Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

MONDAY MARCH 15 2004

NOON UPDATE:

No time to do anything more than pick up dog poop--two employees out sick

      Erin's written a report on yesterday's dog training session, but I can't get to it. Of the 100 photos and videos we took yesterday, I've looked at only three of them so far. Please check back at FIVE P.M. to see if we've gotten anywhere.

FIVE P.M. UPDATE:

Erin's report on Sunday's dog training session ...

Four professional dog trainers and several volunteers spent Sunday at Straydog

      We had a really fun and exciting day with the four professional dog trainers, two of our regular Adoption Day volunteers and Jana & Charlie (Blind Chubs & Sister Cassie's mom and dad) who came to help us work with as many dogs as we could Sunday.

      Trainer Kristi has written me emails about how we can learn more about each dog through training, which information we can then pass along to potential adopters in hopes of finding the dogs homes they will be able to remain in. This training (and knowledge about training) worked recently with Sasha, our very incorrigible Golden Retriever. After spending a week with Kristi, Sasha was successfully crate-trained, and we could see what this dog would really be able to do with training. The family who ultimately adopted Sasha had the information they needed to make the adoption of Sasha work, and they are continuing Sasha's professional training.

Beginning with some basics

      After a meeting in the kennel office and being served a wonderful enchilada brunch that Juana had prepared, everyone headed over to Rocky and Ginger's kennel, where Kristi demonstrated the use of a 'gentle-leader' on Rocky. She also showed us a pincher collar and how such a collar shouldn't be too tight, but she, herself, doesn't use the pincher collar anymore, having had a lot of success with the gentle leader. Kristi and the other trainers showed us how we should use treats to make most dogs learn and obey commands such as sit, stay and [lie] down. Each of us carried a water bottle to squirt if a dog jumped up on us.

The dogs of the original section of kennels referred to as Central

    Anthony and Susie

      Anthony learned fairly quickly that we didn't want him to jump up on us and that he would get a treat for sitting. Anthony was also one of the best dogs in the park, again knowing that he would get a treat if when his walker stopped, he would stop and sit. Anthony's kennel mate, Susie, on the other hand, wasn't motivated by food, so she didn't learn to sit in this short period of time.

    Max and Molly

      Max took to the gentle leader after a little bit, and he was also a very good boy with the 'sit' command. Molly also did very well. These were easy dogs to work with, giving us more practice time for the more difficult dogs.

    Fritz

      Fritz didn't like the gentle leader very much, but sometimes it takes quite a while for dogs to get used to this type of halter.

    Rosie and Rudy

      This was a wonderful way to work with rambunctious Rosie and her son, Rudy. Rudy, who will normally pull and pull when leashed, walked very well on the gentle leader.

    Macy

      Macy needed extra work, and she took a long time to learn not to 'charge' into the park when it was her turn.

      The trainers said that we should make the dogs 'sit' a lot, especially before feeders come into their kennels and before they enter the park.

      The above dogs, all of whom live in what we refer to as the 'Central' section of the compound, got a chance to walk together (on leash, of course) in the Park, a first at Straydog.

Some of the more challenging dogs

    Big Boomer

      We chose some more challenging dogs next. Big Boomer looked bored and needed something to do! Kristi put the large gentle leader on him, and Boomer immediately tried to back out of it. He was throwing little fits and wouldn't be a good boy at the gate, so Kristi took him back close to his kennel to work with him some more. Finally Boomer settled down and was quiet and sat at the gate, the requisite for entering the park. Boomer turned out to be a very good doggie in the park.

    Group photo in the park

      None of the dogs were paying much attention to each other in the park until I made everyone (always on leash, of course) get real close together for a picture. Then Kerry snapped a little at the closest dog to her. Trainer Wanda said that she thought Kerry would do well in a home being the only dog. Wanda also had some tips on how to house-break Colby, which we can pass on to the next potential adopter.

    Mandy and Bear; Sally and Alice; Russell; Colby

      We tried to choose more and more challenging dogs to try the gentle-leader with and to work with commands. Mandy and Bear were pretty easy to work with. Sally and Alice did very well. Russell, one of our most aggressive dogs, also did pretty well, not paying attention to another dog even at a close proximity of twenty feet. Colby was a sweetheart.

    Little Bear

      Little Bear, a feisty newcomer, didn't get a chance to work in the park as time ran out after his work with the trainer and one of our Straydog caregivers inside his kennel.

    Jack and Jill

      Jack and Jill didn't get a chance to go to the park with everyone today. But, Jill wanted to demonstrate her ability to 'sit' over and over for us in order to get treats. Jack knows the 'sit' command too. Somehow these smart, almost blind and totally deaf doggies knew what we wanted them to do!

Learning from the trainers

      We asked the trainers many questions, and we hope we can incorporate what we learned with all our dogs during their walks and caregiving times. We'll, of course, have to get some medium and large gentle-leaders. All four of these professional trainers had learned their skills by taking their own dogs to be trained.

Many thanks to the trainers

      Thank you Kristi, Wanda, Laurie and Deanne for coming all the way from Arlington, Little Elm, Frisco and Wylie (places as far as three hours away) in order to help us!

Thanks to the other volunteers

      Thank you Volunteers Jana, Charlie, Sue and Angela for your time and help too!

A successful day

      The day couldn't have gone much more smoothly or wonderfully than it did. Even the rainy weather cleared up nicely and the sun came out for much of the afternoon. We are very grateful and now have many new ideas for how to handle our doggies.