Happy 1st Gotcha Day to Alice!

HOLY CRAP! I can't believe Alice has been here a whole year. 

Happy Gotcha Day, Teacup! 

It was about a year ago that I was starting to watch Zoe and Phoenix turn grey and feeling 100% terrified that I might end up dogless again. My dogs, my reason for getting up in the morning are getting old. The older they got, the more fearful I became. I remember what it was like to live in a mostly empty apartment. No jiggling collars, no happy dances when you got home from work. No matter how much I love my other pets, there's nothing like having a best canine friend in the house. A dog is the only animal on earth that will love you more than they love themselves. A dog is the only being on earth that will love you unconditionally and I need a dog in my house. I had been thinking about getting a third dog since we got Phoenix. I knew she wasn't going to be our last dog but our circumstances didn't allow for another animal for a while. As soon as our circumstances did change, though, I started to annoy my husband endlessly with photos of available dogs.

"Indigo"

I had been specifically looking at puppies because I thought that a baby would be more accepted by our older dogs, even though I prefer adult dogs. One day on a whim, I changed Petfinder to show me "puppies" and "young adults". As I was searching the dogs, a young adult dog named "Indigo" showed up in my feed. That was it! I knew immediately that I wanted Indigo and she was all I thought about for days. The rescue takes their dogs to adoption events on the weekends and they don't adopt out if your whole family isn't present. My husband works weekends. My chances of getting her were slim to none. In Portland, young dogs and puppies are usually adopted immediately. So after discussing it with my husband, I decided that if Indigo wasn't adopted over the weekend, we would go meet her when he was off work on Tuesday. I almost went to the adoption event by myself to meet her but I didn't want to break my own heart when she was taken from me, so I didn't go. I decided that if she was still there by Tuesday and she liked us then it was meant to be and if she wasn't then it wasn't. Luckily for us, it was meant to be!


I barely survived the weekend. I refreshed her profile over and over to see if she was gone. I cleaned my house from top to bottom on Monday and puppy proofed the whole thing, just in case. I rearranged my bedroom to fit an extra crate. I just had a good feeling about her. Finally Tuesday came and it was freaking SNOWING. The rescue is located over an hour from our house. We would have to drive through Portland traffic, over icy bridges, in the snow (something you just don't do here unless it's an emergency) to see this dog. I know this probably sounds silly to anyone who regularly lives in the snow, I grew up in the snow, too but unfortunately the city of Portland is never prepared for snow and neither are the people who live here. I called the rescue before we headed out to make sure she was still there and luckily she was!

If the video doesn't show up for you, please click here to see me meeting Alice for the first time.

The rescue employee brought "Indigo" out to see us, she ran right past me and jumped into my husband's arms and that was it for him, he was sold. Once she was done with him, we had a wonderful moment together that my husband caught on film. We had an instant connection and she was everything I hoped she'd be. She is the friendliest dog I've ever met in my life and I couldn't believe she wasn't adopted over the weekend. She was even their "kissing booth dog". Hindsight a year later and I think she may have been passed over by regular humans (non dog trainers) because she comes across as "too hyper" when meeting new people, as my neighbor has said about her. As a dog trainer, I like/want that energy and can channel it into training games, so I didn't mind that she was "hyper".

We brought her home and Indigo Jones became "Wonderland's Thee Alice of Legend" (from the SciFi movie with Caterina Scorsone "Alice") and boy did this little dog fall down a rabbit hole of training! I have done so much work over the year. Sometimes I look back on it and feel like I haven't taught her anything but I think it's because I'm taking such a different approach to raising Alice than I did with the other two. The other two dogs felt like a race to me, to teach them the most amount of tricks I could, to show off how great of a trainer I was, to build Phoenix's confidence up from her trauma. With Alice, she's got a lot of confidence already and I'm taking things day by day with her, focusing on being a good house dog and companion first and a fun training partner second.

It's been a whole year. The year of Alice. 

She did come home with some issues, as most dogs do and we've been working on so many things!

