What are you and your dogs up to today? Part 2

[Erica]

Wow Delta seems to be getting in the wars a lot at the minute, I hope he's okay.

It's all fetch's fault. I'm going to start using Musher's Secret to hopefully toughen up his paw pads, as he seems to be really rough on them when he mis-pounces and then turns on a dime. I probably should also restrict his fetch sessions more...shame, they've been great for working on his self control.

Thankfully this poor pad doesn't touch the ground all the time, so it's easier to keep clean and dry.

Congrats to Laufey for his Westie-ignoring!

[ckranz]

Musher's secret is good stuff. we use it in flyball a lot

[delladooo]

Wow Delta seems to be getting in the wars a lot at the minute, I hope he's okay.

It's all fetch's fault. I'm going to start using Musher's Secret to hopefully toughen up his paw pads, as he seems to be really rough on them when he mis-pounces and then turns on a dime. I probably should also restrict his fetch sessions more...shame, they've been great for working on his self control.

Thankfully this poor pad doesn't touch the ground all the time, so it's easier to keep clean and dry.

Congrats to Laufey for his Westie-ignoring!

Restrict fetch, he'll be mortified!

Thanks, he can generally do this for treats most days but he managed to hold it whilst I got more out of my pouch so I was impressed there as that usually doesn't happen.

I've had an awful encounter with a lady and her cocker who we see every day and who's dog doesn't like Laufey and I'm getting close to the point of saying something. It's one thing for her dog to not like mine - I can understand that - but to let the dog stay off lead and chase us is to attack him whilst casually calling for her like she's suddenly going to magically start listening is starting to annoy me. She's only off lead about 25% of the time we see her but when her lead is a flexi that she forcefully strains again I can't say as I really trust that either. Then, as we got away a yorkie (with an oblivious dog walker) came launching itself at us and snapped at him too

[MPbandmom]

We had the first absolutely gorgeous dog walking weather this morning that we have had in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I had other obligations, so we weren't able to get the dogs out until this evening, when the weather was not nearly as pleasant as it had been this morning.

We went to our new favorite quiet part of the battlefield and except for the snake on the trail and the one dog that was walking the same trail only in the opposite direction, so we got to react to each other twice , we did have a nice quiet walk.

I was very proud of Sky who walked past the snake as if it wasn't there. Oh was behind me, so I called out snake and pointed. He grunted acknowledgement, but in a manner that told me he hadn't really heard what I said, so I stopped and waited for him to get closer and repeated, "snake." That time he grasped what I was saying. OH seemed much more wary of the snake than Sky and I had been. It looked to me like a harmless black snake about 18 inches long, that hadn't eaten in quite some time. OH wanted to know what kind of snake, but then doubted my identification. Snake started to move on off the trail as OH was debating about the snake. OH took a couple of pictures of the snake while holding Sirius on a shortened lead in case she decided she wanted to check the snake out more closely. Like Sky, she pretty well ignored the snake and didn't seem curious or interested in it in the least.

[delladooo]

He grunted acknowledgement, but in a manner that told me he hadn't really heard

I think I would be slightly more engaged if someone said snake to me when out on a dog walk! Although, it would be very concerning to be told this around here at all so maybe if it were a more common occurrence it wouldn't be as scary. At least the dogs ignored it

[mansbestfriend]

A funny (interesting) moment last night - I placed down a tasty?/smelly treat each for Kelly dog, and Max the GH, as they relaxed on their beds. Kelly dog claimed her's almost instantaneously. Max the greyhound looked at his 'free' treat and took a good 5-10 seconds deciding if it was worth the effort and inconvenience to move the one metre to collect it. He did.

This morning I took Kelly dog and Max the GH down to an empty dog park for a sniff/look/pee/poop/meander/play/trot/run around. A group of walkers and little dogs approached outside the park and Max barked at them from inside the fence. Short version is that we then left the park from a different exit. When our positions were reversed (us outside the fence and them inside), the little dog ran away from it's owner to bark at us from inside the fence. There has to be a lesson in that?

[JudyN]

That terrier wasn't daft, MBF

Max the greyhound looked at his 'free' treat and took a good 5-10 seconds deciding if it was worth the effort and inconvenience to move the one metre to collect it. He did.

