Walking the Dawg - Maturity Begins to Take Effect

My neighbor Tim and his trusty companion Maddy were determined to do me in, or then again, maybe not. Early in November we were completing our morning walk. Actually, we were 50 feet from turning into our driveway, and Tim and Maddy were on the other side of the road. Because I didn’t think it was a good time for doggie play, I had JayDee Sit. But like the bullet from a gun, JayDee suddenly lunged to play with her friend. Not barking, not aggressing, pure joyful play. I pulled her back, she lunged, I pulled, she lunged, I pulled. Poor Tim watched both dog and handler, both totally out of control. It wasn’t pretty, no it wasn't. I literally put JayDee on the ground at which point Tim said he had to get ready for work and walked away. I was depressed all day, replaying the joint misbehavior in my mind. I determined that next time I would walk away from the stimulus and remove JayDee 10 or 15 feet and then turn towards the stimulus. I seriously considered getting a prong collar but postponed anything that serious for the time being. I had previously purchased a nylon, flat, snap-around collar from Handcraftcollars.com, and that evening, I set it up so that it behaved as a training (choke) collar instead of a fixed-length collar. The next morning I tried out the choke collar with the “Leave It” command. A few corrections and JayDee got the message without any undue handler abuse; she didn’t even sniff the ground – the best walk we ever had.

On our walk that evening, “the Barkers”, the two dogs on chains, were out and this time JayDee and I walked and stopped with Automatic Sits until we got close, and then we made right hand turns, moving away and then U-turns to approach and right hand turns to move down the street. JayDee was a class act all the way, and I wasn’t too shabby either. The choke collar capacity worked better than I had expected, and it wasn’t harsh or brutal at all. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have mentioned it to anyone at the positive reinforcement only venues! I didn't want to get thrown out of their club!

We had also been working on the Sit/Stay. At first I would stand in place and gradually increased the time up to 30 seconds. Then I started to move in front, trying always to step forward with my right foot. Keeping the time away short at first and then gradually lengthening it. JayDee was pretty self contained and this wasn’t particularly difficult.

To augment my being visible to oncoming traffic, I bought a Hunter’s Orange vest. It was highly visible, providing there was enough daylight. After several weeks I decided that something that had reflective strips would be more advantageous so I went to a sporting goods store and purchased a joggers vest. It not only had Hi-vis reflective tape, but also had a bank of LED flashing lights. I became a highly visible target. Now the motorists would have no excuse for missing me! In short order, I discovered that there was a significant problem with the design of this particular vest. Because it was a slip over the head design, I found that the head opening was a bit snug, especially when wearing winter gear. So, back to the store I went, and I exchanged the vest for Hi-vis reflective leg/arm bands. No flashing lights, but I still had my hand held light when lighting conditions dictated that I needed it.

The Sunday just before Thanksgiving was a beautifully crisp Fall day and Pam suggested we take JayDee to Rider Park for a hike. Thomas Rider had been an extremely successful local businessman who bequeathed almost 1,000 acres of mountain top property to The Divine Providence Foundation for the leisure enjoyment of the local population. I was introduced to Rider Park in 1994 by a mountain biking buddy. At the time, after a 30 year hiatus, I had taken up bicycling again. This time around I had purchased a mountain bike, but I did not know that there were trails available locally so my riding was restricted to the country roads near and then farther away from my house. My biking friend road his mountain bike to scope out trails that would be good for cross-country skiing, and he would cross country ski to scope out trails that would be good for mountain biking. Fortunately for me, my biking buddy took me under his wing and showed me many trails, including miles of hiking/biking/skiing trails at Rider Park.

Rider Park borders both private property and Pennsylvania State Forest land which extended for thousands of acres. During those early mountain biking years I got involved with trail development and trail maintenance, both in Rider Park and in the adjacent State Forest. Definitely a labor of love. In recent years, due to time constraints, my biking has been restricted to road rides, so that my visits to Rider Park have been few and far between. Hiking with Pam and JayDee proved to be a treat, although JayDee proved to be a bit of a handful. The sights and scents of the forest were irresistible to her. I was hopeful, however, that as JayDee matured, her self-restraint would increase!

In the December, 2008 issue of Reader’s Digest, Joe Kita had an article titled “Hello Everybody” and under the heading “Respect begets respect”, he related that when he ran or bicycled he waved to passing motorists. I started to do the same and Joe was right, not only do some motorists actually wave back, but most began to give JayDee and me a wider berth. Imagine what they would do if JayDee gave them a Hi Five!

I am a very early riser and complete my various early morning activities efficiently. About 6:15, I would bundle up and go back upstairs to get JayDee. JayDee is totally self-contained and she does not move a muscle until I open the door of her crate. I knell down on one knee, unlatch and open the door. At that point she sits and waits until I invite her out. Shana Bana would get so excited in anticipation of freedom, that the entire crate would shake and rattle. Not JayDee. One thing that really tickles me, is that she come out, sits in front of me and points her nose straight up into the air, and then I comb her neck with my fingers. She must really enjoy it, I certainly do! Then I snap on her leash and we quietly exit the room, leaving Pam content in Slumberville!

One weekend morning, the temperatures were slightly above freezing and the road surface was shiny from a thin coat of water, the previous snow having melted off the road. The shoulders of the road were crystallized ice. By the time we finished our trek, JayDee’s underbelly was soaked and dark brown, just like a car! I was amazed at how much moisture she was able to kick up on herself. Does anyone sell mud flaps for dogs? When we got home we went out back to play Frisbee and the wetness froze as JayDee gamboled over the snow. What to do, what to do? I headed for the stall shower, towels at the ready. With the water temperature pleasantly warm, and the hand-held shower head in hand, I rinsed off her legs, paws, and underbelly. She smiled in response, totally cooperative. What a dawg! The bottom of the shower stall looked like the floor of a self service, coin operated, car wash. After a doggie shake, shake, shake, I invited her out of the shower and requested a “Down” onto the towels and patted her off. Clean as new.

