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.