Trying to be the Alpha Dog

Adam's vlog reminded me of how a dog is supposed to behave.  How my previous German Shepherd / Anatolian Shepherd behaved.  


Rocco was a very beautiful and intelligent handful.  It took all I had to be alpha with him.  We went round and round and round when he was a youngster.  I couldn't give an inch or he'd take five miles.  I had to be really on top of my game for the first five years I had him.  No relaxing.  Ever.  There were days I was sure the dog was smarter than me.  I got help from one of the Sheriff's Department canine trainers when he was a year old.  That's how I learned that I ALWAYS had to be in charge.  I've had dogs my whole life and this was a whole new way of thinking about dogs.  This dog, Rocco, needed a very strong leader.  And my Sheriff buddy turned me into one.  The results were awesome.  Rocco turned into an incredibly well behaved and trained dog.  I could take him anywhere and never worry about his reactions to various situations.  He was good with any size dog and young children too.  It is not easy for a 100 or so pound dog to be gentle and not knock a toddler over, but he was a pro at it.  He also did well with seniors, walkers, wheelchairs, shaky hands & all.  I regularly took him to public celebrations like Fourth of July where he mingled with the crowds, allowed anyone to pet him, and was an absolute pleasure to be with.  I got a lot of compliments on him.  As he got older, I was finally able to relax a little bit and enjoy the wonderful dog he was.


I got Lilly Ann at 15 months old when Rocco was 12 1/2 years old.  She had been severely abused and was terrified of everything.  She was too scared to challenge anything.  I didn't see the need for me to be the super strong alpha leader.  Instead I was patient, sweet, loving, and worked really hard to earn her trust & bring her out of her shell.  It worked.  She became very confident, no longer terrified, and was naturally a good girl.  So good, I didn't realize she was challenging me and very effectively running my household without me noticing by the time she turned 4.  I was told by a trainer friend that this is a very common problem with Australian Shepherds & that I should congratulate myself on having a normal dog with normal problems.  Oh, and I should get my butt in gear and start being the one in charge again.


Maks came along at two months old - a baby that had been dumped in my neighborhood.  It was exactly one month after Rocco died.  Maks was naturally a good dog too with a strong desire to please me.  Still is.  


So, I have two dogs that don't outright defy me.  They like to please me.  I relaxed way too much and let them take over running the house.  They're good at it.  Especially Lilly Ann.  But, Adam's very well trained dog reminded me that I am supposed to be the one in charge and we have been working on that this week.  


It's exhausting being the one in charge.  I find myself having to think about every interaction with them ahead of time and decide exactly what behaviors I want from them & not proceed until I get those behaviors.  


Maks has responded well & is much calmer in general now.  My sister came over last night and was surprised at his ability to sit calmly without being told to.  The changes made this week have been very good for him.  


Lilly Ann, on the other hand, has fought me every step of the way - looking the other way when told to do something or flat out turning her back to me and walking off.  She does not like having someone else run HER house.  But, since she has figured out that I mean business, she is reluctantly complying.  Her willingness to do as she is told on my schedule instead of her own has improved.


Today we went for a structured walk with me in charge and them being made to walk beside & slightly behind me.  This is how I walked Rocco for the first five years of his life - I had to. It is the first time I've made Maks and Lilly Ann go on this type of walk.  Usually they're on retractable leashes. 


Doing this with both dogs was exhausting.  Fortunately, Maks figured out what was expected pretty quick, so my left arm was saved from much pulling.  Lilly Ann took time to figure it out.  Then she took time to decide she'd comply.  My right arm paid the price.  Boy is it sore!  However, something clicked in her brain today and she has been happily looking to me for direction & then complying all evening.  YAY!!!


I don't expect Maks or Lilly to turn into Rocco.  I know they are different dogs with different capabilities.  However, they have not reached their full potential and it's my job to get them there.


No more Miss Pushover at my house.  From now on, I am the one in charge!

More Snow!

It is snowing yet again here in Middle Tennessee.  The dogs are thrilled.  Me - not so much.  I tried to get to work today.  It didn't work.  Couldn't even manage to get onto the freeway.  After half an hour of trying to get out of my neighborhood & onto the freeway & not succeeding due to traffic & snow, I told my boss I was giving up and going home.  It took me another half an hour to get home, slipping and sliding the whole way.  By the time I got there, the new snow had completely covered my tracks leading out of the driveway as well as the spot where the car had been parked.  I spun and slid my way into the driveway and have no intentions of leaving again today.  


