So many changes...

Since the last entry which wasn't nearly as long ago as I feared, we've moved out to Virginia to be closer to my family.  We've also added Raven to our household and though she firmly believes she is just another Aussie, we're pretty sure there's some Sheltie in there.  She is, as is everyone, a frisbee dog.

These days, when we bring the pack to an event, we usually choose UpDog Challenge events.  They have multiple games and allow rollers which means that Steel gets to play and we don't have to worry about him making stupid high jumps and bad landings that injure his back and paws.

Now about Rogue.  She is what this is all about after all.  She and I have exploded in our disc ability.  This year alone, we've qualified for the Ashley Whippet Invitational world championship, took first place in Throw and Go at our last Updog Challenge event, took first place in Time Trial for our division at a Skyhoundz Discdogathon and are currently tied for 8th place out of well over 1000 international dog/handler teams in the K9 Toss and Catch League. I can't get too excited about that one yet since we're only in week one of five but holeeeeeee...

What happened?  Rogue is a natural athlete.  She is a world championship caliber dog without a doubt.  After she realized what this whole frisbee thing was about and how fun it was, the real handicap for our team was me. I was throwing just over 20 yards all over the field.  The total points of our first five weeks was 35.  (max possible in one week is 55).   This year we've exploded.  I have started throwing over the 40 yard line occasionally and our Spring score (three years after our first Spring score was 148 points.  Wow.  We practice a lot and since we don't have a big yard at our house in VA, we visit a nearby dog park at noon 3-5 times a week.

 And here we are.  I'm throwing farther than I would have ever though possible and we'll be heading back to Illinois for the AWI world championship as a qualified team and not help.    It's still sinking in.

We've traveled a lot already this year.  We went to Maryland for the AWI qualifier, we sent to North Carolina for an Updog event, we went up to Canada for Updog and to visit Rogue's breeder, Teri for the first time since I brought her home five years ago.  We took the whole crew down to southern Virginia for Updog and Rogue and I went up near Chesapeake Bay for the Discdogathon. 

I haven't yet met any other deaf disc dogs since Decibel is retired.  I met her handler in Canada.  But I've heard that there are more deaf dogs playing disc now than ever before and that makes me happy.  I'd like to believe that Rogue and I have played a part in that. 

 

So, looking forward to more disc this year and years in the future. 

The only thing Rogue can't do is hear.

What is that funky smell...

Skunk.  Yep, that's right.  After going seventeen years with dogs without an incident, we've had three and two of those were less than ten days apart.  You would think the dogs would be smart enough after the first, and maybe the second time to not go chasing after the 'striped kitty'..  Nope.  And Steel was the culprit all three times.

There are plenty of thing that people claim will get rid of the skunk smell.  I will share with you what we found that works and works well.  We should know.  We've had to use it three times.  Now, keep i mind that a dog who has been skunked will still smell somewhat when they get wet or if you get your face into their coat.  We now have our very own skunk kit in the kitchen which made the second two instances a lot quicker and easier.

Here are the items in our skunk kit.
Nature's Miracle Skunk odor remover (not your regular Nature's Miracle.  This is a different thing entirely)
Dawn dish soap.  (must be Dawn.  Generic dish soap does not have the same detergent content)
A pump sprayer
PVC gloves
Oatmeal dog shampoo
Wash cloth
Slip lead
5 gallon bucket
Hose

Nature's Miracle's Skunk Odor remover and pump sprayer

Step one:  get the dog out of the house or make sure the dog can not get in the house.  I know it will be dark out (skunks are nocturnal) but trust me on this.  Skunk odor is like fried bacon.  It gets in the air and lingers there.  

Step two:  Put the slip lead on the dog and spray them down with the Nature's Miracle Skunk.  Most of the time, your dog gets it in the face.  Do not spray them in the face.  Saturate a washcloth with it and rub down their face.

Step three: If the dog has good recall let them go.  The odor remover has to stay on them for at least five minutes.  e actually played fetch with Steel to keep him busy while the neutralizer does it's work.  

Step four:  Fill the bucket to the point where you can carry it and won't spill it all over with warm water and some Dawn.  If you put the Dawn in first, you don't have to stir it.  Soak the washcloth in the bucket and then dump the rest of the bucket over the dog.  

Step five:  With the gloves on, work the soapy water into the dog's coat.  This is dissolving the oil to make sure it all gets out of the coat  Use the washcloth on the face.

Step six:  Rinse all the soap out. with the hose.

Step seven:  Massage a conditioning shampoo into the dog's coat to get the last of the detergent and solution out and to put some moisture back in the coat.

Step eight:  Rinse again.

Steel.  Skunk hunter extraordinaire.

Because this always happens at night and because it's been really cold, we then followed it up the next day with a trip to the local self service dog wash to make sure everything is out of the coat when we have sufficient light.  Note:  They will not allow your dog in until the worst of the scent has been neutralized and they will know.  Trust me. In fact, most grooming places have the same rule.

The good news is that Rogue is the only one who was smart enough to avoid the skunk every time.  In fact, we tried to gt her out of the back yard while we were hosing down Steel and she jumped the fence... to get back into the yard.

