AN EDUCATION - Books, Behaviorists and Teaching Myself

My dogs are one of the best gifts my life has given me. I feel so lucky to have them in my life as I do. I also feel it is my job to give them a lucky life. They need care and safety and jobs and love and limits and fun!



Luna IS a present!


Foster Dog is a Wise One


While it is my job to lead our life together, my dogs often teach me how to do that. Lately, Perfect Luna has been a little sassy and I've been concerned her Role Model status might not be as ideal for Foster and I'd been thinking... I don't see her lack of listening to my command to come out of the woods as completely her fault. My dogs have taught me that their "faults" are also my fault, and together we'll figure out how to be "perfect" again. Usually, we figure it out by me going back to the books. I love books. I have a few.



Two shelves of devotion


A Picture of Satchel rests on top of these precious books


A set of very valuable guides


Two more shelves devoted


A magazine article can be read faster than a book & still make me feel I've learned something.


I learn something from every book, but I do have some favorites. I will spend the next week reviewing some favorite authors, books and resources that have enhanced my family and helped guide us to great places.

THE WALK - Luna and Her Treadmill

Sometimes it's too icy to walk outside, or for a few days in Summer, it's just too hot during the day for a dog. We have a treadmill. Luna LOVES it. Luna never misses a walk.



If you put it on mute, you won't have to listen to my sing-songy I-love-you-Peanut voice.


Foster is learning to walk on the treadmill too. He still needs me with him, and I hope he grows to love it even a little bit like Luna.

If you want to know how to help your dog enjoy a walk on a treadmill, let me know, I'll show you!

THE WALK - The Gear

There a few days each year that are too cold or too hot to walk. I have the gear to protect my skin, but sometimes all the right gear isn't enough to protect my dogs' and they lift their paws telling me it's too cold or too hot for their precious pads. We have a lot of gear. I mean A LOT. I suppose it is my extreme discomfort with cold that is part of my obsession with coats. I have many many coats and accessories for myself, and a few for my dogs...but really we have all kinds of gear for all kinds of weather and all kinds of walks.

The Basics

The Basics are what I consider collars and leashes and poop bags. These are the essentials for a general walk. There are a kajillion kinds of collars and leashes with labels for various needs and sizes of dogs. We are a basic kind of family. We have slide buckle collars (I get the collars that can be embroidered with my dogs' names and my phone numbers) with a ring for tags, and cloth leashes. Santa brought us new leashes with special features - embroidery and reflection!

I'm frequently asked about what kind of collar and what kind of leash I use. I can't believe how much of an opinion I have about them!

Collars - As I already typed, I like the collars that can be embroidered with my dogs' information. Tags can fall off or the information can wear away, but if a collar is properly sized, it should remain on your dog through jaunts through woods and rivers and swamps and alleys... My dogs have tags also; license, microchip company number, proof of rabies vaccination.


Prong, Buckle, Martingale, Cloth Choker, Slide Buckle (Luna's actual collar)

Leashes - I do not like Flexi-style leashes. Their extension and retraction features don't fit with my walking philosophy, but it's really their user un-friendliness and how they compromise my ability to protect my dog if necessary that has me using the basic loop handle leash. With the loop handle, I can easily walk multiple dogs by inserting my arm through the loop. Also, when I need to pick up dog poop, being able to rest the loop up my arm provides me with the use of both of my hands. For dogs without leash manners and/or with a lot of strength, loop handles can easily be turned into a waist leash for more stability and less length to help with reducing criss-crossing and pulling.


We received all three of these as Christmas gifts this year!


Here's how I use the loop handle leash for shortening the leash and increasing my stability, as well as my ability to be hands free.

Poop bags - There are all kinds and I try not to beat myself up about environmental harm. I reuse plastic shopping bags when I have them, but clients often give me rolls of plastic bags or boxes of handled plastic bags. They all work, we always have extra in my pockets because someone will try to say he or she forgot one as if that would make it acceptable to not pick up after his or her dog...What. Ever.


I still can't believe how many people don't bring any of these with them on a walk.

Extras - We have backpacks and dog poop bag carriers too. Backpacks add to the fun for my dogs, giving them a job. We've received the bone-shaped poop bag carriers as gifts and they give a good supply for a while.


The top one is for daily walks. The bottom one is for our days in the woods. We need lunch, lots of water and maybe even a book!

Harnesses, etc. - Some people are concerned about their dogs' necks due to how much pulling the dogs do on a walk. There are products like the "Easy Walker" or "Halti" that are designed to prevent pulling. I worked a long time with Satchel (our almost 16-yr-old Yellow Lab who died in 2010) on how hard he pulled and learned a lot about Haltis and harnesses and prong collars. The Halti strengthened his neck and he kept pulling. The harness created a sled-dog type experience allowing him to pull even harder. The prong collar worked fantastically - one trainer I met called it "power steering for dogs" - but I noticed people reacting negatively to him while wearing it, as if he was a menace and needed a menacing type collar. After reading a few books, working on leadership, and making Satchel nearly dizzy with the "This Way" approach (ask me if you really want to know what it is), Satchel and I became the models of the neighborhood. I would hear, "Hey! He used to walk you!" While I didn't love that people had noticed us so much, I did appreciate that they noticed our improvement!


