Day Two of Deciphering a Dog

Today, I attended a writing seminar from 9 to 3.  Toby stayed at Petsmart Day Care to avoid any crate anxiety.  When we arrived, I told the staff present about his crate behavior, the reason for him being there.  They had a couple of good suggestions.  Buy him a plastic crate — the enclosed kind which makes the dog feel he is in a cave.  Or put a blanket over the crate thus transforming his wire crate into a tent cave.

I had great expectations he would have a wonderful day.  Well, he may have regarded it as a wonderful day, but I was disappointed.  Since I knew they put the dogs in a kennel for their individual treat time, I should have been wiser.  Since I had already told them about his crate anxiety,  they should have been a bit smarter as well!  The blame is not entirely mine especially since they refer to treat time being in a “private room.”  We all lacked foresight.  At day care, the owner may choose for his pet to have a treat or not.  I chose a Kong filled with treats topped off with peanut butter for his treat today.  He ate the peanut butter, but left the treats in the Kong.  Apparently, they store the dog’s leash and collar next to the crate which is theirs for snack time.  After eating the peanut butter, he reached his collar and tore it to shreds!!  He did not swallow any of the leather collar as they think they have all the pieces.  Thus, if he ever goes there again, he will not have any treats.  If he would eat a leather collar while crated, what would he do to a blanket covering a wire crate?  This is worrisome for leaving him in an enclosed car for very long!  My car has always been my dog’s crate on wheels.  As long as the weather is not too hot, my dog goes everywhere with me.

I need a doggie psychologist!

From Doggie Day Care, we moved to the training room at the front of the store for our second lesson.  The dogs were taught to hold still for examination accomplished by holding a treat at his mouth without letting him have it while you touch his ears and paws.  Toby did so well at sitting still, I used the hand motion for stay and walked around him saying “stay,” and he stayed!  The teacher complimented the Intermediate maneuver.  I think it was a fluke.  The second objective was to stay close to the owner while walking.  The teacher asked if we understood what walking with a loose lead meant.  With only two of us in class today, I,  a smart Alec, threw the leash over my right shoulder with Toby on my left side and walked around the room with him walking perfectly with me.  SHOCK!  We had never done that before!  The norm is for me to be dragged behind him. 

The next part of the lesson was to go to an aisle in the store and practice sitting still while being touched and walking on a loose lead.  Toby, being so interested in the products on the shelves, paid no attention to my pleas for “Look at me” or “Sit” which were last week’s lesson and he performs admirably under less distracting circumstances.  But, in Aisle 11, that learning is down the tubes.  I eventually had him walking fast, almost running, with me down the aisle.  Then I told him, “Easy, easy,” and he slowed down.  It would seem perhaps he has had previous training, but chooses to ignore what he has learned.  Or maybe, after training four dogs, my voice is authoritative and understood?

Deciphering Dog Life

Dogs have problems to figure out too.  (Or is it my problem to figure out!)  It appears my new 3.5 – 4 year old rescue dog has his issues.  He doesn’t like being left in his crate!  My crate, though adequate for a 73 pound dog, is not as large as his foster mother’s crate for him.  Her huge one suffices as a room in itself!  He had no problems being crated in her house.  Of course, three other dogs were crated at the same time, one within a few feet of his crate.

The night I first brought him home, I told his foster mother I would be away for about 5 hours the next day.  Since his crate, food, and water are in my master bathroom, I planned to shut the bathroom door and not crate him.  She said, “I would not do that if I were you.  I did that and he ruined my door.”  So I suggested maybe using a baby gate and not shut the door.  She responded, “That is exactly what I did.”  He ruined the doorway and pushed the gate out.  Oh.  So I crated him.  No problems emerged the first few times I needed to leave the house and crate him.  After having him for a week, I came home to find him chewing on the crate and salivating profusely with a puddle of saliva around the crate.  The next day, he went back to his foster mother’s for a week while I traveled.  It was an exciting homecoming to see her and his foster siblings again.  As I prepared to leave, he came to the door wanting to go home with me!!!  He has bonded!!!