Jasper sometimes does that too, despite being a greedy pig. If OH is around, though, he will stare pitifully at OH until OH gets up and moves the treat near enough for him to eat without moving - even if it was me who put the treat down. He knows who the soft touch is

[MPbandmom]

Very proud of Sky tonight. OH has hurt his back again, so off from dog walking for a few days. People are still setting of fireworks around here most every night, so taking Sirius out in the evening is a no go, plus it has been really hot the past few days and the idea of loading the dogs into the van to drive somewhere has been unappealing. Sky, however, is a possible candidate for a walk from house to the park behind the house. She just has issues with barkey yard dogs and a tendency to want to take off at full speed when she encounters them, and there are probably dogs at about a third of the houses around here.

We had a nice walk to the park and around the park. We even managed to get into the dog park "foyer" to visit the trash can without there being a major blow up. While I was visiting the trash can, which is conveniently right next to the large dog area. (not ) Sky was checking out the parkies, who were likewise checking her out. There were two huskies inside, but I didn't see the one we are somewhat familiar with. Then there was another dog on either side of the huskies. All were doing a good job of playing staredown, which is not a good game for Sky to get involved in. All was okay, until I tried to get Sky to come along as I was finished with the trash can. Then there was a little grumbling, but otherwise no serious rumble through the fence resulting from the staring.

I wanted to get in some extra distance and decided to try taking the "around the block" route home. About the time I was waving and saying hello to a family whose son had been in school with mine, I started hearing a dog absolutely screeching and drowning out any possible conversation. I realized the dog was a couple of houses up in the direction I was traveling, not in a fenced yard, but being held onto by someone sitting on the porch of the house. I was a little wary of passing by, but owners seemed to have a good grasp and I kept Sky moving on a short leash at a decent pace until we were 3 or 4 houses beyond the screeching dog.

We encountered a few other barkey yard dogs along the way and Sky didn't once try to bolt. I don't think I will be trying to walk around the block again any time soon though.

[ckranz]

Getting ready for a weeks long vacation to a national park means spending lots of good quality time with the boys. Each night we have been taking sunset strolls at our favorite beach and tomorrow they will enjoy Tuna Kongs. Next week they will be at ranch camp, chasing rabbits and gophers and having a great time with a great friend I trust. Sure I will miss the boys for a week, but it helps knowing they are in good hands.

[JudyN]

We met a group of 6 Ridgebacks yesterday Jasper was OK with them - a little bit worried when they introduced themselves, as he doesn't like to be outnumbered, but they were all polite. I chatted to the owners and after a bit the RRs started to play with each other, mainly over-the-neck play-bitey stuff.

Jasper stood to the side, like the kid at the playground who doesn't know how - or if - to join in a game. A couple of times he went in, sticking a paw on the back of a dog (I didn't notice whether male or female, or whether the same dog each time). And a couple of times he stood on the side, barking at them.

I'd love to know what he was thinking. Did he want to join in but not know how? (Unlikely, as he's not big on playing with other dogs, and if he does, he usually buzzes them and dashes away in a circle to try to get them to chase him - there weren't any playbows either.) Was he being the 'fun police'? And if so, why did he feel the need to do something about the behaviour of the other dogs, clearly a cohesive group? Did he not recognise the play as being simply that? And could it be that the dog(s) he was putting a paw on was a male bouncing on a female and Jasper wanted to be gallant?

We left pretty soon as I didn't want him to get agitated. He doesn't often interact with other dogs - it's generally a sniff and a mooch, and he'll often ignore other dogs even if they follow him with their nose an inch from his bum while I glare at their owners. If anyone more experienced with dog-dog encounters would like to hazard a guess at what he was thinking, I'd love to know

[MPbandmom]

Well, Judy, I think I will leave Jasper analyzing up to the experts.

I took Sky for another evening sidewalk outing to the park behind the house today. I have to admit, while I enjoy walking with OH and having him handle Sirius, there are also advantages to walking with just Sky.

I decided to try the trash can visit again today as the last time hadn't been a total disaster, or really even a minor one. Today was a little different. First off, while I was trying to scope out the interior to be certain no one was preparing to leave or such, Sky discovered that someone had conveniently left the outer gate unlatched, so she went charging in. I had no choice but to follow. We found ourselves once again facing two huskies in the large dog area, however they were two different huskies than from the other night and one of them was a barker. I think the other one might have been the little quiet female that we have seen there solo a few times that my two don't seem to have any issues with. It was dusk, so a little hard to tell.

