Obedience 1: Class 2

It was a hot day to out in the sun training dogs to loose walk on leads. The dog trainer hasn't seen Xena in a month and said she was longer and even wrinklier than ever. :o)

She was quite happy to hear that I'm starting to let Xena into the sun room as long as she isn't acting like a 'pork chop.'

She took Xena for a walk. Xena is an enthusiastic walker. She leaps, lurches and lunges. Some dogs don't want to budge. However, with some training instructions she was walking quite well on her normal lead by the end of the hour. I'm impressed and really glad I didn't have to figure out how to use that halti collar.

Here goes so I don't forget....

Loose Lead Walking....

It doesn't matter if she walks and pulls behind you, keep going.
Keep the lead lose and let her go anywhere she wants as long a she doesn't pull.
The idea to lose lead walking is that she will learn to keep a comfortable distance between you and herself.

'Xena, walkies' is her command and from then on all she gets is 'good puppy, good girl etc' which she loves and comes closer.

If she rushes ahead just say something like 'wheres my puppy' and walk backwards don't use 'come' that's only for recall.

If she's acting like a 'pork chop' stop, don't move until the moment she stop jumping.
Completely ignore her. Keep her attention by saying 'good puppy etc' when she goes to a tree, is distracted by cars, dogs etc. as soon as she looks at you, move on

Sit, Stay, Drop

Xena knows sit and stay, but not today. She just knows it at home in the yard, where there are no distractions. Now she is walking better on the lead we will start taking her to the local parks to practice her puppy class commands. This has been my fault, sine her pulling while walking incident left my back sore I have only trained her at home. I'm glad though because now she is walking in a better manner we can finally get out and catch up.

Xena still needs to practice 'drop' honestly though, she will flop down and rest if I stop a few minutes anyway and that might be the way to teach her to drop... when I see it happen, cuz trying to get her to do it with food is slow. Though we can do both.

Recall

I don't think Xena will have too much problem with recall on the lead but its "Xena come" then walk backwards praising her all the way for coming. She needs to be just as excited to walk towards me as her food bowl. Which thankfully she is.

Leave it

I'm somewhat confused with this one. I have heard 3 different commands from my trainer on it 'yes' 'leave it' and 'thank you' I've been practicing 'thank you' at home.

I think the trainer may use 'leave it' if the dog is rummaging around off lead and has something in its mouth. I think she uses thank you if the dog has something in it mouth near her and she can walk up and say 'what have you got' remove it from dogs mouth 'thank you' I might call her about that.

She starts with 'yes' then changes it to leave it but said you can just go straight to 'leave it'.

The idea is to have yummy treats in your hand and let the dog lick your hand but moment she turns her nose away say 'yes' then give her the treat.

Other Dogs at the Park Although Xena sniffed and looked at the other dogs she still gets shy and moves quickly away if they start puppy play with her. She has improved since being a total scaredy cat when she was younger to at least showing an interest. I do think that later on she may not be a very social dog with other dogs so at least if she's had lead training/ recall it may help.

I think she is doing well.

I didn't need a computer anyway, did I?

Awweee who loves a tummy rub

As the girls were at school and I needed to study I thought it might be nice for Xena to sit inside with me.

No sooner had I let her into the study when I remembered why I think big dogs should stay outside.

First her very waggy tail brought down everything from my coffee table. That included all those things that shouldn't be there but always are like coffee cups, nail polishes, ash trays, smokes, lighters, some candy wrappers papers oh and a bottle of Grand Marnier. No real damage done. I'm sure she was only encouraging me to give up all my vices- fat chance. 'Just cleaning up mum,' she says 'you really shouldn't have left that mess there last night.'

As she lovingly jumped up at me while I rushed to save my study aides, that would be booze and smokes, from being crushed/ broken under feet, she managed to tangle herself up in all the cords at the side of my desk.

And with one great lunge, like a wild dog cutting through jungle, she broke through them. Before I could even let out a gasp she proceeded onwards dragging my entire computer set up and phone base behind her.

Ummm yeah. I took her outside and gave her a cuddle while I added up the replacement costs. I didn't need that computer, my assignments or my vices anyway now... did I puppy?

Amazingly the computer is still alive. The assignments still there and I'm kicking back with a smoke and a coffee pretending none of that just happened.

DS Update

Well the lumps have gone! The vet thinks it was probably an allergy. If it comes back we need to think about any new food/ items she may be allergies to and we can take her to a doggy dermatologist for further testing.

