Monthly Archives: July 2012

tricks for commercial work – session #2

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A very long time ago I did some commercial and TV work with my dogs. Mostly I was the behind the scenes trainer, but sometimes I did demo’s with my dogs. It was fun, the pomp around it was kind of zingy and good energy, but truth be told I wasn’t driven towards that industry. I am always, I mean always grateful for work and that people think of me, but it wasn’t hard to walk away.

One of my new clients recently told me that she wanted to train with me because I turned down a gig on David Letterman. I had to laugh, does anyone turn down a gig with David Letterman? To set the record straight, I love this late night show, I think David Letterman is a crack up and have watched him for years. I was offered a spot on the Stupid Pet Tricks segment of the show, a freestyle performance. I told them I would do it if it wasn’t called Stupid Pet Tricks, otherwise I wasn’t interested in flying all the way out there. My children were young, I was competing, and I had a new business, I was busy anyway. They were super nice, as are all of the producers, and it just kind of drifted into a memory. I think they replaced me with the duck that ate cottage cheese out of it’s owners mouth ;-)   It would be awesome to do someday, just wasn’t right at the time. Then along came Martha Stewart …

This summer I had a weird three weeks with offers for commercial work again, behind the scenes trainer work which I prefer. Truck commercials, alcohol commercials, and short films. I started to wonder who’s list was I on? One company was local and had some super good work, the other two were out of state, and the logistics at the time didn’t work for my family, bummer they would have been fun! Nice offers, nice people, kind of cool behaviors. As is the industry, hurry up and wait! Again, I am always grateful for work, I hope it keeps coming!

My dogs had about 1/2 of the behaviors on the various lists, so I set to task working some of the other 1/2.

Story doesn’t bark, he kind of moo’s, so getting him to bark was a bit tricky. I used a harmonica to get him going because he does like to sing to that, I was just waiting for the higher pitch kind of bark. I will continue to shape this over time.

$eeker is super quiet and only barks at our kids playing ball outside without him. I had to capture that. He was confused and happy at the same time when I threw meatballs at him for barking at the window!

Standing in the rain is similar to our sprinkler work, but their head needed to be a bit ‘up facing’.

Fetching keys was the hardest. They didn’t want metal in their mouths, so I attached a hard leather mini handle for them to grip. Then I allowed them to compete for the keys and that helped a bunch. Their final run will be fetching keys inside of a truck, and then running away with them through the rain (or not).

In this video clip we are working on session #2. I had introduced the new behaviors the day before, and we are just touching on them lightly again. It was fun to see their enthusiasm for the work. In commercial work you have about 10-14 days notice to train all of the behaviors they are looking for. Fast learning dogs that trust training are dreamy to work with!

fetch car keys in the ‘rain’
pick up car keys and run
stand on wobbly surface and stare at person
stand on wobbly surface and sniff face
stand in rain and look up
stand in rain with person and not move
bark in persons face up close
bark
sing
growl
huff bark

We have twelve more behaviors to start. Whether the work comes through or not, this is great for all of us.

Nancy … always curious, always inspired!

throw the flexi leash away

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I’ll be honest, I have never liked flexi/retractable/zip leashes. They’ve never made much sense to me.

I see an owner hanging on to a handle, disengaged, and a dog doing whatever they want, usually at 20+ feet away. They are relationship killers.

Over the years dog owners have tried to tell me how great they are, and I’ve listened, maybe I was missing the point? I can be open like this. But every time I see an owner use one, and see the total disconnect and lack of relationship, there is nothing that can convince me to say a nice thing about them. Not even to take a dog out to eliminate.

They sabotage loose leash walking, they kill the relationship when out and about with distractions, they encourage independent behavior, and they can be dangerous when a dog wraps around a handler or lunges. There is simply no reason, zilch, that a dog should be 20+ feet away from a handler when walking down town, in a store, on a busy sidewalk, or in a neighborhood.

Guess what happens when something hits the fan? Instead of calling the dog back, or simply being right next to them, you can reel your dog in, or better yet yank them back to you. There is no good teaching or training going on there, and it simply falls into the I have no relationship with my dog when out and about category.

