Dog Sitter & Walker

Our son has been on a long, arduous campaign for our family to adopt a dog. I have to admit we are weakening.

I have always loved dogs and I can well remember my own beloved childhood friends as well as that desperate desire for my very own canine companion. Plus he is an active child who loves the outdoors and he is an only child with no children his age living nearby so a dog could be a wonderful playmate and friend.

But I also feel in my heart it is simply too soon for me to open my heart to another dog. It has only been a year since I lost my beloved labrador Shamus and I still miss her terribly. Friends have told me to get another dog, but I find that rather hard-hearted. If my husband died people wouldn’t send me right out to pick a new one and if my son died people wouldn’t simply suggest I get pregnant again. Yes I will eventually adopt another dog to join our family, just as many people do remarry or have other children, but I am not done grieving for the loss of Shamus. You see she was a special dog and she was a very large part of my life.

Shamus joined our family during the first year of our marriage, more than a decade before our son made an appearance, and moved from New York to Kentucky with us.

She was the sweetest, most loving dog imaginable but then she was a lab and we know that is part of their nature. When she was younger my husband would take her hunting and she loved to hunt so much despite being lazy. However, I always swore that made her a better retriever because she didn’t want to waste a step! She was such an agreeable dog that my husband said she was the best dog he’d ever had; she was so eager-to-please (another lab trait) that she was a joy to train.

During the last years of her life she steadily grew weaker and struggled with many health issues but she was still so loving and uncomplaining. It was very difficult for us as we watched her decline and I dreaded being forced to make a decision, but in the end she made that decision on her own. Despite the many months of knowing her death was coming it was still so very hard to say good-bye. It was even more difficult to know that the world contains one less gentle heart and one less being that loves me.

But the lessons she taught me live on:

The 5 important life lessons I learned from my dog…

You can learn a lot from being a pet owner and the lessons begin from the first day your furry family member steps into your life and continue after you say your final farewell. In many ways, my dog was a far better person than I can ever hope to become.

1. Stay in touch with your loved ones

And I mean really in touch! Every pet owner knows what I mean. We humans don’t touch each other enough. Sure, we cuddle our babies, and fondle our new lovers, but in every relationship there comes a point when kisses are perfunctory farewells and hugs are doled out sparingly.

Dogs know that a simple touch from someone you love can make any situation better and sometimes make all the difference in the world. They appreciate the wonder and magic of a kiss (or lick) just because they love you and know that sometimes just sitting close enough to touch frequently keeps the cold, dark nights at bay.

2. Never overlook the chance for a nap

While most of us can’t work into our schedules the 20-hours of sleep time that dogs enjoy, we could all benefit from taking advantage of some down time to relax and rejuvenate. There are few of us who are getting enough rest and many are subsisting on far less sleep than is really adequate. This is no way to live let alone thrive. Your dog knows how to relax, just roll on your back and let your tongue loll out. You’d be surprised how wonderful it feels!

Dogs know that sleep should be high on your priority list-surely higher than laundry and cleaning although not higher than any food-related activity. Give yourself some down time and you’ll feel the better for it.

3. Jealousy is a waste of time

It would have been understandable if our dog took an instant dislike to our newborn. After all, for 11 years she had been the “baby” of the family. Even more than that, during the nine months of my pregnancy I’d been very sick and she’d been my constant companion on couch and bed. Now suddenly that was over and there was precious little time for grooming, walks, or cuddling. All our attention was focused on someone else. Jealous? Not our Shamus. She instantly bonded with the little screamer even though we didn’t let her get too close while we sussed the situation out.

She was better than any baby monitor available as she would come find us at the first sign of stirring and distress. She was the best nursemaid as she carefully investigated any visitors approaching the baby and always slept by his bed to guard against intruders and be vigilante for his every need. Then as the baby grew and became more mobile she was the epitome of patience with all his hair-gripping, lip-tugging, ear-pulling explorations.

She was his his guardian angel, playmate, and furry walker and she loved every minute of it.

4. The best toys are found not bought

Expensive squeaky toy? Shredded in minutes. Knobby ball? Lost in the bushes. Rubber bone? Shoved under couch. Frisbee found by the side of the road? Played with every day and stowed carefully on bed when not in use. A person’s hand? Endless play opportunities.

Dogs and young children teach us an important lesson about gifts. Your time and attention are the greatest gift of all and with a little imagination and energy you don’t need any toys at all, let alone expensive, electronic gadgets.

5. You are never too old to play

Arthritis and muscular atrophy sometimes make it a challenge for Shamus to get around, but she still loves to wrestle and will even romp for a little while. Although she can’t be as active and play fetch for hours as she once did, she still wants to be in the center of the action and participate as much as she can.

