Hannibal Chuckter

Charlie had his first veterinary appointment today.  While he will cheerfully allow me to handle him any way I like, being handled by strangers is still a completely different story.  So I brought him in by himself (I usually bring the dogs in as a pack, as they’re all very easy to handle).  And I brought a muzzle.

The spectre of young Charlie wearing this lovely bit of apparel, along with the blinkless stare and completely even, 60 bpm pulse rate he maintained throughout the examination earned him the charming new nickname.

I’ll admit that the little shit looked astonishingly evil, even to me.  When I took him back out to the van I left the muzzle on until I got him into the crate.  Once he was safely inside, I slipped the muzzle off and shut the crate door in a single swift move (I may be a gimp, but I can still move pretty darn quickly when I need to).  Once the door was closed, I was surprised – and quite pleased – to see a soft, happy, wiggly puppy on the other side.  I opened the door back up and the vicious killer my happy puppy greeted me with a wagging tail and a flurry of soft, sloppy kisses.

I am so glad I spent all that time getting him used to wearing the muzzle.

Once we returned home, Charlie released his stress by viciously attacking wrestling with Audie.

End of the Rainbow

If you’re a dog whose had a bit of a rough start in life – what do you search for at the end of the rainbow?

(real rainbow in our real backyard yesterday)

Lots of good, healthy exercise

A best buddy to hang out with

A dog-friendly human (or two) to pester

And a warm place to nap

This looks smells pretty darn good to me!

Charlie’s come a long way from the dog whose most remarkable skills consisted of an unrestrained enthusiasm for creative elimination and the willingness to throw monumental temper tantrums.  He’s not ready to find his forever home yet, but every day he demonstrates more of the fine potential he’ll be happy to share with some lucky family.

Dorsey the Mail Dog

We *heart* working dogs

Quirky travel site Legends of America brings us the story of the most famous resident of Calico, California - Dorsey the Mail Dog:

Dorsey was found in 1883 by Postmaster Jim Stacy, when the hungry and footsore black and white shepherd was lying on his porch. Stacy quickly adopted him and Dorsey became his faithful friend. In addition to his postmaster duties, Stacy also had an interest in a mine in nearby Bismarck. On one occasion, when Stacy needed to get an urgent message to his partner at the mine, he tied a note to Dorsey’s neck and sent him up there. Before long, Dorsey returned with a reply. Dorsey was soon carrying messages back and forth to the mine frequently, when Stacy had the idea to make the dog a regular mail carrier. Soon, the dog was carrying all the mail from Calico to Bismarck, bearing his load in little pouches strapped to his back. For three years, Dorsey covered the mail route between the two camps and became so valuable that Stacy was offered $500 for the dog, to which Stacy replied: “I’d rather sell a grandson.”

Dorsey’s legend was revived in a 1972 album entitled “The Ballad of Calico” by Kenny Rogers. The song was called “Dorsey, the Mail Carrying Dog.” And, of course, in haunted Calico, he has been revived in another way – the “spectral dog.” On several occasions, Dorsey has been seen as a shadow-like apparition at the cemetery and near the Print Shop that stands near the original location of the post office.

 

Some say Dorsey was a Scotch Collie.  He looks like he could also have been an English Shepherd or a Border Collie.  Since he was a stray and most dogs of the time were bred for purpose rather than pedigree – he could have been just about anything.  Regardless of his pedigree (or lack thereof) Dorsey was a fit, bright, hard-working dog.  The trek from Calico to Bismarck consisted of a very steep, rugged mile-long trail that the miners prefered to avoid.  Dorsey faithfully carried the mail three times a week for two years and only retired when the mine closed and his services were no longer needed.  And he performed his duties nearly flawlessly:

There is only one instance of possible misuse of his office on record. One Christmas Herman Mellen was living in a cave near Bismarck and his mother sent him a box of candy and sweets. Stacy had tied this box under Dorsey’s neck, and when he arrived at Bismarck the bottom was out and the contents missing. Whether temptation had proven too strong, the goodies had been hijacked or whether the package had broken open, allowing the contents to spill out was never determined.