We have a man who walks his border collie on what I think is a four to five mile loop every morning like clock work. I have seen him easily for three years, doing the same thing, during all weather conditions. His dog has been on a flexi leash the whole time, straining at the end of it for the past three years. They walk but there is no relationship and for sure no connection. The same the same the same every morning. Well apparently he had it this morning. As I passed by, he was jerking and lifting this dog off the ground and yelling HEEL from a good 20+ feet away. The look of confusion and fear on this dogs face was so gut wrenchingly sad. 365 days a year for a few years, the same walk, and now this? This man never prepared the dog for a heel or even a simple loose leash walk. And then this morning he decides, today is the day you will heel. I have a few other choice words for this man but I’ll spare you all.

Use your voice as your first leash, spend time teaching your dog, learn to work as a team, and build a trusting relationship. It all takes time, but honestly, you cannot expect behaviors if you have not put the time in. And by putting time in, it is a life time, just like for us. Always learning, always changing.

Nancy

we need a shirt that says ‘we survived the Red Ants Pants Music Festical!’

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It was our first show at a music festival, and it was our first music festival in a cow pasture, and it was the windiest cow pasture I have ever been in!

A pound of soap and a gallon of shampoo made me feel a bit less gritty last night when we got home. And I was still smiling from the festival.

On Thursday we had to wait three hours, just to let the wind storm pass on by before we could even get our show booth set up. For good measure we left the front and back open so the wind could continue to blow through. I really didn’t want to track my booth down in the next county. Our pop up camper felt a bit sturdier, just a bit.

Just looking at the stage, the vendor booths, cars and campers arriving, you just couldn’t help but feel that something special was going to happen. In a town of 800, surrounded by pastures and sage brush pretty much forever in every direction, over 10,000 people arrived during a three day period. Not a sour word or moment. It was festival atmosphere from the get go, even through some pretty incredible storms.

While the head liners were big names, and awesome in their own right, it was the smaller bands, and some of the local bands that rocked the place. I love working to music, our office has something great going every morning. But working a show with live music from noon through 11pm is just down right dreamy! I think out of all of the bands, I would have to say Taj Mahal brought it, and was probably the hit (my opinion, I would love to hear others?). He has energy like no other performer we saw, and he plays with soul, big huge I can feel you a mile away soul. He’s loud, grateful, cool as beans, and blues to the bone. Love him. Still my favorite after all these years, and he got me out dancing for this one! Lovin in My Babies Eyes. 

Piper and Renn had smiles the whole time. They were rock stars! They sold in our booth all day, restocked, held the tent down during wind storms, cleaned off dirt, danced, ate, and fell asleep each night listening to great music. It might be hard to get them to do a regular trade show in the future!

Our Paw Pudding and Diffuser Oils debuted this weekend. We were thrilled with the reception. We ended up selling more of these two items than our original Aroma Mist products. What was fun to see, were people that didn’t even have dogs were appreciating our products because they are chemical, preservative and emulsifier free. And we listened, and kept hearing the same thing throughout the three days, and we will be adding two new products to our line in the very near future. We met people from all over the country, some chatty, some drunk, some that felt like long lost friends.

Here is to good intentions, great music, and more gatherings! woops I mean trade shows ;-) Nancy

multiple dog households and conflict

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When I was pregnant with my second child, and the due date was nearing, I asked a very dear friend of mine, who was the mother of five, how do you avoid sibling rivalry? You see, I grew up in a household with four girls, I was #3. This was an important question for me.

My dear friend took a thoughtful sip of afternoon wine (that’s why I love her!), munched some apple with with cheese, took a deep breath, and said very wisely, only have one!

So what did I do? Well I had my second baby, and then added multiple dogs, rabbits, birds, and fish. We live in multiple everything! My children, so far, after fourteen years, love each other and enjoy each others company. I am a grateful Mom!

And I honestly think my dogs are sated with the company of each other, same with my birds, and fish. But it is not by chance. It has been very deliberate, very thoughtful, and incredibly managed.

