It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Well, not actually 20 but 5 years ago today that I adopted Dazzle. I stopped writing about her because life has settled into a routine. She’s mostly good and of course, Jasper is always excellent. I can’t believe that 5 years has gone by so fast. So many things have happened but I look at Dazzle and I realize how happy I am that she’s in my life. We bike every day and that along with maturity has made her a very good dog. She still has her Dazzle moments but I now encourage her to “sing.” I can actually stop her if I catch her before she gets worked up into a frenzy.

As a matter of fact, I am taking a Walker hound/Blue-tick hound mix puppy on Saturday to evaluate her for her owners. They trust me because I have told them about the trials and tribulations of Dazzle. I think I’m in for another wild ride but at least it should only be about 1 week long.

Dance, dance, dance

Dazzle is a star. She has now “performed” on stage. Next stop Hollywood. How did that wild and crazy creature I started writing about 2 years ago turn into this fantastic dog? I don’t know but I am so proud of her.

Saturday night we participated in an annual fundraiser for Companions for the Soul. For months we had been practicing a routine Judy Gamet (Dogs Can Dance) choreographed for us. There were 11 dogs and handlers involved and we were definitely a hit. Did it go off with no hitches? Of course not! But the fact was the audience was truly impressed. I know if I had been in their seats I would have been thinking, “no way one of my dogs could do that!” So the very fact that we were on stage with nothing more than a few wild moments (I kept thinking when was the last time she pottied – please don’t let it be onstage) all the dogs were great.

Dazzle also got an opportunity to be onstage with the MC, Tyler Macniven (a winner from “The Amazing Race”). I got to talk a bit about Best Friends while Dazzle proceeded to kiss Tyler with enthusiasm. He loved her. The audience loved her. But most importantly, I love her!

Time Flies

Has it really been almost a year since I last posted *anything*? My house is now crate-free. Dazzle started sleeping out of the crate at night and gradually I started leaving her out during the day during short outings. Now she is out of the crate all the time.

Last month I got my bike fixed and bought a bike tow leash http://www.thedogoutdoors.com/dog-bike-leash.html. This has helped me feel like both Dazzle and Jasper are getting some much needed running exercise. Dazzle loves going with me on my bike. Jasper is a little more reserved about it but he seems to enjoy it too. I am taking it really easy, getting them adjusted at a very slow pace. In any event Dazzle is settling in really well and I am so glad I adopted her!

I’m Only Sleeping

I originally started this blog to monitor Dazzle’s progress but I haven’t been doing a very good job. It seemed at first that I would take two steps forward and then 15 steps back. It was depressing to read (and write).

Now I am seeing huge improvements in Dazzle. She has slept the last three nights with her crate door open. She sometimes opts to sleep in the crate anyway but mostly curls up on the couch to sleep.

She also ignores the squirrels we see on walks. She knows that squirrels in the yard are fair game so the ones on walks aren’t quite so exciting especially since she gets great treats if she leaves them alone.

Cats are still her downfall. They still send her into an uproar on our walks. And the vet visit on Monday was hysterical, literally.

My vet’s office has a cat “box” right when you walk in the door. Fortunately it has a wooden wall on the side that faces the door so Dazzle didn’t know (or remember) what was in there when we walked in. The scale is right next to the kitty box so she was trying to see in the box while I was weighing her.

Once we got past the scale she finally saw the cats. She “expressed” her excitement to me in constant woos with her head tilted straight toward the sky. I call this going “Dazzle,” the doggie equivalent of going postal. We finally went into an exam room and once the visual stimulation was removed she hushed.

I could tell she was still on her toes. I mean the smells must have been overwhelming. She tried her hardest to see over the bottom of the dutch door that kept her in the room. I’m so glad she’s a small dog.

I could only anticipate the check out. I parked a block away (parking is always difficult there) so I decided not to walk her all the way back to the van before checking out. Well as expected, the minute we were back in the waiting room her excitement level zoomed. If I used Homeland Security’s color-coding, she went from yellow-high risk to red-severe!

The vet staff joked that they were more than happy to help me check out quickly. They are really so nice there but I could tell that they wouldn’t be sad when we left.

Years ago I took my very sick dog, Wilber, to UC Davis veterinary center. There was a Pekingese there while we were waiting who barked LOUDLY and continuously the entire time he was there.  When he and his owner finally departed one of the staff got on the intercom and announced, “The Pekingese has left the building!” We all cheered.

I imagined my vet’s office doing something similar when we walked out. At least that’s what I would have done.

I couldn’t blame Dazzle though. She never gets to see a cat close up. When I adopted her they told me she wasn’t good with small animals, including dogs. I have found that she really is good with small dogs but she needs to get close to them and smell them. She is really good with all kinds of things when she has the opportunity to explore. How I wish I still had Flicker. Dazzle just needs a kitty friend to find out they are really fun and not quite as exciting as they seem from afar.

So I am celebrating the small steps that on a daily basis seem non-existent but from the distance of over a year seem huge.

You’re Going To Lose That Girl

It’s taken me almost a week to post this because I wanted to make this an unemotional post. It won’t help anyone if I let my hurt feelings get in the way of observing Dazzle’s behavior.