The main issues we've been dealing with are:

• Potty Training! (She had zero understanding of what to do when she goes outside and gets distracted by literally everything, sometimes taking over an hour to just pee)
• Dog/Dog Reactivity (barking and lunging at dogs while on leash)
• Over Greeting Strangers (lunging and jumping on every stranger she passes/finds)
• Pica (eating everything including dangerous items, especially when stressed)
• Hyperactivity (She only slept exactly 8 hours at night and was up all day)
• Resource Guarding (Object guarding from the other dogs and cats, not people)
• Touch Sensitivity/Handling Issues (Biting humans for touching body parts, including ears and paws)
• Playing too roughly with Phoenix
• Chasing and stomping on cats

We also had to deal with Zoe hating her for several months, too. I'm so relieved that's over. Zoe has fully accepted Alice as a member of our family at this point. They play every day and Zoe does enjoy her company. We don't keep Zoe muzzled anymore and we don't keep them separated at all.

I was also worried about ever letting her off leash because she's so friendly that she would take off with any stranger she found, so teaching her a solid recall was extremely important to me and I work on it every chance I get.

Potty training is still on going, I won't go too much into it here since I did a whole post about it and you can find that here: Potty Training the Impossible. At the time of this writing, I'm still working with her on pottying quickly when we go outside. She is a bit of a diva about pottying in the same spot twice but she's gotten so much better than she was a year ago. It can still be frustrating at times for me when Alice gets distracted and forgets what we're outside to do but it's better.

Her dog/dog reactivity has been something we spent the most time working on. I wouldn't say she's 100% cured but she's great with all of our regular neighborhood dogs and has even made a few dog friends that she likes. The general rule with Alice is if the other dog is "cool" then she's "cool". She is also doing better when the other dog is not cool and is barking and lunging at her. She did really well when we were waiting in line to meet Santa and there were tons of dogs running around and barking. We still have a harder time on narrow trails. I'm trying to teach her to ignore the passing dogs and stay on her side but if the trail gets too narrow and we don't have enough space to pass without them going nose to nose, then we just pick her up and carry her past. I don't think she'd nip a dog just in passing but you never know what another dog will do and I don't want her to have a bad experience and I really don't like doing on leash greetings with dogs we don't know.

Over greeting people is still a thing and I don't really mind it that much. She's small, she's not going to knock anyone over. We are still working on ignoring strangers that are not interested in saying hello to her. Then with strangers who do want to say hi, I let her say hi and be as crazy as she wants to be. No one has ever been offended by her cheerfulness.

The pica is getting better, too. I believe it's due to stress. So if she's upset and stressed out she will eat non-food items. We carefully manage that and make sure she doesn't have access to dangerous items.

Hyperactivity has gotten WAY better. When we first got her, she reminded me of a child on crack (sugar high) at Disney Land. From the moment she woke up until the moment it was time to go to bed she wanted to play and run around and rough house and tear stuff up. She was also making herself overly tired and was having something similar to what a child would do, have a tantrum. For a couple of months, she was like this and I had to crate her and force her to take breaks and naps for both of us to stay sane. A year later and she has learned it's okay to take breaks, relax and nap during the day.

The resource guarding has gotten so much better as she's gotten more confident in our house. Guarding doesn't really bother me that much, it's a completely normal behavior that animals display. Alice's resource guarding was directly related to the other animals in the house approaching high value items in her possession. The rule here is if a dog has something, then it's theirs (unless that object is dangerous). Nobody is allowed to mess with another dog's stuff. They have all learned to have chewy bones near each other without stress. Alice still struggles with a bit of guarding towards the cats. My cats are pretty dumb and even though they've lived with dogs for years, they still want to go up to them when there's a new bone or something to smell the thing. They don't want it, they just want to see what it is. So Alice has struggled with realizing they won't take the thing from her. This is still a work in progress but I'm sure that as she gains more confidence it will go away.