There is more to our Walking the Dawg saga, but for now, there are “other fish to fry”. 
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Walking the Dawg - Neighbors

During the week that JayDee was 11-weeks old, she started something new, I discovered that she could inhale pebbles, stones, and tree-dropped nuts off the pavement without breaking stride! One book talks about a $800 (vet bill) rock. A recent Dog Whisperer episode mentioned a $5,000 vet bill to retrieve a swallowed something or other. I certainly wouldn’t want either of those! One morning, midway through the walk, JayDee totally lost interest in the treats, What’s up with that? Then I saw her jaws move. Stop we did. Open her mouth we did. Found a large green nut – a hickory nut(?) we did. What to do about this difficulty? One solution, which I tried the very next morning was to walk in the center of the approaching traffic lane, away from all the debris near the shoulder. Not the safest solution, I suppose. Cars approaching during the morning commute sometimes were “cooking” but my hearing is still adequate, so I was able to anticipate them and move to the side – back where all the debris was. Since I was utilizing the Sit/Stay/click&treat JayDee would be distracted from the cars and the stones. Whether this would ultimately become generalized when treats were gradually withheld, only time would tell.

Time and again I was reminded that this was more about training myself and less about training the pup. The treats are the primary reinforcer. The click was, at first, an event marker, but it should become a secondary reinforcer. To ultimately wean ourselves off of the treats and off of the clicker, we needed to connect the treats with a verbalization. I chose “Yessss” and “Goooood girl”. I found that the click and treat part was easy, adding the verbalization was a training requirement that I had to work on.

During the middle of the week when JayDee was 11-weeks old, I added Down during the walks, and an occasional Hi Five. Since dogs do not generalize, and previously these behaviors took place only in our kitchen, this change in locale was profitable. The addition of these behaviors to our walk only lasted a week or so because they became too much of a distraction (for me, not the pup).

Also during one of our evening walks, JayDee suddenly went “ballistic”. Reminded me of the Disney cartoon when Ferdinand the bull was stung by a bee. It wasn’t that JayDee was spooked by anything, or that she saw something to pursue. She just took off, full speed, straight ahead. I stopped and held onto the leash. When the 6 feet played out, JayDee flipped herself by her collar and her body did a 180^o mid air pivot – ouch! She gave me a wide-eyed stare and I said, “Walk” at which point I stepped forward and she stuck with me. This scenario was repeated four or five additional times, each time with a slightly reduced intensity. I didn’t have a clue. When I went to the initial handler’s meeting for Puppy Kindergarten, later in the week, I asked Valli Rovenolt what this could be all about and she called it “puppy joy” or “a puppy rift”. We called similar behavior that we had seen periodically at the house, the “puppy flakies”. JayDee would just start to scamper around the porch or kitchen. (They say that dogs don’t generalize very well. In this instance, neither did I.)

On one morning walk we ran into our neighbor, Tim, and his Whippet mix, Maddy. Although the initial meeting was a bit tentative, in short order the two pooches were romping about. I shortened the walk because JayDee had definitely gotten her exercise.

The next morning, during our walk, a college student came out of her house. Although I had never met her, she must have seen us and she wanted to meet JayDee. I let go of the leash and JayDee ran to her as if she were a long lost family member. The girl crouched down to receive JayDee and the pup did not moderate her approach. The girl was pitched back on her butt, but fortunately she thought the whole experience to be wonderful! Pups and people definitely go together. JayDee showed herself to be genuine representation of her Golden heritage. I realized that as a handler I had totally failed to control my puppy and that was the last time I let JayDee overpower anyone.

Over the next month, our twice daily walks lengthened so that by the time JayDee was 4 months old, each walk was 45 minutes in length. I found that particularly in the morning, my bladder capability was inadequate for this length away from a porcelain facility. Fifteen years ago, when I started riding a mountain bide, I prided myself that I could complete a two hour ride and not require any beverage. But then I read an article that informed me that staying adequately hydrated improved performance. I soon acquired a Camelbak, a backpack device for carrying up to 70 ounces of beverage. I trained myself to sip about every five minutes and over the course of time concluded that I would drink five cups of fluid for a two hour ride. I found that this much fluid in, required at least two or three potty breaks! I came up with a way of dealing with this, that I called “The Solution, Solution.” I wrote an article and submitted it to Bicycling Magazine, and it was actually published; I even got paid! Briefly, my solution was a 1 pint plastic bottle, shaped somewhat like a hip flask, that had a wide mouth opening and a cap. When the urge was irresistible, I would stop on the shoulder of the road, insert the bottle under my bike shorts, and relief was just a smile away. This became my personal porta-potty! Walking JayDee in the morning, after two, 10 oz cups of coffee, I could not go the distance, so I always had my Solution, Solution bottle available. I haven’t checked with any legal authorities, but my thought was that I avoided any possible charge of urinating in public! Ladies will have to find their own “Solution, Solution!”

Also during this time frame, JayDee being 4 months old, I started using a 4 foot leash which I found to be superior for this particular activity. I tried several weeks without the treats and clicker, but came back to carrying kibble-treats in the fanny pack. I began to transition to intermittent reinforcement and the schedule of reinforcement was much reduced. I also began to introduce the Leave It command, but I doubted that JayDee had a clue as to its true meaning. I also began to be able to “read” my dog. She’s learned to time her snarfs off of the road with the passage of cars. She’s learned that I monitored the cars to determine whether we needed to dive for the shoulder. But I was on to her, the little sneak! I started bringing along a braided rope chew toy that had pompoms on each end. I combined this with the Take and Give commands. JayDee carried it with pride, head and tail high. I also noticed that she must have thought she was the flag bearer for the infantry, because she smartly moved into the forward position. When she tired of this and dropped it, I would pick it up and carry it for a while (in my hand, not in my teeth) and when I would reintroduce it, she was again pleased to carry it.

Since the walks were getting longer, I determined to get JayDee up and out the door by 6:30 in the morning. Since this was October, it was dark and sometimes foggy at that time. Several times the early commuters may not have been aware that we were even there! Scary! So I got out a battery powered flashing red light that I had used for this same purpose when I went on early morning bike rides. It definitely grabbed drivers’ attention and they would then give us a bit more berth.

