Polishing up Dusty

A warm, sunny Monday (Aug 23rd) brought Michelle and I just outside of Ellsworth, WI to the home of Eileen Petaja and her 3 year old Jack Russel Terrier, Dusty.

Eilleen has a fabulous relationship with Dusty. She exhibits good leadership over him and he responds well to it. He even runs on a tread mill with or without Eileen by his side, which impressed us a great deal. Eileen is a bright lady and has alot in her favor, as she understands and agrees with Cesar Millan's techniques, which we utilize in our work with our clients. All she needed was a coach to help her sew it all together. That's where we came in.

Dusty had been presenting Eileen with some aggressive issues as he was becoming protective of her. He would randomly lash out at both people and dogs, as well as just plain barge into people's space and didn't understand the concept of respecting their boundaries.

When we first arrived, he basically wanted to jump and play and gave us every indication that he needed help in getting his Gentle Leader halter off! He exhibited no aggression as I was expecting, however, when I wouldn't let him sniff my bags and used my hand to create a bite to his neck, he snapped at me. (We had removed the halter by then). That was the begining of dominance ritual #1. He was very good about it and surrendered to me quickly then layed on the floor until I let him up in a few minutes. After that he and I had no problems with each other and we were both calmer.

The exercise was repeated by Michelle about 5 minutes later when he did the same thing to her. She, too, had the same positive experience with it that I did. What that did was set us in Pack Leadership in Dusty's eyes. A very good thing to make the session a success.

The WALK portion went well, but we had difficulties with Dusty wanting to rub off his Gentle Leader halter. I replaced it with a prong collar, which definately gave us a better walk, but Dusty was very vocal about his new aparatis. It wasn't hurting him, but the suprise of the rounded prongs on his neck statled him. Some dogs are more vocal than others. I then switched to a flat nylon slip leash. He immediately took advantage of this and began to pull, which was something that he could not do on the prong.

When we went into the pole shed to enjoy the cooler temps in there, I got the idea to use a Gentle Leader HARNESS on him, which rides down low around the girth of the chest of the dog. Now, please note: I do not endorse the use of harnesses on dogs for the structured walk because it gives them the advantage and allows them to forge ahead of you, making for an unsuccessful walk. Harnesses were originally used for cart pulling and that is where they function best. The GL Harness, however, is designed to keep the dog back with you and can be the answer to your prayers when you are having dificulty finding a collar that works for your dog. We were all delighted when the GL Harness won the contest and saved the day. It is a tool that I rarely recommend, but in this case, it gave us what we needed for Dusty.

In all fairness to the prong collar, we did find that it was very helpful and needful in keeping Dusty from charging the door when visitors came. We practiced with it a couple of times with Michelle and I taking turns coming to the door with Dusty unawares. When we knocked, he escalated immediately from a 1 to a 10 and the tug and release we used with the prong collar settled him down quickly. Eileen was very suprised after going to the door to let Michelle in, that when she came back, find Dusty was sitting calmly with his ears back in between my feet as I stood over him loosely holding his collar. ( I was the one handling him on the leash for that practice run). Michelle had the same success with it that I did when it was her turn.

We are in hopes that Eileen can convince her friends that when they come over, the best thing they can do is utilize a "No Touch, No Talk, No eye contact" behavior with Dusty can settle down quicker and give them their space politely. Once that happens, then they can give him affection and a good time will be had by all.

I have every confidence in Eileen and Dusty to overcome the challenges they presented to us on this visit. I look forward to our follow up visit. If you ask me, Dusty is gong to come out shining!

~Candiss DelCastillo

Walks & Wags Pet Service

http://www.walksandwags.biz/

Lift High the Banners!

8.14.10

This month, those of us business owners who are members of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce had an opportunity to sponsor a Welcome Banner for the town for $150.00. In turn, the banner we sponsored would not only have "Welcome to Prescott" on the top, but our business name on the botttom. A win win situation for the city and it's businesses.

I was very excited about this and was one of the very first to get my payment in for my banner.

Well, they are here. Just beautiful. The city maintanance crew put ours on main street in a place that accomodates many people on any given day and multitudes during Prescot Daze every September.

As Walks & Wags Pet Service continues to grow, I am always in awe, and humbled that an idea with a bit of elbow grease and alot of prayer behind it can become something that contributes so significantly and positively to the community that Michelle and I serve.

~Candiss DelCastillo, Owner

Walks & Wags Pet Service

http://www.walksandwags.biz/

Herbie, 11 weeks and counting.

Last Monday, 8.9.10, Michelle and I went to Hastings, MN to meet a lovely couple named Erick & Dawn Lindgren. This insightful couple hired us to come out and train them how to raise their adorable 11 week old Yorkshire Terrier puppy, named Herbie.

The reason I created the "Start 'em out Right~Puppies!" 1 on 1 sessions and group seminars, was to help people to avoid the nuisance, destructive or potentially dangerous behaviors in the first place. So many of the calls we get at Walks & Wags are for dogs that are in some way out of control and causing trouble. During our "Behavioral HELP for Dogs" sessions, we go in to correct that, and I am so thankful that we can. It does my heart good, however, when I get a call for help on the fore side of the pups life, rather than the aft.

Did I mention that Herbie was adorable? The first thing I told the Lindgren's was that although that cuteness is surely a blessing, it is also Arch Enemy #1. Why? A cute puppy is so easy to coddle rather than to let him figure out his problems. He is easy to protect, spoil and not correct when he does something wrong. Think of a bowl of fruit and how wonderful it smells and looks and tastes when it is washed and ready to eat. What does it do to your senses when it is rotten? Get the picture? This goes for our children as well. Both dogs and children need our leadership and direction even more than our companionship and affection.

