Trampoline Dog – watch more funny videos
Holy crap! This is so CUTE! If only I could get Ripley to do something like that! Hahahaha.
Watch the awesome.
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Another day, another great training session! After the dog park, Ripley and I did some work on leash. We started just inside the park. And, as luck would have it, two ladies with a cadre of about eight small, yappy dogs arrived. They were pissing about near their car for several minutes, trying to get organized (eight dogs, remember?) So I used the opportunity to give Ripley some training. It went beautifully! These dogs were yapping, barking, and carrying on which was a bit more dog stimuli than Ripley normally gets when we do these little training sessions. She did fantastic. She paid attention to them, then immediately looked at me. She only let out one woof when they were getting particularly loud and obnoxious. She’s so awesome. Ripley has also discovered puddles. She also wrestled with a Great Dane today. The Great Dane was very fiesty and the size of a small country, so guess who won that particular match. I think the diet is also coming along very good. I’ve switched her hot dog park treats to carrots and she doesn’t seem to mind and she is getting three half-cups of kibble a day; two when we work with her food tube. So far, so good! I guess only time (and our trip to the Vet to get weighed) will tell! I am sad to report that Ripley has not lost any weight. Instead she has GAINED 7 pounds. She’s now at a whopping 58 pounds. I’m also going to review the type of treats she is eating. I think her sweet potato treats are ok. They are small and I don’t give her too many. The hot dogs are gonna have to go. I only use them when I take her to the dog park (high value treat and all that). I will probably substitute them with carrots and see how that goes. The biggest area that I need to work on is the Wellness Core wet food that I use in her food tube for on-leash training. I always forget to offset the wet food with her kibble. Always. So in essence she is getting overfed almost every day. We had street hockey players tonight! Street hockey players that were about three metres away from Ripley and she whined once and that’s it! The rest of the time she looked at me and basically ignored them. I think it’s the closest she has done cold (ie: without going to the dog park first). Woot! As for her jug, it certainly slows her down. It took her over an hour to eat a cup of kibble! I suspect that is because she is still learning how to work the jug. She really has no idea how it works. At all. There was a lot of bashing and smashing of the jug. She is very enthusiastic about it! I think if she is still struggling this much by next week, I might remove the rope and put a ball inside. It would work the same way, but just a bit less difficult for her. I have mentioned in previous entries about Ripley’s gobbling problem. She eats at a staggering speed. I feed her twice a day. She gets a cup and a little bit of kibble each time. I swear she finishes in under 10 seconds. She inhales it. Initially, I didn’t think it was a huge deal – I’m a fast eater too. But in the last couple of weeks, I have learned that it could be a big issue. Apparently, eating too fast causes bloat, which is the second biggest killer of dogs. So that gives me enough pause. But more than that, if she vomits, its whole. If it’s whole, she thinks “MMMMMM FOOD!” and tries to eat it again. Ergh. The same goes for poop. Both W and I have busted her trying to eat her own shit* on more than one occasion. Luckily (?!), she only tries to eat her own and has no interest in other dog’s poop when we are at the park. Yesterday, Ripley and I had a great time at the dog park. We explored some of the other parts of the park that we hadn’t been before. Which included getting close to the water. I’m not sure if Ripley is going to be a water dog or not. She seemed really apprehensive about going into the water. Even when her Husky buddy, Tico, jumped in. She preferred playing with a dead duck. After running amok in the park, we did some leash training. It was very, very positive. We did about 10 minutes – mostly because there wasn’t a whole lot going on (if it was busier, we would have done less time). But Ripley was really good. We walked around the parking lot so we could see both people and puppies while on leash. She is coming around to the idea of looking at the person or dog and then looking at me. I’m happy we were able to add a dog element to the training. She didn’t have any outbursts, just a couple whines and a teeny woof. We also ventured into the park so I could practice some sit/stays. My ultimate goal is that I’d like to be able to put Ripley into a sit before I let her off leash when we visit the park. Crazy, I know. And with our growing confidence, I have been re-considering taking Ripley to Hounds Lounge once a week. Letting her socialize with other puppies for a full 8 hours once a week would be fantastic. Though, I do worry about the leash reactivity. But, I might head