We have been working hard in our Reactive Dog class.  We've started making her work for the fetch that she loves so much   She has to sit, lay down, or touch before we'll throw the ball for her.  Mostly what we're working on is her coming to us and paying more attention to us.  She's been getting a bit spoiled and possessive of things like the bed and this simple thing has just about eliminated that behavior.

She has also been running with some new dogs lately as we go to our favorite off leash forest preserve.  A lot of experience with some new dogs helps.

Rogue and her new friend, Radar

While her off leash manners with other dogs are awesome, her on leash manners still need work  It's a work in progress  We're trying to get her to look to me when she sees other dogs instead of just reacting.  It's a challenge for her and she is exhausted by the time we're done with our one-hour class. 

We'll get there.  I takes time for her to overcome her perception of being trapped when she's on leash and to get her to trust us enough to let us make her decisions for her.  We'll just keep working until we get it right. 

It just might be you

So, the pups were well spoiled on Christmas as usual.  Our holiday card was a huge hit.  It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it was still pretty good.

And appropriate.  Though the naughtiness here was staged.

Speaking of naughtiness, Rogue continues her leash reactivity and the husband and I have decided that we're too close to it to be able to deal effectively with training her out of it alone.  What that means is, it's probably us.  There's no shame in it.  Even the best dog trainers can be blind to how they are affecting their own dogs' behavior.  We're too close and it's often hard to observe the behavior when you're in the middle of it or at the other end of the leash.

So, we start reactive dog class this week.  In preparation, Rogue and I have walked about 8 miles over the past four days to get the edge off her activity level.  Not to tire her out.  It takes a lot more than that, but to take the edge off.  The holidays were hard on them in that our schedule was off and they were home alone a lot more than normal.  Rogue likes her routine and the changes made her crabby and she'd take it out on her siblings.

This is our favorite park.  It's 2 miles of wooded trails that allows dogs off leash.  Not all of our walks were off leash, but many of them were.  Rogue and I did three miles on leash one of the days this past weekend.  Her leash manners were starting to slide.  I'm planning on doing a lot more on leash walking with her while we're attending class.

Rogue flushes out a Zubat while Pokehunting on our walk.

I'm pretty sure a lot of our problem is that she is possessive.  For some reason, on leash, she's more possessive of me than off leash.  It's something we'll be talking about with the trainer in class, but I'm pretty sure it's me or something I'm doing.  I may give her what she wants too often or haven't made her confident enough in my ability to handle situations when she's on leash that she still feels like she has to do something.  She's still adores people but she's still having issues with other dogs.

I'm confident that class will help.  It may be that she's not ever going to be happy around other dogs on leash and that we won't be able to make her a therapy dog.  That would be a shame, but it does take a special kind of personality for that work.  We shall see.

Hope everyone has a great New Year!  I'll keep you updated on our progress at reactive dog class.

Checking in about check in

Most dog trainers will agree on the top five important commands/behaviors for your dog to know.  They may not agree in which order, but they will probably agree on Recall, drop it, leave it, stay and maybe the fifth is in dispute.  I'm not going to try to diminish the importance of these in any way but, when you're dealing with a deaf dog, no matter how well they might know any or all of these commands, it makes no difference if they aren't looking at you.

If you ever want your deaf dog to be able to be off leash and in an emergency situation when they get loose, the most important thing you want is for them to look to you to tell them what to do or just check in with you to see what you're doing.  Check in isn't put on a command, it's a behavior you want to teach them to do automatically.  You want them to periodically, no matter what they're doing, check in with you.

I tried unsuccessfully to video Rogue checking in on our last walk, but apparently failed miserably so we'll go back to words.  When Rogue is off leash, or on leash for that matter, she will periodically look back to me.  Off leash, it's less obvious (Dogs have much more peripheral vision than we do so she doesn't even have to turn her head all the way to see me) and it doesn't interrupt what she's doing.  She just gives me a glance back to make sure I'm there.  Occasionally, she'll even run off the trail with Steel but she is only gone for a few seconds before she comes right back with or without her blue buddy.  It's been a real help with teaching her disc because the moment that disc is in her mouth, she's looking at me and I can tell her to drop it right there or encourage her to run back to me as fast as she can.

Let me be totally  honest, some dogs can't ever be trusted off leash.  That's going to be a case by case basis and based entirely on the specific dog though some breeds are less likely than others to go off leash in a non fenced area.  When in doubt, keep your dog on a leash.  If you have good check in, only let your dog off leash in areas where it's permitted.    Herding dogs, because of their nature of needing to know where everything is, tend to be naturals at this skill.

How do you teach it?  You reward your dog for looking at you.  Keep treats in your pockets, around the house, at all times.  Any time your dog looks at you from something else they're doing, you mark the behavior (thumbs up, flicker, etc) and treat them.  Now sometimes, if you do this, they won't want to look away from you.  The behavior you're trying to capture is them looking away from whatever it is they're doing to look at you so you give the mark and throw the treat away from them so they have to look away from you.

I had the opportunity to practice this with Luna, another deaf dog I met a couple of weeks ago.  It was a very very distracting environment for her.  She had only been with her current family for a month, it was a dog sporting event so there was high excitement everywhere and a lot of people and dogs she'd never seen.

