Shaping versatility - Applying what you've learned

We have a new kid in the house. I adopted my foster dog, Lucky Latin. That means we are now training a new dog from scratch, something I have not had to do in two years. That was with the puppy, Stellaluna. I have not trained an adult dog from scratch since adopting Venus four years ago. Luke wasn't trained to follow commands but he did know enough about living with humans that I could not say we started from scratch. Soliel, still sometimes called Lucky, has just finished racing and ours is the first home he has lived in. The main items of focus with him right now are socialization, exposure to all this big wide world has to offer, and basic obedience training. Training a recently retired racer adopted straight from the kennels is definitely starting from scratch. It has taken me a while to get back into the swing of things. I had forgotten how much fun and frustration can be involved in working with an adult dog who has no clue of even the simplest things about training. Sol asks, "Who me? You're talking to me?"

Luna is my first dog to be trained almost entirely with clicker training. She has taught me a lot of things that I will hopefully remember while working with Soleil. One of the best and most useful things Luna has taught me is the amazing power of shaping. (click links for explanations of terms) She has help me learn directed shaping in particular. Shaping just means shaping a behavior into what you want. In clicker training, which relies on operant conditioning, it specifically means rewarding successive approximations of a behavior. There are different methods. Frequently free shaping is used as an intro into shaping. A classic clicker training exercise is 101 Things to do with a Box uses free shaping. Will veer off course a bit and admit that I when I learned this exercise in our first clicker training class I hated it. The dog I was using for class just sat there staring at me. My other dog at the time enjoyed it but I did not see the point of the exercise. Perhaps the instructor tried to explain the its benefits but I must have missed it. After that class I never did 101 Things again. I did not like it any better when asked years later to try it with Venus & Stellaluna.

Initially Venus did not even sit & stare. She would stretch and then lay down. "What is your problem woman? I don't care about no stinkin' box." However, with the help of the Luna-tic and a wonderfully patient, upbeat instructor I learned the purpose and many benefits of an exercise like 101 Things. That link is different from the first 101 Things link. (There are Greyhound pictures are at the top. Will that get you to click it?) Wish I had had that article when we first started training. It sure would have helped. Anyway, the point is free shaping is a bit ad lib but useful in a variety of ways. The 101 Things exercise helps the person learn how to shape a behavior even if you are just getting used to using a clicker. (You do not have to use a clicker. You can use a word or other noise as a marker.) With Venus, even though she already had a good bit of training, this exercise in free shaping help her learn to offer behaviors instead of waiting for me to give her instructions. This is important because I want a thinking dog, a dog who has learned to problem solve. That speeds up learning and contributes greatly to a dog's versatility. Free shaping is still not my fave though.

What I love most is directed shaping. Though very similar in ways to free shaping, in directed shaping you know what behavior you want and shape specifically for that behavior. As mentioned above, Luna was a big help to me when learning directed shaping. She made it fun. When I then started applying my meager skills to teaching Venus new behaviors the effects were amazing. Venus became much more animated during training. Instead of being just a willing participant, happy for the treats and interaction, Venus became bouncy, tail wagging in excitement, eyes twinkling. Her exuberance and obvious delight was such a thrill to me. The best part was the effect this had on the behaviors she learned through directed shaping. Not only did she enjoy the learning process of learning the behaviors but then took delight in performing those behaviors. Apparently when learning them so rewarding & that much fun the behavior itself becomes almost a reward. That then had an unexpected benefits. My independant, I work for myself not you girl actually started working for praise. Even better we could use some of those simply, rewarding behaviors to give Venus more confidence in otherwise stressful situations. Venus is a reserved, rather timid dog. If she is unsure of a situation she gets stressed. Yet she loves going places & doing things with me. That sometimes leads to her being put in strange, stressful situations. Now when that happens if she looks a bit overwhelmed I just ask her to do a simple behavior she knows well & enjoys. Being able to confidently perform a behavior associated with the good emotions she felt while learning it seems to make stressful situations much easier. It was a huge turning point in not only our training but our entire relationship. It was good before but now it is even better.

There was no turning back then. I was totally hooked on this style of training. Even though I had been using reward based training for years, this method worked so well for my sighthounds that I really wanted to learn more. So early this year Luna & I headed off to a Pat Miller shaping seminar. That weekend is a whole story unto itself but suffice to stay that was started as a very challenging, frustrating, humbling and even embarrassing weekend. Yet it ended with tremendous satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment. I learned a great deal and now with Soliel I will be putting a lot of it to use. By the way, if you go to that link, scroll down to the picture below "Shaping Molly to rock the cradle", and look in the back corner you will see a chubby woman with legs as pale as the white walls. That is I and of course the beast in front of me is Stellaluna.

So now we have the new boy and I can no longer choose to just hang out or play with the dogs when we should be training. And I say we should be training for many different reasons. Among them are that the dogs love it. They think of it as a game and it builds a very strong relationship between us. It helps us exercise not only their minds but mine as well. As a bonus it helps give them burn off some energy while we get to stay inside where it is warm. Oddly, it also has the effect of energizing them. The more we train the more excited and energetic they get when they think we are going to do something. It is a funny paradox to simultaneously energize and wear out your dogs.

One of the biggest reasons we should be training is that my dogs have learned a lot of behaviors that are at times very important to safety and others just very convenient. In either case we do not use all of those all the time. The phrase use it or lose it applies perfectly here. Without some practice and occasional reinforcement those behavior I take for granted can start to slip or even disappear. For example... uh-hum, errr... well, I hate to admit this but Venus recall has gotten less reliable. Though I am careful about where my dogs are off leash we do use some very, very large fenced off leash areas. The dogs may not be able to dart into traffic but that doesn't mean a solid recall is not necessary for their safety. Venus, my versatile & theoretically well trained Greyhound, was out in the pasture recently doing zoomies when I called her. She immediately spun & rush full speed at me but in her enthusiasm overshot. Ah, that's OK was my thought. She quickly spun to return but didn't stop at me. She gave my leg a token bump & kept going. A flyby?!! Arghhh! Later she was in another area of the yard, excited about something I could not see on the other side of the fence. I called her and got... not even an acknowledgment from her. Had to call her a second time. So yeah, I'd say we need to get back to work on recalls.

And then there is "Leave It". Luna used to be fantastic with this one. On occasion lately though, "Leave It" with the Luna-tic gets her to give a quick flick of her head, really just a token acknowledgment of me & then immediate return of attention to whatever she should be leaving alone. It's like she's asking, "You mean this thing? This very, very attractive thing. Thiiiiiisssss..." And of course by then I barely exist in the Luna-tic fringe where darling Stellaluna often resides. & have to repeat the command. A diminished response to Leave It could be life threatening.

Of course, with Soliel we need to work on everything. All that good stuff Venus, Luke, Luna & I learned together will now be applied to Soliel. While we are training a number of different basic things right now, one of the most important is I need to brush up & expand on with Venus & Luna start to slip. That is attention. Being able to get & keep your dogs attention is essential to training and everyday life. In a prior post I pointed out that the simple acts of getting your dog to turn his attention to you could save his life if you drop a leash. For my dogs, I use shaping to teach them to not only give me their attention when requested but to also offer their attention even when not requested. It a very necessary thing to teach a Greyhound. So that's what we will cover next.