I've been working really hard with Alice for her to allow handling. I don't really believe in owning dogs who won't allow you to handle their body parts and take care of their husbandry needs, so this was a top priority. I haven't been doing as much cooperative care with Alice as I would like to be doing but that will come with time. I've been handling her paws, ears and brushing her. She gets lots of treats for allowing me to touch her body and I really want her to have a positive association with it. She gets her teeth brushed every day and she loves that.

She does not like baths but it isn't a big deal and they are non-negotiable, it's the price she pays for sleeping in the bed with me. I don't really plan on working on it too much because I've never really had a dog who truly loved baths and they are really quick events. Not everything in life can always be fun. Alice also doesn't like ear cleaner put into her ears but if I go slowly and show her what I'm doing she does better. We dremel her nails at least once a week and while she doesn't like it that much, she's learned to tolerate it because she gets peanut butter or cream cheese in exchange for letting me do it. I haven't tried eye drops yet but I definitely will be working on that eventually, too. These husbandry things we will be working on forever, body handling is so important. You never know when your dog will need medical attention. Having a cooperative patient is so much easier and less stressful for everyone.

Playing too roughly with Phoenix is something we work on a lot. Alice is very much a terrier when she plays, there's a lot of growling, snarling, chasing and grabbing. Phoenix is a bit of a wheeny with other dogs and ends up backed into a corner, just getting beat up on. Phoenix loves to play but she's not always into how Alice wants to play with her. Terriers just want to play rough and they get frustrated when they can't do what they want, which escalates their behaviors and sometimes it can look like aggression when it's not. She's "big" and "loud" and it sounds so awful, lol! So for that we are doing a lot of impulse control work, recalling dogs out of play, proofing our stationing behaviors (go to a place and stay) and I will redirect Alice on to a toy and play with me if I know Phoenix is over it.


Chasing Cats is still a work in progress, too. For that I try to keep in mind that Alice has needs that have to be met. If I meet Alice's needs, by exercising her brain and body appropriately, if I give her outlets to chase things like a flirt pole, she doesn't need to display these behaviors on my cats. So I make sure she gets enough exercise every day and I keep her tethered or crated (management) in the evenings when the cats are more active.

We've done a lot of fun stuff this year, it's not just been all work and no play. We've gone on many hiking trips, we've gone to the beach a bunch of times. She really enjoyed the beach, there were so many smells and things to do there. We did two major road trips to visit my in-laws, which Alice absolutely loved. Towards the end of last year, Alice was even able to go hiking off leash a few times and she was so good! I was really proud of her. She came every single time I called her and stayed with me.

  Alice has been learning some fun behaviors:

bow

wave

back up

sit pretty
spin (both ways)
bang you're dead
shake (both paws)
jump into my arms

We've also started more advanced training:

heel work
back stall
jumping through my arms
leg weaves
retrieves
disc dog

nosework

One of the most important things I taught her this year is what I'm calling "flawless door manners", meaning Alice will not exit my house until cued, even if you pull on the leash. Door dashing is a dangerous behavior and it's not something I will ever tolerate in my dogs. Our backyard is not fenced and even though we live on a pretty quiet street I never want her darting out the door without permission. So that was one we've been working on since day one.

Alice is doing really well with all the training we're working on. She's super fun to work with and I really enjoy training her! She is a bit slower to learn things than what I'm used to but once she has a foundation of whatever I'm teaching, it's much easier to build on it and it's more fun for both of us. She really enjoys putting her own spin (pun intended) on behaviors and it's cute watching her come up with stuff! Alice sometimes finds learning new things a bit stressful and in the coming year, I'd really like to work on that.

Another thing that stresses Alice out is if any human in the house picks up an object she has not seen before or formed a positive association with. I believe this superstitious behavior popped up over the Yule holiday, my husband received some noisy musical things from my in-laws, and I also got a nerf gun. Phoenix loves to bark at us when we are doing something she determines to be weird. Weird musical instruments and weird guns that pop when they shoot foam darts are weird. I think Alice got scared when Phoenix was barking and generalized it to us picking up random things. We will be working hard on fixing that over the next year and making sure she doesn't continue to have negative associations with household objects. 