Since January 2012 I have had three friends and seven clients that have lost one of their dogs do too multiple dog household conflict. It was either an immediate death, or such intense injuries that a dog had to be euthanized. While this is not everyday, it is also not that uncommon. It would be safe to say that it is way more traumatizing on the owners than it is on the remaining dog/s. The dog/s left in the household almost always have a sense of relief, relief from what is individual, but the calm is palpable. I have met very few owners who will ever trust the remaining dog/s in the house, and it can, not always, but can lead to multiple euthanasia in the same day.

Is this avoidable? To a large extent yes. Conflicts take more than one, why they happen is completely individual. It could be space, the wrong mix of personalities, food, resources, favored person, sleeping, breathing, smell, age, anti social, same sex, under exercised, etc. The one factor I have found to be common is unmanaged, from a very minute amount, to amazing freedom with little to no human interaction.

I am asked almost weekly if my dogs get along. Yes they do. This video exemplifies the love and respect they have for each other, just watch it to the end, it makes me smile every time.

Does it mean they play, roll around, and slap high fives on each other everyday? No way. Have they ever had conflict? Yes, twice in 10 years, and both times it was Ocean when she was coming off of a medication that had a psychotropic component, acepromezine and/or metronidazole. The conflicts were more screaming at the other dogs, never injury. With even better Fort Leavenworth type management, everything resolved in less than a week. No grudges or prolonged anger.

Here are some tips for owners of multiple dogs. I for one love having a group of dogs in my house, but I also like a peaceful existence.

Tips

  1. My Dog wants a Dog – Please do not add to your household because you think your dog wants another dog. Whoever pays the bills, buys the food, and scoops the poop is the decision maker and the care taker. It should be your decision not your dogs.
  2. Be the Match Maker – When you are thinking about adding another dog to your household, look at your current dog/s and think of what would be a good fit in regards to personality, sex, age, energy. Choosing the right match is actually essential. For example, if you have a low confident dog, you DO NOT want to add the same or the exact opposite (Joe in your face and pushy). Choose future dogs that will blend nicely with who you already have. Take your time until you find the one.
  3. Keep your dogs in good health – If dogs don’t feel well they don’t act well. You cannot afford this in a multiple dog household. Social Time – Multiple dogs don’t always have to be together. In fact it’s better if they are not. Social time should include you time, other people and outing time, and other dog time if your dog/s are social with new dogs. Time for them to hang together is important but it doesn’t always have to be play, hanging is OK. Emotional Balance – With multiple dogs it’s important to have an emotionally stable environment. If one dog requires more touch or more space in order to breathe deep, than so be it. Create an environment where your dogs feel loved, safe, part of your family, understood, and cared for. Nutritional Well Being – Having multiple dog households on a stable and appropriate diet is super important. Having dogs on a sugary high simple carbohydrate diet is a disaster waiting to happen. If they are being taken care of on the inside, they will feel better on the outside. Junky food leads to bad behavior. Physical and Mental exercise – This is training at it’s best! This is imperative and non negotiable, in my book. All dogs in a household need their physical and mental exercise needs met daily. Taking this edge off allows for dogs to truly settle. What you want to avoid is a house full of fully loaded dogs. That energy will have to go someplace, and you don’t want them to direct it at each other.
  4. Management – The more dogs, the more management. The more dogs, the more training. The more dogs, the more structure. If you don’t want to manage your dog/s in your household, you have two choices. 1) let them manage each other and eventually have conflict, either a little or a lot, and then take having multiple dogs seriously because you now have a problem. Or 2) manage your dogs and take that time so you can enjoy your dogs, your dogs can enjoy you, and the household can remain conflict free. This means doors, yard, house, sleeping areas, feeding areas, out on walks. You need to be aware what your dogs are telling you. You need to know where everyone is. If there is some minor tension between two dogs, you need to proactively give them each separate spaces (baby gate off areas, temporary fence separating yard area, etc.) until you can determine what caused the tension, and/or the tension passes. You are in charge, you have dog/s depending on you to do the right thing.
  5. Unattended – Leaving multiple dogs alone and unattended while you are at work or out and about is really never a good idea. While some households have virtual fur carpets during the day and never an ounce of conflict, other households can be like the Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In my world, instead of risking potentially bad behavior or conflict, all dogs should be in a separate space when you are not home. Whether it is crating, kennel, or baby gating off rooms. When you are gone it’s down time, not run around and play time and get into trouble. You want to come home to well rested pleasant dogs.
  6. Night night … Most dogs tend to do well sleeping at night in the same room or various places around the house. I don’t see a problem with this unless you have an instigator. In that case, crating or baby gating a small area would be advised.
  7. Observe, don’t label - Don’t get into the habit of labeling your dog/s as the Alpha in your pack or the Boss of your pack. Its a disservice to your dog/s. A pack is generally a familial unit, starting with Mom and Dad all the way down. And besides most dogs that I have met that were labeled as Alpha, were just rude and inappropriate dogs that had little to no training, an emotionally unstable environment, no management, and were left to do it all on their own. Become and observer not a labeler. Learn more about canine body language.
  8. Be a benevolent owner – Your dog/s need to know on every level that they can trust you.

