Tuesday Topics 5 - Guide Dog Whisperer?

One of my favorite TV shows is The Dog Whisperer. I started watching it right after Cabana came to our home, and I don't know what I would have done without Cesar Millan! The Guide Dog manual talks briefly about being a pack leader, but I don't think I would have fully understood that concept if I hadn't watched The Dog Whisperer. I think I've seen every episode now, but every few days, I gotta have my Dog Whisperer fix. It helps remind me to be assertive with Cabana, instead of getting lax and letting unwanted behaviors go unaddressed.

I completely espouse Cesar's dictum of exercise, discipline, then affection. Dogs need an effective, controlled way to drain their energy, which is why I make walking Cabana in the morning one of my top priorities, rain or shine. We also learned to minimize affection first thing in the morning, when Cabana tends to be very excitable (she's well rested, hasn't seen us since the night before, and is waiting for breakfast). By not giving affection when Cabana is in an excited state, we have helped her learn to control her excitement in the morning and be much calmer. Now, the period of time when we withhold petting her is getting shorter and shorter, because she's learning to calm down much more quickly.

Still, I know that The Dog Whisperer is not necessarily "Guide Dog approved", so I wondered what other puppy raisers think about his methods. Are you a fan or do you think it's hooey? Do you like certain things he teaches but think that other parts are flat-out wrong? Do you like his rollerblades or do you think they're weird?

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Picture Me

Thanks to those who have complimented my new header. Initially, I had included myself in the illustration as well, but I just couldn't get the "me" part quite right. Here's what the illustration looked like with me in it.


But I look like I'm about 12 years old (which is 32 years too young--I know you're doing the math). I even gave myself laugh lines and crows feet, which my daughters kindly told me to take out, but which, wanting to be accurate, I left in (along with my unfortunate freckles).

Also, with me in the picture, I'd have to make Cabana even smaller. Then, no one would be able to see how accurately I depicted her Guide Dog jacket--the part of the illustration I like best. So, I ix-nayed myself.

The illustration was done with Adobe Illustrator, and the header image extends past the double border lines to make it look like Cabana is popping out beyond the header. I mimicked the colors from my blog template to make it look like it's part of the original template--but it's actually an uploaded jpg. If you right-click on my header, then go to View Image, you'll see what I mean.

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Books I Recommend

A couple months before the idea of getting a Guide Dog puppy ever even crossed my mind, I happened to read two books that later influenced me greatly in that decision. Both books were just random selections that happened to be available by downloadable audio on our public library's website. (I rarely "read" a book because I like to multi-task. I prefer to listen to books on MP3 while I'm driving, running, or working, thus accomplishing two things at once.)

The first is called Crashing Through, by Robert Kurson. It's the true life story of a man named Mike May, who was blinded at age 3. Although completely blind, there was almost nothing this man couldn't do. He rode bicycles, went downhill skiing, even tried driving a car, and worked for the CIA. Then, 43 years later, surgery was able to restore his sight. It was remarkable to read about how being given sight was not the same as knowing how to see. His eyes worked, but his brain wasn't always able to interpret what he was seeing into things he could comprehend. This book gave me a keen interest and insight into those dealing with issues of blindness.


The second book is called Merle's Door, by Ted Kerasote, about the author's experiences with a dog he finds while on a camping trip in Wyoming. Merle, the dog, is a Labrador mix, and they form an instantaneous bond with each other. The author does tend to humanize Merle quite a bit, giving great meaning to the dog's every gesture. The author is also a big fan of letting his dog live off-leash and wander around their neighborhood at will (although they do live in a rural area), despite leash laws. But the book showed how strong and meaningful a relationship between dog and owner can be. Let me warn you, though--it's a tear jerker.

Having never had a dog as an adult and unsure whether we wanted to make a 10+ year commitment to a dog, getting a Guide Dog puppy for a year or so seemed like a great way to get our feet wet. It was a very good decision. Guide Dogs for the Blind gives us such tremendous information and instruction, and without that, I don't think we would have been successful pet owners. Of course, my goal now is to have Cabana become a working Guide Dog--but whatever happens, whether Cabana makes it as a Guide Dog or becomes a wonderful pet, I know I have been changed, for good.

