What an amazing dog I have!

6 months 4 weeks 2 days old

I am so very impressed with this gorgeous dog. The visit to the show went ahead despite some very humid/occasionally drizzly weather. It didn't seem to affect the crowds much, there were still a lot of people there! So, this is how the day went.

We got there and were able to park in disabled parking nice and close to the entrance, but it involved walking through 'sideshow alley' to get in, which was full of very loud amusement rides, blaring music, people on microphones trying to sell tickets to various rides and games and so on.... intimidating for some people when they are just coming in, let alone a 7 month old puppy. We could have walked around and gone to another entrance, but we decided to see how Knightley would go. I hadn't fed him the previous night and morning so as to reduce the likelihood of him leaving little presents throughout the show for me to pick up, and to also give me the opportunity to give him heaps of treats throughout the day to help him overcome whatever scary and strange things he may come across. I had got a bunch of stir fry beef from our wonderful local butcher and had slightly cooked it (didn't want to handle raw beef all day). I wanted a very high value treat for whatever we were dealing with was particularly strange or stressful. I also took several handfuls of his old Canidae kibble I still use a bit for training and the like.

The first thing we came across as we went through the gates was a ride with little cars swinging around pretty quickly. Not too crazy but not too sedate. I stopped quite a way back and just let Knightley look at it. He looked pretty relaxed, considering he had never seen brightly coloured flying spinning cars, but I fed him a few pieces of beef to reinforce that loud fast moving things = good. Things were going well, so we took a couple of steps closer, stopped and l fed him a piece of beef. He was quite relaxed still, looking around himself with interest, watching the people go past him into the show... so I started walking towards the ride, keeping up constant praise and giving him a piece of beef every several steps. He was fine! We kept on going until we were past that ride and fully inside the amusement part of the show. I kept up the constant praise with beef, but was slowly winding the beef back as he was doing ok. I watched his body language very carefully, just in case we needed to try to find a less chaotic place, but his tail was up  (even wagging some of the time!), ears were forward not pinned back, his gait was free and easy and he wasn't crouching at all and his eyes were interested, bright, curious... not rolled to the side as a scared dogs eyes are. He looked very good. He just walked steadily beside me.

We did have a couple of issues in this rather crowded section with people patting him without reading the RATHER VISIBLE sign on his new vest, but they were pretty much gone before I could say anything. However later in our time there, there was more patting which I addressed - I will obviously need to come up with a default response to that because I didn't really know what to say to ward them off.

Knightley with the handle attached to his vest looking all
official. What a lovely looking dog he is if I say so myself.

As we had planned we headed for the arena which was much quieter and I was able to sit down.. There were horses in the arena getting presented with ribbons and Knightley watched them curiously but he was ok with them from a distance. However, with the various livestock that had been in the arena there were a lot of flies around and Knightley really hates flies - he can't stop himself from snapping at them, and I'm going to have to try to desensitise Knightley to them because Australia has a lot of flies and getting agitated from snapping at them is no good for an assistance dog.... I'm just not sure how to go about it because you can't just magic up flies when you want them! So as Knightley couldn't settle down there we decided to keep moving. However, because of the problems we had been having with him getting random pats by people, we decided to attach the handle to his harness so I could just hold it very loosely (he isn't allowed to take any of my weight until he is 18 months old) and we hoped it would make him look more 'official' as Australia doesn't have many assistance dogs and the harness handle makes him look a bit more like a guide dog and would make people think twice.

Knightley sitting happily beside me. He was extremely good
at his sit stays, I was so very impressed considering all the
distractions. 

We moved into again a more crowded part, moving through food stalls and lots of stalls selling things and Knightley was doing amazingly well, I just couldn't believe it. He walked patiently and happily by my side, even helping me through the crowd by going for gaps when they appeared.

There was a collection of fire fighting equipment - a modern truck, some older vintage trucks and cars and a smashed up car with those car cutting and separating hydraulics. There was a fireman there in uniform so I asked if I could introduce Knightley to him, as assistance dogs need to be great with people in uniform. You never know when you may be sick or could hurt yourself when you are out somewhere with your dog and need the care of paramedics. Also a working dog is more likely to come across policemen and women so it helps if they are happy with being around them. Some dogs take a particular dislike to people in uniform so I just need to make sure that Knightley's interactions with people in uniform are positive. Later in the day he got to say hello to a policeman, and he was very friendly with him.

We headed into the art exhibition - last year I had two paintings in it - where my dad has won a 1st prize and a 2nd prize. I allowed Knightley to meet the coordinator of the exhibition who was a dog lover and Knightley rolled over for a tummy rub (must stop him doing that!). He was a little more excited in the exhibition for some reason, maybe because it was quieter, was inside and was carpeted. We moved on through a bunch of stalls, bought a few things and Knightley remained so amazingly good. It was like being with a rockstar... so many people pointed at him or commented how cute he was, or said something about 'assistance dog in training'. Knightley didn't even try to get pats - I think there were just so many people he wouldn't have known where to start! Every half an hour or so I allowed him to meet someone - only at my invitation though.

