Images of Chloe’s Family Reunion
Here is a slide show on Photobucket, complied by Koda‘s owner (thank you very much Pam!) The password to get in is case sensitive so use the capital C: Chloesgroup. It gives you a great sense of the joy of that day. It was so amazing that I am still feeling the after affects – warm, happy, love energy all around. Those pups remembered one another and they remembered their mama, Chloe. It was such a joy to see them running, wrestling, nosing, and chasing one another.
In this Photobucket video (use same password to view), Indy and Jackson wrestle with a stick while Poppy tries to get Chloe to break up the fun. Another video from the Chloe family reunion.
Chloe is thriving with her new family
Chloe at her Family Reunion 11/09
Second chances
I am happy that there are times in this life for a second chance. I have felt so worried about Chloe after the terrible mistake I made giving her to her first adoptive family. I felt so responsible for not following my gut, for not following H.E.L.P. procedure and interviewing absolutely everyone in the family, and for failing her in general. But seeing her at the first ever Chloe Family Reunion was like getting a pardon from the Universe.
Chloe looked fabulous. On the outside she was the happy, confident dog I remembered. Her coat looked good, better even than when she was with me. Her eyes shone. She held her ears and tail with interest and calmness. But the thing that mattered the most to me was what I saw in her in relation to her new family. She was clearly bonded to them.
But let me start at the beginning.
I saw her at first and nearly cried. She came out of the car so differently than she did the night she was returned to me. She was interested and approached me cautiously but directly. She sniffed, stepped back and then sniffed again. I believe she remembered me. When she got outside with her pups it was clear that she remembered my yard. She ran like she used to, circling the yard over and over again – tail high, tongue hanging out. She was completely happy though, not a frantic running, just a run for the pure joy of it. Then she greeted her pups, sniffing each on the nose. There was much wagging and nuzzling all around. Everyone commented on how they were certain the group remembered one another. At one point I even saw Chloe lie down on her back as her pups gathered round! Just like she used to when she was still nursing them! But that didn’t last long and she was up again racing around the yard, her pups in pursuit.
After a number of games of chase, numerous wrestling matches (everyone having fun, no aggression whatsoever!) and a few tug of war games, everyone dispersed to explore on their own. Chloe found a mud puddle and promptly lay down in it. Something she used to do while living with me. As the afternoon wore on each of the dogs’ energy was drained, and I noticed them going to their people and resting. Chloe did that too – joined her family, laying at her new mama’s feet and snoozed.
Barking while Crated
Here’s a note from A. & E.:
We were wondering if you had any advice in regards to barking in the crate. Scooby sleeps in his crate at night and the first 3 weeks he made it thru the night without barking. But recently he has started waking up between 2-5 AM barking. Because we live in a townhome this cannot be something that the neighbors enjoy.
Do we ignore him and hope he stops when we ignore it? Or should we be doing something else?
Barking is one of those things that can be reinforced inadvertently… you don’t think you’re reinforcing it but you are. Any attention to a bark will reinforce it – telling the dog to quiet, trying to soothe the dog and letting it out to see if it has to potty are all ways we can reinforce a dog’s barking. There are things you can do to stop the behavior – first of all make sure the dog is sufficiently exercised prior to crating – imagine how terrible it is for a dog to be confined in a space only large enough to sleep in when they are coming out of their skin with energy. And don’t assume that just because you think the dog is sufficiently exercised it is – most dogs have a much higher need for exercise than their owners realize. For most people I recommend adding a second walk to their daily 1 hour walk. If you are walking much less than this that may be the problem. If the dog is exercised, make sure you are stopping food intake early enough so the dog has a chance to eliminate prior to crating. I usually recommend the last meal of the day be the smallest and to be given around 5pm for a 10 pm bedtime. (I feed twice a day). If there is someone in the home that gets up early, that may be causing the barking – maybe that person can potty the dog and return him to his crate. There are so many possibilities you really need to think about the whole situation from the dog’s perspective to identify the cause of the barking.
But one thing is certain – dogs do what works and if barking either doesn’t work or is aversive (the reason no-bark collars work) then the behavior will stop. But the behavior must always be aversive or always not work. If it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t, the behavior will continue and be even harder to stop (think of the people who pull the bar on the slot machines for hours with little payoff – that’s intermittent reinforcement at work).
So, if the neighbors and you can take it, ignoring the behavior is a good solution. Depending on how you feel about such a product, the no-bark collars will give you the fastest results but you must be certain the dog isn’t indicating a need with the barking, otherwise it is just cruel to collar them.
I wish you luck!
Let me know how it turns out.
-Kristin
Video of a dog and a deer playing together
We now have a short video to go along with the beautiful photos we posted of Juno and her new friend playing together in Wisconsin. Here is Juno and a deer romping around together:
Watch this and other CanineFostering videos on YouTube.
Dog Summit – Chloe’s Family Reunion
Chloe & pups, May 2009
On Sunday, Nov. 8 we have a first for CanineFostering planned: A family reunion of all of Chloe’s puppies with Chloe in attendance as well. We are all so excited! It is amazing that this group has come together and stayed in contact. It makes so much sense though – new familes of puppies need support and benefit from a place to exchange training ideas. All it took was one of the group to extend the offer of setting up an email list and everyone jumped on board. Now we’ll be able to see how much everyone has grown and see if Chloe even remembers any of them! I am so happy to be anticipating this. Pictures and movies will follow.
Update on Birch
An update on Birch (one of Willow‘s litter)!! Her family wrote me tonight to say that she had her spay surgery and it went well. She is a whopping 49 pounds!! She looks so much like her litter mates it is crazy. All the pups are really similar and also really favor their mama, Willow. Seeing this picture made me really happy. I hadn’t heard from her family in a long while and I always worry when I haven’t heard much from an adoptive family.
