Adventures in Dogwalking: Seko

My week got off to a great start; I overslept and rushed to get to work, arrived fifteen minutes late, only to realize that I had previously switched shifts with a coworker and wasn't even scheduled.

At least that meant I had the day off! Since I was now awake and ready to go at 8am, I decided to go for the Monday dogwalking session.

The first dog I walked was an adorable puppy named Seko. Yes, a puppy! He was only about four months old, and so cute. He had that kind of face that made me want to kiss his nose. Due to the fact that he was still a baby, he hadn't learned certain behaviors yet, which I took upon myself to try to start introducing him to. That meant every time he tried jumping up on me, he was met with a stern "Off!" Every time he was distracted by something, whether it was stopping to look at the grass, to roll around in the grass, to eat the grass, or to look at another dog, I would say "Let's go!" in my firm teacher voice and gently pull on the leash while walking forward so he would realize to follow me, and not let his attention get diverted by other things.

Of course, as with almost all the dogs at the SPCA, Seko had the issue of pulling on his leash when walking. Because he's still a baby, it seems like it's not a big deal now, but he will grow into a larger, stronger dog, and then it's a big problem to avoid being pulled off your feet. Therefore I wanted to try to squash that right out of him and teach him not to pull. I tried my two researched methods: the changing direction so he has to follow you and praise method, and the become a statue everytime he pulls until he comes back to you and praise method. The first method, even though he was forced to follow behind me when I changed direction, I have a feeling it didn't really click what the whole point was. The second method seemed to have a success rating of zero; when he pulled, I would stop and pretend to ignore him by looking up at the sky. When I still felt him pulling on the leash a minute later, I glanced at him and found him pretty much entertaining himself, alternating with trying to leap forward while still leashed and exploring all the plants around him. Since that also equals loss of control, I reverted back to going forward with him. I'll have to fine tune that somehow.

What I really enjoyed was our time in the pens together. I like trying to teach the dogs new commands; it's so much fun when you see them do it! Whether or not I actually taught them or they knew it before and just needed the right motivation is questionable, but I don't care. Seko seemed to kind of know the idea of 'sit,' after a few repetitions and rewarding with the revered squeaky hamburger toy he responded quicker to it. I worked on getting him to drop his toy into my hand on command; when I tried to take the toy from his mouth I kept saying "drop it," until he let go, and when he did I immediately gave him a cookie, acting like he just won the Nobel prize so he would associate the two things together positively. I found if I ran around the pen, he would get excited and happy and would run around with me. He took a break at one point and lay down, and when I started petting him he rolled over onto his back, which I took as sign of success in my activities with him!

After being out with Seko for about a hour and a half, I switched dogs as they were short walkers. I took out Nikki, the sweet Pomeranian cross from last week. She was still as well behaved as ever and even cuter since she went to the groomers. During our time in the pens together, I practiced some basic commands with her, which she knew right off the bat. I also started teaching her to jump over the hurdles they have there for agility exercises; I would run around and she would follow me, and after I jumped over one hurdle she would follow, her tiny legs flying over the wood. She still chose cuddles over treats, and every time I placed my hand near her head, she would nuzzle under it, just like a cat does!

When it came time for her to go back into her kennel, I took her in myself. There were quite a few kennels with large dogs already in them before hers, so I had to walk her past them. As soon as we started all the dogs started barking loudly and making a huge fuss. When I reached her kennel, I saw that she was rooming with an ANNOYING yappy small dog. He kept barking and growling at me in his high pitched voice, and I didn't want to go in there and deal with him so I had to go around to the back, let down the baricade so that he would be stuck on one side, and then I could go in and put Nikki back.

On the back side of the kennels, there's one side for the dogs that are currently not adoptable, as they are classified as "dangerous dogs." When I walked Niki back there, the commotion started again, this time with the other aggressive dogs barking and snarling. As I walked her down the walkway I could literally feel little Nikki's fear; she was terrified! Even though she didn't react in any way, I saw that her little body was shaking all over. I got the baricade down in her kennel with that other dog in it, and went back the way we came.