The only conflict I want in my house is cleaning up fur balls under the couch! Nancy

we are off to the Red Ants Pants Music Festival!

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Last year, in February to be exact, I decided to take my aromatherapy products from our training classroom to the public. It has been a fantastic ride so far, and our line is growing!

Was it the long winter nights that prompted this decision? Most likely. It isn’t that I needed more work, or another business to run, I was plenty busy. And then add family on top of that and you could honestly say, uber busy.

But I really had a belief in what I was blending for clients, and wanted our products to have a bigger venue. How do you market aroma products for dogs and their people, an inter species product?

During our first year we were busy with research and test trials. My assistant and I investigated shipping and packaging, labels, bottles & containers, advertising, marketing, etc. All of the foundation work necessary to get this product out to the public. My business mentors called it my development year.

I did the local Farmers Market, local Art and Craft shows, and then two rather large national Trade Shows outside of the state. And a ton of what is called gorilla marketing. I found out that is were I shine, and that is where our early success started.

Farmers Markets are awesome, touching base with clients, forming relationships, great conversations, and coffee!

Art & Craft fairs are kind of funky. Some are good some are a bomb. I would say they were my least favorite venues last year, and in saying that, we did ten around the state. We did well but the atmospheres in most of them were weird, for our product at least. Nonetheless we will continue to go to the ones we enjoyed, if nothing else they are a great advertising and marketing opportunity.

The Trade Shows are a boat load of work, starting weeks/months prior to going. Booth display took me totally by surprise, as did the amount of literature, take aways and samples to give away. But we were wildly successful, enjoyed them, and will continue to do at least two to three a year. I like the buyers days the best, it is business and direct, and fun to negotiate new partnerships. We currently have twenty six wholesale accounts across the country, and I love the home spun relationships we have with each of our partners.

Today we leave for the Red Ants Pants Music Festival. It was juried for the vendors this year, and they looked at women owned businesses in Montana first! Woop!. I am hoping this will be a good venue for us, as it sounds like a fun way to sell over a three day period. Six to eight thousand people will congregate in a cow pasture outside of White Sulphur Springs Montana to listen to great music, camp, eat, and buy stuff. This sounds like my speed as long as the wind doesn’t kick in and carry everything to Kansas!

Happy music festival weekend, Nancy

borage, the garden conundrum

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When our garden gets to this point in the summer it isn’t hard to work and play, and totally get lost in it! My kids, dogs, and I were pretty much absorbed in dirt and plants for the better part of two days.

Over the past month our polite little plants decided to take off. The rain and the heat caused some crazy growth and now we have a garden that’s easily 5-6′ tall. It’s awesome.

And then there is my borage, the garden conundrum. If you’re familiar with this plant you know what I’m talking about, if you’re new to this plant hang in there.