With her owner's permission, I took her out on a long line.  There were so many things for her to see it was easy to get her to look away from me.  Every time she looked at me, I marked the behavior and gave her a treat.  I worked a couple of five to ten minute sessions with her and then it was time for one of her sibling dogs to compete.  She darted off a few feet and before she hit the end of the long line, stopped and looked at me.  SCORE!!!

The lovely Luna

Obviously, Luna's Mom is going to have a lot of work to do before Luna can be trusted off leash but since one of her hopes is that Luna will be a disc dog like Rogue, check in is going to be vital.  I look forward to seeing Luna at disc dog events in our future.  

Speaking of disc, Rogue and I had a phenomenal day at toss and catch league on Saturday.  She has gone from the dog who had no interest in a disc to our personal best score.  She ran clear across the field to catch a bad throw on my part and wowed everyone there.  I'm very proud of my little black and white dog.

I took her to a local haunted house before it started with the hope of exposing her to people in scary costumes and masks in my efforts to make her a bullet proof therapy dog.  They hadn't dressed up yet but were more than willing to give her some love.  One man did go get a creepy looking clown mask and got down to her level.  She sniffed the mask once and then nudged him for pettings.  She also really wanted to go get the football they were playing with in spite of the fact that it was bigger than her head.  

These weren't exactly the type of friends I wanted her to make at the haunted house.

While Rogue is not really a human sports fan, she was grateful that she was not dressed up after the Cubs won the World series like her siblings.

And since Veterans Day was last week, I took this photo of Rogue at the Oswego Veterans monument.  I have many family  members, friends and family members of friends who have served so, from me and Rogue, thank you for your service.

Next week, she'll have her third birthday.  It's so amazing to believe that it's been that long.  In spite of the fact that she's yelling at me at the top of her deaf dogs have no volume control voice to get off the computer and play with her, I love her more every day.

Has it been a year already?

To say that 2016 hasn't been one of my favorite years would be an understatement.  It might be better to state that this New Year's Eve I will be making sure that the door hits it on the rear end as it makes way for 2017.  Without boring you with too much detail since you aren't here to read about me, we had to move, I broke my right and sprained my left ankle (at the same time and while we were moving), went down to one car and had two very close family deaths.

For those reading this, thanks for sticking with me.  It was fans of the blog that made me sit down today and add another chapter in the adventure that is living with Rogue.

It hasn't been all bad since the last entry.  Rogue participated in her first Updog Challenge with a lot of the same people who saw her in July last year.  She also competed in two other disc competitions in May and September.  I've got a real disc dog now.

Look who is on the cover of this article.

But disc isn't the only sport we've tried.  She's been lure coursing, got her novice trick dog  title and was in her first Barn Hunt competition.  She's not a fan of Barn Hunt.  She loves to roll in the hay, but isn't a fan of the rats.  I think it's more that it's not as interactive with me as the other activities.  

There is no pond in back of the new house and she, Ruby and Steel are really missing swimming time


She loves her new life jacket because it gives her enough buoyancy that she can spend more energy on speed and less on keeping herself afloat.  She doesn't wear the life jacket for swimming most of the time, but we got it in case we take her in a boat.  And how could we resist the one with the fin?

We continue to struggle with her reactivity to dogs that make eye contact with her while she's on leash.  It's our biggest challenge in getting her to be a therapy dog.  She's been getting lots of practice.  She has visited a rehab facility and it was amazing how just her presence brightened the residents' faces.

Here she is at a disc dog demo.  I love the fact that I can hand children a disc and she will chase that disc with as much enthusiasm as she does with me and drop it at their feet.  She still loves kids and they certainly seem to love her.  

Our plan for the reactivity is we're going back into training.  I'm hoping that a class with other dogs will give me an opportunity to reward her for ignoring them.  Sometimes, it takes someone else's perspective to get you past a problem you're having issues correcting.  This applies to hearing dogs as well as deaf ones.  

Another plus is the progress of her relationship with my husband.  They've always had a bit of a distant relationship with her really having little to do with him unless I'm not around.   My dear hubby has gone out of his way to work on that and the results are a testament to his hard work.  I've found that she really likes physical affection on her terms.  She's very snuggly in the morning and at bed time but she also likes chin scratches and butt rubs during the day.  She's not a daytime snuggler, 

It's time for my butt rubbins!!!                                                             

So we progress.  She'll be three next month and it doesn't seem like it could possibly have been that long.  She is an adult, but she's an adult like a 20-year-old is an adult.  From my experience with Steel and Ruby, she doesn't become a true adult for another year or two.   She frustrates, infuriates and amazes me still.  

And even though she's standing next to me right now yelling at me because I am not throwing any of the five toys she's brought me as I'm working on this, I know it's not just because she is looking for something to do, it's because she's looking for something to do with me.  

I think that's pretty cool and I'd better get to it.

Happy Deaf Dog Appreciation Week

Rogue and I would like to take a moment to appreciate and thank everyone who has ever brought a deaf dog into their home.   This includes foster homes as well as those who have welcomed a deaf dog into their family.  As I sit here at the computer and play fetch with the dog who will not EVER stop, I can't imagine life without her and she can't imagine that I would ever want or need to stop throwing the toy.