I took a couple of videos after getting home.  The first is of Maks and Lilly Ann in the back yard.  The second is of Maks refusing to come in the house.  I used my digital camera to take the videos, so the second one is shot sideways - I didn't know you couldn't rotate a video like you can rotate a picture.  See, one does learn something new every day.  Enjoy!


** It did eventually warm up a bit - enough for the roads to be clear - and I was able to go to work for a half day.  The severe traffic congestion was due to two different major accidents on the freeway.  One was a four car pile up.  The second was a two car crash that happened as a result of the four car accident.  


Video #1: Maks & Lilly in the back yard

Video #2: Maks refusing to come in the house

Putting Toys Away

My furry kids know that their toys need to be put away before bedtime. Preferably in the toy box they never use. They have two options, they can get their toys picked up and out of the way on their own -or- I will take care of picking them up and put them all in the toy box. They don't like having to sort through the toy box to find the particular toy they're looking for, so having Mommy pick up the toys is not their favorite alternative.

I am a stickler for the toys being out of the way before bedtime for two reasons: the screaming monkey and Maks' chew toys. There is nothing quite like getting up half asleep in the middle of the night and stepping on the screeching monkey. The thing is loud and obnoxious and guaranteed to give an unsuspecting soul heart failure. As for those chew toys... have you ever stepped on a Lego in your bare feet? Chew toys aren't any better.

Lilly Ann is especially good at keeping her toys put away. Mainly because she is hiding them from Maks. Her favorite toys are the soft stuffed animals. She keeps them on her bed and hidden under my bed where Maks doesn't dare go for fear of her beating him up.

As for Maks, his favorite toys are the chew toys. We call them his "pacifiers". He has five of them. When he was younger, not being able to find a pacifier at any given moment meant something of mine was going to get destroyed. As long as there is a pacifier available, he doesn't touch anything else. So, I make sure there are always plenty available. Maks is not anywhere near as good as Lilly when it comes to putting his toys away. I end up tripping over them or stepping on them a lot. He gets yelled at for this a lot. And then the toys get put in the dreaded toy box where he has to sort through all of the unpopular toys to get his favorites back out.

This morning when I was getting ready for work I ended up laughing out loud and then getting the camera to take a picture. It hadn't dawned on me until this morning, but I haven't tripped over a chew toy once since I had surgery. It's been 6 weeks and Maks has been keeping his toys out of the way the whole time. I hadn't noticed.

What made me laugh? Maks has been hiding his toys out of the way under the rocking chair. Seeing them set neatly where they wouldn't get stepped on cracked me up. Evidently my dense boy CAN learn! And I was so oblivious I didn't notice for over a month. Tonight he had one of the chew toys out, gnawing away. When he decided he was done, he picked it up and put it neatly under the rocking chair. I'm still smiling. :)

Here is the pic I took this morning:

SNOW!

We've had a lot of snow here in middle Tennessee this week.  Six and a half inches at my house.  The furry kids have had a blast playing in it and the neighborhood kids have been quite creative in their snowman making.

"NO! I don't want to come in the house!"

The furry kids are in TROUBLE!!!

Y'all should see my house. I think the general reaction would be massive amounts of laughter and extreme relief that it's my house instead of yours. Since you'll never guess what my two canine devils did, I'll share.

I left the back door open (as I always do) while I was getting ready this morning so they can run out & play (they're inside brats). I could hear them playing tag while I was in the shower and they sounded more rambunctious than normal. When I got out of the shower I found out why. 

Like most dogs, these two like to dig and play in dirt. Since it hasn't rained recently and the ground is really hard, that wasn't a worry of mine. I just didn't account for how smart and creative my hellions are. 

They found a bag of potting soil.

That would have been bad enough by itself, but they weren't content with digging in the potting soil OUTSIDE. Nope, my little geniuses brought it IN THE HOUSE!

So now I have two absolutely filthy dogs and a living room full of potting soil. Happy Monday morning to me. :(

Oh, and I've probably ruined any and all chances at potential dates because no one in their right mind wants to deal with my "special" kids. 

She Did It!!!

