Cici's Dog Sitting

08/27/2024

Joey and Maia 🩵🩷

08/27/2024

Happy International Dog Day! ❤️

08/19/2024

Quite a few of my conversations at SUPERZOO, by WPA revolved around the fact that many people living in abusive relationships refuse to leave because they are concerned for the welfare of their pets. The sad fact is that many domestic violence shelters simply aren’t built to accommodate animals.

Luckily, organizations like BestyBnB.com and Purina’s “Purple Leash Project” are working to change that. Hearing about their amazing work, and the emotional impact of this statue, called “Courageous Together”, have more than convinced me that Rocky and I want to be part of this conversation. I’m not sure how just yet, but adding our voice to these worthwhile causes is definately on our radar.

08/14/2024

Sleepy Maggie 💓

08/14/2024

Gimme my treat woman. 🙄 The faces of them over me taking pictures for treats. 🤣🤣🤣 (they all got very yummy treats after)

Louie, Cabo, Kash, Maxi and June bug ❤️

08/14/2024

Sky and Star ❤️❤️❤️

08/14/2024

Hiii Furry friends owners!! If you are in need of a doggy p**p removal service these are the guys you need to call!!! Let them know we referred them to you. No more doggy💩

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Text them your number of dogs for a quote!

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08/10/2024

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

07/17/2024

This is the first time Blu has been in such close presence of another dog without trying to kill them. He was attacked when he was a puppy at a dog park and since then has been reactive and aggressive with any dog in his presence even from a long distance away he would do anything to keep any dog far away from him. In a few days working with him and insuring he was in a calm environment with well trained dogs we got to this.. This is absolutely a huge accomplishment for him and we hope with time and work to keep seeing him thrive. Baby steps for this sweet boy Blu 🐶💙

07/17/2024

Every night all the dogs get licky 👅 mats with organic frozen peanut butter.

Benefits of lick 👅 mats for dogs 🐶 :

👅 Mental stimulation
Lick mats can help reduce boredom and anxiety, especially for dogs that don't get enough exercise. The licking action can also help dogs concentrate on eating, which can improve digestion.

👅 Oral health:
The licking action can help remove food particles and plaque from teeth and gums, which can freshen breath and promote healthier teeth. Lick mats can also stimulate saliva production, which can help clean teeth and gums naturally.

👅 Stress relief:
The repetitive licking action can be calming for dogs, and can help soothe anxiety over new or uncomfortable stimuli like traffic noises or other dogs. Lick mats can also be used as a positive reinforcement tool for activities like nail trims and baths.

👅 Slow feeding:
Lick mats can help dogs eat more slowly, which can prevent choking, vomiting, and indigestion. This can be especially beneficial for fussy eaters or bored dogs.

Hurry up and grab a lick mat for your dog on prime day and Thank me later.. ❤️

07/17/2024

Maxi the Chalupa 🎀

07/15/2024

Be careful with who you decide and trust to leave your dogs with.. this is absolutely horrible and I would have gone crazy.

SANTA MONICA - Jamielynn Storie's vacation to Las Vegas ended in anguish when she returned to discover that her dogs, a 6-year-old Maltipoo named Josie and a 7-month-old Aussie-Cavalier mix

07/15/2024

Please read!! 🚨

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE THAT PEOPLE MAKE WITH RECENTLY REHOMED DOGS…

Is showering them with “love.”

That’s right. The biggest mistake that people (adopters, fosters, shelter/rescue staff, etc) make with recently rehomed or rescued dogs, is giving them an abundance of (inappropriate) physical love and attention.

Why?

1. The physical displays that humans give when offering “love and affection” include behaviors such as kissing them on the face, leaning over them, hugging them, excessive prolonged petting, and constantly interacting with them. These behaviors are all naturally threatening to a lot dogs, or at best, annoying, particularly when the dog is interacting with someone new to them. What we think of as “love” is often seen as discomfort from the eyes of a newly rehomed or rescued dog. This can sadly push the dog to displaying aggression in defense of the perceived threats.