We began with the basic training about the Innate Make-up of a dog and laid the foundation with Erick & Dawn. Herbie actually gave us a few opportunities to do a Dominance Ritual on him to keep him from puppy biting. At times all his behavior would require was a gentle squeeze on the snout and a "No" from me to cause the behavior to cease. I assurred Dawn, who is the softer energy of the two, that puppies are used to this behavior from their mothers and liter mates. We had photo's with us of two 6 week old Golden Retreiver pups who were engaging in a dominance ritual during a filmling session of our Cable TV show entiteled, "Start 'em out Right~Puppies!". Proof.

Sympathy for a puppy is perceived as weakness to him and will only enable him to become the dominant one over you. Aside from neglecting to take your dog for a structured walk, humanizing them is the main reason for the negative issues that they develope.

I encouraged Herbie's new owners to purchase several of the same chew toy and place them all around the house. Make it clear to him that those are acceptable to chew and furniture is not. When you are only 11 weeks old as a puppy every thing seems fair game. This is a good way to help pup sort that out.

Then it was Herbie's turn to have some fun. We took him outside where he became gleefully animated regardless of the high temps that evening. I proceeded to show the Lindgren's how to teach Herbie some basic obedience commands. In one instance, I used an old fishing pole of my husbands with some string tied to the tip of it and one of Herbie's toys tied to the end of the string. All I had to do was stand in one spot, turn in a circle and watch Herbie run. It was awesome. He had no thoughts about running away from us at that time! I slowed down to let him catch the toy at times, then speeded up again. The point I was trying to make for the Lindgren's was that fast play is a physical drain, whereas slow play is more of a mental drain of the dog's energy. It causes him to look to you for direction. Both physical and mental challenges are necessary.

We, then, postioned ourselves across from each other, about 8 feet apart to work on the recall/ come exercise. We leashed Herbie up with a lightweight long tether and took turns calling him to us. If he balked, we could tug gently with the tether and encourage him forward to us. I told them not to use Herbie's name to scold and never to scold or correct him punitively if they have called him to them and he has come. It is important that when a dog comes to you , there is always a reward of some type of affection waiting. If you need to administer a correction, go to your dog to do it.

I was very pleased when we came back in the house that Herbie was extemely relaxed. Our work outside accomplished exactly what it was supposed to. When The Lindgren's put him in his bed he rested there quietly while we went down stairs and continued more of the session. Later, I went to get Herbie and he slowly got out of his bed and wiggled towards me, not at all afraid of the first human to ever establish dominace over him in an overt way. As a matter of fact, Herbie and I enjoyed some nice, gentle affection time when I brought him back down to join the rest of the group. He was exhibiting behavior that was calm and submissive. The kind I could reward.

~Candiss DelCastillo

Walks & Wags Pet Service

http://www.walksandwags.biz/

Pearl, her Girl, and Misty

In June and July this summer Michelle and I had the joy of Pet Sitting for 2 weeks while our client's, John and Louise Chevalier, were on a vacation out West. Their dog, Pearl, and cat, Misty were left in our care.

This household was not a new one to us. A couple of years ago, we were Pearl's dog walker's. Louise and Pearl also "starred" in one of our Cable TV shows. That episode was entitled, "Dog's Isssues and their Appropriate Corrections". In that segment of the show, Louise demonstrated for us how she had learned to calm Pearl down when she would turn the coffee maker on using the techniques we had taught her and what she had seen on "The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan".

During those days, Pearl was exhibiting some fear aggression and Louise was concerned for a new grandchild that was on the way. She hired us to drain Pearl's nervous energy by taking her for a structured walk a couple of times a week and we did see some very positive changes.

Since I, Candiss, do the majority of training and teaching for our 'Behavioral HELP for Dogs' and 'Start 'em out Right~Puppies' 1 on 1 sessions and group seminars, Michelle is the primary Dog Walker and Pet Sitter at Walks & Wags. I oversee the compimentary Set- Up appointments with the clients before we begin our service with them. I always come on the first 1 or 2 visits and then wherever I can fill in when Michelle has multiple appointments simultaneously.

During the Chevalier's 2 weeks away, Misty kept us laughing with her adorable antics. Not a shy kitty. As with most cats, food was a very important priority for this feline. When we would arrive and open the pantry door, she would run and jump on top of her bin and yowl. She made sure we knew what to do.

Pearl on the other hand started out very timid and shy as she had always been every time we had seen her before. But...during our 2 weeks with her, Michelle noticed that Pearl was warming up to her, becoming affectionate, wagging her tail when Michelle entered the house, rolled over for belly rubs after the walk, played with the tennis ball, and towards the end of each visit, rested close by the chair that Michelle sat in when she recorded the log sheet for that visit. This was a Pearl that neither Michelle nor I had known before! A delightful surprise.

Pearl loved the routine contained in those 2 hourly visits day after day. She came to trust and love Michelle. She was very good with me as well, but I didn't see her nearly as much. Thus, in the title of this blog, Michelle is Girl of which I speak. :-)

On one of my visits, I took Pearl down the steps in the back of the house and re routed her from a path that she normally took in which she would walk over one strip of board that bordered a basement window well on the side of the house. Louise had mentioned during the set up appointment that she found it an odd behavior, so I decided to see if we could work with it into something a little safer. It only took one time and Pearl got it.

It was a delight to see this once timid dog become so annimated with us. The 2 visits a day were more than ample for both of these pets. We are in hopes that when the Chevalier's returned home, they found Pearl and Misty in better condition than when they left. That is our goal for all of the Pet Sitting assignments we have, which is why we incorporate the Light Training as well as Full Body Dog Massage into every visit.

~Candiss DelCastillo

Walks & Wags Pet Service

http://www.walksandwags.biz/