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Big Girl Collar

Cabana got a lot of big girl upgrades yesterday! She went from a small crate to a medium--this was probably a couple weeks overdue. Now she can really stretch out and luxuriate.

And she also graduated to her big girl collar AND a training collar! Whoopee! The big girl collar is still a bit loose--but probably not for long.

I took Cabana for a walk this morning with the training collar--the first time she hasn't had her head collar on in months. She went somewhat crazy with the new freedom, trying to pick up and eat every little thing on the sidewalk. I could tell that her attitude was like, "Wow! This is so awesome!" But after being corrected with the training collar about 20 times, she got a bit ornery and had another one of her episodes.

After we worked through that little period of adjustment, though, I think the training collar was the best invention since sliced bread. Or maybe even chocolate cake. Cabana heeled so angelically! What a thing of beauty--just like Cabana herself.

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Tuesday Topics 4 - Prohibit or Play Date?

Thanks to everyone for making Tuesday Topics so well received. My little blog gets the most hits on Tuesdays, so keep the comments coming! I always learn a lot from the other puppy raisers, and hopefully, other folks out there are benefitting as well.

My bosses (who are married to each other) have three dogs. The office is at their house, so Cabana gets to see these dogs a couple times a week (I work from my own home the other days). Here's Lily, a French bulldog. She's a chubby little thing, but she's the unequivocal queen of the compound.

The other dogs are Leo, the English terrier, and Olive, the boxer. Leo is a jittery nervous fellow almost all the time, whether Cabana is around or not. But Olive and Cabana are great friends. Closer in size (more so every day), they love to romp around with each other.

Cabana knows it's their house and not hers, and especially because Lily tends to growl and get her hackles up (the little ones gotta show their superiority somehow), Cabana does a great job of being submissive. She calmly lets the other dogs sniff her, and if Lily is in a particularly ornery mood, Cabana goes and sits quietly in a corner (that's how the Still Life with Dog photo came about).

Here they are, out playing by the pool. In the top photo, you can actually see Cabana's jowls flying upward. They're all moving pretty fast!



Here's my question. How much do I control Cabana's play with these dogs? Should I just let Cabana be a dog, or do I need to keep her under control, as a PIT? In the photos above, I did let Cabana romp around the pool with the other dogs, but under very close supervision and only for a few minutes. I get nervous about letting her do too much.

Also, these dogs lack manners--they're not like career changed dogs who've been trained. My bosses' dogs bark a lot, jump all over you, sit on the couch, have food available in their dishes all day, and run around loose in their 5-acre "yard". Are puppies like kids, where you want to keep them away from dogs that might be bad influences on them? Not that I can keep Cabana away from them entirely, since that is where I work, and it is their (the other dogs') house. I can't very well tell my bosses to keep their dogs away from mine.

Since we don't have any other dogs at home, these are the only dogs that Cabana is allowed to play with. And I'd hate to take that away from her. She loves going to the office with me and can barely wait to get out of the car when we drive up. But I also wonder if it sets her up for confusion and disappointment when she can't play with the other dogs at our puppy training group, which is always a big challenge for her (she's just so happy to see the other guide dog puppies and can't contain herself). It's a quandary!

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A Visit to Guide Dogs' Campus

So this morning, having everything better to do with my time, I decided to play hooky from all the projects I should have been working on. And I drove to the GDB campus for a tour. I had only been there once before for a graduation. Cabana and I were the only ones there for the tour today, so we got our own private one! Thanks to Brian, our excellent tour guide, pictured below.


Here's some pics of a puppy socialization outing on the grounds. This pup has petals stuck to her nose!! She reminds me of someone wearing a fake mustache.



Photos of pups in the kennels. Such cuties!



Recalled dogs in the kennels.

Pups at playtime with volunteers. The collie is Pearl, who helps socialize the puppies. She's gorgeous!



And Cabana in front of the puppy truck.

This is the only time she sat calmly for the whole hour. She was totally hyped up (i.e. pulling on her leash non-stop), being so close to all those puppy pals. Now she's snoozing on the floor, absolutely exhausted. Hopefully, being around the kennels a bit will help prepare her for recall (fingers crossed). I might take her to the campus every few months--I hate to think of her being scared there, and I'm hoping being there previously will help at least a little bit.