When the Stacys left Calico they gave Dorsey to San Francisco financier John S. Doe, who owned interest in the mine. I hope Dorsey enjoyed a long, happy and – most of all - interesting retirement.

New Kid on the Block

Young Charlie, (aka DickHead, alias Johnny Mac) arrived here yesterday.  Charlie’s here for an extended vacation attitude adjustment after spending seven months of his young life at Operation New Beginnings in Billings, Montana. 

Charlie and his littermates were born a month or so before the dogs were seized. Their mother was either already dead or got separated from them when he and his littermates were rescued from the Kapsa property, so they grew up as a small, motherless pack.  In a perfect world they’d have been put in with an experienced, older female dog who would have whipped them into shape showed them the ropes, but as Charlie knows – we don’t live in a perfect world.

So, Charlie has a few issues. He’s snarky with other dogs and pushy and rude with people. He’s not the least bit house-trained. He’s seen very little of the world and he has a tendency to flight. He’s a poster pup for the abused, neglected dogs you read about in humane society pleas for money.

But the thing is – Charlie doesn’t know this.  He’s not aware that he probably wouldn’t have survived his first winter on this earth if he hadn’t been seized as a ”feces-covered” piece of evidence.  He doesn’t have a clue that he’s the least bit different from any other dog. All he knows is that, after spending an annoyingly long, crappy day in a crate he ended up in a clean, roomy place where really interesting things happen.

Charlie isn’t a victim, he’s freakin’ brilliant. He’s a natural retriever and in a stunningly short period of time he learned to sit before I threw his toy.  In twenty-four hours he’s gone from pulling like a freight train while orbiting rapidly around me to walking comfortably on a leash.  In ten minutes he learned to wait until I released him with an ”OK” to take bits of food I set on my shoe.

But it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses.  This morning he decided to try to muzzle punch and intimidate me when I went in to feed him.  Note to dog: do not, under any circumstances, try to fuck with a tired, crabby, sleep-deprived, pre-menstrual, caffiene-deficient alpha bitch in a hurry.  I took Charlie’s pushy, crappy, annoying energy - multiplied it by ten and tossed it back at him with nothing more than a vile look and threatening posture.  The little poser jumped back three feet and stared open-mouthed at me in WTF wonder.
 
Since then, a raised eyebrow makes him salute.
 
I think Charlie and I are gonna have a great time.
——————————————————————————-

NESR still needs foster homes and funds to transport dogs.

Because Sometimes…

A dog’s just gotta do what he’s gotta do

From British Pathe. Click for video.

Note that this farm collie, filmed in 1946, looks (and works) more like an English Shepherd than a modern show collie.

Penning the Peeps

It’s hot here.  According to husband who grew up there - it’s “Florida in the summer hot”.  Much too hot to leave the peeps closed up in Fort Peepage.

Since they’re still small enough to be cat bait they need to be penned for their own safety and I’ve been transferring them from coop to pen by hand.  Three of them (Clover and friends) are so tame they just hop on my arm for the ride over, peeping in cheerful anticipation of the bugs and forage to come.  Most of the rest are gentle and easy to catch. I scoop up a couple at at time, tuck them under one arm and carry them over.  The last two are convinced I’m going to kill them – and, if they continue to be as flighty and annoying as they’ve been this week - they may just be right.

I slept late today so it was already hot by the time I got around to moving them out to the pen.  I was tired and crabby, and after a few failed attempts to catch those who will be eaten first, I decided a new plan of attack was required.  And as I stood there, pondering the fate of my fractious fowl, the coop door fell open.  The peeps perked up and moved toward it.

I stepped back and they moved closer to the door.  I decided that if I was going to risk losing any of my pullets – these were the obvious choice. So I stepped out and held the coop door wide open.  The peeps scrambled out the door and made a beeline for the pen.

Because I had, of course (slaps forehead and rolls eyes), set the pen up so that it faced away from the coop door, they ran straight into the wire.  And stayed there, peeping in pointless panic.  Seeing that any efforts to grab the little bastards birds would just result in a wild peep chase and having had some small experience in herding sheep, I decided that Audie and I were going to have to try our luck at penning.

