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.  

How time flies

Well, it's been awhile and a lot has happened in the past three months.

Rogue went into heat at 9 months old which was a shock to me.  We weren't expecting THAT for another few months at least.   So it was quarantine for four weeks which meant she didn't get to play with the handsome young cattle dog mix that spent the night at our house and she had to miss the big disc dog competition.

I won't go wandering off with any un neutered males... honest.

We survived that and then Ruby, our other female Aussie started having seizures.  Epilepsy is not uncommon in dogs and it normally shows up between ages 2-6.  Ruby is three and a half.   It was a challenge keeping her safe while she was seizing and keeping the other dogs from interfering.  They seemed more concerned and confused than anything else and Ruby doesn't remember anything after it's over.  It's much scarier for the humans.

In good news, Rogue has earned some freedoms.   She no longer has to be tethered to the toy when she swims as she no longer swims off and sticks around the other dogs.  She will come back when called and will pretty much follow us back to the house even if we don't call her.  

She has also earned off leash privileges in very specific circumstances.  We tested her at a local fenced dog park and were surprised to discover that she stuck with us instead of running off to investigate everything.   A little bit of roast beef and some puppy ping pong and we had some really good recall work.  She is also allowed off leash at a local dog friendly forest preserve where she runs  gleefully with Steel and Ruby and the only time she goes out of sight of us is if she's with one of the other dogs and her recall has improved tremendously.  She's still a bit of a brat for the first five or ten minutes, but after that, she's great.

Here I come!!!!!

Wheee!

Right now, the biggest challenge is getting her to stop jumping.  Yes, still.  She is still getting rewarded for putting her paws on people and I'm so tired of the "Oh, it's okay," response, I could scream.  It's not okay.  She needs to stop that.  So, we're working on her default down and I'm trying to get people to pet her in that position.  When my mom came to visit, she was very strict about the no jumping policy and Rogue quickly got it.  

Who taught Gramma the rules?  No fair!

So we keep trying.   I know she'll get it eventually, but until she stops, we won't be able to get her tested for her CGC.  I think she's going to make an awesome therapy dog and it's a job in which her deafness can actually be a benefit.   I've seen her take a full volume toddler squeal to the face with no reaction.   I can'\t even do that.  

She's learning rules and boundaries.  She's learning routine, but she's still a bit of a spoiled princess.  She still will have the occasional tantrum when she's not getting her way.  Much of our difficulty with her has nothing to do with her deafness but with her personality.  She has her own way of doing things and is not terribly receptive to alternatives.  There are days when we wonder if we did the right thing with taking her and then we think about what would have happened to her in a home that wasn't as Aussie savvy as we are or as educated in behavior.

I'm innocent.  I swear!

Still, she's such a little snuggle muffin, there's not much we can't forgive.  She is maturing and she is improving even though we aren't happy with the speed at which we're progressing.   We've also realized that we were expecting her to be like Steel since we got him as a puppy.  She is not Steel.  She has very different ideas about what she wants to do and while Steel loves an audience and will do what you want him to do just for the attention (and food, of course), she isn't so easily enticed.   At one point, Curt had her in a down stay during one of his classes and she got up, walked to her crate, laid down and deliberately turned away from him.  She was done and not interested in being his demo dog any longer. 

In less than a month, she'll be a year old.   It's been quite a journey and it's only just begun.

More interesting than dirt.

I don't recall where my hubby said he heard it but the quote was "To train your dog, you have to be more interesting than dirt."  We, as humans have finally graduated to more interesting than dirt.  Overcoming Rogue's attachment to the other dogs has been a struggle for us.  We let her spend too much time playing with them and not enough playing with us.   We've changed that and been rewarded by a lot better behavior.

We've come a long way with some of her very dangerous behaviors.   Door darting is almost a thing of the past.   Every time I leave for work, I send her up to her favorite spot by the window so she can watch me leave.  This also works with guests.   What a huge relief to not have to worry about the fastest puppy I have ever seen darting out when a door to the outside is open.  She really loves watching people out the window so this was an easy trick to teach.

Don't forget to bring me home dog treats.

Out of the house, she's practically perfect.   Curt takes her to work and uses her as a demo dog especially when he has other deaf dogs in his class.  He's starting to have a reputation for training them now and several local rescues recommend him for all dogs, not just the deaf ones.  She's delightfully social but still very jumpy.   I don't know how we're ever going to get her over that particular fault when she is constantly being rewarded for it by the people she jumps on.  The usual response is, "Oh, that's okay, they have a dog at home." 

But that's NOT okay.  It's not okay with me that you are encouraging my dog into bad behavior.  It's like telling someone else's child that they can have candy if they take off their shoes and run around barefoot because you'd let them do it at your house.  So we work and we struggle and we praise the heck out of anyone who actually makes her sit before petting her. 

She just turned 8 months old and no, we haven't had her spayed yet.  The amount of research around the spay/neuter debate is staggering, but we've always felt it's a very personal decision and people should choose when or if to spay/neuter their pets by what's best for them.   We want Rogue to come into a full heat so we know she's fully mature and then we're going to talk to our vet about just removing the uterus and leaving the ovaries for the hormones they provide.  I'll have more info on that as we get closer to that time.

And now it's summer, and we are eternally grateful for the pond in the back of our house.  It means that no matter how hot it is, we have a great and safe way to exercise the dogs.  It turns out Rogue loves to swim, not just to jump in and get a toy and bring it back but just to swim around in the water and occasionally chase the ducks.

Now, while the pond is separated from our street by a fence, across the way, there is no fence, so how do you keep the deaf dog from swimming to the other side and going running off?   You can't recall her if she's not looking at you.  And so, after several versions of this idea, here's a video of what we eventually went to.  

I was a little concerned about the longline in the water and the dogs getting tangled in it, especially since we  often have four dogs in the water at once, but they do very well and are never swimming unsupervised.  We occasionally have to get Rogue untangled from obstacles on land, but so far, thankfully, this works.  She gets to swim as much as she wants and we know that we don't have to worry about her getting too far for us to get her.

Rogue loves water of all kinds.   She loves 'helping' Grandpa with his chores and playing with the hose.

Swimming is great exercise for growing puppies because it's no impact.  It also burns off a lot of energy and helps their endurance and strength.  Thirty minutes to an hour of swimming and we get a relaxed happy, snugly puppy.

It's nice to finally be getting more enjoyment than frustration out of her.  She's clearly maturing and we're getting our communications with her down.  She still wants to play the chase me game any time we want to get a harness on her for walks or for swimming but it's no longer that she doesn't want us touching her, it's that she wants HER game before we go.  Yeah, we're working on that, but it's a lot easier to manage.  

Seems like such a short time ago we got our first picture of her at two days old and that frantic call from the breeder.  We've got a long way to go but at least, for the moment, we seem to be doing things right.