Archive for June, 2010

A puppy with a biting problem

Most puppies are mouthy but they rarely bite to draw blood.

Most puppies are mouthy but they rarely bite to draw blood.

I’ve been working with a very sad case of a puppy who bites when frustrated. Ordinarily, that isn’t that unusual as all puppies need to learn (and therefore be taught) to tolerate frustration. They need to learn patience and self control much like people need to learn those skills. They are the foundation of what we consider “manners.” When young puppies are very frustrated, it is normal for them to bite. However, all puppies who are healthy and have been raised with their mama and littermates have a natural respect for those in charge. And they all learn something called “bite inhibition.” They learn to hold back from biting full strength, and to use a bite only as a last resort. Their mama teaches them by her reactions when they do bite too hard or too quickly – she swiftly puts them in their place, usually by a nip of her own and a hard growl. And as puppies play together they learn that a hard bite stops play and that a soft bite lets it continue. Through these daily interactions all puppies raised well learn this important social skill.

Puppies learning how to inhibit their bite so that play can continue.

Puppies learning how to inhibit their bite so that play can continue.

Not this little puppy. At 2 months of age this puppy would bite hard enough to draw blood, whenever it was even a bit frustrated. By the time I saw him at 4 months of age, he was confident in his ability to boss people around and bit frequently and with very little provocation. He bit me three times before I even knew what had happened, and that isn’t a common occurrence for me! What is so sad is that this sort of behavior in a puppy so young is highly unusual – to the point of being considered abnormal. It suggests that something has gone very wrong in this puppy’s neurological development or upbringing. I suspect that a large piece of the puzzle is that this particular puppy, even though he is registered with the American Kennel Club, was purchased at a pet store. It is likely that he wasn’t a product of one of the notorious puppy mills, but he could have been. It is more likely that he was taken from his mama and littermates far too young – I’d guess at about 3 or 4 weeks. And his mama is likely mentally unstable herself. It is such a sad story. The family who owns him loves him dearly but the pup has bitten everyone, and there are young children who live in the home. It is my strong opinion that this dog should be rehomed, if there is a home who could work with him. But I strongly suspect that this pup will likely have to be euthanized.

puppies learn how to playSo, please, I cannot stress this enough, please do not purchase puppies from pet stores. Adopt a homeless puppy from a shelter or a foster home (H.E.L.P. is a great resource!). If you must, use a reputable breeder. Make sure they insist on keeping their puppies until they are at least 8 weeks of age. Make sure they keep them in such a way so that they have frequent contact with their mama. And make sure that they are willing to (and interested in) making any problems like this one, right.

Not just a vacuum, a Kirby

a Kirby vacuum

a Kirby vacuum

Tonight I did something that I wouldn’t have thought I would ever do. I bought a Kirby vacuum (they call it a Home Maintenance System)! I got a “free” room shampoo (which really means a HARD CORE sales call) from the family who adopted our foster mama, Annie. It was a nice gesture and I had been wanting to get my area rungs cleaned. I figured, “I’m good at saying ‘no’, no problem.”

Well…the guy was funny and charming so I was really enjoying myself, not feeling at all like I was going to be buying a vacuum that costs almost as much as our recent camper purchase. Boy was I wrong. First he vacuumed our area rug with our Dyson.

Brandon demonstrates the Kirby

Brandon demonstrates the Kirby

Now, I believed that Dyson was a top of the line vacuum. We bought it because of how much hair and dirt the dogs just naturally bring into the house. I figured that we were set. When I saw how much DIRT and HAIR the Kirby vacuumed picked up, after our Dyson had already done the job, I was shocked. I hate carpets because they hold dirt. But area rugs are nice and cozy so I have two nice ones I use. I have often wished we had a carpet cleaner for them but I figured they were getting good and clean with our Dyson. Nope. Lately, I’d been saying to Mike that the carpets felt “slimy” and looked dirty. In fact, I was increasingly unhappy with the vacuum job he was doing (yes, my loving husband has taken on that task as his contribution to our house hold maintanence). I guess I thought it was him, being lazy. But long ago I decided to stay out of his contributions to the household. Also, have I mentioned that I really never liked my Dyson? It was so HEAVY and clunky and difficult to manage and just wrong. Anyway, the guy sold that Kirby SO HARD. Like his life depended on it! It was like watching a sporting event: he was sweating and jumping around so much I was afraid he was going to trip and fall out of our large picture window! But what really sold me was how dirty everything really was, and how clean the vacuum got it. With our son’s allergies, it seemed to me to be a good investment. So, anyway, now I own a vacuum that Mike equates to owning a Mercedes…which is sort of nice actually.

Dirt caught by the Kirby after the Dyson

Dirt caught by the Kirby after the Dyson

So, for all you dog lovers out there I have a proposition – if you’d like to see the Kirby in action AND get a room carpet cleaned (or up to 6 items if you’re like us and have all hard wood floors) call Brandon on his cell at (252)548-9319. Tell him you got his number from us (from Kristin and Mike) and we’ll get a free bottle of carpet cleaner. He is a funny, entertaining guy and you’ll get a nice clean room Just make sure you’ve got about 90 minutes to give it. You won’t be sorry. Just practice saying “no thank you, just clean my carpet please.” Over and over and over…and then write in and tell us your experiences!

An insight on hiking with your dogs

While we were camping recently I had an insight – the “rules” for walking correctly don’t always apply. For instance, we were hiking and two of my dogs wear backpacks. They carry all the water for the group (for us and for them) and carry our lunch. They have a heavy load on their backs and need a bit of room to sway from side to side. It is frustrating and difficult to keep them close, like I usually do, because the packs keep banging into my legs, knocking both of us off balance. I tried for a spell, to keep them behind me but that was also unpleasant as they tended to drip their saliva down the backs of my legs (which is as gross as it sounds.) The solution? I hooked the leash onto the clip on the back pack (we use wonderful packs from RuffWear) and let them walk in front of me. In my opinion this is the perfect solution. They get to have all the room then need to do their “work” and I am free to walk unencumbered.

dogs with backpacksAs you see, they are both working so hard they are staying pretty close by. It was a great solution to this problem. In addition, you’ll see my dog, Bella, on one of those extension leashes. Ordinarily I HATE those leashes as they are used in city walking and the dogs are usually out in front, extending the leashes to their maximum length. This is just a recipe for a whole host of problems, in my opinion. But on a hike, these leashes provide the dog with more room to explore while still being under your control. After a good long hike, you can see, they don’t really want to go that far in front anyway and if they are primarily walked close at hand, that’s where they’ll end up. So, with all things dog training, remember that rules usually need to be broken from time to time.

The important thing is to always ask yourself this question: Who is the leader here, and who is the follower?