I am very relieved its not DS. I did speak to a lovely lady, Kate Smith, from the Ridgeback Assoc. in Victoria who let me know that DS is never a large amount of lumps and it doesn't go away once its there. Yes I waas that concerned I called another state and would have called the USA if I had too! She recommended I join the Ridgeback Club here so that I can meet other owners and share information ie where to find a vet who knows about Ridgebacks etc.. She's going to send me some information about DS and even a membership form for her club if I'm interested :o)

I couldn't contact anyone from the RR Club here as their website is down and no phone number available. I did find the Ridgeback Assoc. here but the guy just blew me off... 'we're just a social club' and that's the only sentance I got from him after telling him I needed some advice on where to go/ who to call here about my sick RR.


Funny how things like this can change the way you see things. I let her in the sun room yesterday but only if she behaved. At first she started playing tug o war with my floor rug... out.

5 mins later let her in again. Then she came in and youngest daughter and Xena started playing boisterously..... BOTH of you, OUT.

3rd time lucky, Then 5 mins later I let her in again. She just flopped out and rested. Later she went out again. I think I may slowly introduce her to being in the house but not when she acts like psycho puppy.

Finally her coats have arrived and her halti leader too which for the life of me I cant figure out how it works. I will have to watch the DVD.

Of course all she wanted to do was tear her doggy coat to shreds... but the kids managed to distract her from i by chasing her all over the yard. I took it off her after that. We need to go slowly there.

Shattered

Happier Times only a day ago.

It's been a rough evening. I called Gav and sent him the pictures. He is shattered. My oldest daughter has been crying for hours. I haven't told the youngest yet. I am having a hard time holding it together myself. I'm in shock. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by my feelings of sadness. I have to keep it together for every ones sake but its not easy. It's a loss. She's a sweet dog, her training is coming along well and give her another month of lead training and she would be excellent. It's a loss emotionally and financially. My daughter was trying to understand it. Why our puppy, why our bad luck etc. I just told her maybe God just wanted this dog to have a short life but a really good short life. I'm pretty shattered too and that's the only way to describe how we are all feeling. Gav and I both agree that the kindest thing to do is put her down. Not everyone would agree but that's our decision.

Tomorrow Xena will go to the vet and we will see what he/ she says. I'm going to ring around and see if I can find one experienced with Ridgebacks.

I'm also going to ring up my Obedience class trainer and let her know what's going on. She likes Xena a lot and maybe she will be supportive.

My daughter asked me if we will have a funeral for her if she has to be put to sleep. Wow I hadn't even got that far on my thinking. I feel numb. I did mention this blog site to her and that it will be a good memory and we can make a memorial last post.

Now I'm all cried out, the kids are in bed and the house is quiet I'm finally starting to get my head around it all. We have to prepare for the worst and at the same time maybe there is hope. Let's see what the vet says.

And isn't it strange, I can't believe all the small things I've worried about in the last 2 months during training. They all seem rather insignificant right now.

I've worked as an AIN for about 5 years in nursing homes and what hit me tonight was palliative care. Even though Xena may be on her way out perhaps she still can quite some time with us with pain relief etc. She can still do her classes (which she loves) and socialise and enjoy her final days. Once the pain is apparent then we will put her to sleep (not that that's what we do in nursing homes!). It may give us time to find some medicines etc that help the problem. I just don't know.

I can't wait to see the vet.

I found a good website about DS in Australai (where I am). The vets here don't see it a lot and most don't know how to operate on it. The dog with DS is euthenized here as the kindest thing to do.

http://tyandroma.com/dimple.htm

Also, that DS on the rump can cause spinal malforations.

Ahhhh I am going to sleep now. Its 3am I'm a wreck.

Dermoid sinus??

OK as my daughter is a worry wart I really didn't think that there would be a problem when she said, "Mum I think the puppy is sick.'

"What is it?" I asked her.

"She has lumps all over her bottom."

I saw Xena this morning when I gave her breakfast. We have been out all morning and arrived home around 1pm. I sent Mona out to play with Xena while I made her food. This morning Xena was fine.

I went outside to see her and yes she did have lumps on her rump. A lot of lumps! They felt medium hard underneath. Xena didn't seem bothered by them.

I haven't changed Xena's diet or taken her anywhere she could have caught anything. She's had all her shots.

I took some pics and rang my boyfriend up north but he was out. I will take her to a doctor tomorrow. I looked it up on line and it looks like the genetic disorder that Ridgebacks get called Dermoid sinus.

I hope it isn't that but it looks like that from the pictures I've seen online.

I can't believe they showed up just like that!

This is not a good situation for the puppy. Anyways I will take her to the vet tomorrow and find out.

It also could be insect bites but she doesn't seem bothered by them.

No Landing Zone

Our bodies are no longer landing zones for our ridgeback puppy. I can't believe how quickly the trainers advice worked. Xena barely jumps up at all now. There are still moments but we do as told and she soon cuts it out. Its going well.