These are examples of harnesses. They are actually seat belt or walking harnesses. We use them as seatbelts. And the flashers are for our dark walks.

With my experiences with Satchel, to walk, I now only use the slide buckle collar, the basic loop handled leash, and I remember to bring poop bags just in case. Here is Foster modeling the leash accommodation I use for dogs who pull. The loop leash is great for so many things!



My job does not provide the same schedule every day, but we still follow the same schedule every day. We get up, I get dressed, we walk. I don't think I would walk just because it's good for me and I enjoy it. I think I'm disciplined about it because it's good for my dogs. A few days each week we have to get up really early to get our morning walk in. Foster does not enjoy the 5:45am alarm, but he does stretch out of bed and find his way to the mudroom where Luna is wagging her tail and ready to go. Because we do it every day, even when it's what I call "Dark O'clock," the dogs know it's time to go, and once we're out there, everything feels right. We also walk in the evening, though this time is never the same. Still, the dogs know it's time for our evening walk and they follow me into the mudroom to get suited up!

My Suits
I have warm weather gear and cold weather gear and wet weather gear.


I have coats and jackets and vests for all weather, but these are for the extremes when people think it's too cold or wet.
Down Jacket & Snow Pants, Triple C Full Length Down Coat, Gortex Rain Gear Jacket & Pants


The Best Ever - The Shugga Suit


Waterproof Bogs, Tested to keep my feet warm to -40F Baffins, Waterproof Slip-on Bogs


Their Gear

A Selection
Full Body Fleece, Sweaters, Waterproof Fleece handed down to Foster from Satchel and Hooded Sweatshirt
I can never keep those bootie things on their feet, but we have those too.

Time
I know tired and cold and overworked and overstressed, but for me, I'm "off" if we don't walk. It's like a cure for anything that's bugging us. We get up at "Dark O'Clock" a few times each week, and on those mornings, our walk might only be 20 minutes, but because we walk every day, multiple times per day, my dogs are not resisting when it's time to head home. They know we'll be out again, walking together, later.

I've had the flu or mouth surgery or a migraine or something that has kept me from walking with my dogs. They may seem a little "off" - maybe it's confused, maybe it's waiting with anticipation of when - but because that need to get outside and explore is met so frequently, my dogs don't chew up a shoe or get into the garbage to occupy their minds and bodies. Thank You God! And my dogs are socially strong. Their skills are in great part due to the daily exposure to multiple people, but I think their skills are also due to the variations in environment they experience. We explore a different route and encounter different smells and sounds every day. I wouldn't walk just for myself, but I'll do it for my dogs and I think their wonderfulness is like a Thank You.

THE WALK - From Luna's Point of View

I don't know a life other than the life I have with Leanne. I don't spend any time thinking about, or remembering, my life before her. I don't even think about what we did yesterday. I do whatever Leanne is doing and whatever she asks me. I hate when she tells me to "Come" when I'm totally excited about what's in the dirt in the courtyard. And I even more totally hate when she tells me to "Drop" the clump of wonderfulness I've found in the courtyard. But I love her more than the dirt, so I do what she says.

Leanne smells so good. She's almost always happy and smells the best when we're outside together. It makes me so happy to walk with her. She smells extra good then. One of the things I like best about Leanne is she doesn't say a lot to tell me what she wants. Now, I'm not saying she doesn't talk. She talks to me All. The. Time. She talks to Foster Dog all the time too. She talks to us about everything. Ev. Ree. Thing. But someone Leanne knows noticed something about how we get ready to walk and I thought it was weird that the person thought we were weird. I think we're awesome. Leanne tells me I'm awesome like 700 times a day.



Foster Dog and I were sitting in the mudroom as Leanne got our collars and leashes and FD's coat on. She's always so happy and calm and it makes me happy how she's so gentle with the collar and how she has me wait away from the door in case someone comes in so I don't get hurt. Someone did come in that day and both FD and I got excited and stood up and wagged our tails. Leanne said, "Ah Ah Ah," and showed us the hand signal for sit. The person said, "Oh! Are you guys getting ready for a walk?!?" in this super loud sing-songy voice and we got up again. Leanne gave us the Stop/Stay signal and said really quietly, but not whispering, "Yes, we're getting ready and we start our walk only when we're calm." FD and I looked at Leanne and looked at the person and looked at Leanne, and we sat down. The person said, "Wow! My dog goes crazy jumping on me if I even walk near his leash! You're dogs are so quiet! That is so weird! How did you get them to do that?!" Leanne said, "Well, we do this every day, and I tell them what to do with my eyes and hands more than my mouth." The person said, "Oh... Weird." I don't think the person really wanted to know.