As the nights became longer, it was so dark in the mornings that I could just make out the double stripe in the middle of the road. The good news was that there was a minimal road debris in the center. One morning as JayDee and I strolled along, I suddenly heard a dog barking, and the dog was close! I nearly jumped out of my skin. As I looked to my right, I saw the silhouette of a person against the faint light of a distant house. The person was leaning slightly back, the appearance of one who was restraining a dog on a leash. Since we were near his house, I quickly realized that it was my neighbor Tim and his dog Maddy on a flexi-leash. Nothing bad actually happened, but I was momentarily scared out of my wits!

Now that we had extended our walking distance, we twice crossed through a section I called “The Gauntlet”. On our left was a house where they had two dogs on doghouse chains. You guessed it, bark, bark, bark with the larger black lab type dog lunging (fashioned himself a song and dance man). For some strange reason, the folks who owned this property had recently moved the lab’s dog house even closer to the road so that the dog could almost come onto the right-of-way. This dog frothed at the mouth and bared her teeth. The owners assured me that the dog wouldn’t hurt anyone. Right. That’s what all owners say just before their dog takes a chunk out of somebody. Since these dogs were outside most of the time we walked by, I named the dogs, the owners, and the house “the Barkers”, no disrespect to anyone who carries that moniker. Directly across the road, way up the hill was a yellow lab, also chained to a dog house, who was also quite vocal. Then down the street was a Golden retriever who was connected to an overhead cable. This dog was not shy about making her presence known. Finally, there was a house a bit further down the road with three toy type dogs; definitely barky and territorial who were occasionally chained outside. Walking JayDee through the Gauntlet and then turning around and retracing our steps was a noisy training opportunity. I utilized a periodic stop, with what had become an excellent automatic sit, and then proceeded. It was not until we were quite close to the black lunging lab that JayDee also lost control, primarily to play, but this too would pass (trust me, it would pass).

Because the morning temperatures had been dropping, it often required gloves, and this eliminated the dispensing of kibble treats. Not a big deal actually. Because we had been working on the Leave It command in Puppy Kindergarten and then in Canine Good Citizen classes, it began having some impact. Nevertheless, we still had a way to go. By this point, the majority of the walks were a cooperative affair – quite pleasant actually.

Another totally unanticipated benefit of walking the dawg has been an improvement in relationships with some of my neighbors. Over the years, having lived in various locations, I’ve interacted with many different neighbors. The first house we owned was bordered on each side by retired couples. On one side was a couple whose house was a mirror image of ours and their kitchen looked over both driveways into our kitchen. When we moved into the house, we put sheets up to cover the bedroom windows until we could afford definitive window treatment! One morning just after we arrived at the office we received a call from our neighbors that we had left the light on in the kitchen! Attentive neighbors, perhaps a bit too attentive! This same neighbor had a snow blower, and wouldn’t you know it, that winter was one of the heaviest snowfalls in recent memory. That man would blow out his driveway, my driveway and the sidewalk in front of several houses. What a nice man.

On the other side was another retired couple. I never saw the husband, apparently he was sickly, but his wife was one of those people who would complain about everything. She complained that when the other neighbor would blow the snow off her sidewalk, he left a thin film of snow that she had to shovel off – her husband being too sick to help! During the summer I brought over several vegetables I had harvested from our small backyard garden and she said she didn’t like vegetables. (She was the only person I have ever encountered that rejected the gift of home grown vegetables. Even if she wasn’t going to eat them, she could have graciously accepted them and given them to someone else.) Her backyard was enclosed with a chain link fence and it was positioned 6 inches on her side of the line so that she could maintain the grass on both sides. We had a large oak tree in our backyard and when the leaves came down in the Fall, some of them fell on her side of the fence. She would pick up those leaves and throw them over onto our side of the fence. Wow. I contacted a tree surgeon to determine what would be involved to trim those branches that allowed leaves to fall onto her side of the fence. The tree surgeon said that the tree was so beautifully shaped that to accommodate my “ugly” neighbor, it would result in an ugly tree and he advised against doing it. I often seek expert advice, and whenever possible I take that advice. So that’s exactly what I did in that case. Sorry lady, they call the season Fall because that is exactly what the leaves on the trees do during that season! We only lived in that house for a year and a half, but as we were moving out, the cranky lady next door came out and told me what wonderful neighbors we had been and that she would miss us! Astounded, I was absolutely astounded. Never had a clue she liked us at all!

This brings to mind that at my Dad’s funeral, many, many people had such nice things to say about him. During that part of the service when I shared, I mentioned that it was too bad that Dad wasn’t present to hear all of the nice memories. When former President Gerald Ford died, I heard, for the first time, some very nice things said of him by people who never had a kind word while he was alive! Seems a shame that it takes death for compliments to be generated. The lesson I appropriated from these experiences was to determine in my heart to compliment people this side of the grave. When I see something positive about someone, I tell them. Recently a young man in our church got engaged to a divorced gal who had two young daughters. I went up to him and told him how proud I was of him that he was willing to marry a family and become a dad to these precious young girls. He looked shocked that anyone was proud of him.

When Pam, Shana Bana, and I lived on the farm, our nearest neighbor, Malon, lived almost a mile away, and although we would exchange pleasantries from time to time, we never had a significant relationship. One time, after we had completed major renovations, I was doing the very last electrical hook ups. We had ordered fancy deck lights and they took a number of months to finally arrive. After they were installed, I couldn’t get them to light up. It was after supper and I called Malon because I knew that he was a certified electrician. He immediately came up and diagnosed a bad light switch. I told him that the switch was brand new, right out of the box. He said it was defective, new or not. He went down to his house and brought back a replacement, which he installed and the lights came on bright and true. Now that is a good neighbor!

On another occasion, Pam was incredibly pregnant. It was the last weekend in March and a late winter, heavy, wet, snowstorm came through. Our half mile dirt lane up to our house was lined with pine trees. Not huge mature pine trees, but trees that were 6 to 12 inches in diameter at their base. It was late evening by the time the snowstorm abated. I got out my John Deere farm tractor with a pull-behind plow blade. I started to clear off our lane, only to find that the snow broke over 100 trees and they blocked much of our lane. I motored back to the barn and got my chainsaw and began to slice up the trees. By this time it was closing in on 10:00 o’clock. I was concerned that if Pam went into labor, I would not be able to deliver her to the hospital before she had the baby. Then Malon appeared, chainsaw in hand. He said he had heard the sound of the chainsaw and he figured that I was in trouble. He helped slice, dice, and remove the deadfall. Now that is a very good neighbor. Pam went into labor three days later and Daniel was born into our lives.