Knightley just before he had his snooze. He spent most of the
day panting, but we gave him water every 20 minutes or so
to keep him as hydrated as possible, and the beef I was giving
him also helped keep him hydrated.

We then went into the cake/flower pavilion which also had some food stalls  - we bought some awesome spices and had some of these rather tasty honey puffs we found at a local festival recently and were pleased to see again.  We sat at a table and I had Knightley go underneath and rest. I took his halter off while he snoozed for a while under the table. I was impressed at how he was able to settle down - I think it was partly because all the noise and crowds had taken quite a bit of his focus and he needed some time out. We stayed there for maybe 20 minutes and he was asleep or half asleep most of the time. When we got moving he was definitely more perky.

There was a lot food on the ground as we walked around, and while I have been doing a fair bit of food zen training, it obviously wasn't enough because he did manage to sneak a bite of a potato chip/fry on the ground, and I had to be on the look out for food from then on. Sometimes he responded well to my leave it cue but if there was half a bucket of chips on the ground around us I had to tighten the leash to prevent him him from scoffing them all up. It was too much to expect him to do perfect zen in a place like that, it was too big a test for him at this stage. Still, he did quite well, but there is a long way to go before he could be professional in a place like that. It will be interesting to see how he behaves there next year, assuming we go.

One of the main reasons I wanted to take him to the show was to get him to see some animals as I had read a story somewhere of a fully trained service dog going nuts at a horse in the course of its job. I really don't want Knightley to run into a police horse or something (or even just one of the cows we have near here as Canberra is scattered with grazing land) and have Knightley freak out. So we headed towards some cows, and I didn't really anticipate that much trouble with them. At first Knightley was ok and then one moved and turned its head towards us and Knightley started barking, so I turned him around quick smart and we retreated. I tried several times more, giving him pieces of beef with every couple of steps he didn't bark, but we really didn't make any headway. The cows we had been approaching were in a shed, so I decided to try with some outside instead. I tried the same technique, slow approach with treats every couple of steps, then about turn when he barked.... but it just wasn't working. So I tried a more BAT technique (behavioural adjustment training) by simply pushing him into actual stress by approaching until he is just about to barking and then turning around and walking the other way, relieving the stress. Then doing it again and getting just a bit closer. It didn't seem to be working though, we couldn't get much closer and we were getting barks. So instead I moved ahead of him and called him to me. That worked a lot better. He would come to me, then dance back and look like he wanted to bark but then come back to me. We did that for a while until he was quite a bit closer, and then went back to the shed. My husband helped there by calling Knightley to him. We got close to the entrance of the shed, much closer than before... and decided to leave it there. We are hoping to go away for a weekend down to a farm which will give us more of a chance to meet animals. This was a good first step though and was good experience for me doing trial and error training.

Knightley looking completely gorgeous but very
tired at the end of the day. I was so so proud of
him for all he did.

By this time Knightley was starting to get tired so we started to head back to the entrance, but stopped to buy a couple of show bags of chocolate (Knightley also had some treats bought for him!). He was rapidly losing his remaining energy at this point and kept on lying down whenever we stopped, and wouldn't get up despite encouragement. My husband had to pull on the handle of the vest to get him to stand. Once he was standing he was happy enough to keep going, but once he got settled he was reluctant to move. We walked back through the amusement park part of the show to get out, and while walking past I talked my husband into playing a lucky number game where getting a lucky number got you a choice of a rather large stuffed animal. He completely failed on the first card with four numbers, but on the second card he won. There was this cute huge dog he could have chosen, but instead chose this 4 foot tall banana with dreadlocks and an evil grin (will try to get a photo of it later). Couldn't believe it when it was MY idea for him to play the lucky number game.... the banana was ridiculous!!!!

We got back to the carpark and got home and both Knightley and I were absolutely exhausted from our day. We collapsed into our respective beds and slept the rest of the afternoon away. Now it's the following day and Knightley seems completely recovered but I've finally come down with some sort of virus after a few days of a sore throat. Nevermind, yesterday was worth it!

Show tomorrow, lots of training and compliments!

6 months 4 weeks old

In the last three days Knightley and I have had three compliments about how good his behaviour is; the most recent being today when we were up at the shops getting him used to his new halter, and two dogs tied at the pub started barking at him very reactively. I am teaching him to ignore distractions like that, so that every time he looked away from the dogs (and he spent most of his time not looking at the dogs and only glanced at them occasionally) I c/ted him. A couple were walking towards the shops, so they could see what we were doing, and called out to me "that's very impressive!", so I went over to talk to them. They thought Knightley's behaviour was great. It really makes me feel good to hear that.

