My logo saga part 2 and a logo help request

So awhile ago I wrote about changing my logo. I had come across a celtic pawprint design by Aon Celtic that I loved so much I incorporated it into a tattoo. Then I thought about using it as my training business logo. After finally getting in touch with the owner of the design (FYI always double check your e-mail spam folders) I got all the details of using it with permission. I was good to go.

Then I got thinking about taking my old logo off my car and it bothered me. I made the original logo of an akita because my first dog was the catalyst for my becoming a trainer in the first place. I didn't want to lose that link. Not to mention I drew it myself so I knew I wouldn't need any one's permission to use it and no one else could possibly have the same logo. Unlike what could happen if I bought the other one. So I decided I am going to tweak the one I have and use that instead. I even think I have figured out how I'm going to change it. Stay tuned for photos.

The other logo I have been working on in my head is one for the K-9 Corrections program. The one on our facebook page is actually just clipart. I would love to come up with something to use on t-shirts for us to sell as a fund raiser. This way anyone who wants to support the program can buy one and really show off that support. I'm sure families of the handlers would also love to have that link to their family members. Not to mention the former handlers when they leave the facility.

I welcome any submissions from readers for this logo. Either ideas or artwork can be sent to me at CanineHelp@aol.com . I will not pay for artwork or submissions but credit will be given to anyone who's work we use. If we use the artwork and make the shirts, a free t-shirt with the design will also be given to the artist.

Carry On! (Dogs That Carry Stuff)

Walking to the wonderful Hillside dog park yesterday in Brooklyn, I saw this dog...

"Where's m'dang T-bone?"

But he was carrying a raw steak, chomped firmly between its jaws - not eating it, just carrying it ... head down, focused, following his owner leashless down the sidewalk! I didn't get a pic of the T-bone.

Now I know leashless walking is strictly illegal, and I shouldn't condone it. But when a dog is very well-behaved, obedient, and psychologically balanced, it is often far less problematic than so many leashed dogs who are so often lunging, barking, psychologically and emotionally unbalanced, untrained, disobedient, and pent-up!

But this post isn't about leash-walking. It's about dogs carrying stuff - and how that can help keep them under control.

Our old dog Freedom used to carry bagels (yes only bagels!) home, for blocks and blocks, then run out into the yard as soon as she was home to bury them.

The activity served no purpose at all, except for being incredibly endearing. However, in most of her life she was a bit of a nervous Nelly, except as soon as she'd get that bagel in her jaws, she'd march in a straight line back home never flinching or being distracted by anything. It was amazing!

Turtle apparently prefers to recycle milk cartons:

"Paper or plastic?"

Now I'm not sure what the Brooklyn Heights dog-owner's idea was with her dog carrying the steak, but if it was meant to give the dog a job that focused him and kept him obedient and out of trouble, than kudos.

Retired racing greyhounds are notorious for heightened prey-drive, which can be very dangerous if left untrained around other dogs, not to mention around smaller animals like cats. At my local dog park in Boston, there was one greyhound whose owner managed the problem by having her grey carry a Kong whenever surrounded by other dogs or other triggers. It worked like a charm! If aggression or prey-drive levels mounted, she'd command her grey to "Take" the Kong; he'd chomp onto it with glee. It was his job! And though he'd continue growling and prancing around, he could never bite because his mouth was occupied.

Though not quite as complete as training not to bite, the "take the Kong" technique was so much kinder, more creative, and more therapeutic than simply restraining him, leashing him up, or even adding a muzzle. He was self-contained, self-restrained; and the management technique kept him from ever doing something unacceptable and suffering the consequences (which would have been immediate and permanent exile from the dog park, or worse). A muzzle, on the other hand, doesn't keep a dog from aggressing; it just keeps them from biting when they do aggress. And the other dogs don't notice the muzzle either; so even though your muzzled dog can't bite, he can sure get bit back when he tries and fails.

