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1/13/2010
Tau was in his first puppy class when this wonderful trainer, Krisi, came over and introduced herself. She teaches conformation. After class, Kristi showed us how "easy" it would be to get Tau ready to show. I'm not sure I'm convinced he's ready for prime time!
Tau is only 4 months old (look how tall he is on her leg!). He's a bit clumsy at 75 pounds and he's teething like crazy, and that left ear isn't always up yet.
Tau wasn't so keen on heeling with Kristi while I watched, but he's still a baby and she was a stranger. I love that when she tries to stack Tau, he keeps kissing her!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40108634@N03/4271601009/
The other pups in the class (all but one are older) are learning to walk on a lead, but he's a shiloh 
, so he's already mastered sit, down, wait, leave it and here. Heel is a work in progress. He's not understanding stack, and keeps trying to offer a sit, which is the funniest part of this video. I hope it loads....Tau is learning obedience, and I'm learning computers!
11/14/2009
Ok, so I'm trying to teach the puppy "leave it". The most obvious example has been the house plants; Tau loves to pull on the leaves and any roots that show (no poisonous plants at my home). Galen has been pulling roots out for Tau's enjoyment, so he's been getting a lesson in "leave it" as well.
Yesterday I noticed one of my larger plants was at a weird angle in the pot. I went over to check.....and the plant had no roots, and was just sitting on top of the dirt. leaning on the wall. Obviously, "someone who will remain unnamed" pulled the plant out, allowed the puppy to chew on the tender roots, and then tried to PLACE THE PLANT BACK IN THE POT SO I WOULDN'T NOTICE! WHAT DOG DOES THAT?
So, my first thought was that I should place large rocks in the dirt around the surviving plants (I have lots) to make the plants less accessible, and maybe sprinkle some tabasco sauce on the rocks? Part of me says this is animal cruelty, and part of me says this is good training. It is clear the dogs understand they aren't supposed to be in these pots, they are trying to cover their tracks! 
Any suggestions besides Tabasco?
When we're out playing, and it's time to come in for the day, I'll say "Ok, let's go inside now". The dogs are always happy when I'll say "let's go outside and play" or "let's go outside for a walk". I've never thought they understood the words, just saw the direction I was traveling and knew what came next.
Today a neighbor had come over to see the new floors and we were drinking a cup of coffee in my kitchen. We watched a squirrel run along the side fence with a walnut in his mouth through my glass french doors. Tau jumped up and headed for the doggie door. I said, conversationally, "You know Tau, if you are going to go chase squirrels, you should probably just stay inside".
Tau looked at me, looked at our neighbor, harrumphed loudly and lay down.
My neighbor about choked on his coffee, he was laughing so hard. He is now sure Tau understands conversational English!
So I showed him the new trick I'm teaching Tau. When I say the word "Chloe" (he's got a crush on the Skoor's beautiful Shiloh) I've taught Tau to moan. He's about 60%, but he did it for the neighbor. "Tau, are you thinking about Chloe?" "hmmmmmmmhhhhh!!!!!" My neighbor will be grinning all day.
These dogs are sooo much fun!
5/2/2010
I'll have to figure out how to spell this so folks know how to pronounce it! 氣 isn't likely to be helpful. The drive home from Canada was uneventful, Kai was in the crate and was quiet as a mouse. It took a few hours of working with Kai and Tau to get them to be BFF's, mostly because Kai was overwhelmed and scared. Today they are running, playing, kissing and carrying on like they've known each other forever.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com...232_8678941163_b.jpg
Kai is much smaller than Tau (maybe 3" at the wither, maybe more, and skinny), and we're going to have him at the vet first thing tomorrow for a complete physical. Hard to believe these brothers were nearly identical at the LER. In this shot, Kai is in the background, smaller than my Golden!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com...163_757e8668c0_b.jpg
We look forward to getting Kai adjusted to his home, and fattened up a bit.