2. The dog’s entire world just turned upside down. They are removed from EVERYTHING familiar to them. They are stressed. Studies have shown that stress levels in dogs from big events (such as relocating) can take up to three days to even begin to start to decrease. Add to that all of the excessive interaction and you’re preventing the dog from being able to relax.

3. Some dogs don’t know what it’s like to have a ton of attention and interaction. Lots of dogs sadly grew up neglected or living outdoors, etc. Therefore an over abundance of attention stresses them out because it’s not normal to them and they don’t know how to respond. They never had the chance to grow up developing positive associations with it.

4. Giving more than the average amount of time and attention to the dog in the beginning sets a precedent for later. At some point, the dog will get less attention when they’re no longer brand new, when the owner goes back to work, and when life just carries on in general. This can harm the dog later by predisposing them to developing separation anxiety type behaviors.

5. Decompression, i.e. time to chill out, rest, and recover is way more important than an overload of attention. Giving the dog some space while implementing predictable routines will help stress levels decrease faster and allow for better integration. Those are things the dog can really understand and appreciate.

There will be plenty of time to bond with the dog without being excessive in the amount of attention you give. Show them love and build trust appropriately and in a long lasting way via daily care, training, and overall time spent together. THAT’s the kind of love you want to shower them with.

07/11/2024

WHAT A GREAT READ! 💯!

IT'S TRAINING TIP TUESDAY!

I heard the phrase yet again today: “A tired dog is a good dog!” This week’s TTT begs to differ.

Here’s an action pic of my best boy, Fox, working out on his treadmill. I am decidedly NOT trying to “tire him out”.

I’ve met with so many dog owners who are advised by family, friends and other dog professionals that their dog’s issues could be resolved simply by giving the dog more “exercise”. These issues might be destructive behavior, dog selectiveness, even aggression towards humans, but whatever the sin, “exercise” seems to always be the all-purpose penance. I’m pretty sure that this belief system became prevalent when a famous TV trainer promoted the mantra of “Exercise, Discipline, Affection” and everyone just heard the first and last words while ignoring the second one: like eating a sandwich made of just bread after removing the meat in the middle. It echoed through the Dogosphere, with daycares everywhere proclaiming that “a tired dog is a good dog!”.

A more accurate statement might be that “a tired dog is a -tired- dog, and that means he might be slightly less of a pain in the ass when you pick him up after your day job” but that doesn’t fit well on a business logo.

There is so much emphasis on physical exercise for dogs that it sometimes sounds as though owners are conditioning Olympic athletes rather than trying to give their dogs a little fun. I see potential clients who routinely run, swim and hike with dogs who drag them when on leash and run off on them when off leash. Dogs who spend every weekday going crazy at a daycare and every weekend running themselves silly on a beach. They’ve consulted wishful-thinking trainers who try to solve issues of overarousal by creating a -different- type of overarousal (no, Mrs. Smith, simply whipping a flirt pole around in the living room is -not- going to teach your out of control Patterdale Terrier to stop jumping on guests). The dogs are constantly in motion, always being stimulated until they finally collapse at the end of the day and the owner sighs in relief that he has successfully "tired his dog out".
I have two problems with this:
1. Is energy such an enemy that we have to squeeze every last little bit out of the dog as though he's a tube of toothpaste? Shouldn't a dog's level of energy act more analog (a dial) and less digital (a switch)?
2. -Did- the owner actually succeed in "tiring his dog out"?

The first issue is easy to understand: dogs, especially big powerful dogs like the Dobes, GSDs and Corsos we see so frequently here, can be rather a "lot" when they are revving high. Trainers often encourage lots of exercise to help curtail behavior problems like anxiety and destructiveness in the house. And some of that may even help a tiny bit. But expecting your dog to be a slightly more interesting houseplant indoors while encouraging him to go full tilt wildman outdoors can be counterproductive. After all, if you teach him that everywhere outside of your house is his world in which to run, play, and chase constantly, without a corresponding level of actual training you are setting him up to ignore you in that environment. How many of you have a dog whose recall command is OK in the living room but virtually nonexistent when he's cut loose in the woods? No surprise there, after all: outdoors is HIS world, remember? You and he are operating on the “ON/OFF switch” model but I bet he doesn’t even have that great of an “OFF” switch when you really need it. Sure, he's getting “exercise” but he’s also learning that the expression of his energy is completely independent of you and that the faster and crazier he goes, the less influence you actually have over him.