Happy Holidays!

What do versatile hounds do when not being versatile?

Kong excavation - A study in technique

We do not often use Kongs. The dogs are generally too good to need them & I am generally too lazy to make them. So Kongs are a special treat. This afternoon while I tried to work our foster dog, Lucky, kept wandering about playing Goldilocks with all the dog beds. This one's in a cold spot. This one isn't fluffy enough. This one is too lumpy. This one has a Deerhound on it. But ah, this one! It's j-u-s-t right. Just right that is except Venus was on half of it. You should have seen her expression when he not only plopped down on the same bed with her but he *gasp* was touching her. Shock & awe is my best description of it. Worse than that though, he next proceeded to stand up & try to fluff his half of the bed. "Oh pity me," the poor, resident Greyhound tries to convey by force of pathetic, downcast eyes. "They make me share my bed with this young ne'er-do-well who still carries faint smells of the race track. [Cue the music.] Noooobody knows the troubles I've seen..." Something had to be done. Drastic measures forced me to stuff three Kongs, carry them back to the living room & send Lucky to his crate to wait his turn. Luna & Venus know the drill. They each quickly rush to an unoccupied bed & lay down hoping their choice of beds turns out to be the magic one to get the first Kong.

Venus - Lays on bed with head up, ears at high alert, nose twitching & teeth chattering as she waits. Once upon a time this girl could barely get plain ol' kibble out of a loosely packed Kong. Add anything soft that made it more challenging & she would just give it up as a lost cause. It was just pathetic. Those days are over but her approach is still rather methodical. She receives her Kong. Pulls the appetizer out of the little hole at the end & eats it. Then she starts licking at the yummy goo plugging the main hole. The Kong starts to slip away from that pressure. "No way, man!" She quickly latches onto it with her nearly prehensile toes. She then shoves the ankle of her other leg underneath to hold it up in ice cream cone fashion as she alternates licking & gnawing with her front teeth until the first layer is gone. Then she turns it sideways for the technical stuff. 1-Give it a good smack down again with one paw. 2-Snack on the results. 3-Nudge it with your nose. 4-Snack on the results. 5-Grab entire Kong with mouth, squeeze just a bit & reposition it. 6-Snack on the results. Lather. Rinse. Repeat as necessary.

Lucky "Beckham" Latin - Waits for Kong to be set in crate. Chews as much out as easily possible until impatience overrides hunger. Starts knocking it around until it is lodged under his bedding. He starts rapidly digging & shoving his bedding to regain access to his Kong. Ultimately this forces his bedding into a nest like pile but leaves the Kong exposed on the smooth plastic crate pan. *SMACK*  Hits it with a paw sending the Kong sideways against the side of the crate. ASAP, he hoovers up every readily visible morsel knocked loose. For like a millisecond he looks longingly at some bits of kibble that landed outside of the crate when Kong contents flew in all directions from force of impact. Time up. *SMACK*... He hits it again with a paw sending Kong spinning. More contents scatters across the pan... Hoover. *SMACK* Hoover. *SMACK* Hoover. Stare. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Luna the Deerhound - Stands on bed, looking down at Kong. Leans down in semi-play bow for a careful, quality control inspection. Sniff-sniff-sniff. Pulls nose back an inch & twitches it. Sniff-sniff-sniff. Pulls the appetizer out of the hole on the little end. Drops it on bed. Gives it a good sniff. Leaves it on the bed. Using a maneuver learned & perfected in puppyhood she manages to pull nearly the entire plug out of the large end. Eating only the absolute bestest part, she leaves the rest on the bed. Lays down on bed partially on top of bits she has rejected, for now at least. Rests a paw carefully on top of Kong, pressing it securely into the bed. The licking will now commence. It accounts for about 90% of her Kong destuffing time. Lick, lick, lick, lick, lick, lick...

Venus is now standing & nosing her Kong all over the bed listening to the last stubborn chunk of stuffing rattle around inside. Luna is lick, lick, licking. Lucky actually gets down & stares inside his as if to decide whether he should continue or concede the game. Luna is lick, lick, licking. Venus nows tries a girlish Lucky Beckham maneuver with the satisfying result of her Kong doing a somersault across the bed, yielding the last of its stuffing. "Awe, sweet success." Luna is lick, lick, licking. Lucky manages to get a couple more pieces of kibble, enough to give him renewed hope. Luna is... well, you know. Venus lays her head down with a contended sigh. Luna's still at it. Lucky's Kong still has the rattles so he perseveres.

Now Luna breaks the cycle. She stands up, stretches & goes for a drink of water. Venus lifts her head to stare in the direction of Luna's bed. Lucky stares that way as well. Luna notices & hurries back to eat the tid bits she was laying on then gathers her Kong to her again, giving the others a "Don't even think it" stare. Venus turns to look in Lucky's direction. He notices & redoubles his effort with *SMACK* a force that sends the Kong flying again to hit this time high up the side of the crate. The noise attracts the attention of both girls. Venus watches. Luna watches. I saw the smack out of the corner of my eye, turn my head just in time to see Lucky watching the last of his Kong stuffing fly in a trajectory that sends it... Venus gets up. Luna's Kong is now the only one not empty but she seems to have forgotten it as she looks at poor Lucky. He sees his hard work laying on the carpet in an arc outside his crate. Luna stands but she's much too late. Venus trots over to snarfle up the spoils of Lucky's futbol playing. "Awe, sweet success," says Venus. Lucky Beckham just gone straight from Manchester United to the LA Galaxy.

Then there is a noise and all attention turns to Luna whose back is to the rest of us as she chases her wayward Kong across the hardwood floor. She picks it up and takes it back to her bed again. Still not paying attention to us, Luna doesn't notice a certain dark brindle beauty walking in her direction. Luna drops the Kong, stretches. All that licking is tiring and sure makes a girl thirsty. She again heads to the water bowl. Lap, lap, lap. She heads back to her bed & her... "Hey, where'd I leave that thing? I thought it was right here."

Lucky is already snoozing on top of his nested bedding. Luna turns around in a circle looking for her Kong.
Venus is back on her bed licking her lips. There are two empty Kongs next to her. "I've still got it." She lays her head down to get some beauty sleep. True to her dark brindle, passive-aggressive self, Venus gets the last laugh, "Ha. Those pups don't know who they're dealing with."

Venus turned nine years old on Monday. With age comes wisdom.

You gotta hear this

When I caved in and got an iPhone I finally discovered the joys of podcasts. Some are trash but there are also great ones. Podcasts come in all types, qualities and time lengths. It should be no surprise that the ones I subscribe to are all related to dogs, science and music. Soon I'll put up a list of dog and animal behavior related podcasts. They are great to listen to while you walk, jog or hike with your dogs or when you are doing something & wish you could be spending time with your dog instead.