No it's not a parachute... it's the net from one of our fruit trees! Whose been a bad puppy! hehe. Ok I should have sstopped her but the kids were singing 'here comes the bride' and she does look sooooooo cute :o)

Xena herself is beautiful as ever. As for her sleeping outside, I have been putting her into her kennel at night but letting her out just before I go to bed (late). That way most of her night is warm. I'm still waiting for her coats to arrive.



It's little things like this that prove to me that city dogs need toys....

And she has been having a wonderful time with her new toys too!

Obedience Class One: For Dog Owners Only

hmmm I took myself to obedience class today hehhee

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo relieved that I did. I feel much better now. My sweety is a lot better behaved than most- from what the other owners were saying. However, for a lot of them their dogs are older and its their first time at any kind of training classes. Some of them are rescue dogs.

I met another ridgy owner, hers is a x... by the sounds of it, the type that my partner Gav would have liked.

There were people with terriers and beagles too. I always liked beagles. I asked the questions I needed to ask. I even stayed back for a few minutes as well. My trainer thinks that Xena is sweet. 'She's so laid back' 'A really nice dog'

I asked her if I should get another dog? She said No because Xena was shy from dogs at the beginning and it may make her regress. Also because unless Xena is 100% trained, bringing a new dog in will only add problems. This is like my partner said. So its ok. I did go look at the rescue dogs anyway. *smile* I do love going and looking at them. Seems most are fence/ people jumpers. Some are not socialized. Some have been abanoned. Oh and there was an adorable American pit bull puppy in a champagne and white colour with light eyes... to die for.

Jumping: We need to address the jumping at the glass door and the people who come out immediately and from inside. When she is at the door we can walk to it to go out to her but the moment she's being stupid, we turn around and walk back inside. She will soon learn that jumping around like a clown leads to being completely ignored.

Landing on my knee: She needs to be taught to stop when she gets to me, without the hand signal. That's not a hard one and she should learn that at obedience classes.

Attention seeking to get us to go outside: Hard luck, get over it. (Finally, I thought we were going to have to mollycoddle these dogs endlessly)

Not sleeping in her lovely warm kennel: Reality check, It's not going to happen, hard luck, get over it. hehe. But she thought the dog coat was a good idea. I also found some waterproof dog trampolines at the RSPCA shop which I will get next week. That can go where she has decided to sleep. It wont be warm or dry but at least she wont be on the hard concrete. For now Ive put down some rugs where she is sleeping. I will have to find a way to put up some sort of awning, but it wont be soon unfortunately because I'm not that handy.

Halti collars: DONT BUY FROM THE INTERNET- apparently they have to be fitted. Hmmm I didn't know that. Mine still hasn't arrived in the post but it does have a DVD so maybe it will say how to fit it properly. She will let us use her gentle leader harnesses etc... during obedience classes. She doesn't mind them. But the dog has to be taught to wear them.

1. Put collar on the dog without the lead then give the dog her meal.
2. Leave it on her a few minutes at a time
3. Build her up.

Lead: Don't forget to praise the dog and call her name to get her attention.

Xena out front of house off lead and following me around: Every time she comes over to you say 'heel' also remember at 5 months she will be a teenager and will want to take off and see the world.

Anyhow I'm feeling much more positive about the whole thing now.



Sucking up water from a slow running tap as it filled her water container :o)

This weeks task.

Keep practice walking in the back yard, one step at a time.
Teach her 'yes' every time she is about to get a treat.

Crates: They are good for nervous dogs and for travelling. You can keep the dog in them for 2-3 hours then take them out to stretch their legs.

Finally, Some great ideas to keep dogs amused when your not at home...

1. THE KING ICE CUBE.

Take your kong and fill it with doggy soaked doggy biscuits. Place the kong in an ice cream container and cover with stock. Freeze. Give to dog. It will definitely keep her amused :o)

2. RSPCA TOYS

Ok I'm guilty, I walked out of that shop with almost $200 worth of toys. A feed ball which you hide in the garden with biscuits in it. It has a ball baring in it too so it makes a noise. Fun Fun Fun.

A new rope toy to hang from our kids tennis pole. Xena loves swinging and pulling on these.

A few dried roo 'sticks' to put around the garden for her to find and chew on.

A large rubber tyre food feeder. That will keep her busy.

3. MILK CARTON TOY

Xena loves chewing up plastic milk cartons. Oh sooooo milky :o) But if I cut holes into it and put her biscuits in there.... Oh JOY!

SUPPORT

The trainer at the RSPCA has been a huge support in getting me through having a puppy. Puppies are hard work. As she said, if you can do it for 6 months and really try to make it work, then you're going to have a nice dog for the rest of its life.