Last week we went to the waterfront as we have been doing almost once a week for about a month. I have been going really early in the morning and letting her off leash to run. She has been relatively good about coming back. Sometimes she does go fairly far but it has always seemed that she was still working within a radius of me.

Saturday was starting off better than most days off-leash. She was running and playing with Jasper and coming back to me pretty quickly when I called. Of course, I had doggie-crack (Kraft canned cheese) and she hadn’t had breakfast yet. We were on the backside of the walk when I thought I would let her off one last time. There was still quite a bit of walking area left but it was getting later in the morning and I wanted to avoid other dog walkers. When I snapped off the Halti she took off – and I mean TOOK OFF with intent to leave me.

I didn’t panic at first but I made sure that Jasper was close. He followed her for a bit but decided that he was safer staying within sight of me. When she didn’t come back after the first minute or so I started to get a little nervous. Then the doubts started to go through my head. Do I stay here and wait for her or start looking for her. I finally decided to start the hunt, but the looming question was where would she go? Was she still in the complex? I was far enough away from the road that I wouldn’t know if there was any traffic.

I finally started to pay attention to Jasper to see if he had any input. He appeared to want to stay in the general area – a grassy area surrounded by office buildings. Was she just around the corner and he could smell/sense her? I tried repeatedly to get him to leave with me but he seemed to really want to stay. Finally realizing he’s no Lassie and he would be much happier if Dazzle did leave I stopped paying attention to him.

Now my focus was on where she might head. We went to the large water feature in the center of the complex where she likes to stop for a drink. The water was pretty but no Dazzle. Then we headed for the berms where she usually gets off leash first. Way in the distance I thought I saw a brown and white dog running with some other four-legged visitors. Was that her or did someone have a dog that from this distance looked like her? Jasper and I started to jog in that direction. Of course, by the time we got there even the other dogs were far enough away I didn’t want to pursue them to see if their owner had seen her.

Then I saw two more men walking dogs heading in my direction. I asked them if they had seen a brown and white dog. They pointed toward the parking lot where my van was parked. As I looked in that direction, sure enough, there she was running around sniffing things without a care in the world! At least my pounding heart could take a breather.

So now that I could see her and she could see me and Jasper all I had to do was call her and she would come running for some cheese, right? WRONG! I called and she ignored. No, she didn’t ignore me, she did a doggie-flip-off! She ran right past me continuing to sniff and have a good time, telling me that I was one big downer. Great! Was I going to spend the rest of the day trying to get her to come back to me? One of the men I had just passed squatted down and she ran right over to him where he put her on a leash. Now I was crushed. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be constrained by anyone, she just didn’t want to come back to ME! What did I do to deserve this? Wasn’t I the one who busted her out of a life of living in a kennel with other dogs and limited people time? Didn’t I feed her and give her lots of treats? Most dogs would be pretty happy to have her life but here she was giving me more than a doggie-flip-off – she basically told me she would much rather be anywhere than with me.

Okay, so my ego gets a bit in the way. I do limit her access to other dogs and people when we are out. She is a very social dog. She knows I’m always there and she also knew that the walk was coming to an end and the fun would be over. So here it is four days later and I am starting to feel less hurt but hurt nonetheless. 

Now I am committing myself to finding a safer way to exercise her without taking the leash off. My bike is next in line for fixing. Will that help? I don’t know but I do know that I never want to have that sinking feeling again so for now there’s no more off-leash.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It’s hot. We spent the whole summer wondering where the heat went and we got it full blast in just a three day period. My poor dogs are also wondering why they are locked in the house. It’s too hot to do anything with them until later but by then I will be working. By the time I get home it will still be hot but also dark.

This summer has been decidedly cool. It has been the best summer weather ever as far as I am concerned. I used to love the heat but I don’t any more. I also have dogs who won’t touch the water unless it is in a small bowl so it’s hard to cool them off.

It’s supposed to cool off by Friday so I’m looking forward to the weekend when we can get back to normal and I can start taking my dogs for some long walks again.

How Long to the Point of Know Return

Almost one year – how time flies. I look back over the last year and it seems like Dazzle has been a part of my life forever. Dazzle and I have reached a synchronicity. Like learning to walk on a rocking boat we have achieved a harmony. Our lives have meshed but more importantly she and Jasper have become friends or at the very least playmates. 

It took Jasper less than 24 hours to reach that point where I knew that he belonged to me and me to him. Dazzle has taken somewhat longer but that was to be expected. She wasn’t born as a pet as I have so often mentioned. She has had to learn those skills that come quite naturally to some dogs.

Of all my dogs, Molly had the hardest time being a pet. Molly was a wolf-dog I found on the San Mateo Bridge. She never felt comfortable and remained mostly solitary although she loved my other dogs and I have no doubt that she loved me.  She was always pretty much of a loner (lone wolf). I thought Dazzle would be like this. She is turning into a very loving and involved dog.

I’m so glad we found each other and I am also so glad that she and Jasper are finding each other fun and are delighted to play with each other.

Drop the leash, drop the leash!

