Renewal

Life goes on. Despite thinking at times that it cannot, or that things will never be the same, the truth is: they never are the same. And still, life goes on.

My life has taken turns that I never expected. Some have been challenging, some thrilling and some terribly sad. To do less than look forward to the challenges of tomorrow would dishonor the memory of the wonderful people and brilliant dogs I have know.  You know, of course, that I am still thinking of Jinx.  We planted a tree in her memory that a schutzhund friend gave us, scattering some of her ashes there so that Jinx would live and grow again. It is a lovely baby blue spruce, planted so that we can see it from the living and dining room.  It will give shelter to birds, and I can already envision decorating it at Christmas.  Thank you, Chuck, for a gift that celebrates life.


 As sad as that loss has been, if I would have stopped loving when I lost Eros, I would not have loved Sofie; if I had stopped at Sofie, there would be no Digit, no Quinn and no Jinx.  And if I refused to surrender my heart after Jinx, there would be nothing for Cooper or Ridley or the dogs that may come after them.

The other day a man I know said that if his current young dog had bad hips, that would be it for him. That he couldn't or wouldn't handle another dog.  I have to admit that this has never crossed my mind. To toss away all the good, all the lessons for one or even two set-backs? I have had more unexpected injuries, illnesses and issues than I have fingers on both hands. I don't know that I am more of an optimist than many, but I do know that l refuse to stop living, to stop learning and looking forward to tomorrow. I fully expect that a good dog will be at my side.

After taking time to reflect, the sad little faces of my under-worked dogs beckoned me. I started a walking regiment and every morning this week have taken a dog for a walk on the local recreational trail.  I imagine the walks Jinx and I took there with fondness as I lay down new footprints, matched in step by a set of pawprints. I'm quite certain that sometimes, in the outer fringes of my vision, I see a malinois matching pace.

Till we meet again, Sweet Jinxy girl

It has taken me several days to write about this, but we said good-bye to Jinx on Monday, May 10.  It was not unplanned, and it was time.  She had rapidly lost motor function in the rear once it began, and within one week was no longer walking without support of a harness. It was very taxing, considering that left her with only one good leg.  Yet, her spirit never wavered.  The body no longer allowed her to run and play and so we had to make that decision to let her go, to a place where her body was united with the joy and freedom of her mind.

I cried so much the previous week, saying my goodbyes and "I love you's" over and over, my heart aching to lose her.  It was difficult to recognize the miracle that we had in her in those extra months post-diagnosis, through the tears. In my head I knew the lives she had touched, and the things she had accomplished and how she rose through each challenge to overcome adversity.  In my heart, it just hurt.

We were blessed to have the resources of two excellent veterinary services.  Dr. Strickfaden (Country Care) for the holistic treatments that I feel sustained Jinx much longer than predicted, and Dr. Jay Peters (Countryside), who I consider a friend, and who is the vet I rely on for all my routine care. He is always willing to answer questions, find answers for me and exhibits such tender care to both animals and humans.  On Monday, Dr. Jay came here to our house, where Jinx could make her final goodbyes in the comfort of a place she knew and loved, in the arms of those who adored her. Jinx and I napped all morning together on the bed, and then it was time.

We drove to the training field. Oh, the happy hours we spent there! Tom lifted her from the van and when I said "Jinx, lets go to work" she literally pulled him onto the field with a surprising burst of strength.  The gleam was in her eye.  There was no pain there, only the excitement over once more going to work.  We lay on a blanket on the field, with the sun shining.  One final time I asked her, "Jinx, want to go to work?" and she barked for her tug toy, and gripped it hard and full.  That was how she left us for the Rainbow Bridge, going to work, with her tug toy in her mouth. And the grip was full.

The many messages of love and understanding that I received meant so much to me. People who had met Jinx and remembered her (one person mentioned her pink collar that she wore at the USAR testing when we traveled), and many who simply know what the love of a good dog means.  The unfortunate responsibility that we take on when we do love such a dog, is to promise that we give them the ultimate gift to honor their service, when the time comes, giving them the release that they cannot bring themselves. In that, we promise to respect them and not serve our own ego by insisting they struggle and/or feel pain just so we have them near us.

The house feels so empty without a dog to greet me. I expect to see Jinx around every corner. I wonder if she will "visit" me, as several of my past dogs have done?  In the meantime, I decided to allow Ridley, aka "little one", more indoor freedom. She had been very well behaved on previous sessions.  She was excited to be in the land of beds and bones and happily gathered her finds.  And then something happened.  She found a sock and brought it to me. This might sound insignificant, but what you may not know is that the sock would almost certainly have been left there by Jinx, who had an affinity for carrying socks in her mouth. She never ate any, just like the carry them to you and have you give them a gentle tug. And now, here was Ridley exhibiting the same behavior, even though they were only together once... when a crate door was not properly closed... so she would not have learned it from Jinx directly.  I would like to believe that Jinx nodded and passed the torch to the Little One...  and all is better in my heart.