Much to my amazement on September 1st, my little girl got into the bathtub all by herself without being told to!!!  Maks will run and jump into the tub as soon as he sees me getting out his towels.  LillyAnn, on the other hand, hides under the bed and has to be coaxed out and then carried to the tub.  But, on Tuesday, she kept sneaking into the bathroom to  peek while Maks was taking his bath.  And then, to my complete shock, she came into the bathroom on her own as soon as Maks jumped out of the tub and sat beside the tub.  When I asked her if she wanted a bath, she got into the tub all by herself.  I'm soooo proud of my smart little girl!!! 

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful - a perfect fall day, all sunny and warm, such a great day that it screamed for an outing to the park with the furry ones.  One of Lilly's favorite parks is Barfield-Crescent in Murfreesboro, so that was our destination yesterday afternoon.  Maks had never been to the park before, so this was his very first trip.  It probably seems strange that he's nine months old and only now going to the park for the first time, especially when I take Lilly all the time.  But, Maks hasn't been up for a park trip until now.  He just hasn't had the stamina (he is still a puppy after all) to keep up with Lilly and I for more than a two mile walk through our neighborhood.  Which means that he definitely could not manage the four mile up & down hill off road hikes that Lilly and I head out on.  With the day being absolutely perfect, I decided that he could probably manage the shorter easier loop at the park that is just about 2 1/2 miles long.  So, into the car we all got and off to the park we went. 


Driving into the park, I noticed signs saying there was a Halloween event and saw some bounce houses over by the softball fields.  I really didn't think much of it since we were headed to the other side of the park.  I probably should have paid a bit more attention.  We parked the car and headed up the trail.  All was going great, Lilly was overjoyed to be out hiking again and Maks was having a great time sniffing everything in sight.  Until... we came around a corner and met a GIANT turtle sitting on the side of the road reading a book.  Miss Social Butterfly (Lilly) got all excited and went over to inspect the person and costume and had a grand time making a new friend.  Maks hid between my knees and refused to walk past the turtle.  Just when Lilly and I had managed to convince him that it was safe to continue on the trail... a GIANT frog came walking up the path toward us.  Lilly busied herself making yet another friend, while Maks did his best to become invisible by hiding behind me.  Maks finally decided he'd trust me enough to follow Lilly and I further down the trail and we didn't run into any more characters for over a mile.  Unfortunately, on the last half of our hike all characters were in place and poor Maks was repeatedly spooked.  First it was the fairies with flapping wings, then the lights across the trail that were off until he went to step over them and someone plugged them in just at that moment, then the trombone and tuba playing lobsters, the singing raccoon, the bubble machine, and the fog machine.  At each of these Miss Lilly Ann stopped to make new friends and socialize while Maks hid behind me yet again and refused to move past the scary monster.  Lilly was quite fascinated with the singing raccoon and even got a tummy rub at that spot - it was the only place where Maks even attempted to be social, he let the raccoon talk to him and got close enough for the raccoon to pat him once on the head.  I was quite glad to be done with that portion of the trail and decided to head back to the car a different way to avoid more characters.  If you haven't figured it out by now, we walked through a children's Halloween hay ride exhibit (thus the toddler - not Maks - friendly characters).

The trail I chose to take back to the car is a gravel service road that goes past the frisbee golf section of the park.  OOPS!!!  I had unwittingly chosen the Haunted Halloween trail for teenagers and grown-ups.  Again Lilly was fascinated by the characters - gory, bloody, moaning corpses and all.  Maks however was less than appreciative.  I was afraid I was going to have to carry him past all of them.  Evidently moaning corpses are a lot scarier than trombone playing lobsters!  We finally managed to get off the service road and onto the frisbee golf course where thankfully there were no more scary characters and Maks was able to relax and enjoy the rest of our walk to the car.  Lilly, on the other hand, had so much fun making friends with all of the characters that she wanted to head back to the haunted hay ride and visit some more.  I told her we had tormented Maks enough and judging by how fast he was trotting AWAY from the goblins I was pretty sure we weren't going to be able to convince him to turn around.

I wonder if Maks will ever want to go to the park again?

Miss Lilly Ann - It’s been 10 whole months!!!

I can't believe it's been 10 whole months since Lilly joined our family!  

