the hidden place and the other time

I had opened the front blinds so I could vacuum; we usually leave them closed as Pip likes to let us know whenever there is anyone in the cul de sac, which she thinks of as Hers. She'll sit on the back of the couch and watch out the window all day long if we let her. A few minutes ago, this happened:

Pip: Someone's in the street! Bark bark BARK!
Boone: Pip is barking, must relay the message! *goes into a paroxysm of barking that quickly resolves into actual howling*
Me: Hilarious, dogs. Shut it. *gets up*
Boone: *shuts it*
Pip: *fails to shut it*
Me: *goes downstairs*
Pip, the moment she sees me: Bark? Errrr.
Me: You just lost window privileges, dog.
Pip: *rolls over on back, looks cute* That was...Some Other Dog! Not me! I'm cute and sweet and I would never bark like a mad thing!
Me: So where is this Some Other Dog?
Pip: ...invisible?
Me: Good try. *closes shades*
Pip: *follows me up the stairs and throws herself at my feet, sighing* I am SO DEPRIVED.

We've done a lot of training stuff with Boone and Pip; the approach those who've taught us has been most traditional positive/aversive training, with corrections when needed and food and praise and affection as rewards. This mostly works. However, Boone turns out to be a very reactive dog. He overreacts to certain stimuli--in his case, it's people at the door, dogs when he's on leash and can't go greet them, and a few other things.

In the case of other dogs, it's a very WOO HOO I LOSE MY MIND! reaction. He wants so badly to rush over and greet the other dog that he ends up lunging, barking, and making very weird noises. Speaking to him doesn't distract him, neither does correcting him. He is in OMG WANT headspace so deeply that he literally doesn't see, hear, or smell anything else. As soon as he's allowed to greet the other dog, (or if I pick him up and turn him so he can't see the other dog) he snaps back into his normal headspace.

This calls for a different approach. I've been doing a lot of reading, and everything I've seen has recommended clicker training for dogs who need to learn self-control and focus. Boone literally needs to learn how to control his unmanageable reactions, and for that he needs to learn alternate associations and behaviors to go along with the sight of other dogs. He needs to learn to look at another dog and then break the stare, since the escalating stare is the thing that allows him to go into the "lost my mind" headspace.

So the first game we are playing is called Yummy Clicker, which is the "loading" technique to create an association between the sound of the clicker and a high-value treat. It's worked startlingly well--once I have the clicker in my hand, Boone's attention is on me and only me for several minutes, even if I don't use it. He is convinced that the clicker dispenses treats. This means I can use the sound of the clicker to mark behavior I want to reinforce.

So the next phase is teaching him to target, or touch an object or a human hand with his nose. After that, we get to start learning some games like Look At That!, There's A Dog In My Face (and There's A Human/Child/Cat In My Face), and I Have Arrived In A Limousine (which is all about being calm after getting out of the car).

I'm hoping that this will help him learn to focus, and help us be able to walk around other dogs a lot better. Might take us a few months, but we'll get there.

From this...



To this:



It's officially been a year since Boone arrived.

Happy anniversary, dog!

Boone has been feeling under the weather for the last few days. He pretty much didn't eat this weekend, though he looked perfectly energetic and in fact spent an hour and a half on Saturday running around like a nut with a bunch of other dogs, and Sunday we went to another dog park and then for a three-mile walk.

I left Pip at home for Sunday's dog park adventure, because this was a new one and according to the Web site the entrances weren't gated. Pip, for all of her wonderful qualities, has kind of an issue with coming when called. As in, she doesn't unless she feels like it, and if there's something more interesting where she is (a stick, a ball, cat poop, air molecules), she doesn't feel like it.

We're working on it.

It turns out that the park would have been fine for Pip, since the entrances were pretty far away from the big open area all the dogs were in. And evidently, when we left without her, it was sob sob oh the misery they left me here BY MYSELF I'm so loooooooooonely! for a half hour. And when she was let out of the crate, the first thing she did was to run to the front window to make sure that Boone and I weren't hanging out in the front yard, just to fool her.

