REFRESHING

I went to see Cesar Millan in Akron, Ohio, February 3rd, one of few stops he made on The Pack Leader Tour in the United States. My love for Cesar Millan is deep. I appreciate him and his philosophy and his story and his kind communication style. I left the lecture loving him and my dogs all the more. I also left with less weight on my shoulders and a more forgiving heart toward myself.

Whenever my dogs make a mistake or don't listen to me, I look to myself and what I am doing wrong. I think about what I am lacking in our relationship that causes them not to trust or respect me. I watch Cesar's show, The Dog Whisperer. I have all of his DVDs and have watched them. I have all of his books and have read them. I subscribe to his newsletter and watch the short educational videos he posts. I have heard his message that it isn't the dog or the breed, it is the human behind the dog. I have loved his dogs and mourned the loss of Daddy, Cesar's perfect dog who changed the world. I've seen virtually everything he has shared and tried to teach me. What I missed was the continual process. I only saw Cesar's "product," the wonderful way he interacts with dogs, how he encourages and creates transformation in minutes, and how he communicates to humans that they can make it all happen too. I missed the process that he continually goes through with his own pack - there is continual reminding and enforcing of the rules, boundaries and limitations.


Cesar and Junior at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio February 3, 2012

As Cesar demonstrated his feeding ritual with Junior on stage, I smiled. I had just coincidentally covered feeding on I'm a D.O.G., and everything the audience was ooohing and aaahhhing over was something I could have done with Luna and Foster right then. Nothing Cesar was demonstrating with Junior was unusual in our everyday life. I felt such happiness for my dogs and our relationship. I felt so lucky to have the same kind of respect in our relationship that Cesar and Junior shared. Then Junior started to sort of crab walk to the bowl of food without Cesar's permission. Cesar corrected Junior with his "tsst" sound, and Junior stopped, and all was well, and my heart started to pound. My heart pounded quickly again when Cesar had to say "tsst" to Junior a few minutes later during a toy demonstration. Junior needed correction. Junior needed to be reminded of the rule, boundary and limitation set by Cesar. Junior respected Cesar, but still needed a little bit of correction. It hit me hard that the process is continual and I am not lacking. My relationship with my dogs is not lacking. We rock.

This week, I am inspired to cover some of the things I continually work on with my dogs. I'll try to show what we do, why we do it, and how we remind each other we need to revisit the rules, boundaries and limitations that keep our pack strong. We are filled with trust and respect. Our Pack Rocks.

FEEDING RITUAL - Two More Things

Just two more things about feeding my dogs.

1. I like to feed them twice per day. I split up their caloric needs into two meals. I think it gives more structure to the day and gives them something to look forward to in a sense. Not that dogs are thinking and planning their days, but I don't believe anyone who says dogs can't tell time. My dogs may react to their breakfasts out of knowledge of the routine, but when it's 4:30pm, they start looking to me as if I've forgotten something. I tell them, "It's not time yet. We eat at 5pm."

2. Everyone's dog has its own body routine, but approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours after eating, my dogs need to go outside. Puppies tend to need to go out within 20 minutes of eating, or even playing, and some adult dogs may have this need as well. My dogs' digestion tells them they need to go out by around 7pm. This kind of information is important. Any variation from this would let me know there's something potentially amiss in my dogs' internal health.

Such great information can come from a feeding ritual. Who knew?


Luna knows everything!

FEEDING RITUAL - Eating

Some people experience what is called "food aggression" or "resource guarding" with their dogs. These are displayed by a dog's growling, snapping, barking, etc. toward a person or other animal that approaches it while it is eating or chewing on a high value item such as a rawhide, bone, or favored toy. This is dangerous behavior and it is unacceptable in our pack.

There is not one command or "thing" we do that discourages resource guarding. I believe it is the one hundred little things we do every day that inform our dogs we provide for them, everything belongs to us, they do not need to defend themselves, and we will not accept possessive or aggressive behavior. Our feeding ritual provides examples of a few of these.

As already highlighted, our dogs work for their food and wait calmly. They also have to receive permission to approach their feeding stations.


Fosse's bowl is filled with dry dog food, frozen green beans, pureed sweet potatoes and hot water. He looks to me for direction of when he can eat. He's such a good puppy!

Once my dogs are eating, I should be able to have my hand in their bowls or move them away from their stations or touch them without any irritation or aggressive behavior. I am guaranteed this due to the trust and respect in our relationship. It creates a secure environment for everyone. My dogs trust that they never have to defend food, and I trust that my dogs are safe around anyone any time.


Luna licks my hand assuming something good is coming from it.
Not everyone has this kind of relationship with her dog, but I wish it for everyone.


Foster moves slightly from my hand as it approaches his food, giving me space and preparing to stop eating if I demand it.
He was unsure during feeding time when he first came to us, but now he's healthy, respectful, appreciative, and happy to eat.