The timid, scared of everything, pees if you look at her wrong little girl is no more.  She is a confident, happy, precocious two year old little girl that is rarely intimidated.  She has gone from knowing 5 signs when I adopted her to 23 signs today.  Little Missy has learned to fetch and will bring specific toys when asked.  She loves walks now & does just fine having her harness and leash put on (no more rolling over and peeing all over herself).  She gets in and out of the car by herself and is confident enough to sit up and bark at the cars behind us.  She also learned about the lake this summer & discovered how much she LOVES to swim.  She still hides under the bed when told she has to take a bath, but will actually crawl out on her own now and doesn't fight being put in the tub or jump out at the first opportunity.  I no longer find pockets of dog food hidden throughout the house (there's still a small stash hidden under my bed for "emergencies") and she no longer tries to guard all of the food bowls (just hers).  We haven't had to use the crate in over 5 months and there have been absolutely no "scared the pee out of her" accidents in almost 4 months.  She gets along very well with big brother Rocco, still hates cousin Sarah with a passion (the girls can't seem to settle the argument of who is in charge), loves it when Grandma visits with cousins Toby & Maverick, and is best friends with Sylvester the cat.  It's hilarious to watch 45 pound Lilly and 21 pound Sylvester play tag and hide & seek through the house - yes, they take turns.  It's even better to watch them play ball.  Lilly will throw the tennis ball toward Sylvester and then wait for him to bat it back to her.  They'll play this back and forth with the tennis ball for a good 20 minutes before Sylvester gets that disgusted cat look on his face and walks off.  She has mastered the art of greeting other dogs while we're out on walks without getting scared and freaking out, and has even discovered that it's o.k. to let human children pet her and will sit quietly beside me to let them tell her how soft and pretty she is (this is something that had her crying, rolling over on her back, and peeing all over herself back in March '07).  Lilly has learned that any light flashing on and off (both inside and outside) means you're calling her.  She has also learned that when outside, if she looks away she doesn't see the light flashing on and off and can therefore ignore you until you go get your shoes & coat and actually go get her.  Fortunately, she has not figured this tactic out with hand signals (the deaf dog I had in high school, Vander, figured this out and would actually cover his eyes with his paw so he didn't have to "listen").  She is a huge fan of the well executed tummy rub and will take advantage of any opportunity to climb in your lap and lick your hand until you comply with the tummy rub request.  She was ingenious enough to learn that if she climbs up on the back of the sofa and walks across it, she can reach her leash and harness that hang by the front door - she hasn't managed to get them off the hook yet, but it makes it quite clear what she wants.  I know I'm a bit biased, but I think she's pretty amazing for a severely abused, deaf, and partially blind little girl who was in at least 2 shelters and 3 homes before coming to live with me at 15 months old.

Our goals for this year are to continue learning new signs, completely stop scratching holes in the wall next to the door when she wants out (she's gotten much better, but I'd like to be able to repair the drywall without her digging another hole in it), stop guarding food altogether, successfully visit the dog park (we haven't even tried yet), have fun being left at the groomers/dogie day care for the day (haven't tried this either), and actually go get in the tub on her own when it's bath time (Rocco does this).  They may be a bit ambitious, but she's progressed further in 10 months than I'd even hoped for in 2 years so I thought I'd set the bar a bit higher for 2008.

The Christmas Tree Massacre

Miss Lilly Ann discovered the Christmas tree.  It was all that stupid tennis ball's fault.  There she was minding her own business throwing the ball against the wall and then chasing it through the house, when the darned thing decided to roll underneath the small table the 4 1/2 foot tree was sitting on.  In her quest to get that ball, she knocked the tree off the table.  I'm sure it frightened her.  But, since no one was home to hear her ruckus, she had time to get over her fear and investigate this thing that fell out of the sky.  And wouldn't you know it, that tree had all sorts of dog toys attached to it (ie: ornaments).  Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!  She had the best time pulling all of the ornaments off of the tree and then playing with them!  When I got home the tree was on it's side, ornaments were strewn throughout the house, Rocco & Sylvester were hiding with "I didn't do it" looks on their faces, and Miss Lilly Ann was sound asleep in the middle of the disaster with hot pink stains on her nose and paws from one of the ornaments she chewed up.  She woke up all sorts of happy and excited to show me her new toys.  "Look what I found Mommy!  Isn't this just great!  Someone left all of these toys out just for me!"  Rocco and Sylvester were still hiding in the other room - waiting for me to start yelling.  Which I should have done.  Lilly SHOULD have gotten in HUGE trouble for killing the tree.  BUT... she was so happy and so cute... well, I just couldn't rain on her parade.  So I sent her outside to play while I cleaned up her mess and moved the tree to a safer location.  The tree was a bit mangled, but a bit of fluffing and it looks fine.  As for the ornaments, she only broke five (four of which can be hot glued back together).  She basically just played with them.  I found little ornament figurines all over the house, including in her favorite hiding spot - underneath my bed.  BTW, crawling underneath my king sized bed is not fun.  I should have taken pictures, but didn't think of it until I had most of the "fun" cleaned up.  She really was cute!