Now about our present neighbors. George lives across the street, and over the years, I have gotten the clear message that he preferred to be left alone. But the puppy created an opportunity that hadn’t existed before. JayDee likes George and he calls her “my girl” even though he always greets us by asking “How are you guys doing?”. Whenever I am out with JayDee and we see George, I walk JayDee over to him. Well, that’s not quite accurate. JayDee tries to walk me over to George! I require a calm Sit before moving ahead, and this can take a bit of time. When we get pretty close, I ask George to approach JayDee who is not quite as calm as I would like, but definitely calmer than she would have been otherwise. After a few pets, JayDee does calm a bit. One day George asked JayDee for a Hi Five and a Shake. When she didn’t respond, I showed him the exact hand positions and when he did that, JayDee gave him the behaviors he asked for!

Nancy is a retired widow who lives down the street in the opposite direction. During the warmer months she works from sun up to sun down, tending her lawn, flowers, and shrubs. Nancy has shown herself to be a dog lover and JayDee obviously loves her! Prior to getting a puppy, my interactions with Nancy were an occasional wave as I drove by her house. Now, because of JayDee, our interactions are much more friendly.

Roger is my next door neighbor and over the years our interactions have been pleasant, but I have felt a slight, continual tension. One late spring, not all that long after we had moved in, I noticed that Roger’s grass was getting higher and higher. It was obvious that he and the family were away. I had read somewhere that uncut grass was a sign of an unoccupied house and this could be a welcome sign to thieves. Mowing the lawn was never my favorite activity, and mowing Roger’s lawn was something I really didn’t want to do, but after wrestling with myself, I decided to “do the right thing” and proceeded to mow Roger’s lawn, even as I muttered to myself. Three days later, the heavens dried up and we experienced a long dry spell. Roger came back from wherever he had been, and his lawn, and everyone else’s for that matter, went dormant and turned to crackly straw. At that point, Roger let me know that he did not appreciate me cutting his lawn. He said that he liked to cut his grass higher than I cut mine, and cutting his lawn shorter made the burnout worse! Needless to say, I never mowed a blade of his grass ever again!

One winter we had a very heavy snow fall, so after I used the blower on my own driveway I motored next door and began to blow off Roger’s drive. Roger came running out of his house waving at me to stop. It turned out that he and his wife enjoyed shoveling the snow by hand! Who’d a thunk it! Needless to say, I never removed a flake of snow from his driveway, ever again!

Now about JayDee. One day as I was walking JayDee past his house, Roger was in front so I made a direct left turn so that he and JayDee could meet. At the time JayDee was four months old. As would be typical, she was still a bit mouthy but Roger’s response was “Don’t you nip me!” I don’t think she really nipped him, but since that was his response, I realized that once again, totally uninvited, I had violated Roger’s space. Totally my fault. But in the future, should Roger be so inclined, he would have to come to JayDee, because I made a commitment not to inflict her on him! There is a happier ending to this story, but it took a year to play out. Roger is a road walker and from time to time our paths would cross. I would keep JayDee by my side and sometimes Roger would come over and interact with her. During the winter when JayDee was a year and a half old, we met Roger during one of our walks and were able to walk side by side for about half a mile. By this stage JayDee was totally off leash. Although JayDee was a bit demonstrative for the initial petting, as soon as we started to walk, she was the picture of self control. Roger was very complementary. Yes! 
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Walking the Dawg - weeks 8, 9, & 10

Walking the dog is a primal experience and can serve as the foundational basis for all of the training that may be established between man and his best friend. At first, walking JayDee had only one requirement – that she become accustomed to her collar and leash.

Although cotton (canvas) or leather leads are highly recommended, I opted for a 6 foot, 5/8 inch wide, nylon lead with a small buckle. The size of the buckle was critical to me because in one of the books I read the author mentioned that depending on the size of the dog, the buckle could slap the side of the dog’s face, and a large buckle could therefore be problematic. I combined this to an adjustable collar, 8 to 14 inches long by 5/8 inch wide, made by Four Paws. It was also made of nylon, it was flat, and it had a plastic snap. Although I never had a horse, I imagine that a puppy’s response to a collar is similar to an unbroken horse’s response to a halter. No creature likes to be restrained, but they do adjust to it over time. JayDee’s response was typical: she periodically scratched at her new collar, and as I ignored this behavior, its frequency diminished relatively quickly.

We started out with two, 15 minute walks each day, one before breakfast and the other before supper. The walks always started in the potty area and I used “Busy, Busy” as a cue and ultimately a stimulus for pees and poops. I was amazed that JayDee would, at least the first several days, follow me as we walked briskly around our property boundary multiple times. After several days, we graduated to walking the road. Our street is more of a two-lane, winding, country road than a residential street; we do not have sidewalks. The car traffic is not heavy, but in a 15 minute walk, we might see three to five vehicles. JayDee’s initial response to the cars was a slight, but noticeable hesitation upon their approach and then a prey-drive pursuit upon their passing.

Almost immediately upon introducing the leash, JayDee developed a propensity to grasp the leash in her mouth, not to pull against me, but just to have it there. I wanted to keep everything as non-aversive as possible, so I “let it be”. Towards the end of the first week, I sprayed the end of the leash with Bitter Apple. I was disappointed that this had no effect whatsoever. I chalked this up to the fact that because JayDee couldn’t read, she obviously didn’t know that this product was supposed to make the leash taste bad and therefore, she should spit it out. On the other hand, the bottle says the product was supposed to be used to discourage fur biting, hair chewing and hot spots. I had my doubts. Months later I was informed that there was a conditioning step that the handler should institute that helped the Bitter Apple to be more effective. The technique is to saturate a cotton ball with Bitter Apple, put it in the dog’s mouth and hold the muzzle closed for 1 full minute. Most dog’s find this experience to be very distasteful. Better (or bitter) late than never.