At first, she didn't want to go into the kennel, but when I went in first she followed me. Nikki was a good girl right up until I had to leave her; when I got ready to open the door I had her sit and stay, which she did without even hesitating. As soon as I closed the door, she started whimpering and trying to poke her nose through the wire, and trying to follow me as I walked away. It broke my heart to leave her in there; I actually burst into tears when I got in my car because I was so sad. Here is this adorable, small, well trained dog who loves to cuddle and be near you, but she's languishing away without a home, and since she's already close to being ten years old and most dogs live about thirteen to sixteen years, she'll probably be overlooked as too old. :(

By the way, that annoying yappy dog that was sharing her kennel had some aggression issues, in my opinion: after the baricade was down and I was spending some last minutes with Nikki, he kept barking from the other side and was actually banging on the baricade so hard it was shaking! He was a small, Maltese-Poodle mix that didn't even come up to my knee! This is what happens when you don't train your dog properly!

Re: Nikki

It turns out Nikki was surrendered because her owner was in the hospital with a really serious injury. At least she wasn't surrendered for some lame reason (like the owners didn't want her anymore).

Still, it's a sad ending for both owner and dog.

Adventures in Dogwalking: Nikki

The night before my weekly dogwalking gig, I check the SPCA website to give me an idea of what pooches are going to be there to walk the next day. I realized that my number one favorite, Bruno, was no longer listed at the Surrey location, nor did a search involving other locations turn up his profile. I hoped that meant he had finally found a deserving home.

Unfortunately, upon enquiry this morning, it only meant he had been transfered to the Vancouver location. I hope someone can give him a home there!

The dog I walked today was named Nikki. In contrast to the usual big dogs I walk, Nikki was a small little Pomeranian/Eskimo dog cross. Usually I find these kinds of dogs yappy and annoying, but Nikki completely won me over. She didn't bark even once during our walk, quickly learned that she was to walk behind me instead of in front of me, and for once I didn't have to deal with any challenges to or from other dogs. It was the easiest walk I've had in a long time.

Of course, one of the most rewarding things about dogwalking is playtime with the dogs! Nikki was no exception. I quickly found out she knew sit, off, how to come when called, and stay (it seems staying in one place until told to come is difficult for dogs to comprehend, but Nikki stayed still even as I walked alllllll the way to the other side of the pen. And when I finally called her to me, she eagerly jumped up and ran to me and rubbed up against my legs). Even better, instead of taking the treats I offered for her good behavior (call it bribery if you will, but most dogs need something to motivate them to follow you, and food is universally accepted) she always chose to snuggle against me for hugs as a reward. On the rare time she did take the treat, she just held it in her mouth for a while, and then dropped it on the ground and left it there. She knew what the word 'up' meant, and when I said it while tapping on one of the benches, she backed up, wiggled her bum and jumped up onto the bench, where we would sit together and she would press against me and I would pet her soft fur (she was like a big, fluffy pillow).

Our walk was cut short because she had to go to the groomers, but after finding out that she was an owner surrender, I ask myself, "Why?" Everyone has their reasons, but after all the other dogs that I've walked, Nikki seemed like a piece of cake to take care of.

Even so, with her sweet disposition and her cute little face, I'm sure she'll be adopted soon.

Dog Desires

Since I started volunteering at the SPCA and walking the dogs there, it's been no secret that I've been hankering for a dog of my own. Unfortunately, due to the pet aversion my landlords (a.k.a my parents) possess, it seems there will be no chance of me owning a pet until I actually move out.
Therefore, the solution seems to be: move out.
If only it were so simple.
After doing my research, the breed I've settled on owning is the fabulously cute, beautiful, and intelligent Siberian Husky. They are friendly, usually non-aggressive, and have I mentioned they are super adorable? Yes, I've read the information and they can be very stubborn to train and they are high energy, which means they need extra exercise to prevent them from becoming bored and destructive. I'm prepared for the challenges, and have immersed myself in dog literature (Hooray for the Dog Whisperer and the internet!) to broaden my knowledge of dog handling.
Unfortunately, I have an attraction to big dog breeds, and as I troll through Craigslist looking for a place to rent in my budget, 99% of the ads that are pet friendly are only friendly to small pets. Unless your idea of small is comparable to the size of lion, that means my dreams of having a husky or other mixed breed big dog are going to remain just that...dreams.
My other concern is that huskies require a yard for sure, as they can't be trusted off leash outside (unless they are very well trained to come back...but I'm not sure I could pull that off) and require a fenced yard where they can run around safely. They also have a predisposition to dig holes, which is simply a part of their natural instinct; it's just something they do. Even if a landlord was not opposed to big dogs, they might be against having their landscaped backyard full of holes in the span of a few weeks.
So, in conclusion, unless I can convince my parental units that I can completely take care of a dog (Bribery? Begging? Temper tantrums?) it appears the day that I have a dog to call my own will be a day very far in the future.