On my short list of great podcasts is a particular one on dog training, naturally. It is brief, arrives every week and even when it is about something I basically already know there is always something useful, thought provoking or a great reminder and it's usually a bit humorous. As a plus their is a website for the podcast that posts a written version. Check out "The Dog Trainer, Quick and Dirty Tips for Teaching and Caring for Your Pet" with Jolanta Benal http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/ This weeks episode is one I really want to share with you.  Go listen to or read the episode entitled "$#*! Your Dog Doesn’t Care About" http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/what-your-dog-doesn%E2%80%99t-care-about.aspx

She's right, ya know. Greyhounds, no matter it may appear that sleep is their greatest desire, need more than a comfy bed or couch. They need stimulation to stay healthy. Right now I am trying to write up a blog post on running sports like lure coursing and racing. I believe many people would be surprised at their Greyhounds reaction to those if given the chance to watch. My otherwise low key, seemingly low energy and low arousal dog turned into a crazy fool the instant that lure started moving across the field. WOW! That was an eye opener. Many others have experienced this same surprise.

Some dogs either simply do not have that same burning desire, though you won't know until you take them out to the fields and let them watch. others would love to but have a past injury or some other reason participation is not advisable or not possible. And even dogs who are very active in events on weekends need something to do during the week as well. You need an outlet for their amazing brain power. Let Jolanta give you a few ideas. These are great for hound and human. Jolanta's ability to provide lots of info with such brevity will be a refeshing change from this blog. Go have a listen or read. Tell me what you think.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Does anyone ever work with their dog in silence? Does anyone else try to work in silence? Anyone who has met me knows I talk incessantly. This extends to time spent just me and the dogs. OK, honesty check here. I also babble when I am by myself, sans chien. And yes, I answer myself as well. Very scary! Unfortunately, it seems the non-stop prattle is a hindrance when working with dogs. The saying, "Actions speak louder than words," appears quite true in dog training. After publishing the post on deaf dogs featuring Sam, that gorgeous hunk of a hound, I realized I had neglected to mention this. Deaf dogs are very easy to train once you remember to use actions, like hand signals, instead of words. Though lack of hearing can make getting their attention more challenging at times it also removes most or all noise distractions. Several times this week I have done very short training sessions with my Greyhound maintaining absolute silence. They had to be very short because I could not keep my mouth shut for longer than that.

Though I have known for many years that my dogs pick up hand signals faster than voice commands, I am still sometimes caught off guard when my dog not only does not respond properly, whether that be to a verbal or hand cue. You can sometimes even see the confusion on her face. (I'm not a behavioral scientist so I will not apologize for anthropomorphisms.) Others have had this happen as well. Just ask any dog trainer of any level. The problem is that though we may think our dog knows what a particular cue like Sit means, our dog may actually be cuing off something in addition to or even instead of our intended cue. This can lead to misunderstanding & confusion should any of the many variables change. After just one session session in silence my Greyhound began responding faster and more reliably to my hand signals than she does to verbal commands. Yes, yes, all you obedience training geeks. I am constantly using double, triple or quinticazillion cues.

This same dog-human misunderstanding frequently happens when attempting to correct their dogs. That is one of many reasons I prefer reward based training rather than relying so much on corrections, particularly verbals scoldings. More often than not the dogs just don't get it. Neither misunderstanding is a crisis & at least one makes her happy while the other makes her less enthusiastic about training.

[From Gary Larson's Far Side cartoon]

Our dogs see the big picture and learn things contextually. Humans do as well but to a lesser degree. Most of us have experienced this confusion, ex. meeting up with an acquaintance from church while grocery shopping only to find that though they look familiar you cannot for the life of you quite place who they are or why you should know them. This happens to you right? Please say it does. (And then consider that my entire life is spent like this so if you greet somewhere without your Greyhound in tow and I look befuddled please remember it ain't personal.) Our dogs view the entire context of the situation to determine what the cue really is with no two dogs taking in the situation in quite the same way. It is up to us to make sure our dogs recognize what the cue is and what other info is irrelevant. We humans, verbally centered beings that we are, often have great difficulty conveying this information to our dogs.

For this reason, it takes many, many repetitions of using a command in a large variety of settings, at many different distances, in a variety of tones of voice at varying volumes, etc., etc., so-on & so-forth, before our dogs learn that the real cue is really just the simple word Sit rather than when I say Sit while facing you with my hands held just so, a gentle breeze blowing from the Southeast and the sun at this particular angle as three geese fly over head. I remembered a little Dr. Seuss like poem I had read that played on this training issue. After some search I found it on Suzanne Clothier's website in her "Green Eggs & Ham & Dog Training?" post. Please, please read it. I love that poem & searched it out just so you could enjoy it also. For the record, I had already written the "contextually" statement before reading her post. She certainly does say it much better than I ever could. Shortly before finding Clothier's poem I stumbled on this post from Susan Garrett's site, "Can You Do It In a Box?" I do have to admire a woman who will not only stand on her head to train her dog but share the video on the internet. I'll leave the readers to ponder the similarities between the Clothier & Garrett posts or any possible meanings. Both while saying similar things are worth reading.

One of the most interesting things I have discovered recently came after a volunteer session at a local assistance dog training organization. As many of their clients have limited hand control or speech ability, the dogs are taught to respond to eye gestures as well. I came home and gave it a try with my dogs. To my amazement I discovered that if I remain silent and motionless while using just the eye gesture of looking down at the ground just in front of my dogs' feet they both will usually do a down for me... Though the Greyhound needed to be in the living room with her back to the windows.

There are quite a few cues that can be done just with eye gestures. Some like the down are easy to add because they are connected to things we may already be unconsciously doing. Others are very easily taught with clicker or marker training. But no, I've not done it yet. Remember the first paragraph about my chatty nature? Yet a recent experience showed me that it can be very, very handy to have not only a verbal cue and hand signal but also eye gestures. I found out when carrying far too many things requiring both my hands and my mouth. I tried to shuffle things around to get my car keys while worrying my dog would drift into the traffic lane. Unable to give my dog a verbal cue I amazingly got my dog to sit and wait using just eye gestures. [Cue the advertizing announcer's voice.] "Amaze friends and astound your neighbors. For the low, low price of ___ we'll send you this book with the secret methods of assistance dog trainers." Or you could just click the link on the right for the Sue Ailsby training site and save yourself some money.

So Sam, what do you think of green eggs & ham?

Sunday Special Edition - Celebrating the Deaf Dog

This special edition will feature a hound who was a special addition to the Manning household three years ago. Sam fka "Every Day Romp" is as striking looking as he is special. Since Sep. 19-25, is Deaf Dog Awareness Week, it seemed a fitting time to feature Sam. [Ahem, well it was fitting. As usual I am a day late (and a dollar short) but finally getting the post up.]


Sam raced in Birmingham. When he retired & was staying at the SEGA adoption kennels some of the volunteer hound walkers noticed a few things that tipped folks off. It turned out Sam is deaf. The story of Sam, the discovery of his deafness & his subsequent adoption even spurred a couple of imaginative Greyhound adoption volunteers to write & perform a skit at a SEGC meeting. Wish I had seen it. Here is part of the script of "Life at the Kennel – by Every Day Romp nka Sam":

Hi, I was born April 12, 2005.  I’m a big ol’ white male dog, 2 years old now.  I used to live in Alabama with lots of other greyhounds.  It was pretty easy for me there, because all I had to do was watch the other dogs and follow what they did.  A nice man named Bobby was my owner there.  He said I didn’t know my name – whatever that is.