By the beginning of week 2, I was concerned that if I wasn’t careful, JayDee’s biting the leash would become so established that it would be harder to break in the future. I decided to “pop” the leash each time JayDee bit it, and not surprisingly, this behavior began to diminish. Unfortunately, this improvement was only temporary. In retrospect, I realized that I inadvertently made an incredible mistake; I should have sought expert council. JayDee’s breeder, Jenn, had been exceptionally knowledgeable and responsive, but I did not touch base with her, or anyone else, but rather relied on my own instincts. In retrospect, my own instincts proved to be inadequate (I am no Cesar Milan!). The reason I didn’t email Jenn, was that I was working with JayDee on her swimming, and I was waiting until I could send an “Esther Williams” report, and the water ballet training was taking longer than I expected. Another lesson learned.

Many experts suggest that formal obedience training be put off until 6 months of age but informal, less structured training could begin earlier. Since JayDee was only 9 weeks old, I instituted the following practice: using a 6 foot leash that had no tension on it, whenever JayDee was behind me, I would use a kiss, kiss, sound of encouragement. Whenever JayDee was by my side I would say “Yessss” or “Good Girl” or “Very Nice!”. Whenever JayDee was significantly in front of me I would give her a “Bhop, Bhop” sound just prior to executing a 180^o about turn. (The “Bhop” sound I got from Jackie Chan’s interaction with his Indian pony in his movie, Shanghai Noon.) The walking pace was just shy of brisk.

Starting with only a few occasions on each walk, I began to introduce the “automatic” sit upon stopping. The technique I used was suggested by Brian Kilcommons for Touch Level 1 – Placement Sit p. 88. There was no verbalization, just a slight pressure of my thumb and index finger on JayDee’s hips. I routinely timed this when I heard a car approaching so that I had control over the pup, and I found that she was calm under my touch. Several authors suggest that when stopping, the last foot to move should be the left foot, and it should be the first foot to move when you start. Very simple, but I needed as much practice and reminding for “automatic” left foot stop, left foot forward as JayDee did to sit. Training isn’t just for the dog.

At the beginning of the next week, JayDee was at the ripe old age of 10 weeks, and I transitioned to using the clicker and treats which I carried in a fanny pack. I had wanted to buy a fanny pack from an online “clicker” source that was specifically designed for this particular purpose. As it turned out, they were out of stock for this item for months. I found a multiple pocket fanny pack at a local Walmart that more than adequately fulfilled my needs, and it was one forth the price!

Since our walks always preceded meals, I dispensed the appropriate amount of meal kibble into the fanny pack and clicked and treated as we progressed. One problem was that even though I’m average height, it was still a long way down from my free-swinging left hand to JayDee’s mouth and the walking process was a bit stop and go. I also clicked and treated the automatic sits. After several days I discovered that having the fanny pack behind me meant less chance of spillage. Then I developed the technique of taking a bunch of kibble into my left hand and rolling one kibble between my thumb and first finger and upon clicking I could roll the kibble into JayDee’s awaiting, yawning, mouth! It was kind of cute, JayDee walking forward, looking up with her mouth open like a baby bird. The problem, however, was that sometimes the kibble would drop to the back of her throat and cause a temporary coughing spell. I learned to lower the kibble and roll it into her mouth behind her upper incisors. One unintended consequence, this time a good consequence, was that over time JayDee began to develop a “soft mouth” as she took the treat. (All you experienced dog people knew that would happen!)

When JayDee got significantly ahead, I would call her to Come and back pedal, encouraging her and clicking and treating her when she got to me. More effective than the “Bhop, Bhop” and the previously tried 180^o about turn. All of the behaviors improved without using any corrections per se, only positive reinforcement. Super!

When we got home I would empty the fanny pack into the food bowl thereby insuring that I had not exceeded JayDee’s food ration with treats. I found that this emptying always required hand picking some individual kibble out of the fanny pack. The next day I found a small rectangular plastic food container that fit inside the fanny pack and this simplified the emptying process.

Mid-week of 10-weeks old I added the Sit in Front on Recall. Two behaviors for the price of one reward. Easy! The length of the twice-a-day walks had, by this time, increased to 20 minutes in length. I also started the Sit/Stay coordinated with any approaching cars. I would issue the command of Stay, clicking and treating, reissuing the command several times as the car approached and passed. Whether JayDee understood what Stay meant, or whether she associated all this with the approaching car, there was no way for me to tell. I did know that she was paying little, if any, attention to a major distraction and I hoped that she would ultimately generalize this to future distracting experiences.

At about this time I introduced Gary Wilkes’ No Reward Marker (NRM): “Wrong”. When JayDee would drift to my right side I would let her know that it was “Wrong”. Whenever JayDee would lag I experimented with using a closed fist (with treats inside) as a lure for JayDee to bring up the slack. Unfortunately this became too cumbersome. I transitioned to using a squeeze/pulse of the leash connected to JayDee’s flat collar. There it went! All and only non-aversive training became almost all non-aversive training. The real world is a nasty place!

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JayDee Meets the Vet

Before you can take a new puppy to the veterinarian, you have to have a veterinarian to take the puppy to. Obvious, very obvious, except I had been out of the puppy business for twenty plus years. So I decided to interview offices prior to getting my new pup! A very interesting thing to do.

I thought it would be good to return to a veterinary practice I had used many years ago for Shana Bana, and “interview” them. Obviously the office staff personnel had changed, and even several new doctors had been added. I entered the reception area of the office, which was empty of patients, and approached the front desk. I mentioned that I didn’t as yet even own a dog, but expected that our pup would be born in early June and we would bring her home early in August. Typically people are quite pleased with this type of announcement, but this particular receptionist just looked at me, sort of dumbfounded. So I asked if she had any brochures that had information about their practice and the services that were available. She said that she did not understand what I wanted. I then asked about what I could expect would happen when I brought a new puppy in for examination and puppy shots. She suddenly seemed to understand what I wanted, but by this time, I felt that I was in the wrong office.

I have a suspicion that most doctors, whether they are physicians, dentists, opticians, veterinarians or whatever, have absolutely no idea what their front desk people say to the general public. Some of them would be shocked! I put myself in this same boat. As a dental specialist, I fill my work day caring for patients, and although I pass through the front desk area from time to time, I cannot monitor my staff and their interactions with the patients. I hope that they are more people friendly than that lady!