We humans forget that the need for play and fellowship does not disappear when we leave childhood. There is no such thing as being too old to play. Perhaps we need to revise our choice of game and venue, but no matter what our age, there should be no limit to our ability to join in the fun!

What lessons has your dog taught you? What role does your dog play in your home?

By: Deanna Mascle

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The number one, most basic dog training command is sit and come. Teaching your American Pit Bull Terrier these two commands is extremely important for him to learn. Both of these basic obedience training commands are used for many different reasons such as in competition or dog show and keeping him behaved when you have company. When walking your Pit Bull off leash, you expect him to come to you when called, not run around the park with you chasing after him shouting at him to “come back here!”. When I see this (and I do all the time), it just makes me laugh.

Teaching your Pit Bull Terrier how to come isn’t difficult, it simply requires repetition. All dogs learn by repeating the desired activity over and over again. The easiest way to get your Pitbull to come is to hold a toy in one hand and a treat in the other. When you are in the yard simply walk away from him, holding out the toy and excitingly calling him to you. When your well-behaved Pit Bull comes to you, give him the treat! Make sure to be consistent and always use the exact same training commands that you are going to use in the future. Repeating this several times a day is an excellent way to teach him, but remember to use lots of long breaks between training sessions so he doesn’t get bored and don’t forget to reward him with those doggie treats.

Getting your Pit to sit could prove to be slightly harder but again, is still only basic dog training that anyone can do. Once you have mastered the come command, call your Pit over to you, place your hand on the end of his back and roll right over his rump and into the back of his legs, giving the “sit” command while gently pushing his legs forward. When he sits properly, give your Pitbull a treat and lots of praise. If you would like him to sit for a longer period of time, simply delay the treat and praise, tell him to “stay”, and take your time bending down to him to deliver the treat.

Basic dog training for your Pit is very simple and effective. Please remember to keep the exercise fun for both you and your dog and keep in mind that a training session shouldn’t last for hours and hours, keep them short. Lastly, don’t forget to reward your obedient Pit for all of his hard work!

By: Tim Amherst

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Watching old cowboy movies, you would think that dogs and horses just naturally got along. But that is not always the case. And some of us have to learn it the hard way. To give you an example, my experiences with horses and dogs had almost always been pretty good. I had been lucky.

Living out in the country, it seems people just automatically thought if they dropped off dogs and puppies they didn’t want or couldn’t keep, someone else would take responsibility for them. So, I always had more than enough dogs around the place and for the most part, they were good dogs, but a few were real standouts.

Two of these really great dogs, were puppies, littermates, that someone had dropped off right down the road from us, along with a beautiful springer spaniel, who certainly looked like a pure bred. The puppies were solid black, but resembled a German Shepherd.

As they grew up, we still could not identify just what breed they looked like. My oldest son, decided the male was his. He eventually grew up to be around 110 pounds, with enough hair that stood out from his body to make him look even larger. His name was Wolf.

But my brother chose the female and called her Sheeba. Sheeba, on the other hand was sleek and slim, but still tipped the scales at around 75 to 80 pounds. It was Sheeba that taught me a lesson about dogs and horses.

One of my horses, a little Arab named Zarafadi, had injured his leg and it was not healing well. If left out at all, he would end up breaking open the gash, and the healing process would have to start all over again. He was about 4 years old and didn’t like to lead a sedentary lifestyle, but we had no choice but to keep him confined and his only exercise was short little walks on a lead.

One Sunday morning, after about 6 weeks of confinement, Zar’s injury was deemed good enough to let him out by himself in a large paddock. My brother had come over that morning and brought Sheeba, who had grown up to be an exceptionally good dog, always behaved, well trained and responded to commands.

The three of us, including Sheeba, were standing outside the stall door when I opened it up to let Zar out into his paddock. I knew he had a lot of pent up energy, but when I opened that door wide, he literally burst out at a run, bucking and kicking out.

I hadn’t quite expected an explosion like that. Before we could say anything, Sheeba took off after him and ran right into one of those kicks. In a split second, she was already on the ground and we thought she was dead.

After hearing the sound of that horse’s hoof ringing out against her skull, we had no reason to assume anything else, but that she was gone already.

Amazingly, she wasn’t.

Carefully loading her up, we were off to the vet’s. We arrived at his office a few minutes before he could get there and that whole time we really expected her to quit breathing, but she didn’t, though we could see a large indentation where the hoof had hit her head.

Finally the vet arrived and his diagnosis was that part of her skull was crushed, which we had already assumed anyway and that there wasn’t much we could do for the skull. But what about the damage to the brain?

We left her there, expecting a call telling us she had died, but thankfully we never got that call. Obviously, the injury to her brain had not been as extensive as we had at first thought.