FEEDING RITUAL - Waiting

Feeding time can be an exciting and active time in some households. I am told of food spilling, people tripping, dogs jumping and general chaos leading to people just leaving food out for their dogs to eat at will. For a few reasons, free-feeding is not something I provide, but what I do create in my home is a structured and relaxed energy surrounding our feeding ritual.

After we've walked - accomplishing a task before being rewarded with food - my dogs have a particular location in which to sit while I prepare their meal. This location gives them the opportunity to see what I'm doing while ensuring everyone's safety and composure. It doesn't take long to prepare their meals, but there are a few steps, and having my dogs sit until I call them to their bowls gives them another task to perform, and it provides them with the predictability that food comes when everyone is calm. There is a serene feeling and reverence for the gift of food in our house.

This isn't all to assert my power over them, though it does create an understanding that all good things come from me, but it gives everyone a job, a place, a security that we each have a role in this ritual and it's always a gift, happily provided and received.


Luna watching carefully and patiently. Fosse interested in both the meal prep and the squirrel he sees out the window.

FEEDING RITUAL - We Walk

I know I've typed it a jillion times already, but here it is again. We walk.

I see walking together before eating as a primal connection between my dogs and I. In another lifetime together, my dogs and I would migrate and hunt in a territory. We would have to work to find our food. In our life together now, even if it's a short walk, walking together before eating is a ritual within our feeding ritual. It just feels right.

FEEDING RITUAL

I've got a thing about food. I feel it is one of the most loving things I can provide for my family, and I enjoy taking care of my family by feeding them the highest quality food I can afford. Of course this includes my dogs. I have researched dry commercial foods, designed and implemented a home-cooked menu, as well as fed my pack a combination of commercial and home-cooked foods plus nutritional supplements. Through all of the meal plans, I have maintained the same feeding ritual. Meals, the assembly of them, and even the eating, all have a rhythm, and some rules.

Meal time at our house is exciting. Our dogs are highly food motivated, but it is also a calm, stress-free, manner-filled experience. I love giving my dogs exactly what they need, and I love the respect they have learned to show the humans who provide for them.

I've been using this food for nearly one year since discovering Luna's allergies are tremendously helped by feeding her virtually no grains. Foster likes it too!

SAFETY - The Heat

Warm temperatures make it seem so easy to get outside and be with my dogs...because they do make it easy! The only thing I put on my dogs is tea tree oil spray (for mosquitoes, fleas and ticks) and out we go for hours of walking, weeding, picking up sticks, whatever. My dogs still have needs though, and I think I'm prepared for the "whatever" of the outdoors in the heat.

Having Labrador Retrievers, I learned they are prone to heat stroke. I've had a Yellow Lab and a Black Lab. This does not mean they had to stay indoors in air conditioning. This means I had to provide ways to keep them cool and safe, and yes, sometimes limit their activity because they don't know when to stop!

Satchel was over 90% Yellow Lab and he LOVED to be outside for any landscaping activity. While he was severely car sick, and hated being in a moving car, he LOVED tooling around the yard in the John Deere cart. To safely be outside, Satchel needed just a little bit of sunscreen on his nose and some shade. To be happy, he just needed his Jason.


Adorable, right?

For Luna and Foster, a Black Lab and a mix of dark dogs, they need just a bit more cooling opportunity. We provide a pool for cooling off! Foster doesn't love the pool as much as Luna, so I put what is called a "Cooling Collar" on him. It has some kind of gel inside that when soaked and frozen remains cool around his neck for about 2 hours. We also keep the garage doors open so the dogs can lie down on the concrete in the shade, and that is where their outside drinking water is kept. They get to participate in whatever we're doing (we were setting up for an outdoor party on the day these photos were taken), and I know that they're safe from the heat.


Luna LOVES her Puppy Pool


The actual temperature was over 90F with over 90% humidity. It was HOT.

We are fortunate to have access to a lot of lakes and boats, and people know that I will want to be with my dogs, so we are invited to bring them with us. With boats, comes my boater safety training, and that makes me think of life vests. Yes, my dogs have life vests.


Once again, Luna is ready to go!

I have been told that my dogs, my Lab in particular, can swim. This I know. I also know that accidents can happen, and even dogs can be knocked unconscious, or our kayak could flip while out on Lake Michigan and it's a long swim to shore. We have life vests for our outdoorsy life, and I'm not embarrassed to wear one, nor to have my dogs wear one.

I will "confess" that when Luna and I canoe on the Crystal River we don't wear our life vests. We love canoeing there. People yell from shore that Luna should have a paddle, and we smile and wave. It's so easy and relaxing. I know that you can drown in inches of water, but the Crystal River is like 2 feet deep in most areas so even if we "capsized," the canoe wouldn't even sink. I can't find the picture of my sweet canoe mate right now, but here's one of my tired girl with her favorite life preserver after a day of wave jumping on Lake Michigan.