We took Knightley to one of the pet shops near here to use their dog wash today, and he was pretty good there too. I have been training him so that if I stop and stand still for around 5+ minutes he can go into a down and just settle down to wait for me. He did that today while we were talking to one of the shop attendants, and she was sooo impressed. It was there that we actually went for our puppy training, and they remembered Knightley from when he was an 11 week old tiny little fluffy baby. What a difference to now, when he is very close to being 7 months old.

On Friday I picked up his first padded assistance dog vest from the post office. I ordered it from Activedogs from the US, as well as a couple of other items, and it looks really great! I am completely happy with it. The management at the show we are going to tomorrow are letting us take Knightley on the condition that he is clearly marked as not a normal young pet dog, but as an assistance dog to be (hopefully!), so that is the main reason I have this vest a little ahead of the usual time scale.

I think we're going to have to go earlyish in the day because it looks like it will be a warm day, and I don't want Knightley overheating. He will quite likely be stressed enough from all the strange things already there, and that increases the likelihood of overheating, so going early is a good idea - if I can drag the hubby out that early!!!!!

We've been doing more work on his zen, lots of food zen and animal zen - bird and dog mostly. I know he will be seeing all sorts of animals at the show... I meant, they even have pig races! But I hope the work we have done on zen carries over to the other animals, mostly horses and cows, because there are are definitely a lot of those there. They are one of the main reasons I wanted to take him. I've heard of mature working dogs bumping into a horse for the first time and totally flipping out. I really want Knightley to see some bigger animals before he gets any further in his socialisation and training to prevent that type of reaction later down the line.

The Comfort Training halter is in the country and should be arriving imminently but hasn't got here yet. However, I decided that I really wanted a halter for our day tomorrow, so I ended up buying a Gentle Leader for tomorrow. We've done a bunch of counter conditioning today to get Knightley used to it, to the point he happily puts his muzzle in the loop now, whilst wagging his tail expectantly. I will take it off regularly tomorrow as he won't have ever worn it as long as I'll be asking him to.

I can't wait until tomorrow, it should be a fantastic learning experience for Knightley. I'll just have to be careful to watch him carefully for signs of stress and give him lots of breaks from the crowds. It should be fun for me and the hubby too! Be prepared for lots of photos!

More days of socialisation, planning the show trip and the antibiotics continue

6 months 3 weeks 4 days old

So yesterday Knightley and I went into our town centre. Canberra is a city which was very deliberately designed from the very beginning, and is made up of five main 'satellite' cities - each a smaller city in its own right. There is a main CBD area, but we have yet to take Knightley down there. Instead, yesterday Knightley and I went into the centre of the satellite city that we live in, which is fairly busy and built up but not overly so like the CBD. There is a lot of traffic and lots of people to practice not jumping up on.

We had a really successful time, about two hours, we'd walk around, then we'd relax, then walk around again. There's a park near where we were that we could have some peaceful time in, time for him to smell, do his doggy business and have a lie down. He really did very well. At first he was trying to pull, but about half way through he started to get that pulling meant going backwards and not getting to where he wants to go. Things went well after then. We spent quite a bit of time around the major shopping centre as there were lots of people there, and also random rubbish and occasional food on the ground to practice not eating. Knightley's behaviour was good, I was very happy with him. The only real thing I would change is Knightley's behaviour when he's getting attention. He doesn't try to jump up on people anymore - neither on people patting him nor passers by - but the thing left that is somewhat annoying but rather cute, is he very often rolls over onto his back to get a belly rub and partly because he's a reasonably submissive dog. I have started to teach a behaviour called 'visit' to try to combat this, and to keep him calm when my mum or dad come over. For 'visit' he sits and gets patted, possibly ears pulled, possibly feet picked up, fingers stuck into mouth..... all the things a small child may accidently do in a second being corrected. So I get him in a sit and every time I do something a little unpleasant to him I give him a really great treat and make a big fuss of him. Visit is starting to become a really good thing, but it will be a while before he can hold the position in a high distraction environment and before it will cancel out the urge for submission and tummy rubs!

There was quite a bit of garbage and food on the ground, the most of tempting of which was half an uneaten banana, which was a great opportunity to work on our default 'leave it'. It took about 15 passes by that banana until Knightley didn't go for it, and then he got a big handful of treats! There were lots of other things that Knightley ignored, and some things he went for and then listened to my 'leave it' cue and stopped mid grab, and some things he did unfortunately grab the tempting item. The vast majority of the grabbed items he happily gave up for a treat, although with a very few of them he was more stubborn.
       