After a few days, Keith took her home and nursed her back to health. After a while, none of us even noticed that her head was not as it once was. Occasionally other people did, but we were just glad to still have her.

Everywhere Keith went, Sheeba went as well, including to work. My brother’s sign shop would not have been the same during those years without her. She lived a long and happy life after that incident with the horse, and Zar also lived for about 27 more years, without kicking any more dogs. He really had not kicked at her at all, she really had just run in the wrong place as he was exuberantly enjoying his freedom.

But it did teach me one lesson. And that was that you can’t trust animals, or for that matter little children, to always react the way you expect them to, therefore you have to think for them in advance, to keep them safe.

We didn’t think that Zar would be that excited or that Sheeba would race after him before we could even tell her not to, but I should have given that some thought before opening up that stall door. Since then, I have always tried to think of all the possibilities and prepare for them, especially in dealing with animals and small children. That isn’t always possible, of course, but the only thing we can do is try.

For the most part, with thought and training, dogs and horses can live comfortably together on the same farm or stables, but it’s up to you to keep them both safe.

By: Dorothy Santoro

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Ever watch the HBO hit series ‘The Sopranos’?

If so, you surely know (and probably admire) James Gandolfini… aka Tony Soprano. The New Jersey crime family leader. The Godfather. The Hit Man. The Genius Actor!

Truth is I’m a huge Soprano’s fan. And to me, Tony Soprano is alongside the likes of Pacino, DeNiro and Nicholson. Matter of fact, at the height of The Soprano’s, James Gandolfini commanded $1,000,000 an episode. Holy smokes Bat Man!

Guess that’s why I got so excited last night. Once I realized James Gandolfini was sitting next to me, at a Los Angeles comedy club called The Groundlings.

At first, my wife pointed him out. So, trying to be subtle, I looked over and couldn’t figure out if it really was Tony Soprano.

After all, he was dressed in a pair of blue jeans… a plain shirt… and had a long stubbly beard that was camouflaging his face.

This was definitely “uncharacteristic” of what I expected a Mafioso top-gun to look like!

To make matters even more difficult, Gandolfini was with a short, bald white guy. Who looked more like an accountant than a “wing man” for an A-list movie star.

Truth is I expected Tony Soprano to be decked out in a 3 piece tuxedo… and… have a buxom, blonde bombshell hanging on his arm like a flock of seagulls hovering around a white sandy beach.

So unsure what to do and not wanting to approach him, I focused on the opening act. And once the jokes started coming, Gandolfini began to laugh. And I knew it was him. There was no mistaking his voice.

Tony Soprano was sitting next to me.

And as the night when on… I started wondering if it was possible for Tony Soprano to provide a few “dog grooming” lessons for your dog? Check this out…

Lesson #1: Your Dog Needs Some Style. Tony Soprano was “the leader” of the New Jersey crime family, which meant Tony had to “set the tone” and roll in style.

Your dog needs some style too. So, what’s stopping you from finding a groomer you and your dog like and trust? And then taking your dog to get clean and donned out with a little style?

Lesson #2: Your Dog’s Mug Is Important. Tony Soprano had a “mug” you couldn’t forget. And you’d better believe Tony kept his face in mint condition… especially during 1999-2007… the years he filmed The Soprano’s. Because let’s face it, Gandolfini knew his face was a big part of his meal ticket.

Keep your dog’s face looking nice too. That means cleaning it… keeping the “eye boogers” trimmed out… and getting your dog a nice tidied up “face trim” from time to time.

Lesson #3: The Don Juan Doggie. Tony was a ladies’ man which required that he keep his hygiene flawless.

Even if your dog in not the “stud muffin” of dog park, it’s still sanitary and hygienic to get your dog bathed and fluff dried at least one time per month. Because remember, a clean dog is a healthy dog. And a healthy dog is a happy dog.

By: W Murph

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Does your dog bark too much and you don’t even know why? Maybe it’s because he is seeking attention or hears a noise that you don’t. It’s important to know why dogs barks before trying to get him to stop. Once you know why the dog barks, you can more intelligently try to solve the problem. Then you can teach your dog when his barking is appropriate. Some important things to consider are:

Give your dog plenty of exercise – Try having a play session before leaving your house. It will help the dog to not be too excited while on your outing. Try a practice session of leaving the house before you have to actually leave – Actually gather your keys and other belongings and leave the house for a few minutes. Then come back and give him the command to be quite. Repeat this several times until your dog figures out that you will return.

