Ziggy's breed

If I had to pick my favorite physical trait about Ziggy, it would be easy. It is not his beautiful green eyes, although those are the feature that people most remark on when they meet him. It is not the cute brown spot around his eye, which causes many people to think of Petey from the Little Rascals. It is not his occasionally green feet, or the light brown spots on his ears. I like all of those things, but my favorite feature about Ziggy is his curly tail. I am constantly intrigued by it. Pit bulls don't have curly tails. But Ziggy does. I love to uncurl it and watch it curl back up. I love watching him go for a walk with his curly tail held high behind him. For some reason, Ziggy's curly tail always makes me smile.

I read an article on the Internet (which therefore means it is 100% fact) that there are only twelve breeds with curly tails. Therefore Ziggy must be mixed with at least one of these breeds. I did some more research on the Internet and found out more about these breeds. Here is the result of my research:

Pug - Pugs are stressed by hot and cold weather. So is Ziggy. They are prone to allergies. Ziggy has a lot of allergies. Pugs tend to wheeze and snore. Ziggy snores occasionally. Ziggy might be part pug!

Akita Inu - Akitas are intelligent, courageous and fearless. So is Ziggy. But they are also careful and very affectionate with its family. That's not Ziggy. I'm going to rule out Akita as a possible match.

Shiba Inu - Shibas are known for preferring to stay clean. I definitely will rule out Shiba Inus as a possibility.

Keeshond - I had a keeshond growing up. She was a great dog, but she was nothing like Ziggy. Therefore Ziggy must not have any Keeshond in him.

Basenji - This one is easy. Basenjis don't bark. Ziggy barks loudly. Therefore Ziggy is not part Basenji.

Chow Chow - Chows are self-willed. Ziggy is very self-willed. Chow chows can be a handful with passive owners. Ziggy is a handful with any owner. Ziggy might be part Chow Chow.

Norwegian Elkhound - Norwegian Elkhounds are docile and trustworthy. Ziggy is neither. They are affectionate with their family - also not Ziggy. They like to roam and bark. Ziggy doesn't bark unless he wants something. So I will rule out the Norwegian Elkhound as a possible match.

Siberian Husky - As I'm reading these breed descriptions, one statement about the Siberian Husky quickly caught my eye. Siberian Huskies are known to be destructive if they have no outlet for their energy. That's Ziggy!!! Ziggy must surely be a Siberian Husky mix!! But just to make sure, I'll continue my research.

Alaskan Malamute - These dogs sound similar to Siberian Huskies, but they are known to like to howl and dig - Ziggy doesn't do either. They also love to be outside, and Ziggy is always wanting to go back indoors. So Ziggy is probably not part Alaskan Malamute.

Karelian Bear Dog - These dogs have a good sense of humor. So does Ziggy! They are known to be intelligent and energetic, just like Ziggy. My research shows this is not a breed for the casual pet owner. Owners must be capable of handling this very forceful canine. Wow - that fits Ziggy perfectly. Except then I read this line - "this breed has a small appetite for its size". Okay, I have to rule this one out. Ziggy has a huge appetite. I don't think he's ever been not hungry.

Pomeranian - Pomeranians are intelligent, inquisitive and active. So is Ziggy. They have a delightful nature. I guess with Ziggy it depends on who you ask. Pomeranians are constant shedders. So is Ziggy. So there's a chance that Ziggy is part Pomeranian.

Samoyed - The Samoyed is all white, and so is Ziggy. But they are known to be very friendly to everyone. Ziggy isn't unfriendly - he just doesn't much care one way or the other. So Ziggy is probably not part Samoyed.

And that leaves me with the following possibilities. Is Ziggy part Pug, part Chow Chow, part Siberian Husky, or part Pomeranian? Or is he just a poorly bred American Pit Bull Terrier? Occasionally APBTs do have a curly tail like Ziggy (known as gay tail), which is considered to be a fault in the show ring. So that's another much more likely, but much less interesting, possibility. What do you think?

Update on my previous fosters

 Tripoli has been adopted!  It took a lot longer than anyone expected, but finally after over a year in foster care, Tripoli has his permanent home!