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Still Life with Dog

Before I even met Cabana for the first time, I had already HEARD her. I was in the waiting room backstage at the GDB Holiday Luncheon, and she was with all the other puppies in the puppy holding area outside. The whole time we were waiting for our turn on stage (quite a long time), the other puppy raisers and I could hear one dog, barking insistently...loudly...untiringly. I knew we were all thinking the same thing--"I hope that's not the puppy I'm bringing home." Well, that barker turned out to be Cabana.

For the first two weeks, Cabana barked quite a lot. She barked at bedtime when we put her in her crate, she barked when she needed to go potty, she barked at other dogs, and she barked for no reason at all. But since that time, Cabana has learned not to vocalize that way. For the past 2 months, although she does sometimes whine or make other small sounds, she has honestly not barked once.

Until tonight.

Our family's schedule is very routine and punctual. For the most part, we get up, eat our meals, go to work/school, get home from work/school, at about the same time every day. (Yes, we're boring.) We eat dinner around 6:00, then my husband does the dishes (yes, he's a good husband). After he does the dishes, he gives Cabana her dinner, and she does her happy dance.

But tonight, my husband was watching the NCAA tournament after dinner, intending to do the dishes a little later. Cabana got her little nose bent out of shape, came over to me, and started whining--"where's my dinner, Mom?" I told her to stop, and she did.

At 6:30, her regular dinner time, since my husband was still watching the game, I got up to get dinner for her. While I was getting her food ready, she BARKED at me--LOUDLY! Just one bark. I reprimanded her for it--but I was shocked! I hadn't heard that sound for months, and it kind of amazed me!

Hopefully, the barking won't continue. But it did make me wonder if Cabana is a dog that likes routine anyway--or if that's a result of our family's pattern. I wonder if she will need to be with a person who also has a regular routine, or if she would just as easily adapt to a person with a crazy schedule.

The photo above was taken at my bosses' house (which is also where I work--in the studio above their garage). Cabana was sitting so peacefully in the alcove, and her coat matched so well with the light wood colors. Very feng shui! (Click on it to view larger--it's such a pretty picture!)

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St. Patrick's Day Meeting

Here's a photo of our local puppy raising group. What a fantastic and fabulous ensemble of humans and canines! (Cabana is to the far right with my husband.) Last night, we met at an outlet mall and had a bit of a hodge podge of St. Patrick's Day/Easter festivities. We got plastic Easter eggs with notes inside, kind of like a fortune cookie (can we throw some Chinese New Year into the holiday mix, too?). The notes took us to different stations, where we would have our puppies perform a certain behaviors.

Cabana did great on her sit-stay-come egg. She had to stay for a count of 25, which is a long time. I tried not to count too fast--don't want to go too easy on her! She sat like a statue, A+!

Unfortunately, Cabana didn't do so well with properly greeting another dog. She never even got to greet the other dog because her behavior leading up to it was horrific. But not surprising, based on yesterday's post regarding her big dog distraction issues!

And there's my segue. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments from my Tuesday Topic post--thanks for your input. As a first time raiser with almost zero dog experience of any kind, I can't tell you how helpful it is to get others' feedback. I was very grateful for the reminders of how young Cabana is (thanks, Lisa and Megan!). Again, since I have no other experiences for comparison, it's good to know that she's going to get it eventually (fingers crossed), and that her behavior falls in the spectrum of normalcy.

I will definitely keep working on getting Cabana to focus on me as people go by. By summertime, when people will be out walking by the dozens, maybe I'll even be able to enjoy seeing other folks and their dogs!

Here's the handsome Accord in his Irish hat (above). He looks thrilled to be wearing it, doesn't he?

And now it's Hamlin's turn. Also thrilled.

And finally, the fashion plate herself, Miss Cabana!

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Tuesday Topics 3 - How to Deal with Dog Distraction

I like how Cabana's tail fur goes into a little spin at the end. Hey, is that what a tailspin is?

But wait, that's not my Tuesday Topic question. Here it is.

Cabana's biggest obstacle to good behavior is dog distraction. She is fairly good on the leash when no one else is around, but when there are other people, especially with their dogs--and especially with their dogs OFF-LEASH (my biggest pet peeve in the world)...then it's difficult to keep Cabana under control.