Knightley at our local shops today. I have patches on his
harness that read "In training: Please pat me" because I've
wanted him at this young age to get lots and lots of contact
with people of all shapes and sizes. However, he is about to
'graduate' to a "Don't pat me" patch, as I want him to start
learning to concentrate on me some more, and less on trying
to get pats. He's still a long way from being an official
Assistance Dog trainee, but I can slowly start to train some
of the basic public manners.

Today we had two visits to our local shops for more socialisation and getting used to as much bustle as the local shops have to offer in preparation for our weekend escapade to the big agricultural/food/amusement rides/entertainment etc show. I've been reading about how to introduce Knightley to the show when we get there. As soon as we reach the main centre of the show we should start trying to find a nice quiet place for him to unwind, away from the noise and people so that he can start processing what he has just seen so that he doesn't get overloaded with new sights, sounds and smells and start going over threshold to where I couldn't reach him. Then periodically throughout the time we are there, we should return to the same spot for 15-20 minutes to let him unwind away from the crowds. I might do some massage, and also take some toys. If a dog can play happily, especially if they get really into it, then they aren't all that stressed. So, play would be good to see. I plan on not feeding him the night before, or the morning of the show (we are likely going on Sunday as we think it will be less busy, although Sunday looks like worse weather) so that I can use food to shape him to explore things that may spook him.

More of Knightley up at the shops. Wanted to point out that
he is panting, even though it was not a very hot day. It was
quite humid however, and a day can be quite cool but only has
to be humid for a dog to get really very hot. Humidity effects
dogs more than purely heat, but both together is a killer -
literally in some cases.

Another issue for the weekend will be the heat. The forecast puts it at 30 C (86 F) for Saturday and 28 C (82 F) for Sunday. While it won't be too bad for us humans, for a dog that is quite hot, especially if that dog is going to be walking around in the sun. Dogs really don't cope with heat well, as they can only lose heat through their mouth/tongue, nose leather and foot pads. They do of course lose some heat just through their body and wetting or applying other cooling packs to the dogs abdomen can be quite effective in cooling a dog down. It isn't the dog's back or neck that you should be concentrating - many of those dog cooling products are largely gimmicks that don't work much at all. Really the only place that works for cooling a dog down nicely is to apply cooling to its stomach and chest, also getting their underarm region. When we've had particularly hot days this summer, although it has largely been a cold wet summer, I've used a little spray bottle to spray Knightley's chest and stomach to cool him down. This gives a surprising amount of relief, he always perks up after a good spraying. I think I will take the spray bottle with me. The other thing that is essential is that Knightley stays very well hydrated. A dog's main cooling system relies on them having a nice wet mouth, so I have to make sure he keeps drinking throughout our time there. I have considered what to do in order to pump as much liquid into Knightley as possible and think I will boil a chicken carcass the day before, then boil it down some more to get a more concentrated stock. Then I can take a small bottle of it with me and all I need to do is add a tablespoon of the stock to Knightley's water in his portable water bowl and he'll be keen to lap it all up. It's important you don't go crazy with giving too much water on a hot day, but considering all the distractions that will be around I think the stock is a good idea for getting him interested in drinking when he might be a bit more interested in what is happening over there.... or over there.... or there...!

We continue with the antibiotics for Knightley's lump and I *think* .... maybe....... it is a bit smaller. It certainly isn't bigger. Please please please be an infection , that would be nice and simple. The antibiotics are a five day course, and after that period I was to call the vet if the lump hadn't gone or seriously shrunk..... so that's Saturday. Cross your fingers for us.

Making a frozen dog treat; a dogsicle!

A layered frozen dogsicle!

5 months 1 week 1 day old

I have been making these frozen dog treats for Knightley for the last week or so, inspired by other ones I have seen online. It has been particularly warm weather... summer is really starting here downunder, and I think he has appreciated the cold treats, especially because he is on the very end of teething and his teeth are just finishing coming in. I put him in his crate to eat these, so that he can't make a mess. He really enjoys them and I know that he is getting hydrated too. Any left over stock I keep in the fridge, dilute and add to his food in the morning and evening to extra hydrate, and occasionally a diluted drink of it during the day. A dog is much more able to manage heat if they are well hydrated due to the way they do heat exchange with panting and hot wet breath from their lungs. Do be aware that being very well hydrated is not as big a help for your dog if you live in a very humid place, although it certainly won't hurt. Thankfully here we are pretty dry, as is most of inland Australia.
For you northern hemispherers, keep this in mind for your next summer... or try it now anyway!