Poky and Panda Bear have also both been adopted.  Both puppies are doing great in their new homes.  Also their four littermates have now also been adopted! 

And then there is Ziggy.  Ziggy has started attending a beginning agility class.  He does very well because a) he has no fear of anything, b) he is very intelligent, c) he is very food motivated, and d) he has a very good instructor.  I was concerned about Ziggy being evicted from class due to his chewing problems, and sure enough during the very first class he tried several times to chew the instructor.  But she is very patient with him and has invited him to come back again next week.

Ziggy goes for a walk

Ziggy is not a normal dog.  Here is another of his many interesting quirks.  When we go for a walk, most dogs will stop and sniff at normal things.  You know, like fire hydrants, and trees, and grass areas where other dogs have been.  Not Ziggy.  He walks with single-minded purpose, seldom stopping to sniff or investigate.  The only thing he does stop to sniff - almost every time we pass one - is a storm drain.  Seriously.  Isn't this weird?  Here's a short video.  This is exactly what happens on every walk, for every single storm drain we pass.  I can't identify anything special about these storm drains. My own dogs and previous foster dogs have always walked past them without a second glance. But not Ziggy.

If he could hear me, I'd be saying something like "Look Ziggy, check out this fire hydrant!  No?  Okay, well how about this bush?  Lots of neighborhood dogs stop here!  Or this tree?   Ziggy?  Okay then, let's just keep going....right past this storm drain... or not." 

Ziggy learns a trick!

You might not know it, but I'm working toward a diploma of Dog Training from the Companion Animal Sciences Institute.  It might be hard to believe that I, the person who raised Ziggy the incorrigible dog, would claim to know anything about training dogs.  If you met Remi or Noelle, my own two dogs, you would definitely find it hard to believe.  But let's pretend they would be much worse behaved if it weren't for my knowledge and skill.  In fact, if you haven't met them, let's pretend they are all very well behaved dogs!   Thank you.    

For my most recent school assignment, I decided to teach Ziggy how to "gimme four".  It's kind of like "shake", so I think I can claim I taught him two tricks instead of just one.  This was the first time I ever trained a dog using clicker training and shaping.  In the past I have used more traditional methods as well as lure/reward training, but clicker training always seemed too difficult. But it was finally time for me to figure it out, and I must say I was amazed at the results. 

Since Ziggy is deaf, I couldn't use a traditional clicker, so I got a keychain flashlight that would come on whenever a button was held down.  It is the same concept as a clicker but it is a visual sign instead of an auditory sign.  In spite of my poor timing and lack of confidence in what I was doing, Ziggy figured out how to "gimme four" within two 10 minute training sessions.  It's a good thing he's so smart.  Now I'm motivated to teach him some more tricks.  My next assignment with my training class calls for teaching a chained behavior, so I'm going to attempt to teach him to put his toys away in the toy bin.  This will take more than two sessions.  But fortunately he's very smart and very food motivated and we have a lot of opportunity to work on it.    If any of you out there reading this have any advice, I'd love to hear it!  Here is a short video of me working with Ziggy on "gimme four". 

He is incorrigible.

in·cor·ri·gi·ble -adjective  Impervious to constraints or punishment; willful; unruly; uncontrollable.

As most of you know, I had to get rid of all of my foster pets recently in order to meet the subdivison ordinance of only two pets per house. I sent my foster cat Rudy and my two foster dogs Tripoli and Ziggy to other foster homes. I also sent my cat Merlin to my parents' house. That just left me with my own two dogs, Remi and Noelle.

It also left me with a big concern. How long would Ziggy last at his temporary foster home? I thought about starting a pool to take bets from people, but I was afraid his temporary foster mom might take offense. I don't know her well enough to know if she understands my sense of humor or not. I know she is great with dogs, and has been fostering dogs for many years, so Ziggy was in excellent hands. But refer back to the above definition. That's Ziggy!

He's fine with cats - until he decides to play with them (then he treats them as chew toys). He's fine with other dogs - as long as he is the one in charge and everyone else obeys his wishes. He's fine with people - unless he is excited - then he wants to chew on them, and he doesn't like to take "no" for an answer. He can never, ever be left unattended unless he is in a crate or he will destroy the house.