I do what I can to minimize distractions. I only walk the pretty, popular walking paths on rainy or overcast days and avoid them when it's sunny because I know everyone and their uncles will be there. On nice days, I walk on busier streets where people are less inclined to allow their dogs off-leash. Or on weekends, I try to go extra early, before the sleep-in types get their butts in gear.

When people/dogs are approaching, even at quite a distance away, Cabana goes into alert mode, walking briskly with her head and ears raised up, and the pulling begins. Then, when the person passes, she will often try to jump on them. Sometimes, after the person passes, she still has that residual excitement and keeps turning to look at them or jumps around or even tries to bite her leash. Sometimes, it makes her plain ornery, like she's telling me, "You always spoil my fun." As a mom, I've definitely heard THAT before!

I try to be ready when this is happening. To get Cabana focused on me, I talk to her, call her name, have a treat ready to give her, hold her leash/head collar down so she can't jump....It all helps, but it's a lot of effort. I guess that's why I'd rather avoid people than go through it a bazillion times each day.

Really, it comes down to the fact that I don't really know what I'm doing, doesn't it? What am I doing wrong? Exactly when should I give the treat? At what exact moment do I give a correction? And (insert whiney voice) when is it going to get better?!?

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Oh, The Blood and The Guilt

Most likely, all puppy raisers have done this at some point--and today, it was my turn. I was trimming Cabana's toenails, and oooh, I clipped one too short. I barely clipped anything off, but it was still too much. Poor Cabana let out a quick yelp and began to bleed profusely. We were on the carpet, which is very unforgiving beige, so I picked her up and took her to the kitchen where we have hardwood floors.

No, I didn't have any styptic powder--because I didn't think I was ever going to make a mistake and cut her nails too short, you see. I thought I was the goddess of toenail clipping and that I was above such clumsy mistakes.

I tried to put pressure on the offended toe with a paper towel, but Cabana just kept trying to eat the paper towel and wouldn't cooperate. She scampered all over the kitchen and back into the living room, leaving a trail like Freddie Krueger.

Finally, after 15 minutes and no end in sight to the bloodletting, I had to put Cabana in her crate and dash out to buy some styptic powder. After a half hour, I was back home, and Cabana's crate was a bloody mess. I stuck her toe into the powder, and Shazam!! The bleeding stopped instantaneously.

In my frenzy, I didn't take any photos of the blood, so everyone is spared the sight of it. But I do have other pics to share.

This photo is of all Cabana's toys, which we keep on top of her crate. She can reach them, but being very polite, she will only nose them until we get them for her. While it's very mannerly that she doesn't just grab what she wants, it can also be a bit maddening because sometimes, it's a puppy's perogative to change her mind.

Cabana also knows she needs to be invited to go upstairs. The top photo is of her looking up the stairs at me, wondering if she's going to be invited or not.

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Thanks for the Great Comments!!

After posting my Tuesday Topic about career change, the next day I had an "episode" with Cabana that made me think that she was definitely going to be joining the career change ranks. But after talking to my puppy group leader (thank you, Cassie!), we're not crossing her off the working dog list yet!

In the midst of my worries, I was so grateful that I had gotten to read about other puppy raisers' career change scenarios. Thank you, thank you to everyone who shared so openly about their experiences. There's such a wide range of reasons, and like everyone said, no definite way to predict what's going to happen. I agree that it's best to live in the moment, just accept the good and work on the not-so-good.

What was Cabana's episode? Well, she just got extremely feisty with me at the end of our morning walk. I don't think she would have hurt me, but she was definitely letting me know she wasn't happy. She's done this before (jumping, flailing, mouthing), but it was to a larger degree this time. It took a lot longer to calm her down enough so we could get back home.

But today on our walk, she was back to her usual self--still pulling some, but that's normal. I do feel like she's shown some improvement in her level of dog distraction--but she still has a LOOONNNG way to go in that department.


I took this photo at SB Lake. Finally, there's actually some water in the lake, thanks to all the rain last month. Previously, the lake had about 1" of water in it, so it's nice to see all the ducks and geese and swans there, swimming around instead of sitting in dry caked mud.