The next week, he heard the car as I parked in the driveway, looked out, saw it was me, and his foster mother reported he went berserk.  He jumped all over me when I entered, even reaching my face for kisses. Once he jumped from the side into my ear and almost sent me tumbling.  He has SPIRIT!!!!  Yay!!!!  I had worried he might be mad at me for leaving him, or he might not be interested in going home with me.  There was no need to question his devotion!  He could not wait to go out the door with me!  I thought the foster mom and I would have a little chat, but no.  We had to hurry on our way home!

The next morning, I had to leave him for 7 hours.  I gave him a Kong full of Kong treats.  When I returned, there was a lake of saliva around his crate, and his fluffy crate mat was balled up at the end of the crate (as usual) and the treats were broken into small pieces all over the mat and bottom tray of the crate.  After he left the crate, he went back in, pulled out the mat full of crumbs and dragged it to the living room where the treat pieces tumbled everywhere.  He couldn’t be bothered eating them in the crate, but he gobbled them up from the floor.  When I picked up the mat, it was sopping wet.  He had not peed on it; it was saliva.

Soon I will be attending an all day seminar and realized I could not crate him again that long.  My local Petsmart here has a doggie day care.  I called to book him in.  I needed to be out a couple of hours today and decided he may as well have a brief stay there this afternoon as well.  His Pawgress Report at the top testifies to his good behavior.

I have known I need to test him for short periods of time alone in the house and gradually extend those freedom periods.  This afternoon I saw my across-the-street neighbor sitting on her porch.  I went over to chat for 15 minutes as our first test.  He passed with flying colors.  I need to begin extending that time with, hopefully, equally good results!

If your pooch has experienced crate anxiety, I would love to hear how you conquered it!

Finding a Name

A chocolate lab needs a chocolate name!  Or at least a brown name.  I liked Bailey, but a relative accused me of sounding like an alcoholic after having Guinness as my last dog.  I could not settle on a name, but I had to have one before I picked him up from his foster home, as I had to come with a collar and ID tag before the Rescue would let me take him home.  As I drove to the pet store to buy a collar and have a tag made, I decided on Willy Wonka -- a fun name for a fun dog! 

Once I had the dog home with me, I could not call him that.  He was not a Willy Wonka.  There was nothing Wonky about him.  For the first few days, I found myself calling him "Sweet Pea," "Buster Brown," and even "Guinny," as he looks like Guinness!  Sweet Pea and Buster Brown will be nicknames for him, for sure, as they were for previous dogs.  I couldn't even force the words Willy Wonka out of my mouth!  I decided it was time for some help, so I recruited my Facebook friends on a project of finding the perfect name.   I wrote:  "Oh, dear. . . I am becoming more and more confused on a name for Yukon. That and "Yukie" don't work for me. Willy Wonka doesn't fit. I usually call him "sweet pea" and "Guinny" accidentally, because he looks so much like Guinness. Of the names in my repertoire, Buster Brown comes out of my mouth sometimes. I have considered Mocha, Jamocha, Malt, Chip, Brownie, and others. I have considered Mocha, Jamocha, Malt, Chip, Brownie, and others. I was telling my lawyer about him today, and I hope, as he settles in, he becomes less laid-back and more spirited. He said to name him Spirit! So. . . I am opening it up to a vote on the above names or a better suggestion. We begin school on Tuesday, so I NEED a name by then! :-0 "