When penning sheep at a trial, the handler’s job is to hold the gate rope until the dog works the sheep into the pen.  Since my experience in penning consists entirely of either watching other people do it or in moving tame, dog-broke sheep with Zip the Kelpie I decided that gracefully flanking Audie around the pen while I stood back and held the gate was completely out of our league out of the question.  However; being an experienced outside the box thinker and having a biddable, well-trained dog, I had an idea.

Audie and I switched roles.  I flanked quietly around the pen while Audie stood at the gate.  I put enough pressure on the peeps to move them around the pen, but not so much that they were tempted to flee away into the yard.  Audie stood by the gate, yielding enough space back and away from it to encourage the pullets to hop in as they circled around.  Lacking opposable thumbs, Audie then stepped in to block the opening until I could close the gate.

Guarding the Gate

It worked like a charm.  With the peeps safely ensconced in their pen Audie and I can relax and enjoy a break in the shade.  Hand feeding the birds while we listen to the creek.

Around the Web

Bayou Renaissance Man posted a fascinating story about a unique British war hero.  A homeless mutt called Rip was befriended by an Air Raid Precaution Warden.  Rip became the unit’s mascot and then - on his own -  developed a remarkable talent for locating people buried in bomb debris.  Rip was the British Civil Defence’s first sniffer dog.

According to the Daily Mail:

In 12 months between 1940 and 1941, the plucky mutt combined all the inherited skills of uncertain parentage to rescue more than 100 victims of the Blitz from the air-raid ruins of London.

Then he carried on the good work for another four years until the end of the war.

But what made this tale of a shaggy dog so remarkable was that Rip was never trained for search and rescue  -  he simply attached himself to a Civil Defence team after being bombed out of his home. Then he mucked in as a sniffer dog solely because he enjoyed it.

His astonishing success rate earned him the rare honour of a PDSA Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross. 

More here and here.

Speaking of British air raids – check out the Keep Calm And Carry On image generator!  One of my favorite posters (SRSLY – KCACO is a great motto for alldog owners) can now be customized to suit any occasion.  Here’s the Audie version:

In training-related news, I recently came across this excellent article on the Cardinal Points Farm blog on “Fool-Proof Humane Animal Training”.  Here’s a small bite – go read the rest:

Animal training is complicated. There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ training approach. Did I say complicated? Add to this a good dose of moral confusion (thanks to the media and some special interest groups). In the context of animal training, few terms are as emotionally charged as ‘punishment’ and ‘abuse’; and few terms are as misapplied (intentionally or otherwise) as ‘humane’ and ‘cruel’.

Rumor has it Dale may have been saved from the nefarious plans of Audie’s Evil Gramma – but please make a donation to save the Montana English Shepherds… just in case! 

Last – but not least – from twitpic via YesBiscuit – the real source of swine flu!

Right Hand Man

When I found out a couple of months ago that I needed to have both of my rotator cuffs repaired I decided it was time to teach young Audie some skills to make several months of maddening frustration healing and rehabilitation more tolerable. Being a bright and biddable pup he’s enjoyed going along for the ride.

I had hoped to post video clips showing the many ways he helps me out — but the main things he does for me are help me get dressed and undressed – and, trust me,  you don’t want to see that!  Also, even when I have use of two hands my video taping and editing skills are marginal at best.  Since I haven’t managed to teach Audie videography skills yet, I’ll have to paste this post together with one hand.

Most of the tasks Audie does for me are built from just two basic skill sets; directional cues and fetch/hold skills.  Once I had taught him left, right, forward, backward, stay, fetch, hold, carry and tug I had the building blocks for a wide range of tasks.  Here are a few examples of what we’re doing:

