Search!

When I first brought home Ziggy, I quickly realized he wasn't a "normal" dog.  Sure, he did normal dog things, like barking and chewing and playing with toys.  But he didn't want affection or petting, and the only thing he cared about was food.  He didn't bond with people or other dogs, and didn't want them around unless they were willing to provide the one thing he cared about - food!  We've never really figured out what makes Ziggy the way he is.  With a lot of hard work we've taught Ziggy to accept petting and attention, but he still only tolerates it in hopes of getting rewarded with food.  It's made him basically unadoptable as a pet dog, but it also makes him a very motivated dog when it comes to working.  Recently I've tried to channel that motivation into a new goal - to become a certified Search and Rescue dog! 

 

About five months ago I joined CSARA, a local search and rescue group.  I recently earned my SarTech II certification, and now I've started to focus on training Ziggy to be a cadaver dog.  This is a video of a recent training session: 

 

 

There are three main types of Search and Rescue dogs.  Two of those - Air Scent and Trailing - search for living people.  The third type of dog searches for human remains.  This is an important part of Search and Rescue since it can assist law enforcement in investigations and provide loved ones with closure.  It is also the type that is most appropriate for Ziggy since he is deaf and not that big a fan of living people. 

Becoming certified as an HRD (human remains detection) dog is a long process that involves a lot of training.  We've only started, and have a very long way to go.  Ziggy will have to learn to detect sources that are buried or elevated, and he will have to learn to ignore all distractions along the way.  Although he may never reach the goal of being certified, we are having fun learning together.  Eventually I hope to adopt a dog specifically for Search and Rescue, and the time spent practicing with Ziggy will help me train a future dog.  Ziggy doesn't understand anything about certifications or tests - he just knows that if I give him the sign for Search, it means it is time for a fun game where when he wins, he gets his favorite thing - food! 

Dog Body Language

This video is a guide to reading the body language of your dog, or other dogs that you meet along the way.  It does a pretty good job of explaining what signs to look for to see if your dog is relaxed or anxious.  If you're interested in learning more in-depth than this video, I recommend watching a DVD called The Language of Dogs by Sarah Kalnajs, or reading a book called Canine Body Langauge: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff.  They're both available at many libraries or bookstores and they offer a lot more details and examples than this short video. 

My Recommendations

Need a dog sitter? Or a dog trainer? Maybe just some on-line references for a specific dog training issue? Here are some resources that I have personally used and highly recommend.

Dog Sitter
No Place Like Home
In Home Pet Sitting
O'Fallon, MO
314-398-6697

Personal experience: I bid on and won a gift certificate for two nights of dog-sitting during our trivia night silent auction fundraiser. I called, and spoke with Kelly, and she fit me in during the Thanksgiving holiday. Kelly is awesome - her and her husband pet-sit animals in their home, and they only dog-sit for a few animals at a time so they can give them plenty of attention and care. She spoiled Remi and Noelle even though they tried to eat her floor while they were there! I even came home with ornaments for my tree - they have each dog's picture and are so cute. Oh, and did I mention she also fosters a dog for another group? Anyone who fosters homeless animals (especially ex-fighting pit bulls) is worth checking out!

Dog Trainer
Positive Paws Pet Training
St. Charles / St. Louis area
http://www.positivepawstraining.com/
636-352-3104

Personal experience: When I decided to hire a trainer to teach me to train my foster dogs, I did some research online. I choose this trainer based on reviews from her website, her background and education, as well as because I agreed with her training methodology. It's still a bit scary to hire someone without having a personal reference from someone I know, but I was very fortunate in this case, and can now give that personal reference for her to others. Kimberly Gracner, the trainer with Positive Paws, is very experienced, well educated, patient and friendly. She is always willing to meet my newest foster dogs when she comes over for training sessions, and she patiently answers all of my dog training questions - not just the ones around the subject that we're focused on at the time. I highly recommend her for any dog training issues you may encounter.

Other References
Have a specific issue with your dog that you need help with? Is your dog chewing up the sofa, or barking incessantly, or refusing to listen to you? Of course a trainer is the way to go, but if you can't do that and want some quick online help, check out these websites:

San Francisco SPCA Dog Behavior & Training Library

My Smart Puppy Library

Dumb Friends League - Dog Behavior Topics


Oh, and just for the record...

*The views and opinions expressed on this blog do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Heartland Humane Society of Missouri. The appearance of hyperlinks referencing sites outside this blog does not constitute endorsement of those web sites by HHS or the information, products, or services contained therein. HHS does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at this location.