I contacted a friend and colleague who has had a number of dogs over the years and has an absolutely gorgeous Golden at present. He was quite satisfied with his veterinarian, a practitioner at Loyalsock Animal Hospital. They have five veterinarians, two of whom are a father and son. I went to “interview” that practice and Carla, their receptionist was most pleasant and informative. I felt that this was the practice for me and my future pup. Just before I left, she said, “You’re not going to spoil that new puppy your going to get, are you?” As I replied “Absolutely not!” she gave me a “you don’t have a clue” look! Well, we would just have to see, wouldn’t we!

During the first week that she joined our family, JayDee had her initial appointment with the vet. Since she didn’t need any inoculations, it was a low key examination plus a stool sample. This time Joanne was at the front desk, and it was obvious that she had a wonderful rapport with both people and pets. We requested Dr Thomas Knoebel, the founder of the practice. The appointment was a most pleasant experience for all concerned. JayDee was so calm, cool, and collected, that at one point Dr Knoebel had to wake her up! I expected that JayDee would require deworming, even though Jenn Craig had predicted otherwise. The stool sample came back negative so Jenn was vindicated and JayDee got a 100% positive report. Dr Knoebel was very complimentary about our breeder and about both the sire and dam. He gave me a sample for JayDee’s first dose of Heartguard Plus to prevent heartworm and Advantix to prevent fleas and ticks. I found this veterinarian both caring and professional and I looked forward to having him on JayDee’s team.

Because I wanted JayDee to meet all of the docs on staff, and of course for all the docs to become acquainted with her, I purposefully made her second appointment, which was two weeks later, with Dr John Broshkevitch. I again brought a stool sample, just to be sure, and this appointment was for inoculations.

We met Dr Broshkevitch who turned out to be most friendly and competent. I brought my ear cleaning solution and on the premise of “see one, do one, teach one” Dr John showed me the technique: stretch the ear canal and put the solution into the ear, massage the ear, thereby easing the solution to where it needed to go. Let the dog shake her head (JayDee did it on cue). Then use sheet cotton, not cotton balls, wrapped around the index finger and clean out the ear. When he did it, JayDee groaned – he said with pleasure. When I did it, she was silent – maybe it is “do one or more”. This visit she received her second inoculation series; she didn’t yip so the shots couldn’t have been too bad. She weighed 23 pounds – the girl was growing!. I was almost out the door when the stool sample showed parasites related to rabbit poop. Yup, we have bunny rabbits and when JayDee buries her nose into the grass, who knows what’s there. 10 days of peanut butter covered pills!

Our next appointment was with Dr Jennifer Pardoe, another very pleasant individual. JayDee weighed 32 pounds. Wow! I pointed out that JayDee had what looked to me to be bug bites on her inguinal area skin, and Dr Pardoe diagnosed a bacteriologic condition that I was to treat topically, once each day with a special chlorhexidine shampoo. Otherwise JayDee checked out fine. She received her next series of inoculations and to my surprise, her stool sample came back negative.

Our next appointment was for JayDee’s final inoculations and it was with Dr Jeremy Knoebel, the heir apparent, and he too was very pleasant. JayDee was a model patient and she didn’t flinch. This appointment she received her rabies injection and a red, heart shaped tag to prove it. At just four months of age, JayDee weighed 39 pounds.

JayDee’s next appointment with the vet was unanticipated. The day after Thanksgiving, Daniel, our Physician’s Assistant in Training, noticed that “there was something wrong with JayDee’s right eye”. It looked like her lower lid had a lesion and there was a cream colored discharge in the corner. Interestingly, JayDee wasn’t worrying it, so I delayed taking action to see what would develop. The next morning, it looked a bit worse so I called Loyalsock Animal Hospital and they got us right in. This time we met Dr Mary Lou Beers, who was also one of the originators of the practice. I don’t know what it is with veterinarians, but they all are very nice people. Maybe animal lovers are just nice people, I don’t know, but each and everyone of these practitioners, and those on their staff have been most pleasant. Dr Beers used Flourescein Stain to rule out any corneal scratches. Dr Beers mentioned that this would be painful but JayDee was a perfect patient. I was very proud of her and it was my pleasure being her partner. Dr Beers asked me if my jacket was washable because the Flourescein Stain put a mark on it as I held JayDee’s muzzle. I said the jacket could be replaced but JayDee's eyes could not.

Dr Beers addressed several other concerns I had. JayDee weighed 53 pounds and she was one week shy of six months old. Dr Beers prescribed Cephalexin 500 mgs, twice a day, 10-day course and bacitracin-neomycin-polymyxin ophthalmic ointment which needed to be applied at 8 hour intervals.

When we got home, I gave JayDee her monthly shower-bath and it was a very positive experience. I removed her collar so I would have unfettered access to the coat around her neck and she didn’t resist at all, she didn’t shake in fear, and she didn’t try to escape. She was delightfully cooperative. It took 3 large beach towels to “dry” her off and then it took 3 hours for the remainder of the moisture to evaporate. Her coat was silky to the touch and she smelled great! JayDee zonked out most of the day, whether it was the eye lid infection or the antibiotics or whatever, but we still were able to complete our morning and afternoon walks (wouldn’t want to miss them, now, would we).

The next morning when I brought JayDee down to the kitchen the eye looked worse. There was a lot of discharge on top of her lower lid and I felt bad for her. I was afraid that I would hurt her if I wiped the discharge away, so I put the ophthalmic ointment further up on her eye and rewarded her cooperative behavior with a dollop of peanut butter, in which I had sequestered an antibiotic capsule. We then headed out for our morning walk. During the walk I realized that since there had been no discharge from the corner of her eye, the situation probably was not as bad as it looked. Our entire walk was in the before dawn dark so I couldn’t adequately examine until we got back home and sure enough, her eye lid looked better.

We would have future appointments at the vets as JayDee matured, but this constituted her puppyhood experiences. 
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JayDee Learns to Swim

Among other wonderful characteristics, Golden retrievers love the water. JayDee proved to be no exception. Since we had removed our old pool and just installed a new 18 by 34 foot above ground pool, I felt that this would be an incredible opportunity for the pup.