Lessons from Jinx

My Miracle time is coming to an end, I am afraid.  Jinx was very well last week at her biocom appointment but I had started to notice some wobbling in the rear. Things have gone very quickly and it appears the cancer has invaded her spine, as she is having great difficulty controlling her rear end.  On hardwood floors she cannot gather her feet or stand at all, so I drove to Fleet Farm last night and covered the house with carpet runners. My friend, Shari, lent me a harness contraption with a handle on the back, so that I can help her stand and move.  When she is on the grass or carpet she can still get around on her own, but doesn't do much of that unless she is going to eat or needs to go outside in which case she will leave her bed.  Tom is away at training all week and I know he wants his opportunity to say good bye to his "girlfriend", as I affectionately call her, so I am doing what it takes to keep her comfortable.  She is still eating heartily and today was barking on command for treats. She does not appear to be in pain, but I wonder what she thinks about not being able to control her body? For a dog who lived by grace and agility, climbing ladders and racing the ATV like a sable rocket, is this simply a stage she accepts or can she make comparisons to what she used to be?  Either way, she still thrusts her head under my arm for attention, still pushes herself over to snuggle with me on the bed at night.  I've had six months beyond what was predicted, which is quite a miracle in itself.  And knowing Jinx, working her, loving her... has been the greatest miracle of all.

I started thinking of the things I have learned from Jinx and thought I would write them down as I think of them:

GRAB LIFE BY THE TAIL.  one of my favorite photos of young Jinx is of her, impish sparkle in her eye, about to grab the tail of her unaware grandmother.  Seize the tail, seize the day.  That's the way Jinx lived.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY NEW THINGS.  Jinx and I started out training in Mondioring and then I discovered Urban Search and Rescue.  We flew together three times, with Jinx sitting between my legs on flights to Texas, New Jersey and Conecticut.  During the time we've been together, Jinx has rappeled from a building and I did my first and only tandem sky dive.  Jinx not only accomplished her Type 1/CE in USAR (rocked the test!!) but when I decided that she should compete in schutzhund, she did, earning a SchH2. And when I thought we should also title in MR, Jinx threw herself into that, as well.  I will forever have a dimple above my left knee, a permanent reminder of a badly performed defense of handler in a training session.

YOU CAN OVERCOME ADVERSITY.  When Jinx had surgery for a torn ligament and we had to attend rehab,  Jinx accepted the UnderArmor T-shirt that she had to wear while recuperating, and she learned new tricks and behaviors to facilitate her rehab. And when her front leg wasn't working anymore, she ran on three.  She still did biting games and all her tricks and positions, jumped on the bed, and acted silly.  I know that dogs don't speak, so they can't complain, but they can be depressed and sad and Jinx never was.   She just seemed to say "okay, so this is the way it is... so what."

TOUCH A LIFE.  Jinx and I did a number of demonstrations for school kids, summer library programs, Take Your Child to Work Day.   When traveling, she was a wonderful ambassador, happily performing her repertoire of tricks and greeting new friends.

ENJOY YOUR NAPS.  Ohhhh, napping was something Jinx and I exceled at!  Usually late in the afternoon and all it takes is "let's go to bed" and she is headed down the hall.  The best day is enhanced by a nap with a friend.

SAVOR THE SIMPLE PLEASURES.  sunshine on your fur, an unexpected treat.  A walk. The simplest things can bring the most pleasure, especially in the company of a good friend.

I'm sure there are so many more lessons Jinx has taught me. I just have to look around.

Schatze learns to track

I have the most amazing obedience student! Tom and his German Shorthaired Pointer, Schatze, make giving obedience lessons fun! Schatze is yet another reminder that I really should tape beginning lessons, because she has come so far! This little firecracker is actually preparing for her BH. She is showing beautiful attention at heel, and today we walked through the entire routine.  Balance this with the fact that when she began, she was attached to a very long rope to keep her from running off and following her nose.  We put that snooter to good use, and taught her how to do an evidence search.  She loves to stretch her legs and when she hits that scent cone it is clear as day. She is a very fast learner, so willing.