This post was prepared as a service to the St. Charles County community. Neither Heartland Humane Society of Missouri nor any of its volunteers makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, or by Heartland Humane Society of Missouri.

And yes, I borrowed that disclaimer from a military website - could you tell? :-)

Update on Noelle's Training Session

Noelle had her second training class last night, and she seemed to have taken a step backward since her first class. I think this is due to two things - first, I missed a few days of working on her training while I wasn't feeling well. Second, I took her for a 15 minute walk before her training class. Now, you may wonder why a 15 minute walk would influence how she did during class? Let me give you a few examples of how class went (of course, I was using hand signs whenever I was speaking to Noelle)...

Trainer: Okay, let's see her do a sit-stay.
Me: Noelle, sit.... stay.... no, don't lay down...come on, back up.... stay.... no, sit up.... stay... look, here's this yummy treat right above your nose, just follow it back up to a sit position.... no, don't lay back down!

Trainer: Hmmm...okay, how about a down-stay.
Me: Noelle, down..stay... ... watch me.... no, put your head up so you can see me... watch me... here i am, watch me... look, I have yummy food.. no don't close your eyes... noelle, wake up!

We actually worked on a new command - "leave it" - she saw a treat, saw the trainer put her hand over it... sniffed her hand for a second, then put her head down on top of the trainers hand and fell asleep. It was hilarious! This dog is the laziest dog I have ever met in my entire life - and she's only 6 months old! The trainer asked me to not take her for any more walks immediately preceding her scheduled training session. :-)

In other news, Joy is learning so quickly. She is house-trained now and so well-behaved. She has started sleeping on the bed with Noelle and Remi and and Doobie and me at night, and she is just like Remi - she tries to lay in the middle of the bed and stretch out as much as possible. Fortunately she's quite a bit smaller than Remi so I still have some room left over. Joy's favorite thing to do is to stalk the cats. She'll happily spend an hour or more just sitting and watching the hallway, waiting for a cat to appear so she can sneak up on it. Doobie doesn't mind - he just looks at her and ignores her. Montelle definitely minds, but sometimes I think he's just playing with her too, because he has plenty of opportunity to get away from her and usually just stays out and taunts her.

We're all going to PetSmart again this Saturday, and I hope one of my foster cats gets adopted. Okay, I'd love one of my foster dogs to get adopted too, but right now they're my Christmas dogs (Joy and Noelle, get it?) and it'd be fun to still have them around for Christmas! :-) I'm playing a game where everytime I'm with them and a Christmas song comes on, if I hear their name, they get a treat. Joy really likes the song "Joy to the World" and Noelle's favorite is "The First Noel". Silly I know, but I amuse myself rather easily. :-)

A cat named "meow"

My 6-year-old niece came over to vist the other night. She fell in love with Rudy when I first got him several months ago, and so when I found out I was going to be dog-sitting, I knew she would want to visit him. And once again I received the request "Pleease keep him until I turn 16?!", because her mom and dad have told her she can get a dog when she turns 16. Although I hate to ever tell her no, in this case I had to tell her that Rudy would be better off in a home with someone who didn't work full-time. It was great to have her visit, and she also suggested while she was there that we rename one of my foster cats. Montelle, my newest foster cat, is very vocal - he spends a lot of time saying "meow" as loud as possible, to request that I come pay attention to him. He'd be happy to come find me for attention if there weren't so many dogs around! But anyway he was being his usual vocal self while my niece was there, and she suggested we should name him "Meow", because then "He can say his own name!". So now Montelle's new nickname is Meow.

Meow also has a new amazing trick - he can act like a hat! He does this by getting a running start while I'm sitting at the kitchen table, and jumping directly from the floor to my shoulders, and on top of my head. He then just hangs out there, until I pull him down. The first time he did this, I was very confused - how'd I get a cat that came out of nowhere on the top of my head?! Now I'm getting used to it, and between him and Doobie, it's very difficult to get any work done on my home computer. But I really don't mind - its nice to see him start to come out of the cat room to visit more often.

Tonight is Noelle's next training session - I am anxious to begin! She has been very popular recently - we've received several inquiries and applications on her. Unfortunately none of them have a fenced yard, and its too dangerous to ever let her off-leash without a fence. Just imagine taking any puppy outside.... they like to chase things! Most of them, including Noelle, will chase a rabbit, or a squirrel, or a blowing leaf. And since you can't clap your hands or call her name and have her stop and turn around, she would end up following something right into a street. And since she can't hear a car coming, she would be in very great danger. So, I've had to turn down some really good applicants, which I hate to do. But I know eventually someone will come along who wants to adopt her and has a fenced yard.

