Walkies: Episode 2

Texas on the Porch

Having two dogs in the house, has made me extremely lazy, I will admit that. Well, I should say, having two lazy dogs in the house, as made me lazy. However, when my neighbor needed to use my computer while I was gone, I decided yesterday was as good as day as any, to take the dachshunds out on the town. So I loaded up their crate, and off we went. Let me tell you, they were NOT happy about being crated in the car, but it had to be done, if I wanted Texas to be any semblance of calm, once we arrived at our final destinations.

For Mr. Reactivity, sitting in the car, increases the likelihoods of him becoming extremely reactive, people walking around, dogs, birds, etc, will elicit an extreme reaction from him, to the point that if someone were to stick their hand in my car, they would get bitten. (If he were in there of course)

Hence the crate. I quickly discovered, that if I played music, they would quiet down, but listening to a book-on-tape, brought to mind, how much they could be missing, by not being in my lap, and the chorus of whining would resume. Needless to say, we were jamming on our way to the park. After a quick stop at a local pet store for more harnesses, (as our old ones have "mysteriously disappeared" .. Texas left the house with one on, came back a few minutes later without it. Haven't seen it since!) and another bag of dog food... and we were on our way.

Getting out of the car, took the most time, first I had to wait until they stopped whining and jumping around, then I had we practiced not lunging out of the crate as soon as the door was opened. Bubbles won, so she got out first, then we did another, longer round with Texas, until he too "got it" and sat quietly until I opened the door all the way.

Once that was accomplished, we harnessed up, watered up and prepared to start on our way.  However, the dachshunds, always on the look out for trouble, spotted some, in the form of a furry white dog, jogging with his owner.

ATTACK! DOG ALERT! INTRUDER! HE WAS LOOKING AT ME!

"Texas. Bubbles"

Huh? Wha? Treats? Cool.

I was surprised, and impressed at how quickly they redirected. All that work is worth something after all!

The park where we were, had several walking trails, most paved, but there was one that went through the woods.. perfect for my reactive dog, but to get to it, we'd have to walk around the dog park. I was mentally preparing for a fencing fighting scenario, but none came. Some of the dogs ran along side, but Texas & Bubbles ignored them.

WHY CAN'T THEY DO THIS AT HOME!?!?

We did practice sitting, as a jogger dashed by and continued on our walk. It wasn't until we were on our way back, that the ultimate trigger descended upon us, in the form of a loose dog.

Now I live in the country, so an off leash dog, isn't an huge cause for alarm in my book, I was more concerned about what Texas would do, to said dog rushing him, than I was about the dog attacking us. Turned out I was wrong to be concerned, not only did Bubbles & Texas come back to my side without even hackling, the dog in question, checked out the scene and decided that there were other things to do besides pester these little guys.

Never have I been more proud of my guys.

Seriously? A large dog rushed us, and my dogs turn to me for treats?

WHO ARE YOU GUYS AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DOG?

Once the owners got control of their way-ward animal, we were able to walk past them, and another dog without any problem.

By this time, Bubbles was definitely winded and ready to stop. I wanted to put her up and continue with Texas, but decided to end the afternoon on a high note.

Why Yes, I think we'll do this more often!

Erin




Check out My other Blogs: Big News on Chronicles of a Puppy Walker | Life is ... going.. at Life of a College Student.

Walkies

We don't even go on walkies a lot cause, we don't even have a place to walk in our nayborhood. Cause we don't even have any sidewalks or nuttin and mom doesn't want us ta get runned over by a cars or sometin. Sooo she looked around on the intranet and finds a place dat is only a little bit away from our house. And den she puts all of us in the car. (this was last week cause we had so many peoples in our own yard) and we got out at this place call ed the "Nature Center". Only thing was I didn't even see a bunch of nature!!! 


Anyway mom was real happy cause I stayed quiet when we passed people. Well except fur those llittle people dat came running to me even though mom told them I wasn't friendly. All dey said was "Which one is friendly!?" And den mom hadta Hoolldd me back! woof!! 


Butt den we met them again!...and they did the same thing Again!!! Mom wus seriwously scratchin her head bout dat one! Anyway next I vote we leaves Bubbles at home cause BOY was she SLOW! OMD! We had to keep walkin like a very slow animal that i can't think of right now. Anywoofs I can't wait till we go backs!

Mom's Cell Phone Picktures

left, left, left, right, left.....

Yeah. Cheese.Whatever lets move on all ready!

This is me and pompei speed walkin

Oh what is dis?! 

Hikes

I must apologize for Texas, he can get a little annoyed at having to stay home all the time! Plus he likes being....dramatic shall we say. :)

Though I do wish it were really a joke...Pompei is growing way too fast, making me realize each day how short a year is!

Anyway I think we made it up by taking him hiking up a rock quarry yesterday. I wish he were more trust worth off leash, but when these doxies put their noses too the ground there is no deterring them. So he had to stay at the end of his leash tangling up everyone in his path.

