FitDog Friday #65 - Crime Scene Blocked Off

I've found myself telling Mr. N, "we can't walk there because it's a crime scene" multiple times this past week.

A woman was murdered at one of the parks we frequent with Sage. Then a woman died in a motorcycle accident right by (and during) our training workshop. Some friends had parked in the same lot where she died and the cops wouldn't let them leave. And then when I took Mr. N out for a bathroom break, the cops had the street blocked off because there was an accident involving a semi-truck.

The park in question

Maybe we should just stay inside this next week?

Wordless Wednesday #75 - The Glass Coffin (Snow White)

Monday Mischief #59 - Honey, I Shrunk the Dog

Mr. N shrinks a lot after he gets his hair cut. I've weighed him before and afterwards, and he is typically 1/4 pound to a half-pound lighter. I was so tired of him being scruffy, I asked for his "summer cut" and there is very little left to him.

You can actually make out his waist and see how scrawny he is. I'm waiting for people to tell me to feed him more. He's basically all legs and so gangly. There is a reason these dogs were bred for a full coat of hair. 

Another blogger asked me to post before and after pictures (Susan, was that you?). 

Before with Girl Scout Cookies. 

After with Girl Scout Cookies

Before with his Giant Schnauzer friend. He almost looks fat in this picture.

After. With a headband on his head, just because.

Do you prefer the before or after? 

BW Sunday #78 - Tree View

FitDog Friday #64 - Mr. N's Love Affair with Horses

We were at the beach last weekend, waiting to meet Bethany. Suddenly, Mr. N goes flying off. I assumed there was a dog somewhere that he was anxious to meet and started following him.

Then I saw about a dozen horses in the distance and Mr. N running circles around their feet, barking his little head off. I immediately started freaking out and ran towards him. I was sure he was going to be trampled.

I think I've mentioned this on the blog before but Mr. N loses his mind over horses. If I had known there were going to be horses on the beach, he would have stayed firmly leashed. I can call him off other dogs, birds, and dead things but we so rarely see horses that I don't really get a chance to train specifically for that.

He was way too far ahead to even hear my voice anyway. He was about a half mile ahead. Several bystanders were trying to catch Mr. N but he was having none of it. Catching dogs who don't want to be caught is hard. Catching a tiny dog (there's really not much of him to grab) who is sand-colored and agile and fast and has all the brains? Near impossible.

To his credit, as soon as he saw me, he came running over. I immediately scooped him up and we walked far away from those horses and he went back on leash. He saw those horses again later (on leash) and he was calm. Maybe he got all those hi jinks out of his system.

Those horses belong to a company that hires them out for guided trail rides for tourists and are thus calm and sedate and used to shenanigans. I am very, very grateful that Mr. N made it out in one piece. I'm pretty sure Mr. N enjoyed every minute of it.

So not ashamed.

Wordless Wednesday #74 - Exploring with Captain William Clark

Monday Mischief #58 - Beach Zoo

Six dogs. One bird. One cat. Recognize any familiar faces? 

BW Sunday #77 - Florist

FitDog Friday #64 - Mat Work and Dr. Karen Overall's Protocol for Relaxation

Mr. N can (and has) hike for four hours (most of it off-leash), then do trick training with the shelter kids for an hour and come home ready to play with his toys. So running him into the ground is not a very sustainable plan.

He is normally very good about settling indoors in our house but if we're outdoors or indoors somewhere else, he is always on the go or restless and pacing and poking his nose into things.

When I was at ClickerExpo, the majority of the dogs were resting on mats for most of the sessions. And this is in a high distraction environment. I resolved to start mat work with Mr. N and bought two bath mats (velvety with memory foam because he is a texture snob). We're working our way through Dr. Karen Overall's Protocol for Relaxation and are on day seven. I've been using Champion of my Heart's audio files so I don't have to count all the seconds.

This is totally a staged photo. He's not normally this relaxed! 

Mat work is a strenuous endeavor for Mr. N. He usually goes into a toy frenzy afterwards. He would much rather jump through hoops and go through tunnels and push his shopping cart around for the same duration.

Being calm does not come naturally to him. He has all that high-strung energy that terriers have. And the mat work involves me leaving and going through doorways which is hard for him because of his separation anxiety. He is fine with all the steps except for the ones where I'm out of sight. And we haven't even gotten to doorbells (although strictly speaking, we don't have one and I'll probably just knock on the door).

I've been seeing some small improvements in his behavior though and when we're at my friend's store, he'll voluntarily go and hang out on the couch instead of pacing and asking when we're going to go for a walk.

Is your dog good at relaxing? Or do they need some extra help in that department?

This is Mr. N's usual mat work face and pose

Tiki Dog Food Review

Petropics sent a few cans of canned food for Mr. N to review. They just recently merged with Cloud Star and were family-owned before that. 

All of the ingredients are human grade certified, and they follow Monterey Bay Seafood Watch "Best Choice" guidelines to ensure seafood sustainability, food safety and protection of the ocean's ecosystem, and their foods fit a biologically appropriate natural prey nutrient profile (lots of protein and moisture and low or no carb). Their cans are BPA-free as well.

 I like the fact that it comes in tiny cans (2.8 oz) because Mr. N only gets canned food as the rare topper or in Kongs and we never use up the cans in the recommended time frame. It also comes in 14.1 oz cans. 

They do manufacture in Thailand but as far as I can tell, there are no particular safety concerns with pet food coming out of Thailand. 

Mr. N invited his good friend, Ms. Sage to help participate in the taste tests. The humans carefully plated the different food samples. 

The dogs are waiting for dinner to be served. 

Sage stared longingly at the food with crazy Border Collie eyes. Someone wants that food!

Once we let her eat, she gobbled the food down in four seconds flat. Sage liked everything and ate the samples in the order that were closest to her.