Today we introduced Schatze to tracking.  I showed Tom how to lay the scent circles, where to place the flag and how to use the wind properly in this teaching phase.  After 5 scent circles, I decided to see how she would handle a short track of approximately 30 feet.  Warning! Don't do this at home! This was dreadfully premature, but she was picking things up so quickly I just wanted to test things. I handled the line for this test, so that there would not be mistakes, but I was so impressed. With only a little guidance she worked the track to it's end, a tracking article.  Since she already knows articles, it was an easy and successful end.  What I wanted to test was that she could transition from using her nose for air scenting, to putting it down and tracking.  If you are familiar with NAVHDA (North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association) tests, then you know that this very ability is tested but using birds.  First the dog must locate birds via air scenting and point them, and in a subsequent test must perform a track for a running pheasant.  So, this is something that the breed is able to do.  And Schatze had demonstrated that she loves to use her nose for air scenting exercises.  But would she be willing to put it down for a track?

The answer is clearly "yes".  I have seen young dogs being started who struggle to keep their nose to the ground, and their attention to the scent pad initially, and here was an adult pointer, with no puppy foundation in tracking, knocking it out of the park!  Tom will be back to practicing his scent pads during the week and I expect we will be doing our first real tracks by the end of the week. 

Their success made me feel good, as well.  This week I was feeling particularly depleted as a trainer, wondering why I was not teaching as well as I should be, what was lacking that either did not communicate well or not motivate adequately. Thank you, Tom and Schatze, for picking me up!

Cooper lives another day!

You are probably wondering if Cooper survived training today: he did!  In fact, I used him to demonstrate positions and he totally showed off!  The hard head of yesterday was not in evidence today.  What is nice about that is that it demonstrates that Cooper does not hold grudges or sulk. Yesterday was yesterday and he was all about doing what he needed to do to earn reward today.  And that is a wonderful temperament to work with !

Some basic differences between schutzhund and AKC obedience

When we have potential new members visit our schutzhund club, or when people come to me for private lessons, I often end up explaining some of the differences between AKC and schutzhund obedience.  The differences are important if you plan to compete in either one. Naturally, understanding the rules is critical, but here are a few of the differences:

• in schutzhund you cannot use the dog's name to preface a command

There is only one place in schutzhund where you can use the dog's name to preface the command, and that is in protection work, in the blind search.  You can also use the dog's name as the recall command, but not as a preface to.
I frequently see the dog's name being applied like a nagging tap on the shoulder, as if to say "hey! hey!  prepare to pay attention to me!"  Used too often, it truly is that nagging tap and it will be ignored.  When you are working, your dog should already be paying attention and waiting for you to direct the next move with enthusiasm.  When you watch someone who always uses the dog's name first, pay particular attention to whether the dog was watching them to begin with ,or whether the name is the "hey, you!"

• in schutzhund there is no "stay" command

What does "stay" mean?  It has no independent meaning.  It really means "keep doing what I already told you to do!"  In schutzhund the dog is expected to perform the command given until it is released or given a new command.  That makes perfect sense!  The "stay" command often becomes a threat, using the hand to block movement.  In schutzhund, the command itself has meaning and does not need additional layers of threat.

• don't get stuck in the parlor trick front sit for attention!

This isn't really a difference in rules so much as it is something you find in some training classes.  The front sit for eye contact is taught and ends up being more of a parlor trick than an obedience exercise.  Pet owners are thrilled that their dog is giving them attention but several negative things are being taught.  The puppy learns that eye contact, not position, is what drives reward.  And, they tend to quickly get sucked into needing to find that front position, again because it has been rewarded.  Once you transfer to a heel position, the puppy struggles to get back in front of you where it has been rewarded.  This is not at all the fault of the dog, so handler's, swat yourself for doing this!  The other thing that occurs is the the dog, at heel position, will continue to try to make eye contact. What does this do? It takes the dog out of position and cause them to crab, moving slightly ahead and crooked so that, at its worst, it interferes with the handler's forward motion.

• In AKC obedience classes, the dog is taught to sit first, and then lured into the down. In schutzhund the dog must know how to down from a standing position.

When the dogs are taught to lay down from a sitting position, they are lured forward and down with treats.  Later, when the start to balk, they are sometimes given a leash correction to pull them down. Or, in the worst form, the handler steps on the leash to pull the head down.  The result of this is a dog that is both slow and reluctant.  It has to sit and then slide forward into the down.

In schutzhund the dog is required to down from a stationary sitting position and also down from a walking position.  It cannot sit first and then slide down.  It must drop immediately upon command, or lose points. Some schutzhund trainers do teach their dog to make a sliding forward down, and these can be quite dynamic, but the dogs do not sit first, and are not taught that way.  We teach the fold-back down, or sphinx position.  After watching handler after handler have to re-set their dogs for the escape bite at the Nationals (and other events) and lose points as the dogs threw themselves forward and over the marked start position, my opinion of this has been reinforced. I prefer to teach the dog to bring the rear end underneath to sit, rather than rocking back and to move the hind legs back into the down position.  The front legs remain stationary, no matter whether the dog is moving into a sit, down or stand.