Then, a few weeks ago, some nice people with big smiles came and put several of us in something called cars.  They kept smiling at me and moving their mouths like this…….. (demonstrate)   The other dogs told me they were saying I was a beautiful boy.  I don’t know how they knew.

Dogs are masters of reading us. They can be so good at paying attention to our body language and environmental cues that many dogs like Sam may not appear to be deaf. So when these dogs miss verbal cues it can lead to misunderstandings. Sam's race trainer, Bobby, also commented about Sam, "Yea, he really was a stubborn boy!" When later told Sam had proven to be deaf he reportedly laughed & said, "No wonder!" While Sam, like other deaf dogs, may never hear his name he is a wonderful, loving boy with a huge heart. In turn that allowed him to quickly captured the hearts of the Manning family. He was very lucky. Quick adoption is rarely the case for deaf dogs who are too often passed over by families worried about the challenges of owning & caring for a deaf dog. There are many resources available online to help people learn tips & info to make owning a deaf dog just as wonderful & rewarding as owning a hearing dog. A quick search will turn up a wealth of info.

 Sam's first day in his new home:

                  Saying "Thanks, Mom!" to Susan           Taking in the sights with his new friend with Lydia.

The post this week on Melissa McDaniel's blog highlight's "Deaf Dog Awareness Week". A fantastic dog photographer, Melissa is trying to raise awareness of deaf dogs as part of her photo books project. I was happy when Susan wrote, "Sam was photographed last year by Melissa McDaniel to be featured in her Deaf Dogs Book" The book will be released soon & is currently available for pre-order. His photo appears in a collage print, on sale at her Etsy site . Sam is the third dog on the seventh row, second from bottom. Plus, her accompanying YouTube site features this video of Sam lure coursing taken by Michael Strickland:




That leads nicely into the obligatory info on Sam's various activities. Obviously, one of those is lure coursing. The video speaks for itself. This boy loves to course. For me few things about owning a Greyhound can rival seeing the joyful expression & intense excitement these dogs get from running events. Will feature some of those soon. If you have not gone to a lure coursing or amateur racing event I encourage you to attend. It is a wonderful sight.

 Sam love coursing!


But he also managed to win 3rd place in the conformation portion of the ASFA Greyhound Specialty last year.

 

Sam is an M&G pro, schmoozing with all the ladies he can find. I've seen this boy at work & he is very good at attracting adoring admirers. Susan comments, "I think his 'leaning' touches their hearts. At almost every M&G someone wants to adopt him. We have to say, 'Sorry, he is our boy'." Between his stunning looks and his signature Sammy-lean the boy is a real chick magnet. And it seems to me John is usually the one holding the leash more often than Susan. ... Hmmm?? ... Oh, nevermind that. It's pure coincidence, I'm sure.

Pet therapy is also on Sam's list. Susan says, "Sam has the most gentle nature but is such a big ham! Because of that, I call him my BIG LUG. Because he is so gentle, he makes the perfect Pet Therapy Dog. He goes to Egleston Childrens' Hospital and various assisted living facilities to visit. He is always well behaved and everyone loves to pet him, as his coat is so soft."

Where this boy's light shines brightest is being a loving companion & family member. Susan also adds, "What he does that is so cute: When the mood strikes him, he entertains the other greyhounds who are laying around, by doing zoomies in the living room (in a very, very small area), first going clockwise, then reversing to counter clockwise. You can tell by how happy it makes him that he knows exactly what he is doing, impressing the girls. Susan sums it up nicely when she writes, "Even though Sam is not the best "trained" Greyhound, he brings great joy to John and me and the other 7 hounds and anyone that has to pleasure to meet this sweet boy."

So who wouldn't want a wonderful dog like Sam? 

OK, except this. Ignore this part!

Just look at me & admit it. Deaf dogs are sexy.

Of course, more training can be added at any time. I have known Sam for several years and can assure you he is a very bright, trainable boy. He is also a great ambassadog for the joys of adopting a deaf dog.

Featured Hound - Cinderella Story

While not a Cinderella story in the usual sense, this is a a quick feature on a Greyhound named Huntington's Cinderella. To be even more precise, she is known at this time as CH Huntington's Cinderella CD SC. What do all those letters mean to those of us outside the dog show and competition world? It means that "Cinder" is proving herself quite versatile indeed. In addition to her conformation championship Cinder also has an obedience title "Companion Dog" and a lure coursing title "Senior Courser".  At three years old Cinder is just getting started. With looks, brains and athleticism, this girlie Grey is the whole package. Her owner and trainer, Laurel Drew, is no stranger to versatile Greyhounds. She enjoys showing folks exactly how versatile Greys can be. If we are lucky, Laurel may be a guest writer on the blog sometime in the future. Though they do not live and compete in our neck of the woods, I asked for and Laurel was kind enough grant permission for me to share her Labor Day Weekend report originally posted to a Greyhound email list.

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Well, I guess I've finally come down to earth after a nifty weekend of obedience and rally.  I entered Cinder in 4 classes, two obed., and 2 rally, and she qualified in all four and earned placings in all four.  She got 3 seconds and a fourth with a 99 and a 100 out of a possible 100 in Rally.  She'd have had 1st place in Rally except for a tie and a goof on the stopwatch.  I had a choice to rerun for score and time, but I wasn't about to risk giving up a 100 so, I settled for 2nd.  Besides, the gal who took first was very deserving and really was thrilled.

I worked my tail off helping haul equipment back and forth from the Club training site to the trial site...and storing a huge amount of it in my big van for the week between our fun match and trials.  I think it's the first time my van has really been tested for hauling weight.  It was sinking a bit in the rear!

BTW, know anyone who needs a big van?  I just downsized to a Ford Transit Connect.  If you are just showing a couple hounds, look at one.  They have enough room for two big crates (4 feet) between the wheels, the first small van I've found with that space.  Economical too!  Well, enough of my customer relations gig.  Good luck to all at the Eastern.
             Laurel

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She settled for 2nd? Well, I suppose a near perfect 99.5 average score will just have to do. lol  Big congrats go out to Laurel and Cinder. What I love most is that they had fun and still showed that Greyhounds can compete well with the more traditional obedience and rally-o breeds. I look forward to hearing more updates on their adventures in the future. Things like this are part of what this project is all about.  

See folks, just because competition scares the bejeepers out of me doesn't mean others do not find it a blast. Perhaps some day I will get my courage up to get back in the ring. Laurel's report is almost enough to make me want to give it a try. Maybe one of you will want to do the same? If you are already competing, please send me a note. We love when people share their adventures... or in my case, misadventures. (Later, later, folks. I'll get to that in a future post.) 



For the record, I left the part about the van in there because we just upsized to a Transit Connect and love it so far.

