Toby's First Naughtiness

My grandson is with me for several weeks, and he has made friends with all the neighbor children.  Sisters, ages 5 and 7, from across the street came to our house to play with him.  The 5 year old had stitches taken out that day.  As a reward for her pain, her mother gave her a cute pedicure.  She wore her adorable jeweled flip-flops and left them at my front door. 

To this point, Toby has done NOTHING naughty.  He pulls the stuffing out of his toys, but that is it.  I found him chewing on Rin's adorable sandal.  Ruined.  :\  He thought they were pretty too.  He has access to our shoes as well, but we have none as adorable as Rin's! 

The Reach of Feminine Influence Through Generations of Males

Our first dog, at least 30 years ago, was a female cockatoo - Blackberry Heather Walsh, because she looked like a blackberry as a puppy.  Before she was one year old, her color changed to silver -- like black hair highlighted with while.  Greg, then 3, said, "We should have named her Silverware!"  He was to write a story about his family at Christmastime.  As a preschooler, he told his teachers what to write.  He had his own way of talking.  The only thing they could make out of how he said our dog's name was "Blackberry Has a."  BTW, Heather would have been Greg's name if he had been a girl.

She lived to age 13.  During that time, we purchased a boxer -- Andrew Rockford Frederick Walsh; Andrew after Grant's company St. Andrew's, Rockford after the boxer Rocky, and Frederick after Grant's Uncle Fred who was a boxer.  Andy could say his name!!!  "Rooo - rooo - rooo."  Blackberry taught Andy many things.  He learned to squat to urinate.  He never lifted his leg.  Andy only lived to age 5, as he developed cancer.

That Christmas, Blackberry was elderly and not doing well, so we decided to add another dog to the family before we lost her.  We found Hershey, a chocolate lab, through a newspaper ad for puppies. We were naive and didn't realize it was a puppy mill!  After Hershey survived a Marley-style puppyhood (or maybe I should say -- WE survived his Marley-style puppyhood!!!), he became a gentleman and a scholar.  Since Blackberry was his teacher, he also equated.  We lost Blackberry after having Hershey for only a month, but he learned his lessons well.

When Hershey was 10, we decided he needed a companion and bought a full bred chocolate lab -- Guinness.  Goofy Guinness.   He kept us laughing.  Hershey was an excellent teacher!  He taught Guinness (or tried to teach him) how to heel.  Guinness never did learn to be a perfect heeler.  Whereas, Hershey could be off leash!  Hershey taught Guinness to squat also.  Guinness did lift his leg a time or two in the park as an adult.  We lost Guinness last September with no dog overlapping his lifespan.  Because we our first dog was a girl, our next three males squared to go potty!!!!

Now I have Toby (Toblerone), another chocolate lab.  He ONLY lifts his leg.    

Coyote IN My Laundry Room!!!!

Of all nights for Toby to not be at home!!!!  He is at his foster mother's for a sleepover. 

I just had a VERY scary thing happen!!! Both of my garage door openers have decided to not work at the same time. It was 12:50am. I stood in my laundry room putting in a new battery in each and trying them out. The garage door worked with the new batteries. I opened the laundry room door to the garage as I was doing this, and a wet, scraggly looking "dog" walked into my laundry room!!!! I screamed, and it backed into my garage. I shut the laundry room door, but then didn't want to close that dog (or was it a coyote??? The hair was short, so maybe not a coyote.) inside my garage. Grabbed a flashlight, turned on the garage light, and went out to make sure the dog was gone. He was no where in sight. Then I thought, if it was a dog, maybe I should have been kinder . . . ???

Oh, my. . . I just looked up photos of coyotes. I did not see his tail, but this certainly looked like him!!!

Vacation

I took Toby to his foster mother's home tonight for a wee vacation.  All of my other dogs had a built in GPS system.  I expected that he would sense where we were headed, especially once we arrived there.  He did not seem to be aware of his surroundings until out of the car.  He quickly fell into the routine with his foster siblings being on a walk in the front with other neighbor dogs.  It was a lovely evening with many neighbors and dogs out.  He wanted to run around and meet everyone, and all were happy to see him.  He was very relaxed. 

The kids next door enjoyed petting him through the fence.  I learned that they had wanted to adopt him, but their little beagle is 13, and the parents felt he deserved to have a quiet end to his life span.  Thank goodness!  :) 

Serious Training

Since Petsmart training did not help me to be able to walk safely without him pulling me down the street, I sought more expert training.  My neighbor and Toby's foster mother recommended Canine Connection.

Her first comment was how handsome he is!  :)   As soon as we entered, she told me Toby is a stressed dog, unsure of his surroundings, and has no focus.  That made me want to cry.  I never would have described him with those attributes.  She noted he was clicking his mouth which she said was stress.  I have never been aware of him doing that before, or I was inattentive to it.  Initially, he was jumping on her, seemingly to say -- leave me alone, or maybe it was -- play with me.  She admitted he was a tough case, but she was persistent and successful!

She used kiss smacking to capture his attention at first.  It took a LONG time for his attention to focus on her, and then it took a LONG time for him to comprehend what she was requiring.  She would hold his leash at her centerpoint and wait for him to look at her.  As soon as he glanced at her, she would say "Good," and immediately treat.   It was probably close to half an hour before he caught onto the game. 

I tried to imitate her methods but was not very successful.  I need more practice.  I was holding the treat in my hand before he had performed the desired behavior -- of looking into the handler's eyes.  Then, if I waited for his look before giving the treat, I would drop the treat or struggle with getting it out of my pouch.  :\

She showed me how standing somewhat diagonally facing a wall with him on the left, forces him to stay on the left side of the handler.

She played the "T" game with him:  she stood holding several treats in each fist and spread her arms open to form a T.  He would jump at her hands, lick them, try to do everything he could think of to make her release the treats for him.  Finally, he looked at her.  Bingo!  "Good."  A handful of treats.  

While attempting to walk with him, as soon as he tugged, she stopped, waited for him to look at her.  "Good."  Treat.  Since he already knew that game while she stood still, he caught on to it in the walk/stop exercise.  

Karen is phenomenal!  By the end of the hour, she had him walking at her side on a loose leash.  I did not know what to expect from this lesson, but now I know:  next time, I need a notepad to write down the tricks she used with him.  What she did in one hour was amazing!  Twice she brought tears to my eyes to see the change in Toby and to see him walking at her side without tugging and paying close attention to her!!!  And without using painful or uncomfortable collars or gentle leaders.  Until he caught on to what was expected of him, she stood firm waiting for him to look at her.  After one hour, my brain was on overload, and Toby was spent too.  He went to the door wanting to leave. 

The Toy Dog

Toby loves his stuffed animals!  He takes one outside with him almost every time he goes out for a potty break.  He usually leaves it in the grass, and I have to say, "Go get your toy!"  And he does!

His foster mother told me he pulls the stuffing and squeaker out of stuffed toys.  At my house, he has not.  Most of his toys were Guinness's.  For some reason, he does not tear them up.  But a giraffe I  bought for him is now a rag.  It had a tennis ball in each foot.  They are now all out and two have had to be thrown away as he broke them open. 

I wonder if he is respecting the smell of Guinness on the other toys.  Toys without the Guinness smell, he tears it apart.  Although, he is still enjoying his giraffe very much even though it is simply a rag with no stuffing, squeaker, or balls.