We've all seen dogs (usually labs, right?) carrying their own leashes - which sort of looks like they're taking themselves for a walk.

"I wonder where I'm taking me?"

Great technique! The dog has a job, and the leash is ready for the taking if you need it.

And if anyone can help me get a pic of that Brooklyn Heights steak-loving pup actually carrying the steak - dinner on me!

Bully Syndrome

This monster is my friend Angus.

Angus "The Lovable Beast" (and sleeping Monkey)

Recently Angus visited our home and more or less tried to eat Monkey, our sweet submissive and sometimes skittish female greyound. (You can see Monkey sleeping in the background of this picture; that was accomplished with some calm leadership, a lengthy pack walk, a rawhide chew, and just a little nervous sweat from most of of the humans involved.)

What struck me about Angus's aggression was that he isn't generally a dominant dog. He submitted instantly to Monkey's brother, Turtle, after being barked at, mostly ignoring him but once later even trying to initiate play. Then I saw one other interaction:  Turtle glared at Angus when Angus got too close to Turtle's bed, and Angus responded by instantly veering toward Monkey to set in again. Of course I blocked and Angus settled for picking up one of  her favorite toys ("Hah! Got your little fluffy squeaky squirrel!")

I was suddenly reminded of my other friend Hairston's sometimes perplexing behavior at the dog park. Here's Harry swatting snowballs out of the air (also notice his perfect sociability at the end):

The snowball-swatting isn't a problem; it's just so ridiculous I had to show it. I've been called in to help, however, with a little problem Harry has of picking fights with little peaceful dogs, even puppies. To the big ones, or the dominant ones that offer resistance, Harry is as submissive as little cupcake with! In fact, his owners tell me that Harry's attacks on little defenseless pups often seems to happen right after a big dog puts Harry or another dog in his place with a dominant growl.

This is what I call "Bully Syndrome". Neither Harry nor Angus is a generally dominant or aggressive dog. Dominant and aggressive dogs will challenge other dominant, aggressive dogs, and will be triggered by those dogs' signs of dominance and aggression to react in kind. That's NOT what's going on with these guys. These guys are like grade school bullies:  they get picked on because they're kind of, well, wimpy, and then they feel the need to prove that they're really tough! So they pick on the next smallest or weakest guy they can find. That's a bully!

"Who me?"

Bully Syndrome is much easier to deal with then unadulterated aggression or dominance. I stuck up for poor sweet Monkey, telling Angus to back off in a way that she didn't feel safe doing. Angus of course laid right down and smiled "Who ME?"

I keep Harry off the bench at the park, or other positions that make him feel bigger and tougher than he really is, and I stick up for the puppies, telling him if he wants to mess with them, he's got to mess with me!

Bullies aren't jerks (at least the canine variety). They're just under the misguided impression that they would be so much cooler if they were.

Yes I'm a control freak

So it is day 5 of the Idita-walk 2011 event. I managed to have enough free daylight time today to take Jack for a real walk. (I treadmill it on the days I don't.) My sister is recovering from a back strain so came with me on the walk sans her own dogs.

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It was a pretty good walk right up until the very end. We had taken a few minutes to sit on a bench near the water to cool off and someone drove into the adjoining lot with a dog they let out of the car. We kept a watchful eye on the dog and eventually they put him on leash. Thankfully it was before he spied us.

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I always worry about off leash dogs. Chalk that up to previous bad experiences with past dogs. This is why I most often walk on main streets where people have to have their dogs on leash. So many people think they have them under voice control but once they see another dog they almost always go up to them to say hello. (if you're lucky)

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I really dislike that people with dog friendly dogs think this is ok to do. Yes your dog may be good with other dogs but that doesn't mean the one I have with me is. Or maybe my dog hates being on leash when another dog rushes him. This can result in a nice dog fight. And guess what? The on leash dog will get blamed because, "Why are you walking an aggressive dog?" says the off leash dogs owner. Um because there is a leash law which should mean my dog is safe from this sort of problem. Even the friendliest dog can become a shark if they feel trapped as well.

