Melon's Animal Adventures: Cats and dogs

This is Billie. 

He lives next to a courtyard that many people pass through every day. At the same time each day, or so I've been told, he comes out to wait for his owners to come home from work. That's how I came across him one day.

And now to a certain Labrador named Katie...
 

Today as I was working with her I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever make any progress on this 10 year old dog that I only see for an hour twice a week ... but then I think I made a little progress on Stay! I ask her to Sit, and then hold my hand (with the treat) out in front of me and take a few steps back. She can manage to stay seated while I step back, but as soon as I step back towards her she'll get up. But she managed to stay seated through the whole routine once or twice today, and boy do I feel much better now that I think I've seen a little progress! I've always had aspirations to be a teacher, and it seems like if it is in my future, it will be a rewarding job.

I'm realising that while Katie is very much active and excitable despite her age, she's actually pretty good on walks, no pulling or lagging, she hops on and off the kerb when I need her to and waits to cross the road.
It's just other dogs on the street I need to be careful of: she is totally reactive to the other dogs on-leash on the street. I see other people walk their dogs past each other in small enclosed spaces like at the market - no way that could be done with Katie! I have to cross to the other side of the road when I see another dog. A few people have seen me hesitant to approach them and their dog and assure me that their dog is friendly - I always have to tell them that my dog is not. It's a pity.
I'm not thinking of working on that with Katie but I am curious: what makes some dogs reactive to other dogs on the street and others not? Can it be trained? Is it a matter of socialisation? 

Lastly, Jackson, the sweet old Golden Retriever belonging to a friend of a friend, is likely to be out of a home by the end of the year. I have tentatively put it out there that I'd consider taking him, but I'm trying to keep a cool head and not run away with the idea, because my boyfriend and family don't think it's a wise idea. I must say I saw him the other day and he was definitely not as alert as he was last I saw him, but hopefully it was an off day.

MMA: A Chance Meeting and an Old Friend

9/06/2013

So today I went to a nice big park I've never been to before. It was a lovely day and there were many people out with their children and dogs enjoying the weather. I wandered around, walking with particular interest near the dogs playing. (I'll try to get some photos next time!)

Through the cover of some trees I saw a large white dog running around. Looks kind of like acd6pack's Breeze, I thought. Emerging, I spotted a woman with her laptop computer seated at a park bench. Every five minutes she'd look up from the screen, use her plastic stick to throw a tennis ball out away from the bench, and her dog would run after it, bring it back and wait next to her, sometimes depositing the ball onto the bench alongside her. Her dog would wait for her to throw it again, and every few minutes she would do so, looking up from the computer screen. I was amazed at her multi-tasking. I approached, enjoying the spectacle.

She looked up. Your dog is very patient, I said.
He is, she agreed. I've been here for hours.
She told me what a great dog he was. He loved to play fetch, and play in mud to cool down to prevent overheating. He was probably an American Bulldog x English Staffordshire terrier, or was it English Bulldog x American Staffordshire Terrier? He was deaf. She had had him for four years.
She met him through volunteering at an animal shelter and fell in love. She meant to take him home just for a weekend but, as you can imagine, he never returned to the shelter.
I told the woman I love dogs and had thought about volunteering at a shelter. She encouraged me to do it, going so far as to find a nearby dog rescue for me on her laptop.
She told me about having to wave frantically to get her dog's attention when he ran over to strangers, which made me think of the acd6pack's Azule, who is also deaf. I mentioned the blog, and as she seemed quite interested I eventually pulled it up for her on her laptop.
She sat stunned when she saw the photos. I suddenly realised why.
She pointed open-mouthed at Breeze. That is incredible! she said. That is just amazing! The likeness is really uncanny.
So I was right, I thought. I had initially thought it was just my unfamiliarity with dogs which made a lot of them seem similar to me. After all, I doubt in a lot of instances I could tell between examples of the same breed. But nope, she was surprised to find a lookalike for her beloved dog.

I had been throwing the ball for Kudos, the dog, and chatting to him as I did it. I had been talking to him for a little while before I remembered that he couldn't hear me. But it was just instinct; I couldn't stay silent while interacting with another being.
Kudos was a dog who drooled a lot, and his tennis ball (and my jeans) soon resembled a soggy mess. He is disgusting, the woman kept repeating with affection.
She told me about using hand signals to communicate with him. Like pointing to herself, then to her heart, then to him. I was surprised that she communicated abstract emotions like love as readily as concrete concepts like sit.