A couple of months ago, I started allowing Alice to sleep in bed with me. She is the first dog I've ever had that wasn't worried when I have a nightmare and unfortunately as someone who was diagnosed with PTSD, I have regular ones. Alice has been really good at interrupting my nightmares and waking me up. This is not something I taught her, she's been doing it all on her own. She is such a comforting presence. She is just so affectionate. She will lay on my chest and when I pet her, I calm down.

Then and Now

Alice has brought everyone at our house so much joy. She has re-energized my old dogs. They are always playing and running around together. At one point my husband asked me what Phoenix ever did without a little sister. They are just the best of buddies and it's so cute! Alice is funny and has so much spirit in her. We've really enjoyed getting to know her over the year and I'm looking forward to many more adventures!

Happy 8th Gotcha Day to Zoe!

8 years ago today, I met a scared little blonde dog all curled up in a snotty (she was really sick) little ball. When I said hello to her, she wagged her tail and calmly came over to lick my hand. I brought her home and our journey began.

You can read more about Zoe by going to her page here: Zoe

Happy 5th Gotcha Day to Phoenix!

It was 5 years ago today, that my friend and I went to meet a scared little dog that looked a lot like Zoe! Click here to read her full adoption story: Phoenix's Adoption Story

In 5 years I have learned so much from this dog. At first, I didn't like her that much but she's grown into my heart dog and I'm so thankful to have her in my life!

Phoenix has made so much progress in the last two years and I am so thankful for the opportunities my job has offered us in terms of classes and working with trainers who are well versed in behavior.

If you had told me a year ago that Phoenix would be doing play groups, making her own friends and would be successfully making new friends out in the real world, I would of laughed at you and asked what you were smoking and why aren't you sharing? I never thought she'd ever be able to do play groups, let alone have friends outside of our home.

I am very happy to report that every week she continues to do better and she amazes me with her ability to learn, adjust and be forgiving of my mistakes. I am the luckiest dog mom!

Every birthday girl needs presents, right!? We took Phoenix to the pet store yesterday and she got to pick out a new toy and we got her and Zoe some bully sticks! We have a work meeting today but after, we're going to go get some ice cream. I can't believe I've had her for 5 years!

Happy 4th Gotcha/Birthday to Phoenix!!!

It's been four years since I brought Phoenix home! Time sure flies when you're having fun. Phoenix had a rough start to life before me, we believe she lived in some form of neglect, she was not socialized and she was rescued out of house fire. She's a complicated dog, for sure and but she's the best friend a girl could ask for and she's taught me so much. She's changed my whole world and perception on everything. She's taught me to be more patient and compassionate. She's made me a better person.

Phoenix is a dog that's never said "no" to me. She has tried absolutely everything I've asked her to do. From silly tricks to complicated ones, to balancing on tiny objects or moving objects, to learning how to swim and fetching giant logs, to flipping and catch a frisbee, to performing tricks in front of crowds at orientation for my work and of course posing for silly photos for this blog. If I ask her to do it, she's up for the challenge and she tries so hard.

This dog has the biggest heart of any dog I've ever known. She is the most amazing companion I could of ever asked to have. She's always there for me and always up for anything I want to do and I love her more than words can describe.

Happy 4th Gotcha/Birthday to my little girl! 

I didn't have time to make her a new birthday movie this year but you can watch the one from last year by going here: Phoenix's 3rd Gotcha Day she really did change my life and I don't know what I would do without her.

To learn more about Phoenix and read her full adoption story go here: Phoenix's Adoption Story

Zoe's 5th Gotcha Birthday!

It's Zoe's 5th Gotcha Day!!! I know I say this every year but I seriously can't believe I've had this dog for 5 years! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess!

Happy Gotcha Day, Zoe!

Happy 6th Gotcha Day to Pandora and My Birthday!