over, check them out (without Ripley of course) and see if it might be a good fit. If she isn’t on leash too much, it might be. Perhaps in the Spring we can add a weekly visit to our routine. Eight hours with other puppies?!?! Ripley would be in HEAVEN. I have started dabbling in experimentation! It’s like science! After yesterday’s jaunt at the dog park, I decided to test out my recent hypothesis regarding putting Ripley on-leash after being in the dog park. I wanted to see if her previous non-reactions one-leash were a fluke or not. So! I decided to leash her while in the park and about 50 feet (or so) away from the entrance to the parking lot. And to add more danger, I leashed her on opposite side of the lot from where we were parked, so we would have to cross the entire expanse of the lot to get to the car. I’m a wild woman, I know! The City of Calgary is rewarding responsible pet owners who license their cats and dogs. It’s a great little perk, but to be honest, I never understood why someone wouldn’t license their pets. Alright, that’s not true. I understand if you have an indoor cat who never ever leaves the house. Yes, I admit that I am guilty of not licensing my cats. Or at least I used to be. Loki is fully licensed now! But for free range cats and dogs, it baffles me to think that people refuse to license them. Yes, its an additional cost. But ya know what, so is having a freaking pet. Buck up and pay for it. After all, if your pet ends up at Animal Services for whatever reason, those license fees are the reason that Rover or Mittens are housed, fed, and cared for. A reasonable and responsible pet owner should want to contribute to that system to ensure that their pet is taken care of. But let’s be candid, on average, it’s not the responsible pet owners who have beasties that end up at Animal Services, at rescue organizations or the Humane Society. February 18th, 2010 » Animal Shelters, Human Training, Other, Rescue Societies » Leave a comment...?
 I made an interesting (well, to me) observation when Ripley and I were leaving the dog park today. Normally, once I am ready to leave, I get Ripley on her leash and whisk her back to the car as soon as possible as not to let her leash reactivity kick in. Today, I must have been feeling brave. I put her on her leash and slowly walked back to the car (stopping to toss some poop into a garbage bin). We passed a person and their dog within – say – five feet (maybe less). On leash. And Ripley could give two shits. No reaction whatsoever. Crazy right? Now, I suspect it is because she had just played her little canine brain out with a cadre of other dogs and people. She was probably thinking … “Meh, no biggie. Just played with a bunch of those”. But it was still interesting to me that there was literally no reaction. And I was really looking for one too! Above all, it gives me hope. It tells me that Ripley can be on leash and near other dogs without going off. I mean, I think I always knew that, but having it happen – even for a moment – is a fantastic confirmation. Now, the trick is getting her to do it without having to tiring her out first! On a completely different note, interesting article in the Herald today about canine parvo. Make sure your pooches (especially puppies) are all up to date on their core shots. I called Ripley’s Vet today just to make sure. Yesterday, we celebrated Ripley’s 1st “birthday” with a large beef bone and much time at the dog park. Though, the dog park almost didn’t happen. When we arrived, the parking lot was so full that people were parking on the adjacent street. But thankfully, after a few laps, we managed to find a spot within the parking lot. It was kinda crazy. We didn’t do any real recall work – my gift to Ripley. But it is certainly needed. Especially after she thiefed another dog’s ball and refused to give it back. I think I understand why people shouldn’t bring toys to the park. Och. After the dog park, we did a bit of on-leash training. She did so well! While the walk itself was pretty uneventful (there was no one outside), once we returned home, Ripley sat on the porch while people loaded stuff into their truck right in front of the house! Maybe 10 feet away! No barking, no whining, nothing! Woop! I have also decided that we need to start some refresher training for some stuff that she already knows, like Sit, Stay and Watch Me. I feel like its all slipping a little because we have been focusing on the leash reactivity. Even five minutes a day would be greatly beneficial methinks. Oh! And S-JP dropped on a fantastic DVD for me to watch. It’s all about calming signals that dogs use. I did watch it, but I need to re-watch it when I have more time and take some notes! Though, I have to say, I was eye’ing Ripley’s signals a bit more when we were at the dog park. |
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My dog was very muddy, very wet, and very stinky by the end of the day. She was in absolute bliss!
But I will say this for Ripley, she might get thrown around a lot by bigger dogs, but she always bounces back! And she’s always happy!