Put a leash on your dog before an event happens that might be going to trigger his barking. When the dog starts to bark at the attraction then pull on his leash and give a command. Another big issue with dog training lessons are teaching a dog where to go potty. One important thing to remember is taking the same route, using the same commands and praising him when he starts to go and when he finishes. Keep in mind there will be accidents, but use these accidents as a teaching tool to teach puppy what not to do.

Catch him in the act if you can, but don’t discipline a puppy when you find their “mistake” later. They will think they are in trouble for whatever they are doing at the moment instead of something they did twenty minutes ago. If you catch puppy in the act, your voice command will usually stop him in the middle. If you can catch him urinating, you’ll avoid getting a bigger mess. Pick him up and take him out to the bathroom spot. Use the bathroom command to hopefully get him to finish his business. Then, praise him like normal.

By: Sydney Stanton

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One of our apprentice trainers, Mike Lustig, asked me last week if I have a preference for teaching private lessons or group classes. This was one of the many good questions on his list that day and an example of how working with apprentice trainers is a wonderful way for an established trainer to continue to reflect on their profession in an effort to improve. Of course, most importantly, it is also a great way to help spread the word about dog-friendly training by teaching others how to teach dog/handler teams as well.

My first response to Mike was something along the lines of “Well, I really like both.” But, I could see by the look on his face he wanted a bit more detail. As with everything in life, there are potential pros and cons to group classes and private lessons. And of course, we each have personal preferences. I know plenty of trainers who don’t offer group classes because they have such a strong preference for private lessons, and vice versa. I continued by explaining that the dynamic of a group class can be exhilarating.

I love the variety of students all in one place and the challenge of helping each dog/handler team. I also find that students can greatly benefit from each other’s presence (as a source of encouragement, enthusiasm, support, and just a pinch of good natured competition). There are many times when the mix of a group class is so wonderful that at the end of the six week course we all (myself, the students and the apprentice) are truly sad to say goodbye. Luckily, we see many students in ongoing education classes (such as level two obedience, tricks and agility). I am most pleased when students cheer each other on at graduation as each team heads up to show off a new skill before receiving their diploma. Talk about positive reinforcement training! Who wouldn’t continue to play the training game with their dog after being applauded for success?

Of course, teaching group classes can at times be more challenging than some private lessons. There may be an especially vocal dog in class, or a person who is already beyond frustrated once they arrive at the first class and on the brink of giving up. These situations require special attention that is balanced with providing equal time to each other student. It requires the ability to temporarily veer off from a set curriculum and then get back to it so that everyone in class benefits as much as possible. While some might see these sorts of situations as distractions, I believe that even if some of the students are not dealing with a particular issue (such as a dog who barks excessively) they will benefit from hearing how to handle it. Behavior is a constantly changing thing and I always remind students that there is a first time for everything.

For example, their dog may begin to develop a barking issue, and if they had the opportunity to observe someone else working on this issue in a class it may very well help them in the future. In general, group classes are especially advisable for puppies as they provide an invaluable opportunity for the pups to learn in the presence of other dogs. This means they develop the skill to focus on their owners and play with other dogs when allowed to. Trainer moderated puppy play in group classes is a valuable part of a pup’s education.

Private lessons are a whole other kettle of fish. Maybe in this case a new saying is in order? They are a whole other bag of kibble! Walking into someone’s home means you are teaching in a new environment for each lesson, and it is someone else’s domain rather than your own classroom. This can be disconcerting for some. But, in the 15 years or so that I have been offering private lessons, I have found that most students do their best to welcome you in and within a few moments their living room has morphed into a mini-classroom. Private lessons can be a terrific way to help someone get started with training, especially when there is a need for concentrated work on specific issues such as separation anxiety, fear, or aggression. But, even for new puppy parents, we often suggest a private lesson or two prior to enrolling in a puppy kindergarten class. This way they can get started with effective management, handling exercises and teaching manners asap.

One of the positives of private lessons, working in a fairly non-distracting environment, may eventually become a bit of a drawback. Once the dog/handler team has developed a good training foundation, working in a classroom setting around other dogs and their people can be a superb way to begin to practice around a variety of distractions that are still somewhat controlled. In some cases, semi-private lessons with two dogs are a good, gradual step towards group classes. Also, while private lessons may be more convenient for some people (as they can schedule them at their leisure), people sometimes wait too long in between private lessons. This can inhibit efficient progress. In this way, group classes may act as a good incentive to be diligent about the commitment to training for six consecutive weeks.

In most cases, private lessons and group classes complement each other. Offering both allows keeps things interesting and allows for students to have two valuable options. But, it is important to make sure you help people choose which might be best for them at a particular stage in their training plan. After all, there are three main ingredients in regards to a successful recipe for training; the owner, the dog, and the trainer. All three are most likely to have the best possible experience when the right training environment is chosen.

By: Andrea Arden

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