Training and working service dogs and scent dogs.
(1)
08/15/2024
So Zelda is very smart and I'm proud of her. She was barking and barking last night and in my sleepy state I thought it was Sherlock, because it was thundering. So I got up to give him a calming treat and cover his kennel (that combo tends to calm him down), and I discovered he'd tried to push his way out the kennel door and was quietly sitting there, stuck at his neck and shoulders (thank God for the shoulders!). If she hadn't let me know, I wouldn't have known for HOURS. So after I checked Sherlock and gave him his calming treat, she got a biscuit, too. One of the big ones.
07/29/2024
Took Zelda to the vet for an ear infection this morning. She got anxious, so she started tasking like she would if her handler was anxious. She's so stinkin' sweet! ❤️
07/26/2024
When you reeeeeeaally want mom's lunch
07/25/2024
When the calming treats kick in...
07/23/2024
So Zelda found a new friend and hobby this weekend at the river. Apparently she LOVES magnet fishing. A couple times she helped him pull the line back in, one of which was when he dropped the line entirely (it was tied to him but came loose), and she grabbed it and brought it back.
06/29/2024
Crossed paws get me every time ❤️🥰
06/18/2024
The vet put Pepper on an NSAID for her arthritis, and it's like she's 3 years younger! She even, for the first time in I don't know how long, grabbed a random stick to play with the other day. ❤️
06/14/2024
Sanitizing some stuff I bought secondhand. Starting to gather the supplies for SuperDogs' upcoming new addition, any guesses what it may be? (No cheating if I already told you)
06/14/2024
Excuse me ma'am, do you know how ridiculously cute you are?
06/01/2024
Barn hunt! City Sniffers Ella Memorial Barn Hunt Trial Day 2, Zelda & Sherlock running today. Let's rock it!🤘
05/31/2024
Barn hunt! City Sniffers Ella Memorial Barn Hunt Trial Day 1, Ganon & Pepper running today. Let's rock it!🤘
05/18/2024
Keeping cool in the heat!
05/18/2024
I always knew this day would come, but that doesn't make it any easier. Pepper was diagnosed with arthritis in her back legs, so she, the original SuperDog, will be retiring 😭 She won't be completely retiring immediately, I'll be phasing her out so we can both adjust to it. The vet put her on pain meds for it, and they're definitely helping, but there are some times, like tonight, where she still has a rough time.
She's no longer comfortable jumping up in my car (thankfully, if I put her in the side door she can use the way the car is built as steps) and is sometimes reluctant to get up onto the bed, so I've ordered a ramp for her.
Ganon will be stepping in in the meantime, until I'm ok to train Pepper's successor. This is new for me, she's my first service dog, so she's the first dog I've retired. She's not going to like it any more than I am, but it helps that I work from home, so she'll still get to be with me most of the time. But she's gonna be Big Mad any time I take Ganon out instead of her.
She'll continue to do scent work as long as she's comfortable, she'd really be mad at me if she didn't get to do her barn hunt. But no more flying leaps from 2 bales high!
05/18/2024
Mama bunny is now an empty nester! Noticed the nest was uncovered and empty today. Have a happy life, little ones!
05/12/2024
Saw mama bun-bun at her nest before I let the dogs out this morning ❤️
05/11/2024
Look what Sherlock found! (We only removed them from the nest because Nico just mowed and we wanted to make sure all were ok) They're just starting to open their eyes. I guess no off-lead dogs in the yard until these little ones have hopped the coop.
04/28/2024
And we round the trial off with Mishka not only titling, but getting first place for her successful run! I think this has been the best trial we've ever had, all 5 dogs had significant success this weekend, and I couldn't be more proud!
04/27/2024
Day 2 of barn hunt weekend. Sherlock for his novice title & Zelda had a VERY good run and got another Q for open. Very successful day again!
04/26/2024
Day 1 of barn hunt weekend. Pepper and Ganon both set new personal bests for crazy 8s! And line drive is harder than I expected it to be. Very successful day!
04/05/2024
Yeah, it's not always easy to remember, even for professionals. But you'll get there.
03/10/2024
And last but not least, Mishka ran today. She Q'd her first novice run of the day with a high in class, and tried crazy 8s for the first time and got 30 points.
03/09/2024
Zelda's & Sherlock's turns today. Sherlock didn't get any Qs, but had fun and also got to try out crazy 8s. Zelda got her first open Q and a 3rd place for it! I love these dogs and I love this sport!
03/08/2024
No Qs today, but we had fun!
Edit: there was an error and Pepper actually did Q on her second run. Way to go, girlie!
02/14/2024
Done working, time to melt
02/07/2024
When Pepper wants her cuddles, she gets her cuddles
02/03/2024
PSA: If you have a cat that likes to spray on walls, invest in some outlet covers! This is what can happen when a cat sprays directly into an outlet. We are very fortunate that the breaker did its job and flipped off when this happened, and the fire didn't go any farther. I don't know if kitty got a shock from it or not, but he's ok.
01/25/2024
Squirrel watch is on duty!
01/24/2024
Gorgeous girl ❤️
01/19/2024
HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS! Zelda, Sherlock, and Mishka started training barn hunt late 2023, but I still managed to get 2 trials in for Z & S and 1 for M by the end of the year. Well little miss Zelly Belly managed to place 16th fastest in the state for novice dogs! I'M SO PROUD OF HER! ❤️
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Update: in the several minutes since I took this video, he figured out that the door was actually open and he could just walk out.
The vet's description of "he just takes a little longer to figure out life" definitely still fits.
#cats #cat #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catsofinsta #blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #lovemylittledoofus #goofycat #ishestuck #notreallystuck
Charlie is "stuck" on the gate and telling me all about it (yes, I helped him right after the video)
Life with a scent dog 😂
I'm having one of those moments that I need to remember when things get difficult.