[Note: You can find out what AKC's alphabet soup of abbreviations means on their prefix page for championships and their suffix page for titles. Don't ask me more about this. My girl is just a blue collar, working stiff of a hound. She can retrieve a dropped security badge but would need a Dumbbells for Dummies book before she could earn a CD. OK, honesty forces me to admit she would also need a new trainer and handler as well.]

Sound habituation and dog wash

[Trust me, these two seemingly disparate topics are loosely related.]

Anyone in the Suwanee area may want to take advantage of an upcoming dog wash. The North Gwinnett High School Humane Society Club... yeah, try to write all that out on a t-shirt... is hosting a dog wash in a couple weekends. Wanted to mention it here because I believe it important to support youth efforts at humane education. While at the Suwanee Day Festival this weekend, some of the students stopped by our booth with some fliers. Here is the info :

When?  Saturday, October 2,  from Noon to 2:00 PM

Where?  Suwanee Animal Hospital, 85 Buford Hwy, Suwanee, GA

(Next to George Pierce Park)

Here is a map http://tinyurl.com/Oct2DogWash

Suwanee, Georgia is Northeast of Atlanta and was once a small town. In the last 20 years it has grown to be a large, suburban community. The Suwanee Day Festival this past Saturday is a growing and very well attended annual event there. It makes for a loud, active, at times quite crowded, venue to hold a Meet and Greet. And this year it happened to be really hot, as in temperature not just popularity. The Greyhounds never fail to impress people at these events. This may have been the most challenging we have attended, one that could exhaust even the well seasoned M&G Greyhound. Thankfully our M&G hosts, the Stricklands, had provided us a wonderful set up including two comfy, shaded xpens for any hounds needing a much deserved break. The tent was frequently crowded with people. Many, many children wanted to pet the dogs. We were set up right by the amphitheater which meant more traffic, a good thing, but also as the day went on the noise level kept increasing, not a good thing.  People were amazed at by how calm and wonderful the Greyhounds were especially when the live bands started and we had to yell just to try be heard. One person said, "I cannot believe how relaxed they look with all this noise. My dog would be freaking out." Numerous others expressed similar sentiments. They were correct and I know there are many Greyhounds who would not have handled it as well. Their loving owners wisely leave them out of these situations.

Then Sunday we went to the Fall RV show held at an expo center in a different Atlanta suburb. It is a much quieter, less hectic scene. As a bonus it is indoors with A/C. I love that!... um, for the hounds... yeah, that's it... just thinking of the hounds best interest...  Anyway, our booth was in a nice spot, near the back but right on the path to food vendors and the ever popular restrooms. No loud bands here, even the PA system was of reasonable volume. All relaxed, comfortable, pleasant visiting with people...  [cue the soothing orchestral music] ...but then... [the string section builds to suspense] ...BLAST comes the sound of a huge truck horn blaring right next to our ears. Someone had hit the horn of the RV parked next to us with its front end grill just 4 feet away. All the humans jumped or flinched. The hounds just blinked, one's skin twitched, my girl perked her ears and turned her head. The dogs appeared less startled than the humans.

This leads to the sound habituation observation I want to make. In this case I am using the habituation definition from Merriam-Webster Online, "decrease in responsiveness upon repeated exposure to a stimulus". So why are some Greyhounds nearly bomb proof with sounds while others startle reflex kicks into high gear? The same question could be asked of individual dogs of any breed but since the majority of Greyhounds are raised in fairly similar circumstances the variance in response seems more interesting. What is the correct answer? Sorry folks but I have no idea. Wish I could tell you. Maybe some wise, knowledgeable Greyhound person reading this will offer a response I can post. I suspect, with what limited knowledge & experience I have in these things, that the answer is both simple and complex, not necessarily just nature or nurture but the usual messy mix of both. Greyhounds are individuals born with a range of temperaments and innate tendencies. Various experiences and exposures to stimulus then get mixed with what nature originally provided and later we get to adopt the complex and wonderful, jambalaya like concoctions that are our beloved hounds' personalities. Still, it seems to me at this point fours years out from my indoctrination into the Greyhound cult that this breed in general adapts or habituates more quickly than the average pet dog. Well, that is at least when I am comparing adopting an adult Greyhound to the average adult dog from a local shelter.

My girl, Venus, is the Piglet sort. She would like to be brave and get involved in everything but it is such a big, surprising world for such timid creature. You can watch her body and know she is debating where to give something a try. She is the first Greyhound I adopted. At the adoption kennels she was friendly but not needy, played with balls but wasn't obsessed, confident not pushy, but most of all she was very, very polite. In short, she was little miss perfect. I loved that and chose her that first meeting. Venus was very trusting of the leash. From the moment of adoption she would go anywhere I lead her as long as the leash was on her. Her head was up. Her tail was relaxed. That gave me a false idea of her confidence level. If I had known more of canine body language and had more Greyhound experience I may not have been surprised to find out that she was actually feeling rather overwhelmed with everything, "Oh d-d-d-dear me," as she followed me with blind faith that it was all going to be alright because her leash was on, "Oh my. It's all going to be OK. We are going to be fine... right?"

So, whether because of inexperience, ignorance, lack of observation or some other reason, it caught me totally off guard the first time something out of the blue happened and she tried to bolt. This occurred on our second day together, July 2, on our first walk through the neighborhood. Someone set off some fire crackers and suddenly it felt like I had a young, terrified colt at the end of a lead rope. The event was to be repeated multiple times in our early months together and usually the trigger was loud or sudden noise. Interestingly, though she proved to be a much more timid dog than I thought I was adopting, with a stronger startle reflex than I would have expected, this girl has amazing bounce back. She is far from a spook. Each time she tried to bolt it was to a spot maybe ten feet away. At that point, she would stand still and again collect her composure. Then to my amazement we could simply continue on our way and shortly she acted as if nothing had happened. In time, bolting 10 feet away faded to a hop sideways or backwards and now she barely even bats an eyelash.

So what did I do to improve the situation, helping her to get to the where we are today? How did we go from terrified colt to could hardly care less? Um, well again I would love to give you an precise answer. The best I can say is habituation. I just tried to learn what startled her, minimize her exposure to it but still keep her active, taking her places that I thought she may be ready to handle. At times it pushed her limits a bit but if she startled or froze I learned to just let her stop and take it all in for a bit. Then I asked her to proceed. If she wouldn't I gave her a bit longer hoping to at least get her to take one step, move one inch more. At that point either she recovered and continued or we retreated and found another less intimidating route. Blessedly, I think we only had to reroute a couple times. As she had more and more experiences that proved to be safe she became more and more comfortable. She habituated. I guess at least one of us, her or me, did something right along the way.

If I were to do it over again, I would try to be more careful in some ways and more diligent in others, seeking out good opportunities to ease her into this big wide world, trying to strike an appropriate medium between over-sheltering her and pushing her over-threshold. One way or another, my little piglet dances a jig each time her leash comes out. She is thrilled to get out of the car and join me any time she is given the chance.

Habituation, it's a beautiful thing.