So, since last time, Rogue has earned her Canine Good Citizen certification.  I admit, I didn't expect her to pass and took the test to see what we needed to work on.  She was awesome and did everything I asked of her.   This is a great first step toward therapy dog certification.  It's not necessary to get the CGC to be a therapy dog, but it includes a lot of the same tests and it's a good measure of what you have to work on before you try therapy dog certification.

At the Australian Shepherd Rescue Midwest party and fund raiser, Aussiepalooza a couple weeks ago, she was great.  There were a lot of dogs and the only time she had issues was when we were in some tight quarters.  Her dog reactivity is still a concern since she doesn't give any subtle hints but goes straight for shouting at the top of her voice.  Work in progress and only a problem when she's on leash.  In fact, there were over half a dozen aussies frolicking in a fenced field with her and she had fun when she wasn't sitting by the fence wondering where I was.

At one point, I was able to leave her with a couple of kids while I went into an enclosed area and it worked out well.  The kids enjoyed some Rogue kisses and I was able to see how she is with other handlers when I'm within sight.  She was great!

Rogue makes two new friends.  

She was well loved and I was surprised how many people asked me if that was THE Rogue.  I can't imagine there being two of them.  She's getting a bit of a reputation in the places that we frequent and made a great impression at the feed store that just opened up.  Everyone always comments about how sweet she is.  It really warms my heart to hear that.   The breed isn't known for being that accepting of strangers.  

So, now that we have our CGC, what next?

We're still working on Barn Hunt and I'm going to start trick training her.  We need something to do once it gets too cold to swim in the pond and chase frisbees.  I want to work on some disc dog tricks that don't require a lot of space so that once it's disc season again, we'll be ready to do more than just toss and fetch... assuming she's not sick.  (sigh)

Not so much exciting at the moment, but I couldn't not post on Deaf Dog Appreciation Day.

Deaf dogs CAN

It amazes me sometimes to hear how surprised people are at the things Rogue can do.  Currently, there's nothing we have tried to train her that she hasn't learned to do. In addition to canine disc, we're starting to learn Barn Hunt.  She's been dock diving and we're enrolled in a Click-a-Trick class.  I can't forget training for her therapy dog certification.  I know hearing dogs who can't do all this stuff.  And, of course, she can get a jar of grease out of the sink and lick it clean in under ten minutes.  (sigh)

Yes, that's a glass jar formerly filled with grease.  

But it's not just Rogue.  Other deaf dogs are proving just how much they can do.   Here is Decibel, a canine disc dog who this year won a Freestyle competition in Quebec.

Is that awesome or what?

Don't let the fact that your dog can't hear convince you that you can't do all those fun things you always wanted to do with her.  

Kira, is her human buddy's running partner.   

With those ears, you'd think she could hear something.

And Rogue's buddy, Belle already has her Master of Tricks and is all the way up to NW3 in nosework.

I smell the food.  Give me the food.

When she's not kayaking.

So really, it's not the dogs preventing us from doing what we want with them... it's us.  They are just as eager and happy to learn as their hearing brethren.  Communication is the key.  Dogs are used to communicating mostly in a nonverbal manner, it's we, the humans, that have to get with the program.

Someone shared this video with me on Facebook and while it's not specifically geared toward training deaf dogs, it happens to be pretty awesome for doing just that.

Now, one little point here and it was something we discovered.  When we were training Rogue, Curt didn't bother saying anything because, well, she's deaf.  He had a lot of trouble getting her to respond because since he wasn't verbalizing, he wasn't conveying any sense of excitement or fun. When he went back to verbalizing, his excitement carried over to his body language and Rogue learned quicker.

 Obviously, the guy in this video is very animated so it's not a problem for him but it is something to keep in mind that we have to convey excitement with our bodies since they can't hear it in our voices.  One more thing that I'll go into more detail once I get my video done, when you're trying to come up with a sign for what you're trying to teach, make it natural.  There's nothing wrong with using ASL signs, but you may find in the process of teaching your dog something, they find a cue from your body language that will become their sign for that activity.  I do have a video of some of the signs we use on the list.

What's going on in Rogue's world right now?  Well, we have been busy.  We did a demo at the Wisconsin State fair and Rogue learned that she really likes to perform in front of an audience.  We have a big disc dog competition this weekend she is staying home from because she has kennel cough.  This is the same competition she missed last year because she was in heat.  

She's still pushing boundaries and our buttons and she's still the most challenging dog we've ever trained completely outside her being deaf, but we love her.  Of course, you might want to check out #goddammitrogue to see some of her antics.  Here she is, resting after a day of chaos with Steel.

Rogue's Road Trips

Rogue had an appointment for her spay in June.  In order to get out of that surgery, she gave herself a concussion a few days earlier and was still showing signs of it on spay day so the surgery was cancelled and we have to reschedule.  Signs your dog may have a concussion

Honestly, the vet said there probably wouldn't be any complication with the surgery but said she felt better putting it off until the little monster was fully recovered.  I had to agree.

This allowed us to go to the Skyhoundz discdogathon at Purina Farms outside St. Louis.   This was Rogue's first disc dog event.   Since Rogue is still a bit young for all the fancy freestyle stuff and since she's really only been catching discs for a month or so, it was a perfect event.  It consists of five different 'games'.  You can find them here.  Four out of five of them are just different challenges for a handler throwing the disc to their dog.