Before I share JayDee’s taking the plunge, allow me to share my tale of woe! During the summer of 1998 we had to replace our bi-level deck. This stimulated Jenn and Allison, who were 14 and 12 at the time, to write me a "Dear Dad" letter requesting that we get a pool. Although I myself am a reasonably competent swimmer, I agreed with Johnny Carson who said that “swimming was nothing more than staying alive in the water”. For myself, I would not make the investment in a pool, but because pools and kids go together, on several occasions I had previously brought up the topic of getting a pool. Pam prudently realized that we should not have a pool until all of our children were certified swimmers. A swimming pool in the backyard of a household having non-swimmers is a recipe for tragedy. By the time I got the Dear Dad letter all of our family were not only certified swimmers, but quite excellent. Therefore I contracted to put in a large, oval, above-ground pool the following spring, 1999.

As the pool was installed, I came to the realization that there were significant discrepancies between what the owner/salesman of our local pool company had promised us and what we actually got. The pool installation was defective from day one, and therefore, at the end of the first swimming season, we had to drain the pool so that some of the problems could be addressed. Although this helped, the condition of our pool gradually deteriorated over the years. Each year the sides along the lengths were slightly more bowed out and the sides along the curved ends were slightly more bowed in. Then in the Spring of 2006, I noticed that the steel wall of the pool at one end had pulled out of its track and was displaced inward several inches – not a good sign. I was informed that I was at risk that the pool could have a catastrophic failure. That is, if the kids were horsing around, one of the walls could dramatically fail, allowing 17,000 gallons of water to cascade out. Although the likelihood of this was not severe, I was concerned if that did happen, someone might get injured, or worse.

Therefore, during the summer of 2006, I contacted a different pool company. My next-door neighbor had used them and his satisfaction was proof of their integrity and high quality. We agreed to have the site work done that Fall so that a new pool could be installed in the Spring of 2007. With all that decided, at the end of the swimming season I drained and disassembled the pool and had it hauled away. Unfortunately, because the pool guy was involved in a motorcycle accident, the site work could not be completed in the Fall. And when Spring came, my phone messages to him were never returned. Finally, late in June my next-door neighbor rang my doorbell and told me that the pool man closed his business. Does the expression, “left high and dry” resonate?

So I had to start from scratch, except now I had a 18 by 33 foot sandy beach in my backyard. By the time I had researched the various possibilities, it was too late in the season, so I put down a deposit and made arrangements for the pool to be installed (what was to be a two-day process) on a particular date in the Spring of 2008. (You know what’s coming, even though I did not!)

The agreed upon day for the pool installation came and went. In fact, twenty five frustrating days of phone calls and broken promises came and went before the pool was finally delivered, installed, and filled! I have never been told as many stories, fibs, and bold-faced lies associated with a purchase in all of my life. My experience with the pool industry has been an abomination!

I suppose that if you were land-locked and did not have access to a creek, stream, river, pond, lake or ocean, it would be quite acceptable to teach a pup to swim in a pool. In the DVD, Game Dog 2^nd Edition with Charles T. Jurney (familydogs.com), he showed his technique of inviting the dog into a stream and recommended that the dog be allowed to experience swimming at her own pace. I decided to follow this approach.

During the afternoon of the first full day JayDee was with us, Esther and I took her to nearby Rose Valley Lake. Now I didn’t take my gorgeous 16 year old daughter, and cute, as cute can be, 8 week old Golden retriever puppy in a big ole SUV, no sir, I did not. I fired up my Honda S2000, two-seater sports car (which I always referred to as “the race car”), put the top down and motored to the lake in style! JayDee was in her glory. (So was I.) Esther and JayDee made quite a picture – what was the deal with that gray-haired dude behind the wheel? (Who besides a gray headed dude can rationalize the purchase of any toy at that price?) 

Check out the cuties!

We parked at the boat launch and gradually waded into the water. JayDee was a bit tentative about the whole situation; she obviously had not, as yet had an opportunity to read about her historical roots and attributes! Nevertheless, we were able to slowly entice her into the water. She got to the point where the water was up to her shoulders. She then decided that she had enough and headed for shore. Since I was committed to making this a positive experience, there was no reason to force the issue. I hoped that JayDee’s hesitancy was temporary.

Exactly a week later we tried again, this time on the Lycoming Creek, which had an easy access point, only 3 miles from home. Although I had never been there before, our kids were very familiar with this area because they have tubed down the creek on a number of occasions. This time I brought treats and the clicker and I backed into the creek, slowly enticing and clicking JayDee as she, step by step, entered the water. It took about 5 minutes and she was swimming! She swam to me, then totally around me and then attempted to climb out of the water onto my chest! I used the leash to lead her the short distance back to shore and she walked onto the muddy bank. She was shivering but I don’t know whether she was cold or stressed. Pam toweled her off. On the short ride home, I imagined that her car crate might have even looked inviting to her! When we got home we used a gentle sprayer on the garden hose to wash her clean.

I emailed Jenn Craig telling her of our progress. I asked her when I could introduce JayDee to the pool. Since the weather had been cool, atypical of August in Williamsport, I had mentioned that detail as well. Jenn emailed back reassuring me that JayDee should be ready to take the plunge! She mentioned that during the winter, her dogs would break through thin ice to swim in Lake Erie and therefore the temperature would not be important. Obviously I had not made it clear – it wasn’t JayDee that was concerned about the water temperature, it was me! I don’t like to go in the water if either the air or water temperature is anything but warm, warmer, or warmest!

A few days later all conditions were go, so before lunch we put JayDee into the pool. I kept a supportive hand under her mid-section and this reminded me of my Dad teaching me to swim. Typically, JayDee started out trying to walk on top of the water but quickly transitioned into more of a doggie paddle. She did have a look of concern on her face, but she was a good sport. She swam for the sides but I kept her from the liner and she was in about five minutes, which I thought was adequate. After lunch JayDee slept most of the afternoon! Wow, that must have been exhausting. For my own part, the water wasn’t as warm as I would have liked, but there are sacrifices that we must make for our beloved puppies! Before supper we did another in pool session. JayDee still had to perfect her body position in the water. Jenn predicted that initially JayDee’s butt would sink, and of course Jenn was right, but I was optimistic that this would self correct. At that point Michael Phelps the Olympic champion, did not have to worry that JayDee, quickly becoming known locally as “Water Bud,” would be any competition to him.