6 years ago today, I was supposed to adopt a different cat through a private rescue. Unfortunately, the day I was supposed to drive out to get him it all fell through. I received an email that he wasn't neutered yet and didn't even have any vaccines. The owner of the "rescue" had lied to me and at the last minute told me she would not be able to adopt him out. I was really upset and felt that she was being seriously shady because as far as I knew from everything she told me, he was good to go.

It was my birthday and on a whim, I stopped by the local animal shelter in Reno with a friend. We wandered around and looked through all the cages and the very last one, there was a filthy, little green eyed kitty wanting to make friends with me. It was love at first sight and in that moment I knew that everything, absolutely everything happens for a reason. Pandora was meant to be mine.

Pandora is my heart kitty. She is the reason I was able to pick myself up and move on after Chloe passed away. She is truly a beautiful spirit. She's fun and loving. Everyone who has ever met Pandora has fallen in love with her. She's the best cat I've ever had.

Happy 6th Gotcha Day little girl!

Sleepy Sisters on Saturday!

Since this past week was Phoenix's "Gotcha Week", I thought I'd share this adorable photo of them snuggling and sharing the same dog bed. This was taken in the first week of her homecoming. She also loves playing and snuggling with toys, so that's why there are so many toys in bed with them. I still can't believe it's been 3 years since I got Phoenix! Time flies when you're having fun!

Phoenix's 1st Day Home! Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! Since yesterday was Phoenix's Gotcha Day, I figured today would be a great day to share some photos of her on her first day at home!

Riding home from the shelter. She was scared and also car sick.

This was her first time outside!

Phoenix's first walk with Zoe! Phoenix is the one on lead.

Phoenix was and still is a huge fan of the kitchen area!

Once she wasn't as scared, she did make herself at home!

To read more about Phoenix and her amazing journey with us, just visit her page!

Happy 3rd Gotcha Day to Phoenix!

Happy Gotcha Day to my sweet girl, Phoenix! I can't believe it's been 3 years since I found her shivering in the back of her run at the shelter. To read more about Phoenix and her amazing adoption story, please see Phoenix's Page!

She changed my life!

Zoe's Gotcha Day Feast!

If you missed it, yesterday was Zoe's 4th Gotcha Day! 

Unfortunately, I had an accident on Sunday. I fell down this hill at my apartment complex and got pretty banged up Apparently it was really slippery there! Yikes.

I had so many plans to celebrate Zoe's day but I was too sore to actually do any of them. I was going to take her hiking and then shopping to get a bunch of goodies. Once I'm able to move again, we'll celebrate. I was feeling really bad about not having anything for her so my husband and I made them Pupcakes with peanut butter as the frosting. To say the Pupcakes were a hit would be a massive understatement. They were so excited about them that they were pretty much gone as quickly as we set them down! Luckily I managed to get a few hilarious photos!

 

The girls were really happy with Zoe's Gotcha Day Feast! It was super fun and easy to make. We used whole grain pancake mix and cooked it with their coconut oil. Probably not the healthiest snack ever but it was fun and it's only one day!

Happy Tasty Tuesday everyone!

Happy 4th Gotcha Day to Zoe!

I still can't believe it's been four years since I brought this girl home! I know I said that last year, too! It's just so unbelievable how fast time flies!



Here's Zoe's 4th Gotcha Day video!

If you'd like to read more about Zoe and how she came into my life click here: Zoe's Page!

She's an amazing girl and I am very lucky to have her!

 Happy 4th Gotcha Day to Zoe! 

Happy 5th Gotcha Day to Pandora!!

5 years ago today I brought home my heart kitty! I still can't believe it's been this long already!! Pandora is my special needs kitty. She's not really all there and will always have a kitten mentality but she's so sweet and really funny. She is my favorite of the three, despite her issues. She's the only one allowed in our bedroom at night (other than the dogs) and she will often sleep with me.

I'm so glad I found her! We had been looking at another cat and had made arrangements to adopt him when it fell through and after being really upset by that, I stopped by our local humane society. Pandora was the last cat I looked at in the last room. It was love at first sight and I adopted her on the spot. I definitely believe in fate. :D She's an awesome little cat and I love her so much!