My friends did not disappoint me.  They came up with great names making the decision even more difficult!  They came up with Walkers, Gunter, Levi, Charlie (from Willie Wonka), Toby, Brownie, Mudslide, Murphy's stout.  I replied, "Murphy's Oil Soap or MurphyWalsh.com? LOL NOT!  Bailey doesn't fit any more than Willy. But I did think of Angel today! That is why my lawyer said Spirit."  My BFF suggested, "Toby... For Toblerone?" To which, I wrote, "Aha! A strong possibility!!!!"  "Dutch Chocolate" and "M&M" were more contenders.  Then someone said, "Either Lindor or Toby, short for Toblerone are my two faves!!!"  Then came, "How about CHOCOLATE!!!!  Or CHIPS for short!!!  And "CADBURY.HEINEKIN. BOOGER. Sammy Davis Junior Junior."  LOL  "Cadbury is a cute name ! Cad for short ?"  My DIL suggested, "Barney, Bodie, Kody, Samson (Sam), Copper, Forest, Ruby, Nestle, Hogan, Oscar, Caesar, Duncan, Finnegan (Finn), Brownie. Steve likes Oscar and Duncan the best. Kevin likes Brownie and Duncan the best."  Several were reiterating Toby.  Another new one came up:  Simba - swahili for lion.  Another person mentioned, "Takoba, Arbor and Matteo, " to which I replied, "Those are cool, but not chocolate. ha! Keiko sent me a couple of websites with chocolate names. Toblerone was there, but that is too long. Toby is cute. 
I am TOOOOO picky. . ."  Another friend piped up, "I like Toby! He looks like Toberlone! Yum!"  My realtor suggested liking names ending in "ie" or "y."  She weighed in with, "I guess of the suggestions so far Toby is my favorite. I just think you have to get to know your new baby a little more to know what fits him. Hope to meet him soon."  I agreed: "I like ie or y names + a rhyming second name beginning with W as in Hershey-Wershy; Guinny-Winnie; Toby-Woby, etc."  More names were tossed around:  Ritter, Charlie Brown, Choceur Marzipan Asher, Rolo or Toby, Chocolat, Latte, or Godive if he were a girl.  

A cousin suggested, "I vote for Jamocha, Brownie, Cadbury or what about Bournville where the Cadbury factory is in England (it is also the name of the dark chocolate bar they make)."  And her mother, my aunt, wrote, "If he has been Yukon for while, he may feel attached to that. Quit worrying."  The suggestions continued with, "I've seen a two syllable word ending in a vowel recommended........make sure it doesn't sound dumb if you have to call the animal's name repeatedly........."  All of this had happened in 24 hours!  I then wrote, "OK. I asked him. I said (in baby talk), "Do you want to be Cadbury or Toby or Buster Brown. He rolled over which was to say, 'I don't care what you call me as long as you rub my tummy!' He's just a happy boy. Period."

More ideas rolled in:  Snickers, Cadbury, Almond Joy (my fav), and Hershey, but I have already had a Hershey.  Then I remember my Dad's favorite candy bar -- Clark! We were now on Day Two of suggestions, and I made my decision!  "OK. The jury is IN after final pondering all day. Toby (Toblerone) wins! It has the most votes, and (I think) I like it the best. He is oblivious to it. But he is not responding to Yukon either, although I have barely used it with him. I took him to a neighbor's yard this evening to meet her dog. They both enjoyed having new friend!"

Even after my decision, additional possibilites were raised, "Winston? Theodore (Teddy)...I just got back from DC with Reid's class, so I have presidents on my mind. Met a big black lab in Central Park named "Chunk."  This person later said she once had a Yorkie named Toby!  And my Burlington doggie park friend related she had a female rescue dog (Collie/German Shepherd) named Toby before her current dog.  

Toby definitely had more comments than any other name, and it does suit him.   He seems happy with it, and I am too!  :)  Actually, Toblerone is my son's favorite candy bar, but he never joined in the charade of naming nor has commented on the name.  

Doggie Gotcha Day!

Today, Willy Wonka (my new name for Yukon, his current name) came to his forever home — mine!!!  I was nervous again (refer to http://9awalsh.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/twitterpated/) getting ready to go. Everything was going wrong. First, I could not remember where I had the address of the foster mom. It was not on my calendar; it was not on my phone contacts; finally found it on my computer contacts. Meanwhile, I was feeling more and more queasy inside. Gathered his new nametag, his new collar, and pliers to put it on at the foster home with his rabies tag. Set the alarm, went to the car, and remembered the leash. It was not where I keep the leashes (because I put such things away after Guinny was gone). WHERE would I have put it??? Found it in the box marked “DOG” in the garage. Being in a rush and jittery, it took me longer than normal to prepare my GPS. I now had 10 minutes to make a 30 minute trip. Called the foster mom to apologize for being late. I don’t remember being anxious about picking up our puppies. But this is a rescue dog. It will be a different scenario for the bonding process. A puppy you can mold. A rescue already has an attitude and possible baggage.

