The Not so Happy Water Dog

In July we took Madison to visit a friend at another lake. They had a little beach area where she could walk into the water. She was frantic about wanting to play in the water. Every time we would bring her up on land so we could sit and talk, Madison would frantically pull to go back to the water. We decided to put her on a line in the water so we could relax! She was having a great time, playing, pawing at the water, barking at the water. After about an hour we dragged her back on land with us. She wanted to return...we kept her on land for a while then let her go back to the water. After about half an hour we brought her back on land...now she was not so happy. Her breathing was labored and she had no energy. Her tail, normally curled above her back, was down, a sure sign of trouble. Kathleen immediately wanted to drive her to the emergency animal clinic in Fort Wayne (about 40 minutes) but I was not so sure. But Kathleen is usually right about these things so off we went...at high speeds at times and running several lights!! At the St. Joe Emergency Clinic - a great place - we discovered she had water toxicity, which can be fatal!! She had taken in so much water that her electrolytes in her cells were out of whack...too diluted. This can happen to runners sometimes if they take in too much water after a race. Boy are we bad parents!!!
Madison had to be put on an IV and kept overnight...it was kind of scary because she was in some danger. Luckily she pulled through and came home the next day...lesson learned, not by Madison, she is still a nut int he water, but one learned by the humans!

The Water Dog

Madison did a lot of playing in the water on Sunday and Monday. I have tried to post a movie of her behavior but have been unsuccessful. I will try again, but may have to send it out by email. Hey, post it on facebook! OK.

She is hilarious...a lot of pawing and biting at the water. We borrowed a "square" from our neighbors...it is a 4 ft by 4 ft piece of dense foam that floats even when someone stands on it. Madison jumped right on it from the dock. She attacked the water while we frequently took her off and away from the square and let her swim back to it. She is a good little swimmer but she is glad to get back on her feet.

We also took her to the beach. There she proceeded to dig furiously at the sand and water, scattering sand everywhere on her and whatever might be behind her! We also took out maybe 20 feet and let her swim back to shallow water...she really enjoyed that. Here she is on the square, on the pontoon showing us the way home!

Madison meets Rosie

On Sunday Madison met her cousin Rosie, a playful two year old bassett. They got along great. Here they are sharing time on the furniture. There was a little playing and chasing but we discovered Madison is a people dog...she did have much interest in Rosie. Madison growled a little when Janet paid attention to Rosie, her own dog, but after that they peacefully coexisted! Another big step for Madison.

Today: Wednesday...we have had Madison for six weeks!!

The boat dog

Madison has become quite the boat dog. She still is kind of manic when the water is rough but most of the time she is content to watch the action out on the lake. Sometimes we even let her drive the pontoon!!

Madison, One Month Later

This past Wednesday marked Madison's one month anniversary with us, one month since we drove to Ft. Lauderdale to pick her up. For the first two days, Madison watched us warily, only moving when we forced her to go outside. Now she follows us everywhere, always wanting to do what we are doing. And she plays! She chases us in the yard and runs after her squeaky toys when we throw them. When she is running and you catch her she rolls on her back to get her belly rubbed. This became important today when Madison snuck out of the deck by slipping between two spindles. She ignored our calls to her as she trotted down the lakefront. We raced after her and Julie finally caught up with her and she promptly rolled onto her back. As we returned home our neighbor yelled out that he was impressed that I still had some speed!!

Kathleen and I have been pretty consistent with the lessons we learned from the dog trainer. We have used the "enough" command and the can of compressed air (we call it a can of whup-ass) to change Madison's behavior toward other dogs and the splashing water around the boat. She has learned to tolerate both. Madison has become a great boat dog. She stayed on the pontoon with us today for 6 hours! She warns us when other dogs are on the sand bar and snuggles up with Julie while she reads a book. We put her in the water and she is a great swimmer! We are not sure she likes it but she puts up with her swimming lessons. And Madison has a boyfriend. She likes Tucker, our lake neighbor's lab. She greets him with a wagging tail and they play as much as possible with Madison at the end of a leash. The next step will be to get them together in our fenced-in yard and let them really play. She has come a long way from the dog who greeted every other dog with intense barking, jumping and growling!