Adventures in Dogwalking: Mimi (Again!)

Usually when I arrive at the SPCA, there's a coordinator there to assign a dog to you to walk. Well, when I got there, no one was waiting outside the kennels, there was no list of which dogs to walk, and since I saw other people out walking dogs already, I decided to take one out on my own. Of course, I checked to see if my favorite dog Bruno was still waiting to go out, but alas, someone had beat me to him. My next favorite, Mimi, was still waiting anxiously in her kennel, so I opted to take her out. (Later, it turns out the coordinator was in a panic because I didn't tell her I had taken Mimi; she thought she might've escaped or *gasp!* been dognapped).

As expected, when I approached her kennel with the leash in my hand, she got really excited and started bouncing up and down and off the walls. I was determined to give her some kind of structure, so I said, "Sit, Mimi!" in my bestest authority voice. More bouncing. It took a few tries, but finally she sat her butt down and looked up at me with her long tongue hanging out. At this point I entered her kennel, but she started jumping up again so I had to make her sit again before I clipped on her leash.

Out the door we went, with Mimi doing what she does best; pulling me towards the trail. I tried to work on her pulling a little; one tip I read about is if a dog pulls forward on their leash, you can redirect their energy by changing directions constantly so the dog has no choice but to follow you. As soon as they pick up that they have to go with you, you're supposed to praise them immediately so they associate following you= praise and reward. Well, this worked as long as I was constantly changing direction, but as soon as I started going towards the trail again, Mimi would bolt ahead of me again and it'd be the same thing all over again.

The other thing I read is if a dog keeps pulling, you're supposed to just stop in place and "become a statue," i.e stand still and ignore the dog. Once they realize they aren't going anywhere, they'll usually come back towards you, slacking the leash. Once again, as soon as they do this, you praise, and start walking again. Soon they'll associate pulling= no walking, loose leash= walks. This actually elicited a more successful response with Mimi; everytime she pulled and I stopped, looking around everywhere else but her, she immediately came back and stood by my side. With this method you have to be really consistent, meaning everytime they pull you should stop so they get the idea. Unfortunately, the two hours each day the dogs have to go out are their only time for exercise, so the SPCA doesn't want you to just stand there the whole time trying to correct the dog, otherwise they'll be even more underexcercised. Underexercised dogs= frustrated, destructive, bored dogs. So even though Mimi responded the way I wanted, I couldn't do it often enough so she got it into her head not to pull on her leash.

Aside from her leash pulling problems, Mimi seemed to be escalating in her dog aggression. I don't know if it's a fear thing or a dominance thing; it mostly happens when we're in the pens together, and when a dog passes by on the other side, Mimi immediately growls and barks at them, chasing them up and down the fence. Today, while we were walking on her leash, she lunged at one dog, and just walking by another dog made her stop and bare her teeth. The only dog she wasn't aggressive to was Ace, the beautiful husky that she was kenneled with briefly. Perhaps it was because they had spent some time together already, but when Ace came along and she started to get fiesty, he barked sharply and she shut up right away. The next time she tried to challenge Ace, she growled at him through the fence when he was passing by, and I saw her get into position to start a frienzied barking scene when Ace lifted his leg and peed on a fern in front of her, nearly getting her in the face. After that, she didn't even squeak when he walked by!

Mimi is also a very smart dog. The smarter they are, the more firm you have to be because they will challenge your authority, which is exactly what Mimi did from time to time. There was an episode on the trail that had me standing there for ten minutes, telling Mimi over and over to drop the stick she had randomly picked up before we could move on with our walk. When it was time to put her back into her kennel, Mimi magically stuck by my side like glue, not trying to pull forward. But I wasn't fooled; even though she wasn't pulling forward, I figured out that what she was trying to do was literally herd me away from the kennels. By staying by my side, she was subtly trying to block the way so I would have to go in the opposite direction. Well, as soon as she figured out it wasn't working, she went back to her old standby: crazily pulling in the direction that she wanted to go instead.