Rogue had never participated in a disc dog event before.  We hadn't really done any road trips since a couple weeks after I brought her home so this was a new experience for her.  My goal was for her to score points in every event... even Freestyle and I'd be happy.

Don't worry, we didn't do anything fancy with Freestyle.   It was more to just get her out there and throw the discs and see what she'd do.  A friend of mine recorded her very first freestyle routine.  It may not look like much, but I was thrilled.  She did score points in every game and we took two third places in the senior division (obviously, senior handler, not senior dog).  By the last event, she really seemed to have an idea about what was going on and was bringing all the discs back.  Initially, she would only bring it back if she actually caught it and I spent a lot of time running after them.

It was hot and humid and she had to spend a lot of time in her crate, but I was so very proud of her.  I hope to look back at this video in the years to come and be amazed at how far she's come.

Who is awesome?   This girl

A couple weeks later was our very first dogs included vacation.   We drove to Omaha to see family.  That meant staying with a friend who had a dog of her own.  This was the second time in under a month that Rogue was staying somewhere that wasn't home.    She was a little punk and our friend's newfoundland very gently put her in her place when she got uppity.  It was a shame because Kenzie, the newf, really wanted to play with her.

Pretending not to play with Kenzie, the newf.

One thing about many young dogs, like kids, they don't always want to go to bed when they're tired or... overtired.   We ended up with a very overtired little girl at one point and the crate was the only thing we could do to get her to relax and finally sleep.  I think she was out for around 9 hours after that.   Did I mention that overtired deaf dogs bark nonstop at full volume?   At least this one did.

She also got to prove again how good she is with kids.   She loved every person she met though she still is having some problems not barking at other dogs.   This is something she's going to need to get a handle on if we're going to get her therapy dog certification.  We've been working on distracting her with treats when other dogs are around but it's a work in progress.

My niece and nephews adored her.   She would let anyone throw a disc or a ball to her and would retrieve it with glee.  We taught everyone the 'find your toy' sign and she was really good about obeying whoever happened to be telling her what to do.  Watching her with the kids was a delight.

Paying attention like a good girl.

At one point, she was tethered because there was no fence where we were playing and she played on the tether as if it wasn't even there and didn't try to run.  I figured she wouldn't at this point, but strange place, strange people, the tether made sure that if I was wrong, she'd be safe.

I even make a tether look good.

We had some house training issues, some barking issues and some bratty dog nonsense, but overall, she handled it pretty well.  The kids had a great time, she seemed to have a great time and at some point, when our hearing returns to normal, we may do this again.

Does this boy make my tongue look big?

What's next for the Princess?  We're still practicing mostly toss and catch with her, prepping for a disc dog demo in Wisconsin in August and another competition in September..  We're still working her around people and dogs to get her therapy dog certified.  Still a lot on this special little girl's plate and I'm enjoying (almost) every minute of our journey.

Patience Pays Off

Well, we did it.  Rogue is now chasing, leaping for and catching discs.  She's really enjoying the play.  We did have to come up with a sign for "go find your toy" because sometimes, she doesn't feel like bringing it back, but we've generalized it to mean disc, or dryer ball or whatever she's been fetching.

I brought her with me to a disc dog camp put on by the Indy Disc Dog Club at the beginning of the month and she was really good.   National champions, Chris Sexton and Christi Campbell were there to give all of us disc doggers, experienced and not so much help with our game.   It was a nice, educational weekend and, aside from being a punk about letting me grab her to put her back on leash, she stayed quiet in her crate and allowed me to distract her from barking at other dogs.  All in all, a fun weekend.

Disc doggers come in all shapes and sizes.

The other thing we've been working hard on is Rogue's therapy dog certification.   She can't be certified until she is two so we still have a few months to practice.  How do you practice therapy dog work?   Usually, we go to places that allow dogs and just wander around letting her interact with all different kinds of people.   Some of the dog friendly places we visit are, Home Depot, Blaine's Farm and Fleet and Macy's.  Macy's only allows purse sized dogs or therapy and service dogs in training.  It's good that Rogue is a therapy dog in training or I have no idea where I'd find a purse big enough. 

There are multiple different therapy dog organizations.   Delta Society, Therapy Dogs International and the AKC therapy dog program to name a few.  A lot of people I talk to when I explain Rogue's training for being a therapy dog, confuse therapy with service dogs.   A service dog is trained for one person to perform specific tasks for that person.  A therapy dog is trained to provide comfort and even entertainment for anyone.  The Service Dog program is a lot more intensive.  Service dogs can not be barred from going anywhere.  Therapy dogs are only allowed in specific places.   

So, our last practice was at Macy's, where Rogue got to meet all kinds of fun people of all ages.  She even got to meet a woman in a wheelchair.   That was a good experience for her since she was very unsure about the wheelchair at first.  Thankfully, the woman in the wheelchair was kind enough to let me work with her to get comfortable with it.  Good training for us and the woman really seemed to enjoy Rogue's attention.  And,after an hour and a half of this, I got the best reward on the ride home.

Remember, a tired dog is a good dog.