Suggested Reading: "A Dog Who's Always Welcome"

Here, I'll give you the ending of this post first. I highly recommend the book, "A Dog Who's Always Welcome" by Lorie Long. Feel free to quit reading this blog entry if you want to leave now to buy, read and start following the great information this book contains.

Socialization is one of the topics I want to cover soon. Actually, socialization and habituation would be the full topic. I have had a few dogs who were real go anywhere, do anything dogs. By that I do not mean the "Lassie, get the C-clamp" kind of do anything, though my Greyhound did retrieve an empty soda can for me the other day & a binder clip today. Instead though I mean dogs who were not only happy and willing to come along with me anywhere I went but also well behaved enough to be able to go and do just about anything we were doing. One of the reasons I chose Greyhounds was the hope of increasing my odds of getting another such dog and I did. However, proper socialization and some habituation is required. 

Greyhounds never cease to amaze me. We take them out of the racing kennels, a controlled and regimented lifestyle that is nothing like the one other pet dogs have been raised in, then expect them to quickly adapt and join in our busy lives. The amazing thing is that so very many of them do just that, barely missing a beat. However, some need more help and a longer transition time than others. Careful socialization and a logical approach to habituation can really help this along. 

Lorie Long has written a book I believe could help quite a few of us as we work to help our former racers make the switch to full time companion. It is a big wide world and I know my little piglet, "Oh d-d-d-dear me", Greyhound would have benefited a lot if I had read this book much earlier. The insights and suggestions apply to a wide range of circumstances and temperaments. If you want to do pet therapy work this book could be even more valuable. Whether you adopted the social butterfly or the wall flower this book has good advice to offer to all.

Here is the publisher's write up. I believe this does a good job of summing up what is in the book, much better than I could do:

_ _ _ _ _

You can take her with you...

 If you're like most dog owners, you want a trustworthy companion you can take on family vacations, to ball games, on hikes, and to cafes and festivals. You want your dog to behave when you have guests, stay peacefully at hotels, ride calmly in elevators, and maintain proper doggie decorum in all kinds of situations.

Chances are, you've watched and admired assistance and therapy dogs who are attentive to their owners' needs no matter what. This book taps into the secrets of assistance and therapy dog trainers and shows you how to use focused foundation socialization training to make sure your dog is well behaved--even in unfamiliar environments loaded with distractions and temptations. It goes beyond typical behavioral training and basic commands and covers:

• Evaluating your dog and recognizing traits that will affect her needs
• Using reward-based processes to teach complex behaviors and self-discipline
• Creating a socialization program that makes your dog focused on you and confident in different environments
• Reading your dog so you can anticipate her reactions and keep her focused on your directions

With these sophisticated training techniques, you'll turn your family pet into a sociable, take-anywhere dog who will always be welcome!

_ _ _ _ _

Featured Hound: Blaze, agile by design

Sometime about two years ago I was at an ASCA agility competition to watch my sister competing with her Corgi. My Greyhound, Venus, and I were currently in agility classes but not competing. Just up the hill was an AKC agility competition so we took a walk up there to see if Jen Bachelor or anyone else we knew were there. That is how it happened that not one but three Greyhound people interested in agility happened to end up coincidentally meeting. OK, one was technically not a Greyhound person yet. Kathy had adopted an NGA Greyhound puppy, the soon to be Blaze. He had not arrived in Georgia yet. Agility is one of the reasons she chose a Greyhound. Kathy was there because she was competing in the ASCA agility trial with her very cute mixed breed, Rio. I often tell people that Greyhounds are versatile and can be a lot of fun in a wide variety of venues. Blaze and Kathy are helping to prove that. I will let her take it from here.

________________________________

I decided to adopt a greyhound specifically as my next agility dog. I like having a dog that is my companion first and then my performance partner second. Most people typically do NOT think of greyhounds when they think of agility. This was before I had met Jen Bachelor (Never Say Never Greyhounds) or even knew anything about her. I was fortunate to get to meet her right before I drove to Ocala, FL to pick up Blaze as an 11 week old puppy from the rescue group Crone's Creatures Greyhound Adoptions. Jen has been a great inspiration and mentor to us.

Blaze is now a little over 2 years old and is in training for Agility, Rally Obedience, Dock Diving and Canine Musical Freestyle. We may even try tracking at some point in the future. He has competed in Rally Obedience and earned 2 legs towards his AKC Rally Novice Title. He also has his CKC Level 1 Obedience title. He plans to finally go for his CGC (Canine Good Citizen's) certification this year too.

Blaze poses after a Rally O competition

Kathy and Blaze in CKC obedience

Greyhounds - Masters of the Down

"My Greyhound makes your Border Collie look slow & ackward"

We've tried a few agility trials, but he's just not ready to compete yet. We still need to continue working on focus. His idea of competing in agility is to do 1 or 2 obstacles then run around the course and show off about how fast he can run :)

He participated in a dock dogs competition in 2009 and put on a great show on the dock, but was not ready to jump in the water :) He is quite an accomplished swimmer however.

Later this year, he will try his paw at his first Canine Musical Freestyle competition with CFF (Canine Freestyle Federation) in North Carolina. We also have a freestyle demo at the Elk's Aidmore Children's Center in Conyers we'll be doing this fall. 

 

Blaze loves doing community service, especially related to Greyhound Adoption awareness/promotion. He is quite the social butterfly. Last year he was a regular at the SEGA Cumming Meet and Greet before we moved.

This year he's done several Meet & Greets such as an RV Show, Texas Roadhouse in Hiram, Hooters in Canton (promoting the Hooters for Hounds Poker Run) as well as the actual Hooters for Hounds Poker Run in Kennesaw. 

He participated in the acupuncture training for veterinarians earlier this year that SEGA was involved with. He loves a parade as well and walked at the Fisher King Trail dedication in March.

Blaze is a wonderful ambassador for greyhounds because he is such a happy, loving, friendly, active and well adjusted greyhound.

________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to Kathy Rakestraw for allowing me to include she and Blaze's story. Their household added another Greyhound this year. Cori, a young retired racer, is still learning the ropes but already making steps toward following in Blaze's versatile paw prints. You should be seeing her featured soon.

Cori, left, relaxing with Blaze, right.

Featured Hound: Drew lends a paw in many areas

Drew has proven to be a very versatile hound in the Greyhound adoption promotion and community service categories. In addition, he has done well in his training. So Drew can claim three different Versatile Greyhounds categories. Most importantly, the multiple activities this team takes part in on a regular basis shows a nice variety of ways to enjoy your hounds talents. I will let Drew's teammate, Lisa, tell you more about him and their many activities below. You can also read more about him on his READ'ing Paws Page here: Drew on Reading Paws More information on R.E.A.D. is available here: READing Paws
_____________________________________

Drew, fka L's Main Event, former racing greyhound in Iowa, Alabama and Florida, is a READing Paws Champion now!  Drew is a registered R.E.A.D member (Reading Education Assistance Dog) at the Powder Springs Library every other Saturday afternoon.  Regular young library visitors make appointments to read to Drew.  Most of his readers are between 6 and 9 years old, K-3rd grades.