I patted Kudos on the head each time he returned to me. I still feel a disconnection when I look into a dog's eyes - with humans, there is a sense of recognition when you make eye contact. I always feel like I am staring into blankness when I look at a dog. I wonder if that will change over time. (After all, I can't ever remember feeling that way about a guinea pig.)
The woman was very friendly, and we chatted for a while longer.
It was time for me to go, so we promised to keep in touch and I left.

Since I'm on a sabbatical at the moment, I've been thinking it would be a good idea to pursue some volunteering at a shelter or rescue. I had been leaning towards helping with guinea pigs, but since I want to know where my interest in dogs might lead me, that might be a good opportunity also.

My other achievement of the day was to bring this guy some pig trotter chews:



Jackson! The old dog (he's 13) who lives at the house of a friend of mine but does not get much attention. (My friend is not the owner of the dog - he belongs to one of her housemates.) I try to do what I can to brighten up his life. (My friend does too, what little she can do under the circumstances.) As I shopped for snacks to bring to our girls' movie night, I picked up a bag of treats.

It was only after we were done with movies that the dog appeared on the porch. (I had called for him, with no response, but I was told he was mostly deaf now.) What I should have done is go out to the dog by myself first, sans treats. See, Jackson's previous experience with me involves lots of treats (there weren’t any dog biscuits left or much in the fridge or I used cheese) and a subsequent bath. So I can understand if he'd be a little confused about me – cheese lady! I like this one! Wait, why am I all wet? Last time, because I know he's been at least somewhat trained, I insisted he sit before I give him treats. So I wanted to know if he would remember me this time.

He certainly followed me and of his own accord sat over and over again for me, but whether it was because he could smell the trotter in my back pocket or he remembered that I am a giver-of-treats I couldn't tell.

The next morning I checked and couldn't see any sign of the trotter, so I assume it was either eaten or stashed away or buried somewhere.

I did, however, find a Jackson doughnut:





I think I'm really growing to love this guy.
Melon

Melon's Animal Adventures: About A Dog

Some of you may have seen this post before: I took it down for privacy reasons but it should be fine to talk about it now…

12/04/2013

Cocoa: What? You thought this blog was about a guinea pig. Well, let me tell you, me too.
But I'd better hand over to Melon for this one.

Melon: So a friend of mine, J, is living in a share house with her boyfriend. They have inherited from his parents, along with the house, a golden-retriever type dog named Jackson.

Now, it has come to my attention that Jackson is never walked. He is not let into the house because he smells, because he is dirty. His two dishes (one food, one water I assume?) were completely empty last time I saw them. (But dogs only get fed twice a day right? Not like guinea pigs?) There were dog food bags on the counter though.
 
So here's my idea: to offer to walk their dog regularly. I came up with the idea that I could walk their dog, and had a whole bunch of questions for you guys about whether it was a good idea and how I could do it, my mind jumping ahead to how I could handle the dog and how I could blog about developing a bond with him and getting my dog-fix. But now I've rethought: my doing the hardest part just to make sure it gets done will not ensure that its other needs are met. I’m going to start by reminding the owners what should be done for the dog – making sure it always has water and 2 meals a day, keeping it clean so it can come inside, and walking it. If they don't do that then I will urge them to return him to their parents, if I can gather that they will care for him properly. Because I’ve been wanting more experience with dogs (I’m considering volunteering for the RSPCA) I’d love to get involved by offering to walk him, but that’s not a long-term solution for the dog. He need someone who will take responsibility for all his needs. Only if they won’t do those things and they refuse to rehome him, then I will offer to do as much as I can to help the dog out, like coming round and walking him myself. Does that sound right?

My friend has already accepted my offer to come and help bathe the dog, which I’m starting with because I’m pretty sure if he doesn’t smell he’ll be allowed inside the house. To prepare myself I’m off to another friend’s place in a few days to practice the b-a-t-h thing with her Labrador!

I’ll keep you guys updated on how this goes, and I will be grateful for any and all advice.

Melon

Note, Added Later: Both baths went well. (My friend and I got into a car accident on the way home from Jackson’s, but that’s another story.) It was getting late by the time we were done with Jackson so we took him just up the street afterwards because he’d been hankering for a walk, and boy, did I know it! He planted himself at the end of the street and I had to coax him to turn around, poor guy! You’ll hear more about both dogs to come.