Mr. N is more of a gourmand and thoughtfully savored every bite. He wants to know where we hid the rest of the food. 

The canned food looks like human food and smells like human food. I'd definitely eat it without hesitation if there was a zombie invasion or an earthquake. This is a typical description.

This recipe is made with wild caught, pink Alaskan salmon loin tossed with a small amount of brown rice, hand diced, white sweet potato and chopped whole scrambled egg. We hand place a couple slivers of whole garlic and cut kale leaf on top. We simmer all of our ingredients in a Salmon consommé broth made with heads, tails and unused portions of the salmon in a traditional stock method to produce naturally occurring flavors. The final stage is to add our sunflower oil, vitamins and minerals.

Both dogs found the food extremely palatable and I would definitely feed again. My only concern is that it has garlic in it. I hear mixed reports about whether dogs are supposed to eat garlic or not. Mr. N would only be getting this as a sporadic treat so I'm not too worried but if your dog (or cat, they make cat food as well) eats this as a regular meal, I'd consult your vet if you have concerns.

This post was sponsored by Petropics. They are not responsible for the contents of this article. All opinions expressed are our own. 

Monday Mischief #57 - Too Scruffy Dog

I have a very scientific fashion of determining whether or not Mr. N has to go to the groomer. When I look at him, and decide he is simply too scruffy to tolerate for much longer, I pick up the phone and make an appointment.

Right now, his hair is probably the longest it's ever been. I decided to let him grow it out when we went to Michigan for Christmas. I figured he needed all the hair he could get. It's scant protection against Midwest temperatures but it's something. He has had his nails trimmed and his face touched up since then but he hasn't had a haircut since October. He normally goes about every nine, ten weeks.

I brush Mr. N daily and his hair has been getting tangled a little more than usual (this rain isn't helping either). I've been thinking about taking him in later this month but I decided I need to call the groomer tomorrow.

 The kicker was when we had a guest over and she remarked that it looked like Mr. N was bigger. This is not because he has gotten fat. And it's definitely not a late growth spurt.

It's all his fluff and hair. The boyfriend said that once he gets groomed, Mr. N is going to look like he has shrunk drastically. Maybe she'll ask us if we got a new dog.

How do you decide when your dog should go to the groomer? Or get a bath? And am I the only one who thinks their dog looks like a totally different dog once they're back from the groomer?

BW Sunday #76 - Art Gallery

FitDog Friday #63 - Dog Safety Class

A friend of a friend contacted me about having Mr. N be the "demo dog" for a dog safety class for kids. She belongs to a homeschooling group and one of the kids was bitten by a dog at a Superbowl party. She had a lesson planned which included dog body language, how to approach a dog and rules for interacting with dogs but wanted a real dog to practice with.

The request was for a cute, calm and happy dog to receive petting from toddlers (five of them!). Calmness is not Mr. N's strongest trait but I thought we could probably manufacture calmness for a short period of time. 

A bigger dog would probably be a better fit for toddlers normally (due to being sturdier and less likely to get injured) but if you're looking for a non-scary dog, Mr. N fits the bill. He is probably the least intimidating looking dog ever. 

So we went over and the kids practiced gentle petting and giving treats nicely. Mr. N also showed off some tricks including dance which was very popular and was requested again.

He was a little bit wary (we normally don't work with kids this young) and I don't blame him. Toddlers are loud and unpredictable and rambunctious. But he was happy to take treats from the kids and eat the treats I gave him for keeping still while the kids experimented with petting .

I was very proud of him especially because the environment was so distracting. There was another dog (in another room but we could hear banging and barking) and a cat in the house as well as the five kids. Mr. N's attitude was pretty much, "we interrupted my walk for this?" But he was a good boy and I hope the little boy is a little bit more comfortable around dogs.

How is your dog with kids?

Wordless Wednesday #72 - Friends

This photo pretty much sums up Sage's and Mr. N's friendship

Positive Pet Training #13 - Responsible Pet Owners Month and Handling Your Dog

It's important to have your dog used to handling both for everyday grooming and in the case of an emergency. Especially if you have a dog(s) who like poking their nose into every nook and cranny.

Ideally, you'd have your dog acclimated to handling starting from puppyhood but not all of us start off with a puppy. We adopted Mr. N when he was three but I've worked with him on this since then. He is not a wash and wear dog so he has to put up with a lot of grooming. I frequently tell him, if he doesn't like it, he can come back in his next life as a short-haired dog but then he probably won't be in our household because I like fluff.

I can clean Mr. N's ears, brush his teeth, remove things from his mouth (like chicken bones), trim his eye hair and examine his paws. I can cut his nails in a pinch but I've quicked him twice so he usually goes to the groomer. I did teach him how to file down his nails using a filing board though.

Mr. N always gets treats and praise and petting when I have to groom/handle/examine him. So he's used to it and tolerates it. A previous groomer told me that he was the only dog that didn't try to bite her that day! And if your dog isn't used to it, start off with baby steps. Acclimate them slowly so they're comfortable and relaxed throughout the whole process.

Things happen. Sometimes your dog will end up with a face full of burrs. And you will have to remove them one by one with your fingers. You and your dog will be much more comfortable in this situation if your dog is already tolerant of handling. I promise.

How does your dog(s) feel about handling?

A photo posted by Tenacious Little Terrier (@tenaciouslittleterrier) on Jan 21, 2015 at 4:41pm PST

Welcome to First Monday's Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin Monday, March 2nd.

BW Sunday #75 - New Collar

A napping Mr. N with his new collar from the talented Tales from the Back Road blogger, Mary. He won the collar in the Advent Giveaway hosted by Kol's Notes, Dogthusiast, Heart Like a Dog, NEPA Pets and Wag 'n' Woof Pets.