Shopping list to make Dogsicles

Chicken carcass
Good quality dog kibble
Pumpkin (I used butternut, but whatever will mash well)
1 or 2 Bananas
Optional: wholemeal rice

Method

1. Pan fry the chicken carcass in the stock pot until browned for extra flavour for your dog, then add enough water to cover or nearly cover the carcass, and bring to the boil. Add any herbs you may want at browning stage, for instance parsley helps give fresh breath to your dog.

2. Make ready containers that you can freeze easily, and will contain a suitable amount. You want to give the liquid room to expand as it freezes, remember. You may also wish to do a range of sizes of dogsicles, some for a quick treat, some to keep them busy for a good while. That amount of kibble (1 cup) was enough for 10 of those cup sized dogsicles.

3. I freeze mashed pumpkin in cubes for when my puppy's stomach is upset, but for those of you who don't! Cut or peel off the skin of your pumpkin, then slice it into small pieces - the smaller they are, the faster they will cook. I cook it in the microwave with a little water, checking after every minute or two its cooked. Steaming the pumpkin would keep more of its nutrients. I drain about 90% of the water, then mash it up with one of those mashing implements - a fork would do. I usually freeze them into ice cubes - it is so easily to add a small handful to my pup's meals to harden up his movements... and he loves the taste too! Add a teaspoonfuls-worth of the mashed pumpkin to each treat.

4. Measure out your kibble and add it to your treat container. It obviously depends upon the size of the kibble concerned, but here I am using about 20 kibble, but for smaller treats in the past I have used 10 or so. This kibble is Canidae's All Life Stages.

5. Take the chicken carcass from the chicken stock, and if you feel inspired to hot messy work, get any chicken flesh you can off the carcass to add to the dogsicles. Ladle the stock into the treat containers, so that the kibble starts immediately swelling with the hot liquid.

6. Divide a banana or two into small sections and pop those sections into the treats, and from there they go straight into the freezer. Like pumpkin, banana is full of goodness and minerals for your dog, and it's also great to eat when frozen - like a dog version of ice cream.

7. Freeze until solid, it will be several hours at least due to the warm stock - of course it depends on the size of the treat.

Optional, add a spoonful of steamed rice to each dogsicle after step 5, so that it goes pumpkin, kibble, rice, banana/stock - just one more layer than in this photo of my finished dogsicle.. It should be wholemeal rice to keep this treat healthy. If you don't want to preserve the layered effect, you can stir the dogsicle to mix the flavours up - but it's so striking layered!



You could get creative with all sorts of ingredients, but do make sure it is ok for dogs to eat first, and remember whatever you feed your dog during the day should come off his meal allowance later.

Dogsicles, hot weather, another pool swim and teenage tantrums

5 months 1 week old

So it has been pretty hot here the last several days, continuing around 35c (95f), which isn't all that pleasant. It means having to be careful with your dogs, as dogs deal with heat less well than us humans. I've been giving Knightley regular 'dogsicles' to keep up his liquid supply, and keep him a little cooler.

To make dogsicles all you need is some chicken stock (best is to just boil a chicken carcass, then you get heaps, cost was 70 cents AU), a few kibble, maybe 8-10 per dogsicle, then I added a frozen pumpkin cube to each dogsicle, which I use when Knightley's movements are a bit runny. I then filled the small cups I was using as my containers up with stock. I let it sit for a bit, then added a couple of small chunks of banana to each cup, then into the freezer. The kibble swells up hugely and floats to the top, the banana kind of sits in the middle, and the pumpkin makes a layer on the bottom. Knightley is loving them... I get him to go into his crate, then put him in a wait, put the dogsicle on the floor of the crate, then close the crate door, and only then is he allowed to eat his lovely dogsicle. It keeps him busy and well hydrated, and is a good healthy treat for a hot summers day.

What are you doing point that thing at me?? I'm trying to relax
here you know!

Because of my migraine I wasn't well enough for our normal family New Years Day BBQ, but did manage it the following day, and once again Knightley got to swim - although he was a bit more hesitant about jumping in this time! It was one of the hot days, and it was pretty amazing seeing how tired he was, reluctant to move from lying around on the cool tiles... until he got in the water and suddenly he was all ready to go. Just those couple of degrees cooler makes all the difference for dogs and us humans.

Still dry, looking at us in the pool, but really reluctant to
jump in this time... I wasn't sure why, may have to train
a cue to jump into something for next time. He really
wanted to swim, but didn't want to take the plunge.

Here in Aus, at least in the more southern parts (not the tropics, where you do tend to find it), air conditioning is not all that common -

Having a good game of tug with my brother. Finally now
his adult teeth are in (except for the teeth that come in when
 he is 1) he can play tug again without bleeding on all his
toys!