A few days later we tried again, and as always I tried to have “the Jolly attitude.” I began to realize that if I held JayDee by the collar under her chin, she would paddle with all four paws and this lifted her butt up in the water. I can’t say that she was “lovin it”, but she was getting it. I found it interesting that JayDee’s perspective seemed to be that I was the one saving her from drowning. She must not have realized that I was the one putting her at risk! Thank goodness for misperceptions.

Weather-wise, the next several days were most pleasant – not hot enough for me to get in the pool, but JayDee needed the exposure, so in we went, sometimes twice a day, but never more than 5 minutes per session. If she was really enjoying it, she wasn’t making it obvious to me!

Previously I had cut down a leash so that it is only 6 inches long. It’s called a “grab” and it gave me more access to the pup than the collar alone. I used this in the water to lead JayDee as we did laps back and forth. When JayDee would pump with all four paws, I couldn’t back pedal fast enough. On the other hand, when she would become distracted, her butt would sink.

With the approach and passing of Labor Day, our north-central Pennsylvania weather surprisingly heated up a bit, so I was able to put JayDee in the pool. Sessions lasted five to seven minutes typically once a day, but on occasion, twice a day.

Pam offered the suggestion that both of us get in the pool and have JayDee swim from one to the other. Whether it was Pam herself (which was probably the reason) or because Pam was positioned near the pool exit, we found that JayDee would swim from me to her, but I had to go to Pam to lead JayDee by the “grab” (a 6” leash attached to her collar) to the other side of the pool, after which she would swim solo to Pam.

To complete my tale of woe, let me say that previously in late July, in anticipation of end of the season pool closedown, I ordered a winter cover, closedown chemicals, a special cover to seal off the skimmer during the winter, and water testing strips from an online pool supply. The testing strips came very quickly, but nothing else. After two weeks I emailed the supplier and after several emails and delays in between, the supplier said there was difficulty with their distributor and they would issue a refund for the unsent goods. After another two weeks, and several emails and delays in between, the refund finally came through. On August 22^nd I placed an order for the remaining items with a different supplier and the winter cover and the winter skimmer cover came quickly, but the winterizing chemicals did not. You cannot close down a pool without winterization chemicals, so after two weeks I emailed the supplier. After several emails and delays in between, the supplies finally did arrive. Is it just me, or is the pool industry drowning due to incompetence?

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The Socialization of JayDee

I was very pleased with the start of JayDee’s socialization! I was trying to adhere to Ian Dunbar’s concept of introducing JayDee to 25 new people and 5 new dogs each week while the pup was between 8 and 12 weeks old. Including the five people in the breeding household of Harborview Goldens in Erie, we ended Friday with a total of 15 people signing JayDee’s Friends Book. On Saturday we added 5 more new people and 1 dog. And Sunday we added another 3 new people.

I could have but didn’t count even 2 more that day. We had two guests from England who stayed with us for two weeks and our Pastors took them out for lunch. When the Pastors brought our guests back to our house, we invited the Pastors to say “hello” to JayDee. Because the Pastors were both dressed in white outfits, outfits that they usually wear only once or twice during the summer, I didn’t want JayDee to soil them. I did demonstrate the “Sits”. I told Pastor Wayne that if he used a clicker, perhaps some of the congregants could be helped! (He said he wished it could be that easy!) Like I said, I could have included the Pastors in the socialization count, but did not.

George and Mary Lu Way are neighbors down the street. They have a sign near their front door: “Dog Lovers Live Here”. Years back they had a beloved beagle, Belle. Now they had two rescues, Penny, a 13 year-old Pekinese (a bit feisty), and Bree, a 2 year-old Shiatsu (very pleasant, but a bit timid). So one evening during JayDee’s first week with us, I took her to meet the Way’s. Mary Lu wanted to know “what in the world are you doing with a puppy?” When I told her the story she was beaming. She welcomed us anew, as another dog lover living in her neighborhood!

She kept Penny in the house, but she brought Bree out. It quickly became evident that Bree was a bit overwhelmed by the very playful JayDee. During the conversation, I mentioned that socializing the pup to people was not going to be a problem, but finding 25 dogs over a one month period looked like a steeper hill to climb.

By the end of the first week I had managed to have JayDee meet 1 child, 2 youths, 11 teenagers, and 30 adults. That totaled 44 people, 27 were females and 17 were males. JayDee had met only 2 dogs, so although I was running ahead of schedule for the people, the number of dog interactions was running behind.

The following Saturday, Mary Lu drove up to our house, and brought Milli, a full grown, female Golden retriever to meet JayDee! Mary Lu was dog sitting her pastor’s dog and thought Milli  and JayDee would be a good mix! Some people are amazing!

Several hours later, Mary Lu came again, this time she brought Fluffy, a 2 year-old male Shiatsu/Poodle mix (would that mean that Fluffy was a Shiat-Poo? Careful there, careful.). Mary Lu felt that Milli had not been playful enough! I asked Mary Lu if she was dog-napping for my benefit, and she assured me that Fluffy’s owners were aware, if not totally comfortable with her plans and purposes. Obviously, Mary Lu is not one to take “No” for an answer. As always, at least according to Mary Lu, she was right, because Fluffy was a wonderful match for JayDee. They romped and played and it was a joy to watch. I am in awe of those folks who are willing to go above and beyond the call.

The next day was a picnic to jointly honor two ladies from our church who had recently turned fifty. Of course I brought JayDee; how could I bypass the opportunity to have so many people at my disposal and not take advantage of it! Most of the picnic people came over to say hello to her and my people socialization totals more than doubled during that two hours alone. JayDee was typically Golden – loving everybody, but I think we wore her out! The next day was a sleepy puppy day.

Later that week I invited a family to come over and meet the pup and that put my people totals exactly at 100 people but only 6 dogs.

By the end of JayDee’s first full month with us, I could say that the socialization with people has been going great. On the basis that you obtain the pup at 8 weeks of age, Ian Dunbar recommends at least 100 new people and 25 new dogs within the first month. JayDee met 7 children 9 youths, 24 teenagers, and 82 adults for a total of 122 people. 67 were female and 55 were male. On the dog tally, we didn’t make it to halfway. JayDee only met 10 dogs, but with her immunity building and puppy kindergarten starting within the week, I knew that we would achieve and surpass the doggie requirements in short order. 
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