And Boone, at the dog park, ran around and sniffed and looked a bit intimidated by the huge romping dogs. In other words, he was acting perfectly normal. Sometimes he doesn't really eat for a couple of days; this is a dog who will never be fat, because he turns his nose up at food unless he's actually hungry. So we didn't worry about it much.

Then came Monday, and he was just...droopy. Ears lower than usual. Tail carried a bit low instead of curled over his back. Not coming to lick my legs when I got out of the shower. Pip said, Play with me! and he said Sorry, not feeling like it today. Which was worrisome enough, but when yesterday came and he was so droopy he was looking almost Phalene-like, it was time for a visit to the vet.

The vet poked and prodded him, tried to give him some of the Stinkiest Food In The World (Boone actually turned his back on the stinky food, but he's like that sometimes, doesn't accept food from strangers), and xrayed him. He thought there might be a blockage, and there was a suspicious area on the xray, but it was by no means conclusive.  And he was full of poop.  So he had been eating something.

This is hopefully the only time in this dog's life that I will be able to say to him, "I have SCIENTIFIC PROOF that you have to poop, dog!"

So I've been feeding him this laxative/lubricant stuff, and last night he ran around the back yard and did his thing, and this morning he's a lot perkier.  I had to coax him over, but he did come over and lick my legs after my shower.  And he had some breakfast, though he rooted around under the (expensive, good for him, made of freaking VENISON) canned food to eat the kibble underneath.  The dog, apparently, was constipated.  And doesn't really like his new food.

Argh.

Well, at least it wasn't serious.

Pip went to the vet to have a retained baby fang pulled, and for a urinalysis.  The baby fang came out without incident (and we have the fang!  It's very cool) and her urinalysis says that Pip's urine pH is all wrong, and she has crystals, so she's on the special dog food from here on out.  This is probably why we've had the problems with housetraining that we have, so when her bladder's more comfy we should be able to get her completely housetrained and start taking her to dog class.

She was a little more sleepy than usual last night, but this morning she's romping like usual, so she'll be just fine.

On the other hand, there is Selena, who yesterday started acting very ill, peeing where she was standing and being all wobbly.  Poor thing.  She's been at the vet overnight for IV fluids and a hot water bottle to warm her up.  She's down a pound and a half from when I took her in to have her thyroid retested less than a month ago--poor thing is only six pounds now!

The vet is supposed to call this morning and tell us how she's doing.  I hope she feels better.

And in yet more news, I am currently the only non-sick human in the house.  Both Laura and Bryan are down for the count.  I did, however, finish Book 2 of Imryne last night, so I should post that tonight and then whip out a chapter of <em>The Water and the Wild</em> this weekend.

Currently, though, I have vampires and werewolves on the brain.

Also, these scarves?  Beautiful, but I'm sorry, there is no scarf worth how much they want for theirs.  Except maybe a vintage Hermes. 

SO pleased with the hounds right now. I just went for a walk with both of them, implemented Brilliant Idea (two leashes the same length, Humans Are Unstable lessons), and I suddenly had two dogs, both walking on loose leashes, with the least amount of rioting necessary, in a reasonable approximation of heel. (Boone a tiny bit ahead, Pip a bit behind.) They did almost everything right, including aforementioned loose leashes and minimum of rioting, as well as sitting before crossing roads. So, so pleased. Makes up for this morning's Puppy Riot in a big way. We even passed Big Barky Police Dog's yard without much fuss.

Very happy with puppies now. I have an errand to run, and they'll get to run around afterwards and then they and I will have a shower. Right now, I'm letting them run around the backyard and get filthy, because they deserve it.

Argh. Dogs.

Okay, I did discover that Pip, when by herself and once I'd expressed to her that Humans Are Unstable in terms she really understood (changing direction randomly helps) is really good at walking on the leash. She walks on a loose leash and in the heel position and oh my goodness I was pleased with her once we'd gone a little ways. Must just get her to do that all the time so I can walk her and Boone together more easily.

(It's also about time to buy her a training collar; I need to remember to measure her neck, since she's such a wrestler-shaped dog.)