By the way, deaf dogs can make great therapy dogs for classrooms of kids with autism.  They won't be spooked by any sudden vocal outbursts and often, autistic kids do better using hand signals to tell the dog what to do instead of words.  We met some nice people who work at a nearby school and are hoping to be able to visit their class next year once Rogue is certified.

Rogue has also decided that Hyatt, the foster dog, is not the evil spawn of the devil and we've caught her playing with him more than once.  She usually does this when we're not looking but we know she does it now.  She is less crabby with him, but still occasionally chases him off.  The fact that Hyatt doesn't always know when to quit, isn't helping his case much.

With the warm weather, we've been able to visit our favorite park again.  It is so great to watch Rogue go only so far away from us and then stop, turn around and come back.  The only time she goes out of sight, is if she's following Steel.  Other than that, she keeps her eyes on us and makes sure she doesn't wander too far off.  What a great girl.

I took lots of pictures and, as I was going through them, I realized that she's grown into quite a stunning adult.   Seems a far cry from that fuzzy baby I picked up in Canada what seems like ages ago.

Where did my baby go?

Next up, unbeknownst to her is her spay.   She has wild mood swings and we're hoping that she'll settle in to her sweet phase and not her 'female doggy' phase.  Whether or not to spay and when are very personal decisions and depend a lot on you and your dog and your circumstance.  Everyone's situation is different.  Do your research and make the choice that's best for you.  If money is an issue, there are a lot of places that will do low cost spays and neuters and you can probably find one in your area.  

We're looking forward to a really fun summer.

Until next time...

In which Rogue learns discs are fun and foster dogs are annoying.

I have come to the startling realization that Rogue is the dog version of my mother's curse.  You know the one.  "Some day, you'll have a child just like you."  I figured, no kids, I was safe, not only that, but my sister's kids seem to have all the challenging behaviors of both of her non child bearing sisters.  But I realize now that Rogue is much like me as a child.  She has my stubbornness and sensitivity.  She has my desire to  learn things her own way in her own time and while she wants very much to please me, she also wants to be in charge.  Every dog trainer I've talked to tells me how challenging a dog with those qualities is.  That's not including deaf, which I'm not.:)

So, we've continued dryer ball in the basement which is now her favorite game.  She will stand at the basement door and wait for us to take her down to play.   She will gleefully chase the ball and retrieve it until we put it away and tell her she's done.  I admit that I let her convince me that if she couldn't find the ball easily, I would find it for her until my husband told me she would find them for him without.  This  resulted in the Aussie curse of stupid smart dog.

But a dryer ball in the basement while a step toward catching and returning discs, is not catching and returning discs.

Dog disc







So, how to make the connection?  I went to Etsy because heck if there was anywhere I was going to find a wool disc, it would be on Etsy and found Adirondak Handmade.   She made me a lovely purple felted wool disc.  

But what would Rogue think of it?  Would it even fly?  What if she didn't like it?  Okay, it wasn't that expensive so it's worth a try.

So out we went to a field nearby to try it out.  I prepped her with a couple of long dryer ball throws that she gleefully went out and retrieved.  Then I put the dryer ball away and brought out the disc.  The gleam remained in her eyes which was a good sign and then I was able to lead her around so that she was chasing the disc instead of leading it and watched as she made a leaping catch to snag it out of the air.  VICTORY!!!

We did this a few more times to make sure her interest was not a fluke and then stopped before she got tired or bored.  I was excited and I could tell she knew that she'd done a good thing.  You think hearing dogs read you well?  Deaf dogs make them look like amateurs.  We both headed happily home.  That was today.  Can't wait to try this with her again.   Maybe... some day, we'll be doing disc together in competition.

So that's the good stuff that's been going on in Rogue's life and now for the bad... well bad as far as she is concerned.  We  took in a foster dog.  We hadn't fostered since we got Rogue because we tend to get the behavior problems which take a lot more time and we didn't want to take time away from Rogue.  

Enter Hyatt

Hyatt is a 10 month old red merle cross between an Aussie and a border collie.  We call them Baussies.  Anyone familiar with the breeds knows why.  Hyatt is young and enthusiastic and loves to be here.  He has some trust issues with people that we're going to be helping him through.  If you ask Rogue, he is her worst nightmare.

She started by yelling at him any time he got near her.  Now, appropriate dog behavior is to start with the least amount of correction (lip curl) and go up in steps until the other dog gets the hint.  My Ruby is great at this.  Rogue did not believe in subtlety, she went right for barking and driving him away from her.

As she is not hurting him or driving him past the point where he leaves her alone, we allow this behavior.  He's a pig headed teenager and that's what he needs.  Is her behavior toward him because she's deaf?  Nope, her behavior  toward him is because she's a spoiled girl who doesn't  like having another dog in the house.  Not only that, Steel plays with him and that's just not allowed.  

So, she is getting some training in having to deal with other dogs in the  house.  She has gone from not allowing him in the same room as she is to allowing him near her as long as he isn't too close.  I've watched him spend ten minutes outside trying to get her to play with him, pulling out all his tricks including nuzzling her, hip checking her and executing a play bow that just can't get his butt any higher into the air.   Now, I have seen her play chase with him briefly, but only when she thought no one was watching.