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Tuesday Topics 2 - The Big CC

Here's a photo of my younger daughter, walking Cabana and doing a very nice job of it!

With my Tuesday posts, I want to ask questions of other puppy raisers (thanks to all those who responded last week!). So, for those who have had puppies that were career changed, I'd like to know if you had any idea that this would happen. I'm sure you didn't if it was for a medical reason--but if it was for a behavioral issue, were there clues along the way that made you think that your puppy might be career changed? Or was it a total surprise? Our puppy group leader says that each puppy makes a decision as to whether they want to be a working dog or not (excepting medical reasons). Could you tell during the puppy raising stage what decision your puppy was making, or does the decision come later?

I know that getting career changed isn't a horrible thing. I've learned from reading other puppy raising blogs that there are many other careers available, and being someone's pet is far from a letdown! After all, it's what's best for everyone, puppy included.

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Cal Academy and Graduation

Cabana had a busy weekend! On Saturday, we went to the Guide Dogs graduation ceremony. I had never even been to the campus before, and I was impressed at how beautiful it is. The graduation was very well attended, and because we were a few minutes late and couldn't find parking easily, we ended up sitting in the grass in back, which was fine with us.


Here's a photo of Cabana being petted by some very adoring fans. Yes, she does have the little boy's hand in her mouth, embarrassingly enough--but one look at his face and you can see that he's not in any distress. The little boy was actually quite delighted, but honestly, she doesn't mouth people very often anymore--but who's going to believe me when it's been documented on camera!?!
The thing I really love about this photo is how evident it is that Cabana just makes people smile. It's such a treat to get to see that every day.

Then, on Sunday, we went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. We hadn't been there since they remodeled, and it is really GORGEOUS. We spent the whole day there, going to the aquarium, having lunch in the cafe, and ending with a show in the Morrison Planetarium. Cabana was terrific, despite the large crowds and even the loud movie in the planetarium. She has such an outgoing personality that with her, the more people around, the merrier she is.

There were all kinds of exotic animals--sting rays, jellyfish, snakes, alligators and eels. But it often seemed that people were more interested in this ordinary little yellow puppy wearing a green jacket than in all the animals that they paid to see!

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A Beautiful But Steep Uphill Climb

I get bored with walking the same stretches over and over, so this morning, we went back to HP Regional Park (last time I went there, I came home and found 3 ticks on me). It's gorgeous there, but the walking paths are narrow. It was pretty muddy in spots, too, which makes walking side-by-side with Cabana very difficult. After getting so much better about pulling on her leash, today Cabana seemed to have taken a couple steps back (only in the figurative sense; literally, she was a few steps too far ahead). But there were horseshoe tracks in the mud, so Cabana may have been extra excited by the different scents and unfamiliar territory.

Here's the steep climb at the beginning of our walk. We took that center path all the way to the crest, but I don't think the photo conveys just how steep it is. Maybe I'm just a wuss, but my lungs were burning by the time I got up to the top. Cabana, of course, wasn't phased in the slightest--I think she was looking at me like, "What? Are you tired already?"



A few other shots of Cabbie--with her leash around a sign post near the top...


and in front of a little lake in the valley.

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Happy Five Months to Cabana

Cabana turned 5 months old today. I remember bringing her home in mid-December, standing outside in the cold for hours, trying to get her to do her business, taking her for walks pre-dawn since the sun doesn't come up until so late in the winter. I was really looking forward to the age and weather that we would experience today--with Cabana old enough to know what's expected of her, how to do her business quickly and able to walk a few miles with me without tiring. And to enjoy the warmth and sunshine and the longer days of spring.

Well, we haven't had MUCH warmth or sunshine lately, since it has rained here every day for at least two weeks straight. But today, I think it's actually going to be a nice sunny day! Woo hoo!

Here's a video clip of Cabana, doing her "happy dance", the cute little turns she does while my husband prepares her breakfast. She's so excited, but she also manages to contain herself. And she has the "wait" before eating down solid.

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I Must Be Noise Sensitive

Thanks to all the puppy raisers who responded to my sleeping question in my previous post! I'm so impressed by the supportive community of blogging puppy raisers out there. Being so new to this, I am so glad to have found you all as a resource.