Leanne doesn't yell at us...except when Foster Dog runs out of the yard or when I go deer poop hunting. She barely says anything to us when we're getting ready to walk, and she definitely doesn't talk as loudly as that person in the mudroom did. She smells calm, moves smoothly and surely, gets us and herself ready, makes us wait on the porch until she can shut the door, and then we walk. I love it.

We never miss a day. Sometimes Leanne isn't home and Jason tries to walk with us. He likes to take pictures of us and send them to Leanne. Foster pulls on the leash thingy a lot more with Jason than he does with Leanne. It's funny. Jason really likes to walk with us, but no one smells as happy walking with us than Leanne. I'm happy when she's happy and I'm happy when I'm outside so it's perfect.

THE WALK Continues

I've typed it here many times. I love walking with my dogs. I am happiest when I am walking in the woods with my dogs and no day truly begins until we have walked together. I love everything about walking. I feel fortunate to have the physical strength to walk, and I appreciate all my senses that experience the outdoors. I love using my eyes to see the trees and the wildlife in my neighborhood. The feel of the grass and the pavement and the leaves under my feet makes me feel secure. The dogs often alert me to the direction from which the nature sounds we hear came, and the smells and even the tastes in the air are distinct to each season. Being outside, walking with my dogs, is a complete and perfect experience for me.

It is a complete experience because walking isn't just a physical experience for me. It is an emotionally recharging one, and it deepens the bond between me and my dogs.

Dogs have been domesticated, yes, but just as humans have "primal instincts" and needs, dogs do as well. Dogs need to migrate and work for their food and water. Dogs need a job; a place within the pack. Within a pack of dogs there are more followers than leaders, and the followers trust that the leader will provide for them. I am the leader in my pack and pretty much everything my dogs need in a day comes from me, and in subtle and obvious ways, they work for it. One of the ways they work for their meals is to follow me on a walk. They don't pull me down the street. They don't resist and prevent us from walking. They don't criss-cross in front of me or decide where we're going. They follow me, and together we enjoy the journey.



My dogs didn't come into our family with what I call "leash manners." Luna had been on very few walks in her 10 months of life before becoming our Perfect Peanut. Foster Dog, at 2 years old, had spent half of his life in a shelter, and the other half living we-don't-know-how before becoming our Fosse. With patience, leash accommodations, and encouragement for behavior I like, I now can walk down any street, any wooded path, in any county park, or any public space and know that my dogs will follow me. Luna is so experienced, she will follow without a leash. Foster and I are still working on that part of our relationship. It's not like you'll never see me telling me dogs, "We're going this way. Come on. Let's go. Foster, get down," but I don't have to avoid any area because my dogs will run away or because they don't like other dogs or because someone might get hurt. It's wonderful to have nature open to you.

And that is what structured, purposeful walking does: it strengthens your relationship with your dog. It binds us into a family. Knowing that we will walk each day, at least twice, shows my dogs they can count on me to provide them with the physical and mental stimulation they need, enjoy and crave. My dogs and I grow closer and stronger with each walk, with each day.

THE WALK - January 1, 2012

I am starting the year of I'm a D.O.G.! topics with the most important one to me: The Walk. For my dogs and I, our day does not truly begin until we have walked. We walk every day. Yes, every day.


Luna looks to me about what we're doing next...at this time, Foster was still learning...and very interested in the nighttime critters he surely smelled in the yard.

There are several components to walking with your dog, and I believe the most essential is the "with." I don't believe in taking my dogs for a walk, or my dogs walking me, or it being my dogs' walk. It is our walk. We walk together.

Sure, there are tools for walking, and you need time for walking, and you need energy for walking, but if you have a dog, then you have everything you need for the best way to start every day.

When Foster Dog came into our family, he didn't seem to understand that we wake up and we walk. I would get up, and get dressed, and he would still be lying down with sleepy eyes.



Even Luna's role model behavior of waking up with me, and waiting patiently, didn't register with FD. Once Luna & I were "suited up," we'd get Foster and he'd realize it was a good idea to follow us. It took him about two weeks to really realize that we wake up, Leanne gets dressed, and we walk. He wakes up and hops up now, knowing The Walk is our morning routine.

Each day this week, the dogs and I will walk. Along the way, we'll report about what The Walk means to each of us and why it's the foundation of our family.

2012 Plan

I feel I would be happy spending all my time with dogs, my dogs in particular. My plan for 2012 is to at least spend more time with I'm a D.O.G.! I plan to pick a topic each week and report on it as I work on it.

How handy that 2012 starts on a Sunday.
My first topic will be revealed then!

Foster Dog & Luna - My Dogs
Mine Mine Mine and I'm Theirs