After I was done walking Mimi, I went home feeling a lot of pity for her. She's an unbalanced dog; when we're alone in the pens together she's such a sweetie, she likes to play fetch, likes to be petted, and is mostly obedient when you ask her to sit, go down, etc. But when we're out on her leash or there are other dogs around, she's so out of control. She has a lot of potential to be a really great dog, but when I see her she doesn't really seem to be improving, which means her chances for finding a good home are not that high.

And that makes me kind of sad.

(After I wrote this note, I found out that Mimi has been sent into foster, a doggie training home. The woman who owns the home is a dog trainer, and only works on two dogs at a time. Mimi is there with another dog that was a problem case, and reports note they are playing together fabulously. Hopefully, Mimi gets the attention and training she needs there. Godspeed, Mimi).

Adventures in Dogwalking: Easter

Eleven dogs. Two dogwalkers. That's how it went down at the SPCA today.The SPCA is closed to the public on stat holidays, but an email was sent out previously saying that it was open to staff and volunteers and that dog walking was still going to take place. After walking my new favorite dog Bruno yesterday (who I absolutely fell in love with...I'm starting to have fantasies of adopting him and taking him home with me) I was determined to go in today and walk him again.
Only myself and another volunteer, Jodi, arrived. We formulated a plan to get as many as the dogs out between the two of us: we would each take turns taking various dogs out, the dogs that were really high strung and energetic we could leave for a bit to roam and run around in the outside pens, while we'd walk another dog around the trails at the same time. Then we'd put those dogs back in, walk the dogs that were in the outside pens already, and rotate in another set of dogs we could leave in the pens for while. (Multi-tasking at it's best!)

The dogs:
Camille and Damian: Jodi took these two adorable Rottweiler crosses out. They came in together and love each other, but Damian is documented as being somewhat aggressive towards other dogs. Camille is shyer but seems uncertain about other dogs. Yesterday when I was walking Bruno Camille was in her pen alone, and gave Bruno a kiss on the nose. Today when we walked by they were both barking at Bruno; I think Camille follows Damian's lead.

Bruno: OMG, can I just say how much I love this dog? He's lost weight since I last walked him, but he's still a big, pudgy, lovable teddy bear. He walks nicely by your side with you, listens to you when you tell him something, and love cookies (probably why he's overweight now...but if you met him you'd want to feed him cookies all the time too!) He's not interested in the other dogs (unless they are really aggressive to him, then I guess he feels he has to represent) and not really interested in playing fetch, but he loved our game of hide and seek. Once he finds you, he gets really excited and plasters himself against you for cuddles. I love him!

Ace: Ace is a beautiful, Siberian husky with only one bright, blue eye. Because of that, it always looks like he's winking at you. I've never walked Ace, but everyone says he's a lovely dog, much like Bruno, who doesn't pull when walking and doesn't get all riled up with other dogs. He's rooming with Mimi right now, who is his bi-polar opposite. When i was trying to get Mimi back inside her kennel, Ace was perfectly calm, sat down right in front of me and rested his chin on my tummy, looking up at me with his winky expression. So cute! Plus his fur was so soft.

Saber and Roxy: Jodi took Saber while I took Roxy. These two scary looking dogs are both bull breeds, but are rooming together with seemingly no issues. Usually I see the same guy walking Saber, and all reports say that despite her intimidating appearance, she is a sweet dog who likes to play. Roxy is the same, although she was really energetic and pulled a lot. Since they room together, we thought it would be ok to put them in a pen together for a while. At first, it seemed like they both wanted to play; they romped off together jumping all over each other. Jodi and I went to attend to the other dogs, but when we went back the two of them were going at it...intensely, I might add. Saber had the upper hand and and had snapped onto Roxy's ear. Poor Roxy was twisting her head around, trying to get away. Jodi managed to break up the dogs and hold Saber back while I rushed to get Roxy away. Her ear was bleeding badly, and they had to take her to the vet because the bleeding wasn't stopping. We don't know what started the fight.