Boyfriend's dog Mishka used to be great with other dogs until she had her first heat cycle, then she started to get very possessive of him. It got to the point where she couldn't be loose in the same room as any of my dogs, which was challenging for him and I spending time together with me having a service dog. I had minimal experience with reactive dogs and felt lost trying to handle it. 💔
Back in February, I took a webinar with Michael Shikashio of Aggressive Dog on intra-household dog-dog aggression to try to figure out how to solve this. We (well, mostly boyfriend) worked with her walking her around Scheel's and shifting her association with other dogs from "they're going to steal my human's attention" to "see a dog - get a treat". Her body language started changing. She very quickly started to sit and look at boyfriend for a treat if she saw another dog. Within a month, instead of getting tense when she saw another dog, her body language was curious. We started walking our dogs together to give her positive experiences with them at a distance.
A month and a half ago, we had our next challenge: we moved in together and needed to integrate her into my pack of not only dogs, but cats as well. We took it slow, and we are very fortunate to have the space to be able to separate the critters into the groups that they're most comfortable with and give each group their own space. We did a lot of work with having the dogs near each other but not able to be in contact, whether using kennels or gates across doorways. She's been doing great, so two nights ago a friend and I got Mishka and Pepper near each other where we could both love on them both and encourage them to be near each other, but could quickly separate them if needs be. Boyfriend had the difficult job of staying at a distance so she was less likely to get possessive, and it was KILLING him. The girls were completely avoida
Caught Blanche bathing Pepper ❤️ She was sitting on top of the dog to bathe her, but slid off while I was getting my camera out
So Zelda developed a fear of stairs a while back, seeming like she doesn't trust her back legs. The new house has STEEP steps to the 2nd floor, but they're carpeted, so I hoped I'd be able to get her to do it since it's a better grip than non carpeted. I went and got her favorite people food (yes, that's white bread), tore some up to use as treats, and full slices for jackpots.
And this girl. THIS GIRL. She did it on my 3rd try calling her up! Once she gets those back feet up on the steps, she zips all the way up. I'm so proud of her! Had her go up and down several times then called it for the day to make sure we ended on a high note. Breakthroughs like this make all the stressful parts of training 1000% worth it. ❤️
Charlie is a yeller 📣
Kitten nugget update! 3 weeks and 3 days old.
Had a difficult time getting little man to latch, but he finally did, and drank like it was going out of style. ❤️
Happy kitten day! 4 babies - 3 female, 1 male.
Pupdate: Pepper's physical therapy went well. Vet is sending me some stuff to do at home, and the links to get some of the equipment for home if I want it. She was VERY good at physical therapy even though she was less than thrilled about it, and earned herself an ice cream cone.
Pepper "helped" build a lap table for my yarn winder today
He thinks he's a scary guard dog
Merry Christmas 🎄 from the SuperDogs!
These dogs work hard 365 days a year and deserve a good treat for Christmas! I get bones from a local butcher shop that still have the marrow in them and still have a little bit of meat on them. The marrow is their favorite and really good for them, and the bones help keep their teeth clean. They last for quite a while before the bones start to crack or chip and need to be thrown away.
I think it's safe to say he is interested in the rats. Hopefully he'll be a natural at barn hunt like Ganon is.
I have PTSD from a series of armed robberies at a store I used to work at. I also have severe anxiety that I’ve carried with me all my life, and the PTSD compounds that. In 2013, my PTSD got to the point where it was no longer manageable. I was no longer able to leave the house without my husband, except to go to work. Even at work, I was barely functional some days. Always on high alert, in fight-or-flight mode, terrified of every loud noise, it was exhausting. When I fled a gas station because of somebody yelling “hey, how ya doin?” across the store, I knew I needed help.
I went to a therapist who helped me learn coping mechanisms and a psychiatrist who prescribed me medications to help control the anxiety symptoms. While both helped, my medication dosages were going up and up and up without ever getting me to the point where I could live normally.
And then someone suggested I get a service dog. Hey, I love dogs, I already have one (although he turned out to not have the right personality for service work and not be healthy enough for it) and I’ve recently discovered a love of dog training! So I did what I always do, and threw myself into research. What tasks are common for PTSD dogs? How do you teach these tasks? What breeds are best? What personality traits does the dog need?
After several discussions with our trainer and vet, I decided to give it a go. So I did more research - this time to find just the right breeder. I interviewed breeders like you’d interview an employee. I was going to make sure I did this right. I ended up meeting Kristi at VonBussler Labrador Retrievers, and she happily answered all my questions and helped me choose a dog with just the right personality. After playing the waiting game for a litter of puppies with a silver lab with the right personality, I came home with Pepper.
From day one, we trained. Every single day, no matter what. Pouring rain? Train the dog. Sinus infection? Train the dog. Sprain your ankle? Train the dog. The only time we took a break was when she was recovering from spay surgery. After 4 months of working with her, she was regularly going out in public with me. And something amazing had happened - I could leave the house alone again! Well, “alone” in the sense that I didn’t have to have another human with me.
It wasn’t always easy. The first time we went to the grocery store, she grabbed a toy off the shelf walking by the pet section and I didn’t even notice until I bent down to get something off a bottom shelf later. (Yes, we bought the toy, I wouldn’t put it back covered in puppy slobber.) Another memorable trip to the grocery store had her licking the floor in produce, then puking all over in the checkout line later. We still had a lot of training to do. And we kept at it.
She went to orchestra practice, to the doctor, to the gym - everywhere I went. Working with my psychiatrist, we started to cut back my anxiety medicine. It ended up at half the dosage I was at before Pepper and I was finally stable again. She gave me my life back. I am living like a normal person again. She’s my superhero.