Happy at last, having a good old chew, nice and wet, keeping
a watch on us all.

people occasionally have one room in the house air conditioned, but very very rarely the whole house. Both dogs and humans have to cope... but generally we only have one week, maybe two up around the 35-39c (95-102f) range, and these are the weeks where both dogs and humans risk heat stress/stroke (I've had heat stroke twice). Most of the time however, it isn't all that bad. Nevertheless, it does make me think about what I would do for Knightley if we do become an Assistance dog team. Of course I just couldn't take him out on days *that* hot, but even for the low 30s it is quite dangerous for a dog that needs to walk around and can't just lie down and pant. Anyway, for the last two days when Knightley hasn't had access to a pool, I had had a tub for him to splash around in, and have also been spraying his belly and armpits (or 'forelegpits'??) with a little handspray of water to keep him cooler. Keeping him hydrated is also incredibly
important because a dog can't stay properly cool without a well lubricated mouth (ie lots of icky drool/saliva) coupled with the ability to pant.

Anyway, so he perked up nicely during his swim, and had several good long tours of the pool. He's a great swimmer, good long strokes, nice and calm... although he does tend to forget where the steps to get out are and get a little worried when he can't get out.

His in crate behaviour is going really well these days, absolutely no barking, occasionally a touch of whining... but nothing like it was before. But - he still barks quite a bit in other situations. I asked for advice about his barking and getting overexcited while I was trying to teach him retrieve as part of Sue Ailsby's Training Levels, and someone else labelled it as a tantrum. I think that is pretty much right. He just can't control his displeasure and whenever something happens that he doesn't like he resorts to barking:

• food not coming fast enough = bark, 
• he can't understand what I want him to do = bark,
• I'm eating something and I tell him "leave it" which in that situation basically means 'back off, this is mine' = barkbarkbark, 
• he sees another dog and I won't let him go over and say hi = bark..... 

and so on. He voices his protest. I hope further work on distance, stays, zen and watch will help him develop his patience, because that is what is needed. It is actually quite perfect that I am up to where I am in the Training Levels, because it is starting to focus on behaviours where the dog has to start doing things for longer in order to get their reward. In otherwords - cultivate patience.

I also like Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol for cultivating patience, and Knightley and I are still working on Day 1 (of 15 days)- we're not rushing it. It involves basically just sitting for certainly periods of time, sometimes walking away from him, sometimes counting aloud, sometimes softly clapping aloud, sometimes just sitting for a good 20 seconds or so. That is day 1. Knightley is ok at it, he just tends to slide into a down when he gets bored. So once he has stopped doing that, we shall proceed. It definitely does relax him though, which is the object.

A very very happy dog.

Thankfully my migraine is receeding, so Knightley and I are slowly getting back to our normal training schedule. I'll see what damage a few days absence has done!

A story in photos: a lake romp

5 months 5 days old

So my migraine continues, although it isn't as bad as it was, whilst the weather here is very hot: 35c (95f). I had to skip a New Years Day BBQ and swim over at my parents place, but managed it today with the help of some rather strong painkillers. Knightley also got to swim, although he has lost his nerve for jumping in the pool - he only did it once! So I may have to come up with a strategy for getting him to jump in again, instead of having to lift him in. Once he was in he was very happy, so it's just the take off.

Anyway, I am lying here in bed on my laptop, overheating and feeling pretty bleugh. Just had a cool shower, and just having a shower always exhausts me, but I needed to cool down because I hate the heat more and it tends to make my migraines worse.

Instead of a long wordy blog, I'm going to do a photo blog of our lake adventures - the lazy way out! This is pretty much exactly as it happened, down to the bird bones Knightley found and proceeded to devour. Even though his puppy teeth are out, his adult teeth are still growing in just a bit more, and he still has the urge to chew everything in sight, sigh.

Remember you can click on any of the blog images for larger versions.

Oh wow, what kind of awesome place is this mummy, I can eat all sorts of
disgusting things here then go for a swim and see what I can find there!!
Ohh, bird bones!

Oooh it's so wet and so fun and what, are those DUCKS over there?!?! But
they should be in my mouth!! Wow this is such an exciting place,
maybe I should get out and shake all over mummy then look very cute
so that she'll still love me. I get a kick out of little tricks like that!

I know you're quite wet now mummy, but seriously, you have to love this
face I made especially for you....!! OK enough faces, time to FLY!!!

If I flap my ears fast enough I'll take off right??? Right mummy???
Why are you just laughing at me?!?! I am being serious here! There is
very serious puppy investigation going on! Hmm. I think I might be stuck
 in here, that bank is STEEP.

OK time to try jumping out and maybe will eat duck poo on the shore,
get a run up first and..... WHEEE!!! How clever am I?

Well, there was actually no duck poo up there, so
I think I'll just sit here for a bit and watch the world
go by. I know, I know, I'm a beautiful, gorgeous,
stunning, cute Golden Retriever! Just about everyone
I meet tells me that! If I didn't have such a huge teenage
puppy ego I would get sick of hearing it!