I'm looking forward to going to the Pawsitively Purrfect Painting Party at the Painted Pot on Sunday. I have never been - and my family can attest that I am pretty awful at art. But I still think it'll be a lot of fun - especially if they let me bring in Remi! They say you can bring a pet, but since Remi is more often compared to a pony than a dog, he may be too big. :-) It sounds like a lot of fun though, and a great way to raise money for Heartland. Here are the details of the fundraiser:

Pawsitively Purrfect Painting Party
Sunday November 16th 12PM-4PM
The Painted Pot
Get a jump on making a personalized holiday gift or decoration and let your pets help! Come in and your pet's painted paw can decorate an ornament, picture frame or personalized pet bowls! If you don't want to bring your pet, you're still welcome and Heartland will get your studio fees as a donation! So bring a friend and enjoy the afternoon!

Hope to see you there!

Molly, Pepsi & Ginger were adopted!

It was a very good adoption day for me on Saturday - three of my four foster dogs were adopted! Molly went to a family with kids, who decided they were ready for a dog. She seemed very happy with them! Ginger's new family also has two kids, and a mom who had a hard time deciding whether to adopt Ginger or Pepsi. They're both such good puppies, but she finally decided Ginger would be a better fit with her family. That actually worked out well, because shortly after that my cousin came by, and fell in love with Pepsi. So I'm so glad they adopted her - now I'll be able to hear how she's doing in the future! We also had several other foster dogs adopted this weekend - it was a good week for everyone.

That leaves me with just Noelle at home. Oh, and my foster cat Doobie. He decided to hide just before it was time to leave for PetSmart, and even though I searched the house for 20 minutes, and checked all the usual cat hiding spots, I couldn't find him. So he got to skip adoption day this week. After I got home on Saturday night, he was in his usual spot on the bed, pretending like he'd been there all along - so I still don't know what new hiding spot he discovered!

One of the nice things about fostering is that I can take a break in between fostering dogs whenever I want to. So that's what I'm doing now... at least for a few weeks probably. I will still have lots of news to report on other Heartland foster dogs though! And of course I'll keep fostering Noelle, too. I've enrolled her in some private dog training classes, and the trainer is coming out on Thursday night to my home for her first class. If I foster Noelle long enough, I'd like to get her CGC Certification. That is a Canine Good Citizen award - it is given by the AKC for any dog who passes a 10-part test that shows they can perform basic obedience and are well-behaved in various social situations. For more information, go to http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm. I plan to learn to train Noelle through these private lessons, and then be able to train other fosters to earn their CGC on my own in the future. I hope it will help some of the hard-to-adopt dogs to be adopted more quickly. Oh, and for those of you who support Heartland, I just want you to know that I'm paying for the classes myself. So if you think its a waste of money to train a foster dog, now you know it's my money and not any that you have donated to Heartland. :-) I have arranged with the trainer to allow me to take these classes, working toward the CGC, with whatever foster dog I have at the time. So while I plan to especially work with the harder to adopt dogs (like Noelle, since she's deaf), I also won't let it interfere with them being adopted if a perfect home comes along - I'll just get another hard-to-adopt dog to train and pick up with the classes where I left off! I'm still going to school for a Dog Training diploma, and a Shelter & Rescue Work diploma, but that will still take me a few years before I'm done, so in the meantime I want to get some extra hands-on help with training. Remember, i've only been a dog owner for a couple of years, and have NEVER taken a dog training class! My own dog Remi came to us already having attended several levels of obedience classes before we adopted him, so there was never really a need. I'm self-taught - having read every book I can get my hands on - and I've developed a lot of confidence in working with several of the dogs I've fostered over the past year. But sometimes it just makes a huge difference to see certain training techniques demonstrated, or to watch how someone solves a particular problem that a dog has. So I'm really looking forward to these classes.

My latest news - yesterday I went with another HHS foster volunteer to pick up some puppies. The owners dogs had two unplanned litters of puppies - 12 of them altogether! So we went and got them and took them back to the foster volunteer's house. On the way home, we saw two dogs running loose on highway 61. They looked like they were going to get hit by a car, so of course we stopped and tried to help. One of the dogs ran back up the embankment, and even though we went after it, we weren't able to find it. We were able to rescue the other dog, and since we knocked on doors of homes in the area but couldn't find her owners, she came home with me last night. This morning I was able to call the vet where her rabies tag was registered, and contact the owner. They came and picked her up, and they were very happy to get her back. Their other dog, the one who ran away from us, also made it back home safely, so it was a happy ending all-around!