• To help me take my shirt off he takes hold of my left sleeve, stands still and pulls gently away from me while I let it come off my left arm then slowly pivot around to unwrap it from my body and useless right arm.  After the shirt falls off he picks it up and hands it to me. He’ll also tug off my socks and slippers if I ask him to.
• When I put my sweatshirt on (I’m pretty much limited to zip front shirts and pull-on pants for now) he holds the bottom so I can zip it up.  Same with coats and jackets.
• I got a new bath mat in the mail.  It was sealed in a plastic bag.  To open it I held one end of the bag in my left hand and had him grab it and tug hard away from me.  Together we easily tore the bag open and got the rug out.
• The rug came in a box that was too big for me to pick up in one hand.  I took a piece of duct tape, made it into a loop, stuck it to the box and had Audie carry one side of the box by the loop while I held on to the other.  He’s also learned to carry a laundry basket with me this way.
• A box with 6 bags of dog treats arrived today.  It was also too big to carry in one hand.  I cut it open on the porch, put the bags of treats in a tub-trug and had him carry one handle in his mouth while I carried the other in my left hand.
• He’s learned to find and fetch the phone on command.  Zip will do this with the TV remote.  They’ll both carry items back and forth between Mark and I on command.
• He’s a mobile doorstop.  I can open a door, park him in front of it, put him in a stay and he’ll hold it while I do what I need to in the doorway.
• Basic thing, very handy – when I accidentally drop something I say ‘oops’ and either dog will pick it up.  They’ll either carry or hand me the item as needed.
• Babysitting.  Walking back from the mailbox today I dropped a letter and didn’t realize it.  Audie saw it lying there, ran back and returned it to me before I realized that I’d dropped it. 

Audie’s not even two years old yet; and remember — all he needed to learn to do these things were a few basic skills.  The key is that he had to learn to do them very reliably and he had to be able to put several small pieces of a task together in a series.  These came, IMO from a balanced, sequential, four-quadrant approach to training that encourages a young or inexperienced dog to explore behaviors during the learning process but requires him to obey during the proofing process.  I use both positive and negative markers when I shape a new behavior and allow the dog to find the thing I want in a game of hot and cold.  Once he shows a basic grasp of the skill, we practice it in short training games and I watch him to see when he starts to practice or rehearse the skill on his own. 

In practicing he repeats an action I’ve taught him on his own volition.  Audie will often practice an action a few times in a row, then go lie down to process what he’s taught himself.  The calm, mindful demeanor he expresses as he practices is utterly different from the bounding exuberance he is prone to much of the rest of the time.  Once Audie starts to practice a task, he’s ready for me to start proofing him on that task.  He’s got the basic idea and is demonstrating that he’s ready to generalize the skill.

The first week he *officially* helped me with these tasks he was sometimes silly or distracted and sometimes tentative.  This week (week 2) he’s calm and confident.  He understands that this is a job and he’s proud that he can do it.

Win $10,000!

A little caveat here, that $10K isn’t for you, it’s for the Montana English Shepherds. 

The folks at Bissel are running a Most Valuable Pet photo contest. The winner’s photo will be featured on a future Bissel product and $10,000 will be donated to the charity of his choice. With the help of his friends, one English Shepherd has already made it into the finals and his owner has pledged the potential prize money to NESR to help the Montana English shepherds.

There’s a new round of voting every week and the top three vote-getters go into the pool from which the Bissell people will choose three models for their vacuum-cleaner packaging.

We hope to get an English shepherd whose owner has pledged the potential prize money to NESR into the final round each week in the hope that that the fabulous cash prize can be used to help out the Montana dogs.

This week, we’re campaigning Heather Houlahan’s Moe:

[sends irresistable hypnotic message via interwebs]
You WANT to VOTE FOR MOE. 
You NEED to VOTE FOR MOE.  
You MUST go straight to Moe’s voting page and VOTE NOW.

You’ll have to give Bissel you name and email address to register.  They swear they don’t spam you or put you on any lists.  You’re also limited to a single IP address and one vote per voting period.  So, since you can’t vote early and often — please spam all of your friends, relatives, co-workers and ask them to VOTE FOR MOE.  Be sure to send the direct link, because there’s more than one Moe in this voting period and it’s really important to vote for the right one.

If you have a blog or a webpage – ask your readers to VOTE FOR MOE.

The $10,000 grand prize could buy the lives of 30-50 of the Montana dogs — what are you waiting for?   VOTE FOR MOE!

Did Lucy Know Audie?

Lucy Dawson is one of the best known dog artists of the early twentieth century.  Dawson,  (who worked under the pseudonym of ‘Mac’) worked in pencil, pen, ink and oil, but was best known for her pastels.

The portrait above bears an eerie resemblance to a shepherd dog mentioned frequently in this blog.