Mimi: I've walked Mimi before and although I liked her, I knew she was a handful. Today was no exception. As soon as we approached her and Ace in their kennel, she started whining loudly, which escalated to near screaming as she was so anxious to get out. She started scrambling around wildly in her kennel, which may I add hadn't been cleaned yet so poo was spread all over the place. When I got her leash on, she instantlly dashed off, dragging me everywhere, same as last time. Jodi and I thought it would be best to put them into a pen first, since Mimi obviously had extra energy to burn off. When I came back afterwards to take Mimi, her and Ace were both waiting anxiously by the door to go on their walk. While Ace waited calmly with a minor bark here and there, Mimi was poking her nose outside, jumping up, trying to dig her way out. I managed to grab both of them and kick the gate closed so I could leash them up, except the gate has a kind of latch on it that swings out, and although the gate closed the protruding latch stopped it from closing all the way. Before I knew it, Mimi had run outside and was galloping up and down alongside the fences. F**k!! I checked to make sure Ace was secure and chased after Mimi. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) Saber was in the next pen, and Mimi, being the drama queen she is, decided to taunt the other dog by growling at her and chasing her up and down the pen. This meant that she did not run far, and we managed to grab her. After that, I walked her with some mild success in teaching her not to pull to hard, and we played a game of fetch. I think that she has the potential to be a great dog, she just needs a very firm handler and a lot of training. She is smart and knows some commands, but whatever her upbringing was, they probably didn't pay too much attention to her and didn't set any boundaries, so sometimes she chooses to ignore you.

Also, both Mimi and Bruno ate grass on their walk. What the heck?

Adventures in Dogwalking: Mimi

My hand is all red and swollen, the result from walking Mimi the year old German Shepherd. A beautiful black dog with a brown undercoat, she was still a puppy at heart and dragged me all over the SPCA while on her leash.

Most dogs pull initially because of all the pent up energy they have from spending in their kennels, but as it wears off they calm down afterwards. Not Mimi. For one and a half hours, I tried to encourage her to walk by my side by changing directions, bribing her with pets and treats whenever she did stay by my side for more than ten seconds, even just stopping completely and waiting until she figured it out and came to my side. Mostly, the walk was spent with me trying to control her pulling, which meant each time she pulled the nylon leash dug into my hand, leaving me with red welts as a souvenir.

Mimi was really excitable, like most dogs her age. Even bouts of fetch didn't seem to tire her out. She was really sweet and enjoyed her pets and cuddles. She was also a very clever girl and understood a lot of commands; the problem was she sometimes chose when she wanted to obey and when she wanted to ignore you. She was distracted by dogs easily, and some she wanted to run up to and play with. Conversely, some she was afraid of, and then she would bark and growl in what seemed to me like fear-agressive behaviour (I read her write up on the SPCA website later which said she was good with dogs, so maybe she was having an off day). Once she was on the leash, she was easier to guide when it came to those kind of situations, but off leash it was hard to get her attention once she was all worked up.

When the time came for her to go back to her kennel, Mimi knew immediately what was up and started whining and trying to get away. It's always so sad to have to bring the dogs back to their kennels, with all these other unfamiliar dogs barking and banging around them; it must be really upsetting for them. I managed to get Mimi into her kennel by going in with her. Once inside, Mimi again demonstrated how clever she was and promptly sat down in front of the door, blocking my exit. I stayed with her for a few minutes, trying to soothe her a little, but every time I moved, she jumped back to blocking the way out. While I was trying to shuffle around the kennel with her so I could leave, I accidently stepped on her paw, which of course made her yelp and made me feel even more guilty. As if she knew I was close to getting out, she lay down and stretched herself out in front of the door, and looked up at me with her adorable brown eyes. Even though by now I was tempted to stay in there all day with her, I managed to get the door open and hold her back until I shut it. She looked at me from the other side with a defeated expression, and watched me as I walked away.

How is it that people can give up their pets to shelters and turn their backs on them, never thinking another thought about them? I will say that not everyone that gives up their pets to places like the SPCA mean badly; sometimes the owners are hit with something unexpected, like terminal illness or financial difficulties, leaving them unable to care for their pets. If all other possible options are exhausted, then it probably is best for their animals to find homes that can provide them with all their necessities. But some background stories I've read regarding owner surrenders are: the family surrendered their nine year old dog because of "allergies," the family decided to take a three week vacation to Vegas and surrendered their dogs so they wouldn't have to worry about them (true story), or simply put, the owners didn't want the pet anymore. I spend maybe two hours at the most with each dog I walk, and I want to take all of them home with me (well, maybe not all of them...Pirate the dog)! I know that two hours is not the same as taking care of a pet 24/7, but even the challenges I could see in Mimi would be well worth overcoming to have a sweet dog like her as a companion.

Anyways...my rant for today.