Mush Season!!

I'm beyond thrilled that the weather is beginning to cool down. That means we can mush! I had to take off about a full month of mushing. I didn't do much in July, only a couple times in August, and none until mid-September.

I've decided to keep track this 2013-2014 season through fall and winter to see how far my dogs and I go. We've run 3 times so far. September 17th for 4.6 miles with just Kaytu, then both Kay and Denali on the 21st and 26th to the dog park and back which is 3.6 miles. So we're at a total of 11.8 miles.

Each Wednesday I'm going to be at Rohr Park nearby to mush with the husky Meetup group. In a few days will be our first meet with them for the season. I'm only taking Kaytu but she's supposed to have a running buddy. The group organizer let me know of another member who has a fast dog but the dog has separation anxiety and needs another husky to show her the ropes. The owner will probably be biking in front of us and we'll follow her. I have two lines, one for running 2 dogs side by side and one where I can run up to 4 dogs, 2 in front and 2 behind the front two. I will bring both lines as sometimes running unfamiliar dogs side by side can cause friction so it may be better to have Kaytu running out front with Stoli hooked behind her. We'll see! I plan to do the entire 5 mile loop but it will depend on how Stoli is doing, I want her to learn to love mushing and if that means not going as far that's fine by me!

The weather should be perfect on Wednesday. Today was hot, tomorrow is supposed to be hot, cooler on Tuesday, and the high on Wednesday is only 73 and it's supposed to be down to 65* by 5:00pm and we don't even meet until 6:00pm. It's also supposed to be partly cloudy in the evening. Sunset is at 6:30 and there should enough light for maybe half an hour after that but the park isn't well lit the whole way around. We'll take it easy and have fun.

Mushing, Sept 26th

Shelter Journal 9/24/13

The last housbroken dog I got out today was Annie [Petfinder link], one of the dogs who has been at the shelter the longest. Since April 30th. I spent additional time training with her today. She wasn't interested in treats but *loves* tennis balls. So much so that she obsesses about them! I can use that to my advantage. I would hold the ball up near my face and wait for her to look at me and make eye contact before I'd throw it and praise her. The first time took several minutes. She sat, panting, eyes locked on the ball, rarely even blinking. A fast glance at my face and I tossed the ball as I praised her heavily, delightfully baby-talking her name and saying how good and smart she was. Then again.. and again.. and again.. by about the 5th time it was easily for her to look away from the ball and to look at me. She still has a ways to go but I think it's one of the best things I can do for her right now. She needs to learn to connect with people instead of ignoring them or obsessing about the ball. Great first lesson!

I took 3 photos that all look exactly the same!
She is VERY focused on the ball I'm holding.

I saw a kennel card that only had 2 days circled in September. This dog has been out just twice in over 3 weeks. I was prepared for a whirwind firecracker, a dog spinning and exploding out of control. Instead, Sally was an angel! [Petfinder link] She was good on leash, she didn't jump on me at all, seems to know Sit and Down. But mostly all she wanted was cuddles and petting. She was very calm but also playful and goofy, would chase a ball then toss it up in the air for herself, Chew it a little, paw at it and chase it again before laying down. Absolutely fantastic dog!

Photo from SDDAC

I had time for one more. Across from Sally I looked in disbelief and horror at a kennel card that said "August" at the top. Gracie [Petfinder link] had last been out on August 26th. She was very excited to get out and did a bit of spinning and lunging on leash. In the yard she ran and ran at first. I tossed toys and hopped around with her. Any touch and she would visibly shiver and flinch her skin from the sensation and she leaned in for more. I brushed her, gave her treats, and gradually she calmed down. I'll love to see how she is next time after getting some of that energy out! She was so sweet and playful, liked to step in the pool and even laid in the shallow water a couple times. She came up to me again and again for petting and cuddles. She's wonderful! On the way back to her kennel she was great on leash, she'd just had so much excitement to be out but by the time I put her back she had calmed down considerably.

Photo from SDDAC

Photo Shoot for Portraits

I did a little photo shoot for both dogs while we were on vacation last month as I'm having portraits done by Becca, www.beccavision.com. I've been following her Facebook page for a long time and love her style. Here are a few samples of her work!

I warmed up a little with my inlaws' dog, Snickers. He's a lab/poodle mix and is about the size of an Irish wolfhound.

Then did a few of miss Denali but she wasn't posing well for me.

So I tried Kaytu. She sat well for me and I got a lot of great outtakes too.

I went back to trying Denali and she was much better.

I did get the perfect shot for both. It will probably be a couple months before the portraits are done. Can't wait!

