Kanga loves her brand new halter
August 26, 2009
On Saturday we went to a local dog shop and bought two things Kanga needed and one she didn't:1. A new collar of her very own. When she outgrew her puppy collar, we couldn't find a collar small enough for her that we liked (shopping is limited on Maui). She actually wore an old collar of Maui's for a few months, while Molly looked for a collar that she liked and was lightweight and thin enough for Kanga's little neck.
2. A harness. When Kanga turned into a teenager a few weeks ago she started pulling on her leash, too. She would pull so hard that she'd choke herself. I took advice from you guys and got her a harness. The leash attaches in the back and I like how when she pulls, she feels it tightening on her shoulders (not her neck). When she stops pulling, she stops feeling tightness. She immediately stopped pulling on her leash.
I think the tightness must kind of feel like being tapped on the shoulder, while the collar felt like being choked. I'd rather have someone tap on my shoulder to remind me not to pull, than choke me.
Here's a picture of her just about to set out on a hike in the rainforest. Doesn't she look sporty?
3. A leash that matches her collar. (This is the item I felt we didn't need.). They had a lightweight, thin leash that matches her collar, and I decided to get it because she and Molly were so excited about it. (Really, it was Molly who was so excited. I don't think Kanga much cares about the leash.)
My dog is not a prissy dog, and I have proof. When Molly tried to put a pink harness and a pink collar on her, she shook her head back and forth like she didn't want them. When Molly tried on the bumblebee collar and the aqua blue harness, she stepped in happily and even lay down to have the collar put on.
It was funny how she did NOT want the pink. After we made our purchases we went on our hike, and Kanga jumped over roots, splashed through mud puddles, and smelled everything. She was so happy. It was her first time in the rainforest, and she really, really liked it. So did I. Here's a picture of her in the car after the hike. She's pooped, but pretty happy.
A Very sweet video reminds us of the connection between Dogs and God
August 20, 2009
Too Many Ways to Promote a Book?
August 19, 2009
These days there are many–perhaps too many–ways to promote a book. This is a web 2.0 world and when I came across this video from Dennis Cass, it made me laugh…so I want to share it with you.
dog messages are everywhere
August 19, 2009
Note: This post contains quite a few references to a natural bodily function. I hope you will forgive me for what my grandmother would call "bathroom talk."
Our walk this morning took us to the beach - Kanga's favorite place.
As we walked, she galloped, then paused, then sniffed, then went back and sniffed again, and then let loose just a tiny few drops of pee to "mark" spots she liked. She must have left fifty little deposits in our half hour walk.
I call this reading the newspaper (sniffing) and writing the newspaper (peeing), and Kanga only likes to do it outside.
Kanga had little trouble with housebreaking and came to us most of the way there. After Maui's incontinence for the last year of her life, Kanga's bladder strength has amazed me. She can wait to pee - what a miracle!
But sometimes her holding it so well makes me think it's less about not wanting to go in the house, and more about going outside for a walk around the block, or better, a walk on the beach.
Kanga has become a master of what I call "The Great Pee Embargo."
Most days when I take her out first thing in the morning she will sniff the wind, nose around our backyard, and then look at me like "When are we leaving?"
If I head for the front yard and the sidewalk, she will happily leave her little pee deposits everywhere in our neighborhood.
If we go to the beach, she will wait a full half hour for us to get ready, and then ride patiently in the car to our favorite beach. When we get there, she will find the perfect place to "write" her little article for her friends. Then a few feet away she will write another little article.
But if we don't go for a walk right away, she will just sit there in the backyard until I give up and go back inside. After enough time, she will realize that we aren't leaving the house this morning and will resignedly scratch to go outside.
On these few occasions her long, abundant pee sessions are marked with a distinct look of annoyance.
"Why write a novel which no one will read," she seems to be thinking, "when I could write fifty articles that everyone will read?"
Does anyone else's dog do this? I thought I was making it up at first, but I really think she is saving her pee for places she likes.
Thank you to the dog trainers on IRememberLove
August 14, 2009
I have to thank K9Krazy and other dog trainers/workers on this site who really helped me make a crucial decision last winter – I would be pulling my hair out this morning without your help.
Kanga turned into a teenager two days ago (on her ten month birthday, August 11).
She’s feisty, independent, and testing boundaries. She’s lost almost all of her training, which means that she won’t do as I ask right away. She acts like a tough teenager … “You’re not the boss of me!”
For example, our sweet little shy puppy used to sit politely by a wide open door and look up at me, waiting for permission to leave. She would never leave first … she always followed me through the door.
Well, this morning I opened the sliding glass door a crack to let a fly out, and before I knew it she had flown out the door and was out in the front yard. She was like greased lightning! A dog friend was passing by, and thankfully she was focused on meeting him and didn’t take off down the street.
Once we cajoled her back into the house and got her on a leash, I looked at Molly and said “I’m writing a thank you post to dog trainers right now.”
When I found Kanga last November, I was convinced that we should get her and her sister, who we were going to call Roo (after the characters in Winnie the Pooh).
When I announced the happy news to this community, several dog trainers posted publicly and also wrote me privately with their concerns.
They talked about how in a “wild” pack the puppies would be separated from their littermates and taken into the pack as a whole. They would learn to be part of the pack, separate from their family. This helped them to become fully responsible adult dogs.
In a human family, two puppies, especially littermates who are already a “family,” could skip this developmental process. Instead of integrating into the new “pack”, the puppies might “stick together” and not bond completely or properly with me and Molly.
The trainers all said that training could be not just twice as much work, but ten times the work. (That made me sit up and cock my head to the side.)
They emphasized with great compassion that while this situation could work out fine, it was a lot of hard work. They suggested we get one puppy now and bring in another puppy when she was older.
We were pretty excited about two puppies, but when four dog trainers all contact me, I pay attention. We called a dog trainer friend and asked our vet, Dr. Dressler, what they thought. We did some research and read some articles online. And then we decided to take the advice.
I’m so glad. As you know, having a new puppy is a lot of work. But this teenage thing is even more! I can see that if Kanga had a sister she “listened” to more than she listened to me, she would be even more likely to be badly behaved. This morning she probably would have trotted off down the street with her sister and ignored our calls altogether.
I was thinking about getting a new puppy this winter when Kanga turns one. Now I’m thinking to wait until she’s eighteen months and a little bit more adult. We don’t want a puppy to learn from her, at least not this week.
We’ll have a little bit more patience and make sure we’re a stable pack before we add another little one.
I’m not saying this is the only way to do things, but I for one am glad that K9Krazy and others – I wish I could remember all of you specifically – advised me so well. For me, this is the right thing to do.
And in the meantime we will be taking her for an extra walk everyday to drain that extra teenage energy.
PS: Thank you for all the suggestions and calls about the book – I am still negotiating with the distributor and will let you know ASAP!