10/30/2009 I'm pondering how to contain my pups while I am away from home. When Alicia and I are only to be gone a few hours, Tau is in his crate sleeping. Tau goes into his crate happily when requested, and I didn't want to strain that by leaving him in there for longer than a few hours at a time (except at night, of course). My fear is that 8 hours in a crate would destroy his willingness to be in a crate at all. In the past, I've been able to just baby gate off a room, and a puppy was happy to be able to see/hear the other dogs, but I knew the pup was safe, and no rough housing by the other dogs would be a problem.
Galen has changed all that. Every single day we have gated off a room (or even shut a door), we have come home to find the puppy happily snoozing in a cuddle with Galen. No exceptions. Galen has busted Tau out of the bathroom, the bedroom, the laundry room, the kitchen.
Tau can already open one crate (turns out the tooth that Tau BROKE opening the crate is called a canine). The only options I might have would be the outside kennel for Galen, but it's so cold outside even during the day right now. The other option is 8 hours in Tau's big overnight crate (twice a week), which I know he cannot open because the grate is too small for his jaw to get to. It's a compression opener, so I could probably post bets as to how long it would take Galen to figure it out. I have tried keeping the two dogs in completely separate areas of the house, with multiple doors between, even though I don't like the puppy feeling completely alone. The dogs are always together when we get home, and act as though everything is normal. "Oh joy, the humans are home! BTW, you forgot to leave the puppy with us. I fixed that for you."
So. Two questions. First, how old should a puppy be before he can take care of himself with adult dogs and no supervision (IE: how long does this battle go on)?
This has just never come up for me before! I am not worried about Galen hurting the pup on purpose, but accidents do happen, and the older dogs do rough house. Second, how DO you contain dogs that do not understand the virtues of being separated? I already know I'm NEVER going to attempt to have an "in heat" female around Galen without a serious security investment! It would be a battle of wits and I would LOSE!
How you do all you folks who have breeding males and females keep them separate while you are at work?
4/3/2010
I’m a psychotherapist, a child mental health specialist. God has been very good to me in my private practice, and I try to tithe service in my field. Right now I volunteer as clinical supervisor at a youth drop in center for very high risk teens. I love my work there, and love the kids, but they can be a rough crowd (you have no idea). Last night I decided that Tau needed more time with me, so I took him with me. He was at first wary of the loud noises, crowds, and odd smells (these non profit start ups are often renting really, really old funky buildings… this one is no exception. Tau was probably smelling carpets from the’50’s).
Tau didn’t have fear, exactly, but at first he was wary and careful. When I asked him to make friends with someone, he would approach, sniff, and make friends. A crisis case arose, and I was forced to go into session with a recently traumatized youth brought in by friends. I left Tau with an older boy I know well, who loves dogs. The other facilitators all knew to watch out for him.
I heard a scream, and excused myself to find a sweet woman (who happens to be a criminal working off some jail time doing community service for us) all aflutter. Tau had opened his mouth, she had seen all those teeth, and she had started a perhaps overly dramatic show of fear. I took Tau over, had him roll over to show his tummy, and let her approach. She leaned down, and he licked her nose. According to the lady, they are now best friends. She showed me pictures of her Chihuahua, we talked about how similar sweet dogs of any size are, and I went back and finished the work I needed to do. 10 minutes later I went out to find my pupster lying on the couch cuddling with several youth, looking like the cat in the cream (he’s not allowed on the furniture at home….ever). The kids were so thrilled….he was getting petted by sometimes 5 hands at once! When I took Tau out for a walk to make sure he wasn’t overwhelmed, he looked around the parking lot, then went over and tapped the doorknob with his nose (his way of asking for the door to be opened). He was ready to go back in and play with a big group of noisy teens. Tau may be my therapy dog!
I realized for confidentiality I cannot include pics of the kids, as cute as they are, so this one of Tau alone on the couch is the only one I can include…and yes, he’s huge for 7 months, isn’t he? He’s already taller than Galen. :-P
http://farm5.static.flickr.com...525_d3677855b7_o.jpg