Shelter Journal 9/19

As I was signing in and getting my ID badge and "out for a walk" sign and such one of the staff members approached me. The same staff member who had me work with Cricket a while back. She said, "I have a project for you." I smiled. "Oh yeah?" Bella. She wanted me to work with Bella, who has been there since May. Bella is a jumper with springs for legs which leads to headbutting people in the face when they go to pet her. I said sure, I'd work with her.

First I went to check that all the housebroken dogs had been out that day. Shep. Gator. Django.

Shep
Photo from SDDAC

Gator
Photo from SDDAC

Django
Photo from SDDAC

As I was training with Django in the yard, rewarding him for calmness, he was sitting nicely then chose to lay down. I kept petting him and he rolled over for belly rubs. That's when I noticed his knee. It was gashed open! He hadn't been limping at all or giving any indication that it was bothering him. I took a closer look and realized he had to go to medical. Now. There was basically a flap of skin over his kneecap that was not attached. I waited in medical for about 15 minutes while they were dealing with some kittens before they could see him. We got him laying down and one of the ladies said it likely needed a staple. I left him there.

Kayla had been spayed so was too doped up to be let out, and Annie had already been out.

Kayla
Photo from SDDAC

Annie
Photo from SDDAC

One of the volunteers had asked me to look at Kenny. He was fantastic on leash. In the yard he coughed and wheezed so I immediately had to put him back, and filled out a form for medical saying he likely had kennel cough. Kennel cough is really going around from the overpopulation.

Photo from SDDAC

 
I went to look for Bella. Kennel 50, I knew. But she wasn't there. I couldn't find her! I looked on my sheet. Kennel 27. Damn, that's in "kennel cough row" as I call it. She'd been moved there. I looked in 27. No Bella! Hmm. Instead of wasting time looking for her I searched for a different dog nearby to take out.

Cosmo caught my eye [Petfinder link].

Photo from SDDAC

Photo from Petfinder

He's been at the shelter since August 24th. He was excited and pulled pretty hard on leash. In the interaction yard he was great! I think he may have been clicker trained before because he really responded to the click and seemed to already know sit and down. We did mat work, having him sit on a towel in front of me for attention, praise, and treats. He kept trying to climb up in my lap or jump up when I sat and I worked a lot on having him sit instead. He was catching on really well! If he ever put a paw up or jumped I immediately stood up, turned my back to him and crossed my arms for a couple seconds. I practiced having him stay sitting as I stood up and sat, stood up and sat, again and again. Great leg workout for me! He was getting it really well by the end.

My time was up. On the sway out I saw the staff member at the front desk. I waited for her to have a free moment and look at me. When she did I said "Bella is in kennel cough," and she replied, "I know." I hesitated. I was going to say "So how do you want me to work with her" because we're not supposed to take dogs with kennel cough out, and if I interacted with her I could spread it to even more dogs. All I got out was "So," before she said "This guy just adopted her!" My face lit up and I had a rush of full-body euphoria. "Oh my gosh! Awesome!!!" The guy and I introduced ourselves to each other. The staff member said she gave him my flyer for the free basic obedience class I offer, and he and I talked about the class and why he chose Bella. He will hopefully be coming to the one starting in a couple weeks. I am so thrilled for Bella!! I nearly cried when I was back in the car I was so happy for her.

Photo from SDDAC

Photo from ARRF

Technical Issues and Shelter

Blogger has been refusing to let me post! Every time I try it says I've signed in from another location and I can't make posts here. It's been very irritating.

I have a lot to try to catch up on so I'll keep it simple. First, Sassy and Rugger! These two came in together and were kenneled together as the shelter is now more than 100 dogs over capacity. The little dogs are all 2-4 to a kennel and any bigger dogs that come in together stay together. Both these two have already been adopted. They had awesome personalities and were a lot of fun! Sassy is the red one and is a girl, Rugger is a boy and is the darker one.

Photo from SDDAC

Photo from SDDAC

 Yesterday I finally caved in and got this guy out, Macks [Petfinder link]. His photo on the county website kept screaming at me. He's soooo cute!! It was a great change of pace. He was responsive to me, liked treats, I started on teaching him to sit, he is a fantastic little dog.

Photo from SDDAC

The last dog I had out was on his last day of holding before being adoptable. His name is Oso. I saw him and my jaw dropped while at the same time my eyes lit up. I knew I could make a huge difference for him. He had so much loose fur!! I brushed him for over half an hour, probably closer to 45 minutes before he'd had enough and didn't want to be brushed anymore. He does look better and I plan to brush him more tomorrow. He needs to lose a lot of weight; he weighs 93.4 lbs!! Very heavy dog. He has a wad of fat on his chest, no belly tuck at all, he's quite overweight.

Before

Before

After