He's a pushy boy and she's teaching him that he can't just push anyone around. He's been here about two weeks.  I suspect in another two more, she may actually play with him.

Our walks at the favorite dog park are done for awhile. There's a pretty nasty dog flu here and while Rogue and other two aussies are healthy enough that at most, they'd get sick for a day or two, our 14 and a half year old is at risk of getting really sick so we avoid all our favorite spot where other dogs frequent.

In my continued effort to make a therapy dog out of this little spitfire, I've been taking her to Home Depot (yes, most Home Depots will allow your dog) where she pretty much keeps her eyes on me and does what I tell her. At the moment, the one thing that still distracts her are kids.   She loves kids and so I have to be careful about keeping her close so she's not jumping on someone.   I'm working her down stay so I am trying to get her to down or sit to be petted.  It's a work in progress but I think she's doing really well for a year and a half old. 

Until next time, when hopefully there will be pictures of Rogue and Hyatt frolicking in the yard and maybe even one of her catching a real disc.  I am every hopeful.

Saying goodbye to the perfect dog.... no tissues needed

This isn't about the death of a pet. Mine are all healthy and happy, thank goodness.   This is about the ideal of the perfect dog.  Why this belongs here is even though first timers and probably even veterans with deaf dogs all have that idea in mind of how our deaf dog/puppy is going to be.  And hey, this isn't just for those of us with dogs with special needs.

Something smells special.

Everyone has an idea of their perfect dog, whether it's a fantastical memory of their first dog or just that anticipation of all the things your dog is going to be and do.  There's nothing wrong with this but then we're faced with the reality of the dog/puppy we have.

This doesn't have anything to do with there being something wrong with the dog though that can be the case.  It has more to do with the fact that all dogs are different, even dogs of the same breed.  Dogs of the same breed are going to have general similar traits like herding instinct or retrieving instinct or tenacity, but within those traits are individuals.

 Havoc

 Rogue

Steel

What do these three puppies have in common?   They are the three dogs that we got as puppies.  Havoc was our first and we got Steel 12 years later.   In addition to realizing how little we remembered about raising a puppy, we had gotten Steel to be an apprentice to Havoc our strong leader dog who was instrumental in helping us rehab unstable dogs with behavior problems.   Big shoes for a little puppy to fill.  Steel is really good with the foster dogs we've had, however, not in the same way Havoc was.  We had to say goodbye to our version of a blue merle aussie Havoc and work with Steel, the dog we had.

Master and apprentice

When Rogue came along, we knew she'd be deaf.  We knew she'd be a challenge but she was a puppy and we knew a lot more about puppies than we did when we first got Havoc.  We set about to train Rogue just like we trained Steel.  After all, we trained Steel with hand signs so that was no big difference.  Rogue was a confident girl, like Steel so how much harder could it be?  And we learned again.  Rogue was confident but sensitive.  You could storm off frustrated by Steel and he wouldn't care.  You could look funny at Rogue and she'd shut down.  Goodbye deaf Steel.  Hello, baby Rogue.

Stick with me, Kid.  You'll do fine.

And this doesn't just apply to puppies.   We do a lot of shaping training and poor Ruby, who had come from a home that had scolded her for everything they didn't want her to do without telling her what they DID want her to do, just wasn't comfortable with shaping.  She was afraid to offer behaviors because she'd been punished for them in the past.  So, again, we adjusted.

The important thing is to realize what dog you have and not to force them into trying to be something they either aren't yet or just can't be.  Just because this dog is the same breed and even from the same breeder as your last one, they can still have some significant differences.   I mean, how much are you like your siblings?

So we have three Aussies we train slightly differently to account for their personalities and Rogue's deafness.  Now that Steel is an adult, he's really starting to step up in the role we hoped for him.  Havoc's management style was follow me, I'm the leader.  Steel is more follow me because I'm fun.  Like Havoc, Steel makes new dogs in our home feel welcome.  He just does it in his own way.

Relax, I've got this. 

Having fun yet?

And our dogs change.  I had all but given up on Rogue as a therapy dog.  It seemed like she was just not willing to settle down and was constantly barking at other dogs but then I realized that she stares at other dogs and if she doesn't like the way they look back, she barks so I don't let her see other dogs long enough to stare at them.  As for settling down, we were at a Pet Expo for 8 hour and other than a couple of crate breaks when she was looking a little overwhelmed, she was fabulous.  We've been working her default down so that every time I stopped, she laid down.  I had also worked her on her chair and in both places, she accepted and encouraged people to pet her.  She still jumped on a couple of kids (sigh) but that is the closest I've seen her to meeting Canine Good Citizen requirements since she's come to live with us.   Therapy dog is certainly within reach once she turns two.

So,deaf or not, keep in mind, the dog you have may not be the dog you expected but that doesn't make them inferior, just different.   And those differences might just be amazing.

Now, if only we can get past mud season...

New year, new hip, new tricks

Busy again.  I missed posting on Rogue's first birthday and even on the anniversary of her first day home.   Part of it was laziness, I admit.  Part of it was the hip replacement (mine, not hers).

Any wonder I had a spectacular recovery with these nurmaids taking care of me?

Rogue continues to bond more with us and play with us.    Separating her from Steel works best not so much because of her, but because Steel doesn't believe that any play should happen without him.  It's a challenge.