But at least you “tired him out”, right?

I’ve got bad news for you, kid.

Why does someone go to the gym?
To get fit.
To build stamina.
To become stronger.

Wait a minute: you mean you don't go to the gym to -get tired-?

Think about how you feel after a jog or a workout, rather than exhausted, you may feel energized. You may want to cool off and rest briefly, but the big picture will show that you will have a higher threshold for the exertion each time you do it. This is what we do with our dogs when their main source of exertion is physical. They may be tired in the immediate aftermath of the exercise, but they usually keep requiring more of it to get less tired. Meanwhile, they become physiologically addicted to mindless play, independent of their humans.

Now think about how you feel after completing a more "mental" task: studying for an exam, doing your taxes, taking a piano lesson. It can even be something more recreational: doing a crossword puzzle, creating a piece of art, building a model. You don't feel "exhausted", but you probably feel -sated-. As a musician, after I work on learning a new piece of music I tend to want some downtime. Maybe TV, maybe listening to a podcast, maybe even just doing a low-key chore.

Most humans consider it a healthy lifestyle if there is a nice balance of both physical exercise and mental exercise. A day in which I go for a long, brisk walk -and- finish up a behavior consult report -and- pick up my bass guitar is a very satisfying one indeed. Our dogs need that same balance.

In addition to the playdates and freeform running around that he gets, what sort of tasks are you giving your dog’s brain to tackle? Asking for "micro obedience" around the house, teaching him a trick that morphs into a useful behavior, turning your long walks into intermittent periods of heel and sit and down, all of these are things that will help your dog "tire out" in a healthy way. Rather than flattened out from physical exhaustion, he can be settled and calm while still being present as a family member.

None if this is advice to stop exercising your dog, but it is a chance for you to think about ways to get that mind of his just as conditioned as his body.

So why is Fox on a treadmill? Like his owner, Fox is getting older. My own restricted mobility makes jogging with him impossible. But he is still very fit as a six year old Doberman and I want to keep him that way. Because I expect him to perform athletically in the training we do, he needs to have very good stamina. I am not exercising him to make him tired, I’m literally doing the opposite! Earlier in the day Fox and I were working on some obedience stuff: not only the usual brief positional drills but also some “extracurricular” retrieves and directionals. That was his “brain workout”. I can attest that when Fox steps off of his treadmill after twenty minutes or so, he is decidedly -not- tired and will often jump back on and wait for me to start it up again. But after our training sessions, he is usually much more laid back and content to just chill out in the office. I try not to anthropomorphize but he definitely seems like he feels accomplished after we spend time working on skills.

Provide that mix of both physical and mental exercise for your dog and watch him become something way better than “tired”, watch him become -balanced-. And a balanced dog really IS a good dog.

See you next week, and Happy Training!

07/05/2024

Happy 4th of July! Please make sure to keep your pets safe and if you see any dog running scared open your car door or home to him and give him a safe space till tomorrow. Be safe! 🙏🏽 ❤️🤍💙

07/02/2024

Dante 💙

07/02/2024

Maya and Joey 🩷🩵

06/21/2024

06/03/2024

05/31/2024

Milo 💚

05/30/2024

Papo, Chaplin and Kia 💚🩵🩷

05/30/2024

Baker and Cerati 💛🧡

05/30/2024

Lucca, Cabo, Maxi, Leia, Cerati and June Bug 💜🩵

05/30/2024

Leia and Cincy 💝💝💝💝

05/30/2024

Cerati, June bug, Maxi, Cabo and Cincy ❤️‍🔥

05/30/2024

Cincy 💓