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I have this rule. My dogs don't play with other dogs or even greet them unless I know them well and can control the situation to some degree. This keeps my dogs safe for their own protection. The last thing I want for Jack especially is to have negative experiences meeting other dogs. So I stick to my rule pretty strictly. Once the dogs owner got him leashed we stood up and circled around them to head to our car. They saw us and headed our way. "Oh this ones friendly and likes to play with other dogs. Is he ok?" the owner says. "It depends on the other dog." I say and keep walking clearly NOT in his direction. My sister was in between us while I kept Jack moving. Because he does like most other dogs he got bouncy and happy at the possibility of another doggy playtime. (He had just had one with Chuck. See video below.) I don't say anything else and keep on walking. "Oh well akitas are aggressive." the man says as we pass by.

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My head threatened to explode. It's funny about situations like that. I always think of the best things to say after the person is out of range. But my sister pointed out that it might not be a bad thing for him to think if it keeps his dog from approaching others in the future.

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Here's a tip people, ask before heading in our direction or assuming my dog wants to play just because yours does. And don't take it personally of we say no. And please don't make remarks about our dog being bad because we said no. You have no idea why we might be saying no. How do you know my dog doesn't have something contagious? (This is the number one reason people shouldn't let their dogs socialize in a vet's office waiting room. That and because many dogs get stressed there as well. Being stressed and confined on leash in a small area is always a recipe for disaster.)

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I do admit though that I felt a little bad. Jack could have had a great time playing with him and I ruined it by being a control freak. But then again if ruining a potential playtime now and then means keeping him safe then I'll keep doing it. I will always err on the side of caution for my dogs' sake.

Here is Jack and Chuck playing at the Loyal Biscuit Co. The video was taken from my phone so I apologize for the poor quality. Yup them akitas are aggressive alright!

Wordless Wednesday

I was looking through my computer and I finally found a "happy face" photo of Jenny. Although I gotta say, she looks a little crazy to me. I think it's the eyes. Cute though!

Skin show

So Jenny is in the middle of another skin flare up. I swear there have been more flare ups than normal in the past few months. Maybe it just feels like that though. I hate seeing her miserable. To keep her mind off the itching I've been doing a lot of training sessions with her. We've worked on article indications for tracking and we are getting in LOTS of Rally practice. I've taken her to the prison twice to be the demo dog for signs. The good thing is that she will work for anyone so my handlers have gotten to practice with her too. Since their dogs are still learning it is good for them to get the feel of a course with a trained dog. Jenny doesn't mind. She always loves the opportunity to earn more rewards. Plus it helps wear her out while keeping her mind off the itching. Here are a few photos from her vet visit yesterday. They are a bit washed out color wise from the real thing but you can get the idea. (photos are from my phone camera)

Armpit area.

Belly and inner thighs.

And to top it off here is how her tail has healed so far from her previous incident. Hopefully the hair grows back eventually. We took some blood to send out for thyroid testing and started her on a different antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) for the skin infection. Multiple skin scrapings showed no results. (both from yesterday and past visits) She is also still on the pentoxifylline as well as benadryl when needed which is frequently at the moment. I am also bathing her in a medicated shampoo.

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The other thing I have found that seems to be helping in keeping her from itching has been chewing on stuff. I bought a new knuckle bone today and a bully stick. I don't usually do the bully sticks because of the smell but thought I'd give it a try. She loved it of course but I was worried she would eat the whole thing so after awhile I took it and traded for the knuckle bone. So far it's working. She's happily chewing away on that instead of scratching herself raw.

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A friend mentioned some homeopathic supplements for us to also try. (which will be my next internet shopping stop this evening) I'll keep you posted on our progress. If I find something that works I'll be sure to share it.

An interesting trick

Another find from facebook. I thought this was fabulous work and wanted to share.



I wonder if it could also be done with photo flash cards of the object?