I arrived at the door, greeted by four dogs with Yukon carrying a new pink dragon in his mouth. Sooo cute! I didn’t have camera ready as who would have expected such an adorable pose!   We tried to recreate the image, but with little success. The foster mom went through all his instructions. My! She spoils her dogs rotten! LOL He gets ¼ of a can of wet dog food with his Merrick kibble breakfast. At dinner time, either canned pumpkin or plain yogurt is added to his Merrick buffalo meat meal.
He is still being treated for Heartworm, so she reminded me to be vigilant about the regimen. Then we went outside for Gotcha Day photos. The foster mom helped me put the tags on the collar as I am not good at doing such things. Her other three dogs seemed to sense something was up, and they all started barking and being crazy. Yukon was the least crazy, but he was the one she told, “Crate, crate, crate” and he went in. I asked why he had to be crated when he was not the instigator. She said, “He is the easiest one to get in a crate.” LOL. Good to know!

I told her his crate is in my master bathroom along with his food and water bowls. I plan to shut him in the bathroom when I leave the house until I feel I can trust him. She warned me that he needs to be crated or he might scratch my door. Then I suggested using a baby gate in the doorway. She said that is what she did. He scratched the door frame and removed the baby gate!!!! OK! I will leave him in a crate until I can be certain he will be OK left in the house alone by testing with short periods of time and slowly extending it.

It took a couple of attempts, but he finally ran with me and jumped into the back of my car. He was just fine on the way home. She had said he would try to get into the front seat, but he did not. He was very good. Apparently, I was still flustered, because I pulled another boner:  as I opened the door, the radio stayed on as if the car was still on. I pressed the button a couple more times to turn the car off. The radio continued playing. I took my stuff and Yukon inside and shut the garage door. A few minutes later I returned for his food left in the car.   The car lights and radio were still on. I finally figured out . . . I had not put the car in park . . . AGAIN!!!! It is been a few months since I have done that trick, all because my last car was put in park by pressing the button on the top of the gear shift. I still, apparently, automatically tap the top of the gearshift and think I am done. :\   Nerves. . .

At home, he inspected the whole house. I showed him his water bowl and his toys. He was not interested in the water but sniffed through the basket of toys, though did not take one. We inspected the backyard and he found an appropriate bush for relieving himself. Neighboring dogs were also out, so they had a barking party.   I don’t remember Yukon barking at all. Maybe once? Back inside, he settled down a few feet from my desk. Eventually, I heard him wandering and went to look. He was on the loveseat with his paws on the back of it so that he could look out the back window. A couple hours later, I lay down on the TV room sofa, and he climbed up with me just like Guinness used to. He joined me near my desk again, then left. I found him sacked out on the living room loveseat. Since arising, he has been doing his own thing. I noted, at some time, he had checked out my bed. He likes ripping stuffed toys apart. I am worrying a bit about the throw pillows I have around the house. There were none in his former home.

Tonight, I had to leave for choir practice and he had to stay in the crate as I do not know what he would do if left to his own devices. My crate is a bit smaller than his foster mother’s. He cannot stand tall in it. Once our dogs were adults, they only needed the crate for time outs and when the house was on the market. He was VERY happy to see me when I arrived home and eagerly ran to the back door to go outside!

I find that I am calling him “Sweet Pea” and “Guinny” (both nicknames for my last dog, Guinness) more than Yukon or Yukie. I have not started on Willy yet. He is a good boy and not crazy goofy like my others. I wish he had a bit more spirit. Maybe it will come. He has had a checkered life: first owner died on his motorcycle. I am figuring that was less than a year ago; perhaps much less! Then he went to a brother until he was incarcerated. Then to the brother’s daughter who decided she could not keep him. The Rescue saved him just days from being euthanized! He has been in the foster home for only a little more than two months. So he has had much change which could have subdued him.