Well, I finally took the big step and unleashed Dazzle yesterday at the waterfront.  She did so well that I did it again today.  SUCCESS!! 

I don’t know how or when it happened but suddenly she has turned into a good dog. I know there are still several things I would willingly change about her if I had the opportunity but she has become so good. I constantly look at her wondering if she might perhaps be sick!

So how did I get here so fast? Really during the last eleven months it has seemed like forever! I have always had dogs who were safe running off leash. I never let them off unless we were someplace really safe. I remember the first time I accidentally dropped Frisco’s leash (my first dog as an adult) we were in a park. She raced around and around as I was desperately asking people to step on her leash. She was still a puppy and was having the time of her life. I finally managed to stop her but I was so frustrated.

Frisco was the dog who trained all the others who followed her. She was alive to train four more of my dogs. Each time a new dog came into my pack the older dogs trained them to stay near me and I just had to manage the food to reward and the leashes when I needed them safer. This system worked for years.

Dazzle was the first dog I really felt was so unconcerned at losing me that she wouldn’t come back (or not readily) if I let her off leash.  There were the accidental drops and the test drops but until yesterday I still felt out of control.  I knew that I had to capitalize on her achievement yesterday so we went back today and to celebrate Jasper’s third birthday.

I needed to get her to understand that coming back to me meant good treats and not just re-leashing. We had complete success.  She had a great time running around madly, playing with Jasper, sniffing great smells and then coming back for some easy cheese.  This stuff is like crack to her – she can’t get enough and when I have it in hand she doesn’t want to leave. I actually had her off-leash several times today.  It was a complete success and the only downfall was I never got pictures of Jasper running around on his birthday.

Better luck next time!

Now It’s Time To Say Good-Night

We have certainly hit a milestone in Dazzle’s training.  I’ve struggled, I’ve become frustrated, I have felt that I would never get anywhere with her.  When I look back over the last eleven months however, I realize just how far she has come.

Last night was huge! She slept outside her crate for the first time! She wasn’t feeling good so I let her outside around 1 am.  When she came back in I decided to give it a shot.  I left her out.  She quickly scampered onto the bed and curled up next to me.  Jasper was curled up on his dog bed which happens to sit on my bed.  Did I mention that my dogs are allowed to sleep with me as long as they understand this is a huge privilege. 

Some time later Jasper got up to sleep on the floor.  This doesn’t happen often so I knew he was probably hot.  Nature abhors a vacuum and Dazzle hates it when Jasper’s bed is empty so she quickly took up residence.  All was quiet so we fell asleep.  Suddenly Jasper wanted a spot on the bed so he started to climb up. Well, I still have to manage the space on the bed or *I* won’t get any sleep.  Once I got everyone back to their rightful slots we all settled down and fell asleep until morning.

Sleeping on the bed is something I never just allow my dogs to do.  It took Jasper a long time to sleep outside the crate and he was allowed on the bed fairly quickly because he is such a reluctant soul.  He would never take anything that isn’t his.  He is sweet and gentle and will usually relinquish anything he has if I want it.

Dazzle’s night on the bed will likely be an anomaly – this won’t happen again for some time – I think.  I’ll keep you posted.

Every Picture Tells a Story

Yes, every picture does tell a story – but each author has a different ending.

Yesterday was hot – really hot!  I had to run some errands and as I left the grocery store I was annoyed at just how hot it was.  I pushed my empty cart to the space reserved for empties.  That’s when I noticed the dog.  He was sitting in a car with the windows rolled down a bit – not a lot – in the sun with no attempt to find a shady spot. 

He looked hot but he wasn’t in distress – yet!  I wanted to leave, just ignore it.  But it was HOT!  I was hoping that someone would come out soon as I turned to walk back to my van.  With all the publicity, how could someone do that?  It wasn’t a normal June day, it was HOT!

I climbed in my van and turned on the ignition then immediately shut it off.  I rolled down my windows and vowed to wait only 5 minutes before I called the police and went to do something for the poor dog.  Well, the first person to walk in the car’s direction got me excited.  I wanted to go scream at her but she walked right past the car, headed for a different vehicle.  Damn, couldn’t the stupid owner come out soon?  About 4 minutes passed when an older man came walking towards the car.  He was coming from the drugstore with some papers, snacking on ice cream.  ICE CREAM! 

Now I wanted to get in his face and scream, “How could you be in a nice air-conditioned store getting ice cream for yourself and leave your poor dog in the hot car!”  However, I decided to check my fury and just be relieved that he had returned in a relatively short period of time.  I decided to slowly drive through the parking lot and go past his car with a very disgusted look on my face.  Okay, not much of a way to get my point across but I have found that if you confront idiots you only annoy them and it seems to make them resolve to repeat the same disgusting behavior in the future.

As I passed I noticed that the dog was out of the car and what was this senior doing?  He was holding his ice cream treat under his equally senior dog’s nose letting him lick his share from the cup.  My look of disgust turned to one of a simple smile.  I now saw these two old buddies going for a drive to get something to mitigate the heat, the gentleman feeling badly that his old friend couldn’t accompany him into the store.  Every picture tells a story – as long as you take the time to look at the whole picture.