It seems that the consensus is that everybody has their puppy sleep in their bedroom, and that it's preferable to have them sleep on a dog bed, if the puppy is cooperative.

I guess I will need to decide if we want to have Cabana sleep in our room. However, aside from the snoring issue, I'm also married--and I don't know how comfortable I feel with having a "spectator", if you catch my drift. Maybe that's something you also get used to?? Do the inhibitions fade away?

I must be very noise sensitive, since the snoring is such an issue with me. Another noise that drives me crazy is the clinking and tinkling of Cabana's dog tags. Even though the sound helped me to know where Cabana was and to a degree what she was doing, I would still rather not hear that sound all day. So I made a little vinyl sleeve to go over the tags.




Cabana's tags can slide out of the side if she gets lost or anyone needs proof of her rabies vaccination. If I hadn't been so lazy, I would have changed the thread color to something lighter. But aesthetics aside, it does the trick!

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Tuesday Topics 1 - Sleeping at Night

Here's Cabana napping during the day. As you can see, she likes to get RIGHT in front of the space heater. Although I don't need to tell you that the z's were added in with the beauty of Photoshop, they are a mere shadow of the real snoring that Cabana produces. This puppy's snoring can put a 300-pound beer-drunken sailor to shame.

With my Tuesday Topics posts, I'd like to ask other puppy raisers out there some questions. Because I am a new puppy raiser, there are so many things that I don't know, and I'd love to know what others do.

So here's my question for this week. Where does your puppy sleep at night? In a crate? On a dog bed? With or without a tie down? In your bedroom or another part of the house? And why do you have the puppy sleep there? Does it help with a problem? What's the best scenario for getting to sleep in a bit on weekends?!

We put Cabana in her crate at about 10pm, and she sleeps all night without any problems. Not a peep. At about 6:30am, we get up and let her out to do her business. She might be able to wait longer than that, but I get worried that she's getting uncomfortable. Her crate is downstairs in our family room. As I said, she's a loud snorer, so I don't think we can have her sleep in our bedroom because I'll never get any sleep.

But I wonder when/if we should transition her to a dog bed. I'd like to, but I don't know if that will work for us since she's not in our room at night. And I won't be able to leave her on a tie down since she'll be unsupervised....

Please leave me a comment with where your puppy sleeps. I'd love to hear from a few of you, and I thank you in advance for your input!!

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Best Dog Toys

Like all dogs, Cabana loves to chew. So far, she hasn't destroyed any of our things. Well, I take that back. She has destroyed our family room rug, but only because it's got looped fibers and her teeth get caught in the loops when she's playing with a toy. She doesn't do it on purpose--it's just not a good rug for dog purposes.

But we can leave out our shoes, socks, remote controls, pencils, and Cabana doesn't touch them. Because of her trustworthiness, Cabana has full freedom in our house. Of course, we don't leave her unsupervised for any length of time, but she's allowed to wander from room to room, as long as we know where she is. She's so social that she usually would rather be in the same room as us anyway. If I'm at my computer, she sits nearby. If I go upstairs to the bedroom, she follows me up there. If I take a shower, she sits on the bath mat outside the shower door.

Guide Dogs for the Blind has a tried and true list of approved toys. I must admit, I have bought a few unapproved toys, but then I realize why they aren't approved. The unapproved toys only last for a couple hours, if that, and then they go in the trash. Lesson learned.

The toys that are nearly indestructible are the Goughnut, big Kongs, and certain Nylabones. None of these toys are cheap--the Goughnut costs $25! But Cabana's favorite toy is the cheapest on the approved list--sterilized bones! These are usually calf bones, shaped like an empty tunnel. They look totally boring, but Cabana will chew on these for hours. They must have some "flavor" to them, although the flavor seems to get chewed off eventually. But because these bones only cost about $4.00, I don't mind buying a new one every few weeks.

In this photo, look close (or click to view larger) and you can see a hint of blood on it from Cabana's mouth. Wiggly baby teeth.


Another favorite toy of Cabana's is a gallon-sized orange juice bottle, also on GDB's approved list. She will romp around with the empty bottle for hours. It's a bit noisy and probably would be better for outdoors because she tends to run into all the furniture while she's playing with one. But who needs expensive toys when you've got an empty plastic bottle!

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