Drew poses with one of his readers.

 Drew knows the show is on when we suit up to go READ.  He has a special vest and bandana that he wears to the library.  He knows it's his special trip to meet and help the children in his community.  He 'gets his wiggle on' when the automatic doors at the library open.  He turns on his special charm with a big smile and a wag of his short tail as he prances through the library to the special reading room for the children.  He has a special fan group of 3 sisters that are always present when he comes to the library.  They don't always read to him, but are always ready with extra hands to put down his reading blanket, book and brochures about the reading program, as well as his special signs that announce his presence at the library.

Drew settles in with his friends.

As a team, I've experienced the marked improvements on his first grade readers this year.  Some readers have even shared their report cards with Drew to celebrate the improvements they've achieved this last year since his reading sessions started at the library.  As you can see by some of the photos of his reading sessions, he really enjoys his time with the kids (and he gets extra treats and scritches from them as well).

"Excuse me, lady, but I'm working here."

In addition to READing Paws, Drew visits Arbor Terrace Assisted Living in Austell.  He enjoys visiting the retired residents in the home, especially the ones who keep extra dog treats in their rooms for the special greyhound visits.  He has participated in the Children's Christmas Parade dressed as an elf with long striped stockings that begged many comments of "Mom, look at the dog with this long johns on!"  I know his heart smiled every time he heard the children talk about his striped socks!  He's also made several appearances at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta to visit the children that cannot visit their pets at home during their chemo and dialysis treatments.  He is so gentle with the children, as if he knows they are limited in their abilities, but not their emotions.  He'll stand over a small child in a wagon so they can reach up and pet his chin.

Drew is also the perennial Meet and Greet hound at SEGA's M&G Events.  He makes his appearance, and then lays down so all of the kids can gather around and lay with him and snuggle.  His beautiful deer-like appearance with large brown eyes and soft fur draw the children like a magnet.  You could call Drew the "Ultimate Kid Magnet", and he really loves that honor!  Drew makes regular appearances as one of SEGA's Mascots for the Pope High School Football Team, the Greyhounds.

Drew schmoozes with a cheerleader.

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Thanks go to Lisa Poole for honoring my request by graciously writing this post and including pictures. Looks like Drew is having a great time participating in all life has to offer. I would love to feature your hound doing one or more activities. Please send submissions to: versatilegreyhounds@kudzublossom.com

Ah! Now I recall...

Of the basics obedience skills, I think the most important is recall. That is to teach your dog to come when called. Even if your dog only has the earliest glimmer of a recall that little bit can save his life if you drop the leash. For that reason, I want everyone to work on their hound’s recall skills. It doesn’t matter how much or how little your dog knows, recall is a lifelong work in progress that requires regular practice so humor me & practice, will ya? For those who have not worked on this, now is the time!

So quickly before I loose anyone, here is something to start with. If you read nothing else, please read this one!  "10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall"  http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/id26.htm

OK, back to the regularly scheduled post.

Though important to anyone with a dog, as Greyhound owners a recall is even more important. Do not let that “always on leash or in a fenced area” clause give you any false ideas that you will never have a situation where you need a recall. You will. If you love your Greyhound you will work on teaching recall. This also includes you who are happy just watching your Grey roach on your couch and are only reading this blog hoping to see a another houndie you know featured soon. (And I promise that will happen.) Would I bet my dog’s life on the fact that she will come immediately, every time? No, but if you don’t work on recall then you are betting your dog’s life every time you open the door. OK, OK. That’s enough of the scare tactics. You get my point.

Like many other basic training skills, this one is very easy to start. In fact, it could hardly get any easier. Call your dog’s name & then quickly pop a super yummy treat in his mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. That’s it. That is the first step. This not only teaches your dog his name but also ensures he will turn to look your way when you call it as he will be expecting a treat. This simple thing in itself could save your dog’s life. Imagine dropping the leash in a parking lot. Bubba starts to mosey away slowly or perhaps faster. “Bubba” you call out & Bubba, now conditioned to look your way in anticipation of yummies, does exactly that. That slight hesitation could be all that’s needed to allow you or someone else to grab the leash. From there you start to reward for moving towards you, then add the actual recall word like Come or Here or even Kumquat if you want, and the process continues.

So it’s easy, right? Well, um… yes & now. While easy to get started, a really solid, reliable recall is one of the most difficult things for the average pet owner to teach. All in this group please raise your hand. OK, those of you with upraised hands may now lower them. I had to lower mine so I could resume typing. So now we know we’re in good company. A reliable recall can be very hard. For some, even a 50% reliable recall is difficult. Does that mean we shouldn’t try to teach recall? Heck no! Recall is an important skill and even more so if we are going many places, doing lots of things with our dogs.

Whether perfect or just barely there, any amount of recall training is better than none. I am not particularly good at training dogs and even worse training people so I am not going to tell you how to teach recall. I will instead provide some links at the end to help you get started. These work, I assure you. They really do. And please start, please, please, pretty please! When you do, remember the following:

   1. Dogs come reliably when it is reliably rewarding. Make coming to you a good thing and do not call them for something they consider at all unpleasant.
   2. Scientific studies prove we learn more from success than failure. Set your dog up for success. Don’t ask for more than he can deliver.
   3. If it is going to be reliable, there really needs to be a lot of successes. You may be surprised at the success you can have with lots of very short yet successful & rewarding recalls. This means that even if you don’t have a safe fenced area you can still work on a 6’ or even just a 4’ leash.
   4. Keep working on it. Practice really helps and really needs to be continued over your dog’s lifetime. Keep at it.
   5. Teach your dog to respond to other people when they call your dog. (I am so guilty of not doing this and have vowed to correct that.) Your dog is far more likely to get lost, injured or killed when loose if she will only come when called by you.
   6. It isn’t a recall if you cannot hold onto your dog’s collar. Having your dog respond and come to you is a good start but a recall includes getting your dog back under your physical control. Make taking hold of their collar part of the command.
   7. Even if you can only do it inside, work on some off leash recalls with your leash in your hand & do not reward until you snap the leash on. Why do I suggest this? Some dogs could spook if you suddenly pull out a leash when all prior recalls did not involve it.
Some dogs who allow a stranger to touch their collars may bolt when there is an attempt to leash them. And sometimes pulling out a leash adds just enough distraction to blow a recall.
   8. Never correct or scold your dog after he comes to you. Does this one need to be said? If a recent trip the park is any indication then, unfortunately, yes. If when you release Kraken, he initially ignores a recall but then finally comes back or you manage to catch him, never, ever act upset or correct him. Coming to you should always be good. Don’t spoil it even if Kraken has already spoiled your day. “Good Kraken! Thank you for only making me slog through half the swamp. Let’s go home boy. How did you manage to climb through all that kudzu? By the way, there’s a leaf in your collar.”

