bbcd482a96f04623a76e180c.pdf

To read the rest of this article, click below
http://www.your-inner-dog.com/dangers_of_MM.pdf

Weekend Nosework Fun!

Treasure and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather this weekend and do our nosework practice outside.  We did one out in an open field with the odor and food in a box.  The box was more for me to be able to see where I hid it, but it also helps Treasure learn to work a little harder at finding the exact source of the odor.  The second one was tucked slightly under my front deck with some storage bins.  The last two were actually hidden on my van. 

I tried to put the actual videos into this post, but for some reason, they are not working today.  Here are some links to watch our practice today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcE4lV8xD_E&list=UUBaUUGAnbEi0LGzzqAWJykw&index=1&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojs_8r7fBvI&feature=plcp&context=C3bf5a14UDOEgsToPDskJkmktpmsY5JpUuenZ7O-QT