It’s a self seeder, it reseeds like crazy, and it does better if you simply leave it alone and try not to mess with it. It attracts beneficial insects, great for a bio dynamic garden. Bee’s love it, so Ocean loves it, she’s our bee wrangler! It has the most gorgeous periwinkle/pink/dusty blue flowers, super gorgeous on cakes, in salads, and in cocktails! The young leaves are great in salads and stir fry’s. And parts of the plant can be infused into oil for skin slaves. It has great anti inflammatory and itch relief qualities. We have always made herbal infusion salves for our kids skin and dogs paws, borage is always one of the herbs I use.

BUT, its prickly and scratchy, and can almost be considered invasive if left unchecked. Like alien invasion invasive. Rubbing up against it makes me wince every time. But it’s so gorgeous and interesting to look at, and it has so many wonderful qualities it’s hard to justify not having it!

I try to find that happy balance and use about 3/4 of the borage I grow for green manure, meaning it grows to feed our compost pile.

Here is to gardens, with or without borage, dogs, and children that love to play in the dirt.

renew, reuse, return …

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So exciting that most of everything new going into our Dog Gym is not actually new but rather renewed, and/or reused materials. I think I’ve mentioned before that my husband is a pack rat of sorts when it comes to building materials. He saves anything he can from job sites if it’s marked for the dump or burn pile. He detests that type of waste.

Lucky for me with this project! Our new bathroom has flooring, wainscot, vanity, and bead board from other projects in years past. Same with some dry wall, wood trim, odd pieces of lumber, shelving, and so on.

My new reception desk is going to have some rocking great, gorgeous, green granite tops and a walnut base thanks to my Pack Rat, woop! The pieces are small and oddly shaped, which I love, so Spore and I designed a lily pad type of desk, with various levels. We are having the edges buffed out this coming week. It will keep it’s broken chiseled look in some areas, but smoother to the touch. I would never be able to afford a custom piece like this, it feels simply awesome to be able to design and make it. And even more awesome that I will be using it everyday!

It feels good to create this space, and to try and reuse and renew what Spore has been saving. And we might even have more garage space, sometime soon!

The only set back has been the flooring. While it is recycled rubber, yay!, it is a new product we ordered on the recommendation from three other agility facilities. Ten rolls and 3,300 pounds of recycled chipped rubber, and it arrived damaged. Only two of the rolls were good to use, eight had to be returned. Apparently the freight company dropped the ball some place along the way from PA. They either did employee fork lift training with employees who had previously had their driver privileges revoked, or set them out for target practice. Either way, a set back. The manufacturer and company we are working with have been super professional and took care of claims right away. Our new flooring is due to arrive this coming week.

Being the gardener that I am, we now have three beautiful flower pots in front of our office. They are crammed with; salmon colored petunias, pineapple sage, tri color sage, lavender, and cream dream marigolds. It’s starting to feel homey!

After a full week of privates and classes, I am painting odds and ends today, and taking over more equipment. Then perhaps a bbq with the family, some treibball games with the dogs, and a glass of wine! Nancy

time for some garden eye candy!

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Working in the garden is so good for the soul. When I’m super busy with life, my dogs and I disappear into the garden, even if only briefly, so we can just take a nice deep breath!

So from my garden to your eyes, enjoy! Nancy

week #3 – where is my carpenter?!

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Spore is the man! He has worked for two weeks straight, crazy sick long hours, and has accomplished more than I could have dreamed of.

Fear not, I have fed him well, supplied him with arnica sore muscle patches, lots of love, and coffee coffee coffee! But alas, I no longer have him full time, only in the evenings and weekends. He had to get back to working on big beautiful homes around the state, doing finish trim and custom furniture.

The flooring came today, WOOP! Two whole days early. It was a bit of mumbo jumbo with the delivery, how to get it into the facility, and what about the stuff that was damaged? And it was only me, sans tools. Where oh where was my carpenter man?! Damn it!

I made a quick dash to Owenhouse Ace Hardware, bought a small screw driver set that saved the day. I was able to take down the puppy gating, get the overhead door open, and then help off load the matting, all 3,300 pounds! Our delivery guy was Joe Muscles and did the big work, but he needed my help, I just know it! I also bought him honey peanuts and a Coke for being so patient with me.