Oh, hey wait! [insert sound of tires screeching to a halt]  I wasn’t supposed to be trying to teach you anything. That should be left to the experts. OK, here are those promised links:

This one again just in case you missed it the first time:
"10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall"  http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/id26.htm

"Recall Redux" from the Shirley Chong site.
http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/Lesson6.html

 “Really reliable recall or Fido, PLEASE come home!” by Pamela Dennison
http://www.positivedogs.com/articles/fido_come_home.html

“Recalls - Coming When Called” by Jen Bachelor (hmm… that name seems familiar)
http://neversaynevergreyhounds.net/come.html

This is a webpage from Suzanne Harris. It gives instructions for a simple yet surprisingly effective modified version of Leslie Nelson’s Really Reliable Recall.
"Come Here Now"  http://www.dogdaysusa.com/comeherenow.html
We've done this & it works. [Note: This is not an endorsement of this trainer, just this method.]

"Really Reliable Recall" by Leslie Nelson is available as affordable booklet from Dogwise.com or still somewhat affordable DVD version from Tawzer Dog Videos: http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/

And check the links on the right side of the page. Included is Training Levels by Sue Ailsby. Then designed to be trained in a complete level at a time you can also pick one behavior like recall and work up the levels on it without finishing the rest of the level.

A good dog and a good citizen

Just want to send out congratulations to Joon and her teammate Susan Manning for passing their AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluation recently. Though the individual skills in this test are not really that hard it definitely takes training and practice to not only learn these but to put it all that together at once with an evaluator watching everything you do. Most important is the fact that these skills are so useful in everyday life. Some, like recall and stay, can even save your dog's life. Using the CGC as a training goal is quite helpful even if you have no interest in taking the test. The majority of our Greyhounds could pass this test with just some basic training.  Susan and her beautiful girl Joon are the latest addition to SEGC's growing list of CGC Greyhounds.

There is something about Susan & Joon's test circumstances I want to mention. I think most of us have had the experience of believing our dog understood something only to later have them act like they have absolutely no clue what we are asking of them. Sometimes all it takes are a couple distractions, a new location, using a different body position or tone of voice to make it hard for our dogs understand us. If you then tell someone, "OK, we will now begin the test," the pressure to get it right can really amp up even if we are there voluntarily with nothing but pride on the line. So it always impresses me when people are able to work well with their dogs in an unusual or distracting environment or in a stressful situation.

There was no doubt in my mind before their test that Susan & Joon could do everything required. Still, when you find out the test administrator set them up 6 feet inside the entrance of a Petco on a Saturday it starts to really sound like a challenge. I know this store and the layout. They were right in front of the sliding glass doors with all comings and goings including dogs of all shapes and sizes, shopping carts, cats, ferrets, mice in little cardboard boxes held by little children, everywhere... the smell of treats and food and a few bits of peemail left by other dogs... well let's just say this was in real test. They deserve congratulations on this accomplishment. Greyt job girls!

 

 Joon pays close attention to Susan as they 

work together at a special pet therapy visit.

Pet Therapy visits

So we covered M&G’s for our first activity. Next I want to feature Pet Therapy. It comes in different forms. The most basic version is simply taking our well behaved, well mannered, well groomed, people loving hounds to visit with people in nursing homes, hospitals, hospices, etc. This is often termed pet therapy but the Delta Society calls this an Animal Assisted Activity to distinguish it from Animal Assisted Therapy which is much more specialized. Whatever you call it, it is a wonderful and worthwhile activity. The benefits of visits from animals have been scientifically proven. Though there is more required from our dogs in way of behavior and to some degree training, it is most definitely worth it for both team members.

There are also more specialized programs targeted to specific needs. An example are some children’s reading programs where kids read out loud to dogs to improve the child’s reading ability. Sounds fairly simple but it really works and also can require a little more training. Most of these programs do require certain certification/registration with specific organizations.

There are groups who sponsor pet therapy programs that do not require any specific training or any sort of certification. Many others do have some form of these requirements. The point is not to get people to attend a lot of classes or testing but to make sure the dogs are ready and their human handlers can both control and help the dogs so visits are safe, fun and indeed therapeutic. Dogs do not need any specialized training or necessarily any certification for this, but they absolutely must be well mannered, well behaved, of good temperament and should truly enjoy visiting and interacting with people. They should also get along with other dogs. Though our dogs are there to visit with people not dogs, remember that most visits will include other dogs though perhaps only Greyhounds. Some locations may even have other dogs in residence so if your hound is a Greyhound snob or not small dog tolerant, you should check in advance.

So how do you know if your dog is ready for pet therapy? I will now go on record as saying that I personally believe training up to at least the CGC level is a very good start even if you skip the Sit part. Many of us doing pet therapy voluntarily train to that level & some go beyond including a certification/registration test administered by Delta Society, Therapy Dogs International or similar organizations. Even if you do not do this, I think it is helpful to learn those requirements and consider why they have them. Before you take your dog for that first visit I think it good to ask and honestly answer this. Can your dog do the following:

• Really enjoy visiting and interacting with people
• Walk politely on a loose leash
• Keep all four paws on the floor and off the people you are visiting
• Maintain calm even if someone else, human or canine, gets excited including flailing arms or sometimes yelling
• Allow strangers to stroke, pat, & sometimes even unintentionally hit almost anywhere on his/her body without feeling threatened or unduly stressed
• Remain quiet, no barking or whining
• Walk with confidence on a variety of surfaces including shiny floors (for most locations)
• Feel comfortable working around medical equipment including wheelchairs, walkers, canes, crutches, IV poles and beeping machinery
• Not be severely startled or panic at loud, sudden noises
• Tolerate regular nail trimming (even short nails can damage skin as fragile as that of some nursing home patients; imagine what some of those long Greyhound nails could do)

If the answer is yes to all then you probably have a good dog for pet therapy. If the answer was yes to some then you may have a good candidate who just needs a little more training and/or socialization work with exposure to a greater variety of sights, sounds, experiences, etc.

As this is an activity that can sometimes ask a lot of the human portion of the team as well as the canine, I wanted find some way of addressing this. Pet therapy can at times leave some of us feeling at least a bit awkward as we look for something to say or same may even feel quite emotional. Having never been comfortable visiting even my own family and friends in hospitals or nursing homes, I was initially worried that even though my dog may be ready perhaps I wasn’t. That was partially true I guess but it was fairly easy to get into the swing of things with the dog as the real center of attention. Whatever I lacked in people skills was, I hope, compensated by my dog’s ability to offer love, companionship & compassion of the furry, four footed variety. I have always left visits feeling glad I had been there. It is always worth the time.
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There is a lot of info about pet therapy on the internet. Here are a few places you may want to check out.

DogPlay.com has a section on the basics of pet therapy. There is an Overview section on the main page with links to a series of pages in the that I think are helpful.

AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) test requirements are almost all skills we have routinely used.

There is a reason the national organizations have their requirements. Even if you do not plan on joining them or even getting your dog tested for certification/registration, there is a lot to be learned by reading their requirements and information. Here are some links to various program info and test requirements:

READing Paws  http://www.readingpaws.org/

Delta Society Pet Partner Program - has team evaluation requirements divided into two documents as Part 1 and Part 2.

Therapy Dogs International has a testing requirements brochure. 

Therapy Dogs Inc. has a general info document which includes “Helpful Hints & Tips” and a test document.