I didn't want to get Sky close to the fence with the barking husky, so peeked into the small dog area to see if I could see a trashcan in there. No luck. Husky owner shushed barking husky and told me it would be fine to take Sky into the small dog area because no one was using that. I replied, no because Sky doesn't do well with barky dogs and if they got next to the fence, there would be a fence fight. By this time I was reeling Sky in to keep her as far away from the fence as possible while still trying to reach the trash can. (I know bad owner. ) By this time, Sky was locked in a good stare down and starting to grumble at barky husky. I moved my hand up to her harness and managed to reach the trashcan with my deposit, all the while husky owner was reassuring me that it would be fine for me to take Sky into the small dog area and let her off leash. I again repeated no and then said, we just came to use the trash can, at which point Husky owner said oh okay, as I was dragging Sky by her harness as well as verbally encouraging her to turn around and exit.

[MPbandmom]

OH was up for a short walk to day, we drove over to the park behind the house and took a walking lap around the park. We had one off moment when we tried to dodge a family whose child was walking their small dog. The child apparently decided our cutting up the hill looked like fun and started running towards us. OH and I both yelled at him to not bring the dog any closer. Sky did a bit of anxious whining as she was closest to the approaching dog. Sirius seemed to handle it a bit more calmly, but I think OH was well on top of the situation for her.

Our walking loop around the park didn't equal a mile, so I asked OH if he was up to going a little further. He grudgingly agreed. Sirius wanted to get into the van as we happened to pass by it to start a second loop around. So we stopped a little ways further along and gave the dogs some water. We just did manage to get in a mile.

The dog park was very busy tonight. There were two huskies there again. This time the two that we had seen last night, so the barky one, who was fortunately being quiet. I managed to get all poo bags in what I consider the only other usable trash can for dog poo at the park in hopes of not having to go near the dog park again. But a few yards away from the van, Sirius decided it was her time use a poo bag, so I was left with a poo bag to deposit in the trash can in the dog park. Having the van, I loaded the dogs and OH in there first and then headed towards the dog park trash can. I arrived at the gate just as the huskies were leaving. The husky owner spoke and asked about Sky and then we continued on our ways.

[Erica]

Delta likes to ignore his food for about half an hour before he eats it (thawing for different amounts of time does not affect this). So I was settling in to do some internetting while he was ignoring his food in favor of cardboard, but the internet was down. Alright, I'll go fix the router, I think, making sure all the doors to the room are closed and getting Delta to come with me.

Thirty seconds later I start walking back in and, oh, one of the doors is open...hmm, that's weird, Delta's food is GONE...

Opal opened a door and stole it away to the den. but she swapped it for a couple Zukes (unhappily, but...not much can value the same as a pound of frozen meat) and then Delta was READY to eat it RIGHT THEN GIVE IT TO ME NOW I WANT TO EAT IT.

Dogs.

(Opal won't eat her food until Delta walks near her bowl. It's a little silly. But once she even sees him, she'll eat. What is up with these two?)

[Erica]

Last week of agility session one and DAAANG Delta killed it.

In our last session, he was kinda okay with going over the A-frame and would take a few steps up the dogwalk. Today when we walked in he IMMEDIATELY pounced on the A-frame and flew up and skittered down it. ??? Okay there Delta! That’s GREAT please only do that when I am ready and not trying to get my stuff together but

yes that’s okay

then the dogwalk came up in the mini course we did, so he pounced on the contact zone, took a few steps up, then jumped into my arms and did it again…then like the third or fourth time he was suddenly on the flat part, freaked out a little but kept walking and got down to the other ramp…then BOOM it was suddenly the GREATEST THING EVER and I had difficulty keeping him off of it

We also introduced the chute and he got very happy with it quickly. I remember one of the sport dog people I follow talking about rewarding straight out and low to the ground so they don't get tangled in the chute, so I kept that in mind and he did great.

he was just so awesome and this is so fun <3

we’re already signed up for the next class, which is just taking the obstacles we know (maybe introducing the teeter?) and learning about handling, like how to get the dog to go where you want them to go. fun stuuuufffffff.

[JudyN]

He really enjoys learning new skills, doesn't he, Erica? It's great that he's so enthusiastic!