Everyone to the vet!

At least that's the way it feels today! I took Bailey in to the vet this morning to get spayed, microchipped, vaccinated, etc. I also ended up taking my dog Remi in, because he's sick. I won't gross you out with the details, but let's just say my husband spent a lot of time cleaning carpets yesterday, because Remi couldn't make it outside in time. Lucky me, I was at work and got to miss all that! The vet fit him in even though I didn't have an appointment for him, so I'm anxiously waiting to hear what they find out. In addition to the dogs, I am taking in my own cat and one of my foster cats this afternoon to get checked out. I also might take in Lacy since she needs to get her stitches out from her spay surgery last week. I might as well get everyone in and out at once!

I finally broke down and bought a Gentle Leader head collar for Remi. I heard about these a long time ago, but wasn't too sure about them. The books I originally read about dog training and dog care had mixed reviews, and I'm not usually one to try the newest fad (even if they have been around for a few years!). Since Remi is stronger than I am, I can't walk him on a regular collar and leash, so my husband and I opted to get a prong collar for him when we first got him. Those are more of a classic training collar, and it allowed me to walk him and hold him back if he saw another dog or rabbit or something he wanted to go after. He responded well to it, and it worked so I kept putting off trying one of the head collars even though I kept hearing good things about them. Well, I finally decided it was time to at least try a friendlier method of walking Remi. I got the Gentle Leader a few days ago - along with some other very fun training supplies - and tried it out the same night. It is AMAZING! I am so happy I bought it - it works great! I've only used it on a couple of short walks so far, but so far he has been perfect - he doesn't pull me around, he seems very comfortable with it on, and when he's seen something he wants to go after, I've been able to redirect him without having to yank on the leash or cause him pain. I am a huge fan of this collar. I will stick to the flat collar on most of the dogs, but on dogs that are too strong for me to walk easily, this will be my first choice of training collars from now on. It actually makes me look forward to taking Remi for walks again!

One of my other fun training supplies I bought is called a clicker+. Clickers, just like head halters, were one of those things I felt like hadn't been around long enough to be proven. People have been training dogs for decades without needing a little box that makes a clicking noise. Besides, I have enough to worry about with a leash and treats! But once I started learning more about clicker training, I changed my mind. There are several scientific studies (those always help convince me - something measurable and proven to work) that show how much better animals respond to a consistent noise made right at the time of wanted behavior. And while I was doing the same thing with a verbal cue (saying "Good" each time the dog did the desired behavior), a mechanical noise that sounds the same each time is clearer and easier for a dog to understand. So, I started shopping for clickers. And one of the problems with training more than one dog at a time is that the click can be confusing since each dog isn't sure when its "being clicked". So since I like gadgets, and since I am usually training more than one dog at a time, I just had to buy this clicker+, which is an electronic clicker that makes four different clicking noises! It's easier to use than a typical box clicker because I don't have to worry about holding the clicker backwards or upside down and not being able to click at the right time. And its fun because I can give each dog a different kind of click. It also has different volume levels which is nice since Elvis is scared of loud clicks (surprise), but loud clicks are better for outdoors or when there is a lot of noise in the house. So I'm having a great time playing with my new dog training supplies. I've heard you can even train cats with a clicker, but I've got to figure out dog training with a clicker first.

Monkee was adopted!

Monkee found a home while I was gone on vacation. I'm so happy for her! I heard she went to live with a family that has a dog and a 1-year-old cat, so she should have plenty of playmates there. Now I'm down to three kittens left to find homes. I still have Elvis, Jade and Reese (the dogs) to find homes for as well. Someone is interested in Jade, and someone else is interested in Reese, so maybe one of those homes will work out - we'll see. They were all very happy to see me when I got home from Florida last night. I think that they missed me! Hopefully one of them will find a home at PetSmart on Saturday.

I've been interested in dog training since I first got Remi almost two years ago. I became more interested as I began fostering dogs and found out how much fun it is to teach them, and how much nicer it is to have well behaved dogs! :-) I've finally decided to do more than read every dog training book I can find, and have applied to the Companion Animal Sciences Institute. I had planned to enter the program to earn a diploma in dog training, but they also have a diploma in Shelter and Rescue Work, and that sounds really interesting as well. I'm going to maybe try to earn both. Between working full time and taking care of my fosters, I don't have a lot of time left - but, this sounds like a great way to spend my free time. My husband has almost given up on me ever cooking for him again anyway. :-) It's a distance education program, so I could work through the classes at my own pace, especially on my lunch hour. I pretty much earned my entire MBA by doing schoolwork on my lunch hour, so it won't be anything new. I'm really excited about the idea!