Oh boy, why does mummy always point that weird black thing at me? This time
she keeps on saying that "watch" word again and again and making clicking
noises but I'm not getting any foodies! And the fun has stopped too! Meanie
mummy rinsed me off and then we had some tug with a towel and now she
is being very boring and keeps holding her head, sighing and muttering something
 like "the things I do for you, puppy". Dumb mummy, I do so much for her.... it's
always sit, sit, sit all day!

Mummy messed up my coat all weird and funny so it would dry faster! Grr!
But you can see how it doesn't look much at all like a puppy coat anymore,
not a speck of fluff to be seen... I'm becoming all man baby! Well... a dog
man... wouldn't want to be a human man like daddy! He always seems to be
getting bossed around by mummy again and again... much like me actually...
sigh, the lot of a puppy!

There were people in weird floaty things I stared at for a while that mummy
 told me were kayaks and rowing boats, whatever that means. Mummy also said
the name of the lake was Lake Ginninderra, and I may be smart but she did
have to spell it for me here. I just sort of woof randomly to spell most words actually.

Zzzzzzzz. Later that evening. A very very very tired puppy.

Knightley had been quite calm and simply enjoying himself until two women walking by asked to pat him, and proceeded to hype him up incredibly, leaving with the mild comment "he's quite excitable isn't he?" Sigh. I had kept him on his long line for our time there.... our recall isn't good enough with that many distractions, although we got good opportunity to practice whilst there.... and pre-stupid-women he had kept the line loose and just wondered around me, keeping calm but very happy. After the women revved Knightley up ("OOOeeeee you're so CUTE!!! OOHHH we just need to PAT you, you adorable thing!! Oh you're SOOO cute jumping up on us!! HAHAHA ooohhhh such a cutie!!!!! Do you sit puppy???? Sit Sit sit SIT sit SIT SIT SITSITSIT!!! Oh he sits!!! HOW CUTE!!!!") he just went into crazy zoomie mode, pulling for all he was worth, and I think that sealed the fate on my threatening migraine, along with me pushing myself too hard, too much heat and sun, and a bad sleep the night before. I *should* have taken him away from those two when I saw what they were doing to his mental balance, but I was just so tired out by that stage.

Anyway, Knightley had a really great time. The annoying thing is there are nice little beaches around the lake, yet dogs are not allowed within 50 metres of them. So I had to try finding places Knightley could get to the water, whilst carrying all sorts of stuff, and with my crutches........what a pain, both literally and metaphorically!

I had a look at dog friendly beaches and nearby accommodation on the NSW (New South Wales, Australia's most populous state) South Coast. Whenever we go down to the coast, that is the region to which we go generally, as it is the closest. A weekend down there with Knightley sounds great, although we may want to wait until the summer school holidays are over and the coast empties a bit! I'd just love to see what he makes of waves.

Another 35c (95f) degree day tomorrow, and it is taking its time cooling down tonight. Poor Knightley isn't liking the heat much, but he's surviving. It is so important that we look to our dogs during particularly hot days, dogs just don't manage heat as well as we do. Anyway, sleep calls me. So much for photos only, I can't help myself!

Knightley's love of water, LLW, warmer weather and allergies (mine, that is!)

Knightley going crazy pawing the water in the tub - I'm
having to hold onto it, otherwise he likes to tip the water
out. What a crazy pup I have.

16 weeks 2 days old

So, with the onset of a rather warm late spring I decided to get a tub from the laundry and see if Knightley was interested in dipping his paws in it. He had often been a bit naughty and stuck his paws in his water bowl and tracked water all over the kitchen, so I had suspicions he was going to like it, but I was blown away about how much. He pawed at the water with both front paws as if it was his last act on earth, emptying the tub eventually. The first time he did it, I laughed until I nearly cried - I just hadn't expected it. So after every walk, I'd cool him down by putting some water in the tub and letting him go at it. Dogs get most cool (other than from panting, and some heat exchange through the pads of their feet and their nose leather) from cooling down the bottom of their chest, and the way Knightley splashed the water with his paws drenched his chest, so it was a great way for him to cool down after a hot walk.

He loved it so much that my husband and I went out and bought him a much bigger paddling pool, which I had wanted to get for him for summer anyway. We also bought some plastic netting so that later I finally was able to stop Knightley going places in our yard I didn't want him to go, but he of course really wanted to go! Anyway, the padding pool was a complete hit. Whenever he is let out the back, he goes straight for the pool, even if it a rather cool morning. We have it put on top of an area with pebbles, near the taps, and to encourage him to explore the depths of the water I eventually found myself throwing in the biggest dark coloured pebbles I could find. It was very impressive what he did next, and really showed his problem solving and intelligence better than any other demonstration I have seen.