Another reason I don't use retractable leashes hardly ever.

But he thoroughly enjoyed himself I believe; his nose was going into over drive, while Pompei was content just to follow the group. After a while I carried him through the dense parts of the forest, since we hopped off the beaten path to find a cave my room mate was POSITIVE was back there....somewhere..

After wandering aimlessly for a while we decided to head back. We made our way back to our cars through a different route, and wound up having to walk along a fairly busy road. Neither Texas nor Pompei gave heed to the cars wishing past them, which is a good and bad thing at the same time.

Both were completely nap ready by the time we arrived home.

Where was Bubbles in all this?? Weeeellll my darling Bubsy had made her way under the house and stayed there the entire time we were gone, and for about two hours after we got home. By the time I decided to go find her it was dark, and I had to use the cars headlights to peer underneath the house, and coax her away from the animal she was hunting.

Between you and me, I think it was just the smell of a cat that used to live under there she caught wind of... but she was convinced there was something down there.

Later on we had guest over, my roommates BF is in town for the weekend, and her sister and another friend came over for a little while..they attempted to scare me, but forgot I had dogs so it backfired on them. :)

Texas has been progressing soo well with all these new people, while I don't normally agree with "flooding" a dog (Basically placing them in an environment that scares them, just to make them "see" nothings going to happen) I haven't really had a choice in the matter. He still reacts badly at the door, and in the car but I can easily refocus his attention on me.
Thankfully my roommate and friends are not at all intimidated with his noise, and will ignore him until he's back into a calm state of mind.

I am sooo happy about this!
I have been doing a lot of research on dog aggression for school, and I am more confident that he is not aggressive, and that this is just reactivity. We have a looonnngg way to go, but I can see a little more light at the end of the tunnel!

Pleasant Day

~Morning~
Wake Up, Going Outside, Sun Bathing on the Porch, Eating Breakfast, and morning nap

- Afternoon
Playtime, sleep, roll in stinky stuff, get a bath, go back outside

::Ben likes going out and about::

::Texas waiting for me to catch up::

::PEOPLE!!OMD!!!!::

::Iz Likz Hot Dogz::

~Evening
Dinner, Nap on Mom, PLay with Toys, Go outside, Sleeepppp

::I'm pretty and I know it ::

We Did It! {by Erin}

I said I was going too..and made myself do it! So Bubbles and I went down to the campus ...little did she know what was in store for her!! :-))
It took about 25-30 minutes to walk the whole trail...not too bad, I don't think that's enough to tire Midnight out, but by the time we reached the end of it, Bubbles was worn out. I was impressed by her stamina! I didn't think she would make it the whole way, but she did only stopping twice briefly.
I think she knew when we got close to where I had parked; because she started running toward it. Its going to be interesting walking her and Midnight..but we can do it.
She seemed to enjoy it..even though she's knocked out now. Nothing like the sleep of a well exercised dog. Too bad I have to work tomorrow.
9/2/08 - Bubbles weighs 20.6lbs

The Walk {By Erin}

I have decided that I need to walk my dogs more. Working at a doggie daycare, can kind of make you lazy... *ahem* me lazy. My dogs need the walk for their mental and health well being...as well as helping me establish myself as the pack leader.

Mastering the Walk
Walking exercises your dog's body and stimulates his mind.
By Cesar Millan


Dog moms teach their puppies a lot during their first few days and weeks of life. They set rules, boundaries and limitations, and serve as the first pack leader of the puppy’s life. They also walk with their puppies, which is an important primal activity for dogs.

In their natural habitat, dogs earn food and water by walking and they get to experience the world. If a dog does not walk he does not eat. You can see how this activity exists deep within a dog’s DNA, but too few dog owners recognize its importance.

Walking also exercises your dog’s body and stimulates his mind. It also provides a good opportunity for you to establish yourself as pack leader.

Walk the Walk
I walk about 10 dogs at a time, sometimes off-leash if I’m in a safe area. People are amazed by this, but it’s simple: The dogs see me as their pack leader. This is why they follow me wherever I go.

Walking in front of a dog allows you to be seen as the pack leader because position matters to a dog. Conversely, if your dog controls you on the walk, he’s the pack leader. Master the walk and your dog will relate to you as the pack leader, and accept his submissive role within the pack.

Remember, most dogs are born into the submissive role and like it just fine. The problem starts when naturally submissive dogs try to fill what they see as a vacant pack leader role. Since Nature never intended them to take on this role, “bad” or unwanted behavior ensues as they act out or try to normalize their world.

During the walk you may feel the highest level of connection with your dog. My clients are often surprised by this because they think dogs only crave love and affection – and treats. Not so. Dogs crave rules, boundaries and limitations from their pack leader. They also crave walking, a primal activity that they live to enjoy.

Soo...starting tomorrow....we are going to attempt 1-2 miles on my days off ..with Midnight and Bubbles. I have big plans in my head....lets just see if we can put them in action.