Our bathroom is finished! And in honor of Elaine at Yellowstone Dog Sports, we decoupaged our mirror frame. We used all of our tea, soda and chocolate wrappers, and if I do say so myself, it’s cheery and fun!

Our sound boards are up. They help a lot with the echoing. 4 X 4 foot canvas frames with foam padding. We used pigment to color them so they would still be absorbent with sound.

And I have the fan of my freaking dreams. This thing can move big air. It is happiness in a box…

Here is to soft nice flooring, my knees are already having a bit of a party about it all, Nancy

know your dog

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These days we live, sleep, and eat with our dogs, in the same house. We share the same air space, even with Mr. Farty Pants. Sometimes exercise together, and even socialize together. You would think that with this type of intimate living arrangement we would know more about our furry loved ones, but it isn’t always the case.

I truly believe our dogs know far more about us than we do them. They are masters of observation and routine. Because they don’t speak a human language they need to watch us carefully. Learn our patterns, habits, tone of voice, mannerisms, and body language. They learn what picking up our car keys means and respond accordingly. They know what we are going to do by the the clothes and shoes we put on. Some dogs even know what happens during certain times of the day. Ever watch a dog wait for their child to come home from school? They can sense our emotional state, and they learn to decipher our very confusing way of interacting with them. After all we aren’t the most consistent of living beings when it comes to communication. We don’t always mean what we say or say what we mean, that takes intention and practice. Sometimes I think our dogs just have to feel a bit upside down with us, thank god they are forgiving!

Taking the time to learn more about your dogs body language is the first step. Not information you gather at the dog park from an arm chair behaviorist, but from an accredited book or video.

Why are they slowing down when another dog is approaching? What does it mean when they are trying to avoid men when out walking? Is barking OK?

I think it’s easy to fall into the cookie cutter approach when handling a dog, and not really pay attention to the dogs style of communication.

Great observation skills and knowing your dog is way more important than a SIT.

Here is a story that clarifies how important it is to really know your dog -

It would suffice to say that more than a few years ago, I was working with a team that was concerned and scared that their dog was aggressive.

They made an appointment, filled out our history form, and came to meet with me. While their dog was in the car I read through their paper work, their information was scary to say the least. This dog on paper was a nightmare, and the owners were truly unraveled and had no idea what to do. They had been to another trainer before coming to me and were taught that they had to roll the dog over, growl in it’s face, scruff his face, and basically give him no freedoms, all of the basic crap that is nothing more than abuse. They were told their dog was dominant aggressive, pushy, overly confident, etc. But none of this was working, it was getting worse, in fact the damage this dog inflicted only happened after the heavy handed training started.

When we were all ready they brought their dog into our area. From the moment this dog exited the car there was fear language from nose to tale. I didn’t see a confident dog, or a dog that was trying to be pushy. I saw a dog that had been knocked off center some how and was terribly confused.

Stress was emanating from this dog, it was palpable. Eyes, ears, back, skin flicks, tail, gating, or the lack there of, all told a story. This dog was so uncertain, so confused, and fearful that I am sure up was the same as down.

We did a little work that day, but not much. This dog didn’t trust anyone. I gave the handlers a specific list for the week, what they needed to do, and how they needed to manage their environment.

This pattern went on for a few weeks before they felt he could come into our area again. When he did I saw a dog that had a bit more hold on itself. Still uncertain, the degree was a bit less. We were able to work together, he was able to look at me, and I could touch him briefly.

We made little by little progress over the next few months. What blossomed was this lovely tender dog that seemed to be grateful to have a few people understand, to hear between the lines so to speak. This dog had not an ounce of malice intent but had been put into a position to defend itself because no person was watching or really listening.

A lovely worker, a lovely companion, and a tender lovely soul. Once the handling and environment had been changed great work happened, for everyone. This dog is over twelve years now, I see him every now and again, and he still makes me smile. He taught me a great deal about listening. Yet another teacher in my life.

Nancy