Knightley learning to put his head under the water and
blow bubbles through his nose. Now he just does
it for fun. I definitely have a water dog on my hands!
I can't wait for his first swimming opportunity.

The pool had ledges in the corners, so the water wasn't as deep there, was barely there at all. Knightley pawed the pebble to the corner, then up the wall of the pool, and onto the ledge, where he could easily pick up the pebble without having to put his face under water. I had seen quite a few videos of dogs fetching from bowls of water, or touching objects at the bottom of bowls of water, and knew they had to blow water through their noses to be able to do it, and that it was a bit of a learned skill. So the next day I put just a bit more water in so that it just covered the ledge by a couple of centimeters. Enough that he had to put his nose under the water in order to pick up the pebble once he had pawed it onto there. After doing that a couple of times, suddenly he didn't bother with pawing it onto the ledge, and just put half his head under the water to pick up the pebbles instead. He would pick up one, dump it out of the pool, pick up the next, dump it out, then the next and so on. I would toss them back in again and again. I have taken some great photos with my new dslr camera of bubbles coming from Knightley's nose as he trawls around on the bottom of the pool. Sometimes he seems to do it just for fun, not to pick up anything in particular. I tell you, I have a water dog on my hands! Not to mention a very very fast learner!

Despite lots of good stuff going on with Knightley, we are having some trouble with excessive vocalisation - ie, barking. I have moderately successfully taught a 'quiet' command, but it unfortunately doesn't last long yet. His barking seems to be caused by one main theme - frustration. If he wants to get to a dog but can't, he'll bark, if he is in his pen while we are eating but wants to be with us, he'll bark, if I'm making his food (thought I had dealt with this one but it has come back) he'll bark on and off to tell me to hurry up and feed him. I hope I can get a handle soon on his vocalness, because sometimes assistance dogs wash out from simply being too vocal. The funny thing is, he seems to have separation anxiety *when* I am still in the room but he can't get to me, like his pen or crate... but if I crate him and leave he is just fine. I have heard of this so I'll have to read up on it. It is odd though.

Loose/lazy leash walking (LLW) is beginning to come along quite well. He isn't exactly walking beside me, but he isn't pulling much anymore, and that is pretty good for a 16 week old puppy I think. Despite that I think I'll still get a no pull harness for public occasions because excitement causes him to forget all our work, and he nearly pulls me over. Birds often cause that forgetfulness too, but we continue to work on it - both on his collar and on harness. I tell you what, I am glad we don't have little critters like squirrels here in Australia - I can see how tempting they must be for dogs with strong prey drives!

The warmer weather hasn't been good for my walks with Knightley, partly because it just isn't good to be out in that heat for dogs (or me!), and partly because it has been causing just awful hayfever for me. I hope this summer isn't going to be a hot one if I am going to be particularly affected by my walks with the dog. Having Knightley in my life has changed my routines so much, in mostly a very positive way, and our walks together are one big change.

Heat stroke in assistance/service dogs and what you can do about it

Updated 13th December 2013
(Knightley 2 years 4 months 2 weeks 1 day old, Apollo 1 year 3 months 1 week old)

I have been reading a fair bit on the topic of heat stroke and the particular dangers for assistance dogs. Here in Canberra the summers are usually fairly hot, with our hottest days coming in at about 39-40 degrees celcius (102.2 - 104 degrees fahrenheit) and many days in the mid 30s. Occasionally we have days in the low 40s (up to about 107.6 degrees fahrenheit), which are really horrible.

However, when it comes to keeping a dog cool, we have one blessing; we are really really dry. Go a couple of hours west of us and you are in the beginnings of what is known as the 'outback', ie basically semi desert. Go further west and you hit the real rolling sand dunes type desert. Anyway, keeping a dog cool seems to rest on one main thing, and that is evaporation. When there is already more moisture in the air (otherwise known as humidity!), evaporation doesn't take place anywhere near as well, as it is like trying to put more moisture where it isn't needed! Hence being dry helps keep your dog cool. We do have some humid days, in fact last summer was bizarrely wet and humid, so I need to be careful when working my dogs when we have both heat and humidity. Apollo especially seems to suffer from heat.

So how does it work? Well as I think we all know, dogs lose heat, ie they sweat, through their tongues. This is because their saliva is constantly evaporating from their tongue, cooling the blood that is running through it. As the dog breathes, the hot moisture rich air from their lungs comes up in a breath, and they suck down nice cool fresh air that runs over the tongue and further helps evaporate saliva from the entire tongue surface, drawing cooling air right down into the lungs. This is the main way dogs have for managing heat, however they also lose heat through their nose leather and foot pads.