Training Day

Today was our private lesson with a local dog trainer. We arrived and spoke with the trainer and our needs behaviors for a bit. We were in a large room and in the corner was a life-size cut out of a dog. Madison saw it and immediately went into her aggression-mode, barking, growling and straining at the leash...teachable moment!! The trainer, Mike, took a canister of pressurized air (the type sold to dust your computer) , stepped at Madison, said "enough" and sprayed her in the face. Magic...Madison turned away and was quiet!! This was followed by praise for her now positive behavior. About a minute later Mike had to use the technique again. After that, Madison sat, then laid down and was quiet and content. He said she had moved to "avoidance mode". Avoidance mode is: if I pretend it's not there then I don't have to deal with it! It was true...she was facing away from the fake dog! (I think I may have used that one before...)

Then I took Madison and Mike brought in his very laid back golden retriever. Of course, Madison went into aggression mode, so I stepped at her, said "enough" and gave her an air squirt. Wow, it worked!! For the next half hour, Kathleen and I practiced our technique while Mike walked his dog around the room and around Madison. Soon the two dogs were interacting by sniffing with no issues!!

We learned a lot in 45 minutes. We learned how dogs think in the now, how to deal with unwanted behavior, how to make a dog "come" and we learned we have much to learn!! We now will be practicing our techniques with Madison on walks and hopefully on pontoon rides!

Feedback: Julie is very good at the "enough" technique but not quick enough to praise. (sound familiar, former students?) Kathleen is very good at praise but not so firm on "enough". Surprised anyone?

Evaluation: Madison A
Julie & Kathleen B

Note: too bad I did not learn that air spray technique when I was teaching!!

Madison goes for a Pontoon Ride

Last Saturday we took Madison for her first pontoon ride. Just like she is a great rider in the car and van, she was great on the pontoon. She curled up on the seat and enjoyed the trip.

Sunday we took Madison for her second pontoon ride. The water was a little rougher and because it is high this spring, the water was slapping up against the pier and flying up between the slats. Madison thought the water was attacking her. And, of course, it was coming from everywhere...right, left, ahead of her and right underneath her. She scrambled madly on the pier biting the water wherever she could!!! Poor thing, I have never seen a ddog so frantic!! We got her on the pontoon and took off. Madison continued to attempt to attack the water...still on the leash, she tried to get out of the pontoon to get at her enemy, barking madly. We did not go far before we realized Madison was not going to stop until that nasty water went away!! Sadly, Madison's second pontoon ride was cut short and we returned her to the cottage.

Later that evening we took Madison for a walk. We went to a spot on the lake where the water is shallow and there are steps in the seawall to the water. I had the bright idea that if Madison just knew what the water was...if she went in it...she would not be so afraid. I took off my shoes and socks, gave Kathleen my cell and put my foot onto the step to go into the water. Since the step was underwater, the step was slick as snot and soon I was on my butt up to my chest!! Since I was in, Madison should be too!! I took her out about 6 feet and put her in the water...she is a natural swimmer but her technique was rather frantic. We repeated this two more times to complete Madison's first swimming lesson. We have not tested my theory yet by taking her for another pontoon ride. Stay tuned...

Madison meets Cooper

Bringing Madison home from Florida we stopped to see friends in Atlanta. We already had seen that Madison seemed agressive toward other dogs. Our friends have a year-old lab-golden mix named Cooper who is very laid back. To put it bluntly, Madison went beserk when she met Cooper - barking, growling, straining at her leash - while Cooper just sniffed and looked at her wondering why she did not want to play. We put her in her crate (used just once in Florida) while we sat on the porch. Madison continued to bark as Cooper stared at her in wonderment. After maybe half an hour, Madison had barked herself out!! We released her from her crate and let her approach Cooper. Sensing that he was not threatening she even played a little bit.

Fast forward one year. At New Years Madison and Cooper met again. Play, play, play...even played tug-of-war with Cooper's blanket. What a difference having a good friend makes!

A Florida Refugee

Kathleen and I went to Florida for a week and visited friends in Ft. Lauderdale the first weekend. After a couple of margaritas, our friends said, "let's go to the animal shelter!!" Off we went, just to look, of course. There we found a little female black and white mix sitting quietly in her cage. She wagged her tail when we stooped down to her level. After meeting with her, we decided to take the plunge and adopt. Well, our friends actually adopted her since they are Broward County residents...then we abducted her from the jurisdiction!! The first day in our condo (still on vacation) she stayed curled up on the floor except when we picked her up to go outside. The second day, when we returned from breakfast she was on the couch! Here she is, still groggy from her spaying surgery, in the Florida condo. We named her Madison. Lucky for us she proved herself to be a good rider, as we drove her home from Florida.