Merry Christmas!

Six Months Ago I Adopted A Beautiful Little Girl

My little girl interrupts my intentions of writing.  She is good at distracting me from what I mean to do.  "Mommy, rub my tummy."  And, of course, I comply because nothing at this moment is more important than a good tummy rub and the smile it puts on Lilly Ann's face.  She has been mine for just barely six months and I could not imagine life without her. She is bold and confident now.  No longer timid and petrified of everything.  She defends what is hers and easily asks for what she wants.  She knows twenty hand signals now - a dramatic increase from the five she knew only six months ago.  And she has become friends with Sylvester the cat.  A friendship good enough to play "chase the tennis ball" together.  She makes me smile and laugh out loud several times a day.  I am so blessed to have found my Lilly Ann.

It's a GIRL!

Lately I've been going through the adoption application process and I just found out today that I've been approved.  On Monday, February 26th I will be picking up my new daughter, Lilly, from Knoxville.  Lilly is 15 months old, has beautiful blue eyes, weighs 35 pounds, has four legs, a tail, and loves to play with her tennis ball.  And you thought I was talking about a human child... gotcha!  Lilly is an Australian Shepherd rescue special needs dog.  She had a rough start in life and is very timid & shy.  She is also deaf.  Her foster mom assures me that her sight is just fine and she is quickly learning sign language.  I had a deaf Australian Shepherd in high school and fell madly in love with his intelligent & perpetually happy personality.  I have wanted another deaf Aussie for years.  I decided upon a girl due to thinking Rocco would handle a female better than a male.  I was willing to adopt an older dog and, in fact, thought that would work out best as Rocco is a senior citizen and not up to dealing with puppies anymore.  However, Lilly was the only deaf female Aussie up for adoption in the entire state of Tennessee.  I have been told she gets along well with other dogs and is not too rambunctious around the senior dogs.


** Update:  Lilly has been home a week now and gets along famously with big brother Rocco.  The ride from Knoxville back to Nashville was traumatic.  She wouldn't get into the car due to fear and then peed all over herself when I picked her up to put her in.  She spent the entire drive curled up in a ball on the seat, trembling and refusing to look at me... until I bribed her with french fries.  That only lasted as long as the fries were around.  Getting her out of the car once we were home was no less traumatic.  She hid under my bed until she discovered that Rocco was friendly & then proceeded to stick to him like super glue.  She does have significant vision problems in her left eye and her mouth and teeth are unusually small with some missing that just never grew in.  Her foster mom grossly exaggerated her communication abilities as well as her ability to walk on a leash.  She is terrified of both a collar and a leash and rolls over on her back screaming while she pees all over herself anytime she is approached with either.  Her understanding of sign language is limited to "come" "no" and "good" - and she isn't very consistent with those.  Right now she will snuggle with me when watching TV at night, but otherwise she either ignores me or is terrified of me.  She copies Rocco in everything he does and I am hoping that she will eventually trust me because of him as well as learn sign language by watching him (I have signed to him since he was a puppy).  It is obvious she was severely abused prior to being rescued and it will take an abundance of patience and love to help her reach her full potential.  All of that said, she is an absolute sweetheart and is already making an excellent companion for Rocco.  She is gentle with him, is always very happy to just be in his presence, and her companionship has taken years off of him.  It is wonderful to see him young again.
Below are a few pictures of her getting settled into her new home.

Such a HAPPY girl!

(That's big brother Rocco in the background.)

Sleeping on the bed at Grandma's - forbidden, but way too cute to interrupt.

On her bed - it's a child's crib mattress & works perfect for larger dogs.