Ella was adopted; Noah is renamed; Training begins; Supply Drives

Ella, the first cat I ever fostered, has finally found a home! I guess as foster cats go, it really hasn't been that long, but as a relatively new person to the rescue world, four months seemed like a very long time for such a wonderful animal to be without a home. Especially since she's spent the last two months of her life in a little cage at Petsmart. I hated leaving her there all the time, but it was the best way for her to meet the most potential adopters, and she was much better off there than at my house since she wasn't crazy about all the noise and excitement and other animals. She had a lot of people, volunteers and employees alike, stop by and visit her every day, and she was well cared for. Her time there finally paid off, as she went to a wonderful new home yesterday! I am so happy for her!

I hate to do it, because my mom will get mad at me, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm changing Noah's name. My mom hates it when my foster animals names change, because she gets confused enough with all the different animals going into and out of my life - changing the names of the animals is even more confusing, she says. And generally, if we know what name the pet already had, we never change it. But Noah is a special case. Noah, my shepherd/hound foster dog, is very skittish and shy. If anyone in the house raises a voice, whether its directed at him or not, he cringes and runs away to hide. The problem is that in order to get the attention of Remi or Jade, a loud voice is usually required. One day something made me realize that I spent a lot of time saying "Remi, NO!" or "Jade, NO!", and each time, NOah acted like I was yelling at him. I thought, NO! does sound similar to NOah!, and could make it very confusing for him. I could have started saying "Remi, QUIT" or Jade, QUIT", but NO is a common English word, so I thought it'd be easier for him to just change his name. So now Noah is Elvis! It started out as a nickname, but now I'm so used to calling him that, that I keep confusing the names when I talk to people. He might take awhile to get adopted because he is so skittish and shy, so until we find the right home for him, I might as well at least change his name in my blog to match his name in real life. He answers to Elvis all the time now - and I think he's doing much better at accepting the loud voices and noises around him in the house. Although, if anyone has a nice quiet house and wants to foster one of the best dogs in the world, let me know and we'll talk. :-)

All the dogs have started obedience training, courtesy of my amateur attempts at training. We have nightly "classes", and each dog is working on a different skill. Granted, it'd be easier to teach them all the same thing at the same time - but not as interesting! Elvis is working on "sit" - he has finally figured it out, so we're in the "practicing stage". Reese can sit and is working on "down" - she almost has it figured out. And Jade can sit and is working on "stay" - this is really hard for her because she has never had to learn self-control before. But she desparately needs to be taught this because she has so much energy and enthusiasm and hasn't learned many manners yet. All in all, I'm very proud of my dogs and the progress they've made. I hope with additional training this will help them to find good homes, since all three of my fosters are likely going to be harder to place than cute puppies or small dogs. Reese is still a puppy, but she is, and looks like, a pit bull, so that scares some people away. Elvis can climb fences and is very skittish, so that limits the homes that will be right for him. And Jade is a wonderful dog, but she's big, black, and high energy, so that automatically is three strikes against her in most people's eyes. The more they can learn over time, the easier it will be to find them homes, so I will hopefully be able to keep up their new training schedule and they will learn a lot!

The girl scouts have been holding supply drives for the past couple Saturday's at PetSmart, and we have received several donations from people. Someone donated a big package of liver treats that the dogs LOVE - they work great for training - so if you made a donation of supplies - THANK YOU! You are helping to care for the dogs and cats that don't have homes, and you're also helping to prepare them to find new homes! If you are interested in sponoring a supply drive at your school or workplace, please contact me for more information at dogfostermom@aol.com. Our group is 100% volunteer run, and all of the foster homes provide their own supplies, crates, dog/cat beds, cat litter, etc - this quickly adds up and we can always use help. Our biggest needs are cat litter, canned (wet) cat and dog food, cat climbing trees/scratching posts (okay, this is my biggest need - not sure about others) ;-), and of course we can always use cat/dog treats, collars, leashes, toys, dog bones, paper towels, bleach, old blankets, cat/dog beds, and anything else that cats or dogs use! We are in a program where we are provided dry cat and dog food, so that's about the only thing we can't use - everything else would greatly help our foster homes care for their foster dogs and cats. If you have any items to donate, you don't need to wait for a supply drive - just drop them off with Heartland Humane Society volunteers at Petsmart on Highway K on any Saturday between 11am and 4pm, or contact me and we'll make other arrangements. Thanks!