As I've started working with her more, I've realized how much we've lost training wise with everything that's been going on so in many aspects, we're back to square one.  The big difference is that I am well aware that I have a very willful, very sensitive girl with a low frustration threshold.  This has changed the way I approach things.

it's especially important for training with her to be in short bursts.  If she gets frustrated, she shuts down so short bursts lets her end training successfully, not in frustration and makes her more interested in the training and more inclined to want to do it.  The first time she fails to figure out what I want, I go back to something she knows and end on that.

This training thing is exhausting.

We've had two really important training breakthroughs:  We want her to be a disc dog but we've had some issues with her toy drive.   She's far more interested in playing with someone than something and fetch isn't something she's been interested in....  until I bought the dryer balls.

Rogue has been obsessed with those dryer balls since the moment I brought them home and all I have to do is turn away from the dryer for a second and she is in and out of the dryer with one of them in her mouth looking as proud as anything and daring me to chase her.  Cute but annoying.   One day, she grabbed the dryer ball and dashed up the stairs and out the dog door.  I was in the middle of laundry and decided that I was just going to finish and then go out and try to get it back when I was done.  

But the next thing I know, Rogue is back downstairs with the ball still in her mouth.  She comes up to me and drops it at my feet as if to say, "Oh, chase isn't your game?  How about this?"

Needless to say, there was much puppy loving as I picked up the ball and threw it for her.  She brought it back.  Again and again she brought that dryer ball back to me and we played fetch.  I was ecstatic which she picked up on and we had a short round of fetch.  I stopped the game while she was still interested.  (I also bought new dryer balls so that I didn't have to put the dog slobbered ones in with my clothes)

What happened?  Rogue wants to engage me enough that she's willing to try what I want to get what she wants which is play with me. This wasn't going to happen until our bond was strong enough for her to be willing to play my game instead of hers.

I've been taking her with me on errands when I can take her inside because it's been brutally cold. Still working on her jumping on people and it's hard for me to get her into a sit before someone praises her for jumping on them.   (sigh)

So, when I had to take the car in for new tires, I brought her with me.  The mechanic and staff love my dogs and hadn't met her yet.  I put her in a chair and had her stay there and worked stay bursts,  I'd walk away from her (we're at very short distances) and walk back and treat.  I'd do this a couple of times and then call her to me.  By the time we were done, I could duck very briefly out of sight.  This is HUGE for a deaf dog because if she can't see me, she doesn't' know where I am.  She can smell me and knows that I'm still in the area, but she can't hear me move.

She sat in that chair being occasionally treated almost two hours (the tires took longer than I anticipated) which meant as people passed by, she wasn't' jumping on them.  I had a couple of people come over and pet her so that she knew she could get that reward there as well.   All in all, a very productive training day.

 

Can I please get out of the chair now?

As I said,it's been brutally cold here and we've had quite a bit of snow.   Training becomes more important because while they do love the snow, we have to watch them when it gets too cold and training is a safe, warm way to tire them out.  When it's not brutally cold, however, they've been having a great time out in the snow.  At one point, I was able to take them to our favorite trail park.  The snow was up above the girls' bellies so though I only hiked 1.1 miles (not bad tw months post hip replacement), they were totally exhausted from romping in the snow.  They slept the rest of the day.

But things have not been all fun.  Rogue is an Aussie.  She does not like unstable dogs and wants to correct them.  She stares at other dogs and if she doesn't like the look they give her, she barks at them.  This has nothing to do with her deafness and everything to do with the fact that she's an Aussie.  Right now, I'm working on getting her to focus on me and on ways to get her attention.  Verbal cues and correction aren't going to work on her and if she's focusses on something else, she won't be looking at me to give her cues.  It's why I'm taking her to people places most often.  

We had some guarding issues when I was on crutches for my hip but those have gone with the crutches.  She does get overwhelmed with too many people or when people approach her too quickly.  She likes to approach people and the jumping up is still there but lessening.  Yesterday, she let two young boys love on her for quite awhile.  

I think she'd make a good therapy dog but I also understand that she has some challenges to overcome.   Because she can't hear, she gets frustrated and barky when there are too many people to keep track of visually.    But she's still young and we're still working on it.  As our bond and her confidence in me grows, I'm hoping she'll be less inclined to feel she has to take care of things herself.    Some maturity will probably help as well.

And with Disc Dog season coming up in a couple months, she still has no interest.  I'm hoping that our daily play with the dryer ball is the start of some interest.   We just got our best new tool for disc and I recommend it to anyone who wants to try the sport. 

Great book by a great couple of disc folks and full of beautiful photos illustrating various moves and training tips.  There are videos and more on their website Pawsitive Vybe. 

Looking back over this past year plus, I can see a lot of the successes and failures we've made with this little girl.  My husband started #goddammitrogue which has become a bit of a running gag.  She is a destructive force of nature when she's bored but an adorable little snuggle muffin when she's tired and calm.  She's got a lot of growing up and maturing still to do and I still have very high hopes for the little rascal.

That day in Canada seems so long ago.  I'd change some things we did and didn't do with her training but I don't regret for a moment that 10 hour drive in pouring rain and fog to go get her.