So it was with some fear and trepidation that I left Ziggy at his temporary foster home and returned home. I wasn't worried about Ziggy - I was worried about his foster mom and the other pets and foster pets in the home. And sure enough, Ziggy exceeded all of my expectations and was evicted from his foster home less than 24 hours after arriving. Okay, he wasn't really evicted - his temporary foster mom was willing to keep him if necessary, but it was very clear that it wasn't working out. So we arranged a swap, and she took Remi while I brought Ziggy back home. Now I'm back to only two pets in the house, Remi is living the high life at his temporary home, and Ziggy is once again back home after his overnight field trip.

This brings up major concerns for me. If a very experienced dog owner and rescuer has problems with Ziggy, how do I expect him to ever find a home? I don't want to adopt him myself since fostering and working full-time keeps me too busy to give him the exercise and attention that he really needs. But finding another home for him may take years! Still I hope that someday he will find that one person who wants to exercise him several times a day and can deal with his Ziggy ways. He is more work than anyone would ever expect, but he will bring more joy and love to their life than they ever expect as well. We continue to work on training through positive reinforcement, and as always he continues to be adorable, affectionate on his terms, and hilarious in everything he does. Yesterday he made me laugh when he tried to run up the stairs, lost his balance and rolled back down. He then ran back up, stole an apple from the counter, and ate the whole thing, core and all, before I could get to him. Ziggy has so much enthusiasm and he throws himself into everything he does wholeheartedly. It makes life with him a wonderful challenge!

The Cat with Too Many Names

Elwood, previously known as Lucas, previously known as Miracle, previously known as Trickster, has had a lot of names in the first few months of his life.  He started out with a temporary name of Trickster, because he would always be the first kitten to sneak out of the bedroom and climb a baby gate to get to the rest of the house. 

Then he and his three siblings got sick, and the other three didn't make it.  He needed a miracle to survive, so I named him Miracle.

I called him Mira for short, because I thought he was a girl.  Then I found out he was a boy.  He forgave me but I thought Mira was not a good name for a boy cat.  So then I went on vacation and my cat-sitter named him Lucas.  And I liked that name, so that was his official name until he was adopted.

Then someone adopted him and named him Elwood.  It goes well with his brother's name which is Jake.  Here is Jake and Elwood.

They appear to be getting along quite well.  Now I hope he never has another new name again.

How Ziggy eats treats

My friend Shuma recently pointed out to me how cute Ziggy is when he is eating a treat.  Since Ziggy is often his most mischievous at adoption events, giving him treats which he has to earn by sitting calmly is a good alternative to other behavior.  So perhaps he just seems so cute because while he's eating, he's not chewing on our shoes, or his leash, or the closest person's hands or other body parts?  But since I have nothing else to blog about, I decided to go ahead and post this short video of Ziggy eating treats.  Notice how he closes his eyes every time he takes the treat.  Do you know any other dogs that do that?

Puppy Insights

As a dog foster parent, I've taken care of hundreds of puppies. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration... okay fine, a huge exaggeration. But I do feel that I have enough experience with puppies to share with you the following insights.

1. All puppies are cute. And as a general rule, the cuter the puppy, the more trouble they are.

2. A puppy needs to drink and eat often. And what goes in, must come out, just as often. Be prepared to do a lot of cleaning up when you have a puppy.

3. The only thing cuter than one puppy is two puppies. However, refer to rule #1 and rule #2 above.

4. Even a typical "tough guy" can be brought to his knees by puppy love.

5. Puppies love to chew. No matter how cute they are, don't let them get away with chewing on things that you don't want to be destroyed. If you never really liked that pair of shoes though, just let them keep chewing while you take pictures.

6. Don't let them fool you. Puppies can be tough too.

7. Puppy teeth are some of the sharpest teeth in the world. They have been proven to be sharper than knives. Really.    Okay not really.

8. When they are just six weeks old, most puppies haven't completely mastered running or walking. And this makes them fun to watch. But be warned - by seven weeks old, they may have mastered the art of escaping from their pen. So when you get home from work, you could find them wandering around the house, doing whatever they want (refer to rule #2 and rule #5 above).