We're currently in the phase of The Magic Bell Always Opens The Door, though, which makes life interesting in some ways. The Magic Bell is the bell we have hung by the back door that the dogs are supposed to ring to let the humans know they want to go out. Part of potty training is, when the bell is rung, to always go to the door, put the dog that's rung the bell and is waiting patiently by the door on a leash, and go outside with said dog and let them do whatever they need to do, then bring them right back inside.

However, there is a phase with the Magic Bell where the dog has discovered that ringing the Magic Bell means that the door opens, and this is new and interesting power. So the dog rings it about every five minutes, just for novelty's sake. It's important to keep up with it, no matter how frustrating it gets, because the phase does end after a week or two. Supposedly.

Pip has gotten a lot better about actually going when I take her out, having mastered the art of the courtesy tinkle, so she spends less time in the crate. But last night, man. I was attempting to write a sex scene involving four characters, and every five minutes, Pip was ringing the Magic Bell. So I would get a couple of sentences done, start getting into the flow of it, and *ring ring!* goes the Magic Bell.

This is not conducive to even getting the basics of the geometry of group sex right, much less making it flow correctly. I finally tossed Pip in her crate for twenty minutes, where she sulked, and then let her out and enjoyed a full half hour of not getting up to take one dog or another outside.

I did finish the scene and then the story, which I will be editing and posting tonight, but it took me quite a bit longer than it did. I have a lot of respect for people who write with children in the house. I can barely do it with dogs, and I can shut the dogs in their crates if they annoy me overmuch. (I try not to do it at night, because they're currently in their crates for eight hours a day.)

I think I'm going to start using Laura's desk in the library to write at, since it's closer to the door and doesn't involve me getting comfy on the couch and then needing to immediately get up to let the dogs out.

One seven-pound girl puppy + one twelve-pound boy puppy + a day's worth of rain + a mad dash inside like a speeding bullet + Kris sitting on the couch = HI LADY WE GET YOU ALL WET NOWS!

However, I managed to teach Pip that sitting down gets you treats, and I think she's learning her name.

This picture was taken last night after they had both sacked out in my office. Right now, it's World Puppy Federation Wrestling behind me.

There was no whining out of the puppy last night after he was put in his crate for the night, which is a lovely and amazing thing. (The breeder was right; he was just trying to put us on, he's used to spending nights in a crate.) And then there was progress on the housetraining front this morning, so yay!

There was a strange barking incident at 4 AM this morning, which I can't decide if it's because Juniper had decided to come in and snuggle, or because the dog had a dream. If it was Juniper, he was nowhere to be found afterwards, and since the door wasn't pushed open like it would have been if he'd come in, I'm thinking dream.

However, it's about time to introduce to my cat the idea that the puppy is in fact confined at night, and is no threat whatsoever, and Juniper still owns the bed and the human in it. And to introduce to the puppy the notion that Juniper is, in fact, the boss of him.

Greebo has come to this conclusion independently, it seems. Yesterday, Laura fed the puppy lunch, and Greebo wandered up and said, "You just sit right there while I sample your food. No, sit. Mmm, puppy food." He helped himself to some puppy food, then strolled off, while the puppy sat and watched.

*****

In other news, I think I need this shirt. Because as a matter of fact I am that big of a geek.

Well, we have survived the first 20 or so hours with the puppy. This whole "housetraining" thing is going to be interesting, I can tell. It'll get better once the puppy settles down from the trip, I think.

I think we lucked out and got a snuggly Papillon. (They're all people dogs, but a lot of them aren't really lap dogs.) He wants to be on laps, and last night he fell asleep on me, then Bryan, then me again. He did make quite a bit of noise last night (his crate is in my room, since I have the morning dog shift), but he didn't whine all night like I've heard some do.

He's getting used to the collar and leash, and going up stairs is fine but coming down them is still scary. He still doesn't have a name, but he should have one soon. Juniper hisses at him but otherwise seems not to be wigged out. Greebo is curious. Selena is disdainful. Esme is sort of wigged, but she's coming downstairs sometimes, so it can't be so hugely bad.

So I think things are going as well as can be expected. Yay!