• in schutzhund the long down is performed while another dog is performing the obedience routine, including retrieves and recalls.

In AKC, the dogs in the class perform the long sit and the long down as a group, without distraction.  In UKC, an "honoring down" is performed, with the dog in the ring as another dog performs the obedience heeling routine.  Frankly, I would rather have my dog be tempted by distraction with one dog than be left beside a group of dogs I do not know and trust they will not get up, or fight.  Both can be challenging and you will need to add more distractions if you practice in schutzhund, but have other dogs more nearby if working in AKC.

• In schutzhund obedience the hands must move naturally at your sides.  In AKC obedience the left arm is commonly held stiffly across the body, as if in a horizontal sling.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, but that you need to know what is required in the sport you chose.  You will be penalized for doing the wrong thing in the opposite venues. 




If you have the opportunity, start training a puppy in the proper behaviors to your sport as soon as you can.  It is not fair to your dog to train it improperly and then six months down the road, change the rules on it and make corrections.  Sometimes it can't be helped because owners were unaware of the training opportunties, but sometimes they make a conscious decision to take a couple pet dog classes and "teach the dog obedience" before joining the schutzhund club.  It takes less time and effort to do something right the first time, than to change a behavior later. 

Quinn trains Little Wood

One exercise Quinn needs to learn for MR2 is something called "Little Wood."  Short pieces of wood dowel are used in the search and the dog must locate and retrieve the one with the handler's scent on it.  This is similar to the Utility obedience exercise.  At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to even work on the exercise until he had his MR1 since I also have the goal of earning our FH this summer.  In schutzhund tracking the dog must lay down to indicate articles with human scent on the track.  Quinn also does an area search for any article with human scent on it and will down at that article, as well. The purpose of this is so that he does not disturb articles of evidence by putting them in his mouth.  An example of this is a search for an expelled shell casing that we did several years ago at the scene of a hunting fatality.

I was worred that asking him to retrieve an article with scent might be confusing.  And would it be confusing for his retrieve?  The first thing I had to do was break down the exercises and requirements and determine where conflicts might be.

           Exercise                Command               Behavior
1)Area Search for articles                           veloren (lost)                 search for articles on ground with human   
                                                                                                       scent
                                                                                                    not specific to one scent.  air scenting.


2) Indication of article on track                    tracking= such              to down straight in direction of track with       article containing tracklayer's scent located between his front feet, without molesting the article Dog is following ground disturbance to locate the article.


3)  Area search for human                         search                              air scenting. bark and hold on still subject.
                                                               revier if sent to one location


4)  retrieve                                              bring                                   go out, pick and return with any thrown
                                                                                                                         article


So I had to first consider what the command would be.  I decided to keep it consistent to his training language and use Finden.  I have seen small pieces of how people train the exercise using a board on which the dowels are secured with flex ties except for the one with the handler's scent, so that no incorrect choices can be made.  Sometimes they will cover the board with grass or other material, and carry it into other environments but ultimately the board has to be phased out.

The funny part here, telling of how I am thinking of how I want to teach the exercise, is that my friend, Sam, is constantly coming up with new ideas for training and often I laugh at them as adding too many layers.  I am very much about keeping things simple and without unnecessary tools or tricks.  There is possibly someone reading this who thinks I am being crazy, and also possibly recognizes that I am setting myself up for a problem.  But since I have already decided I didn't want to do it the traditional way since he already knows how to search,  I will just see how it goes.

I used the rounded wooden dowel, similar to what they use in the MR exercise.  I held his mouth shut the same was how we do to pre-scent the dogs to find a particular scent, and held my palm in front of his nose with the dowel there. I said "good finden".  Then I left him on a sit and first put the dowel in a corner of the building, but in the open.  At the start of my introduction exercises, he is seeing the article being hidden, which is not true in MR.  He ran right to the dowel and I encouraged him to bring it back to me and to hold it until I marked and released. He did it super well! 

Next, I hid it behind some tubs against the wall.  Again he saw the set up, went directly to it and retrieved it. Good boy!  Time to up the ante.  I hid it in an area with chairs, tables,bookshelves,  and dog crates and he searched and quickly found it.  His change of behavior in scent is very obvious.  I watched a dog recently who struggled to work in to the source of the odor and I know from training police and detection dogs, how critical that is.  Quinn is quite good at it.

I then hid the dowel in the kitchen, where there are many interesting odors.  The dowel was hidden between an island and the garbage can and I watched him work up in the air in the area.  He was moving so quickly, by the time his brain recognized the odor he had passed out of the scent cone.  I did not speak and he did not quit. He kept working, and that perserverance in the hunt is something I love to see.  I hate a dog that quits and asks the handler to do his job.  Or even worse, the handler who is actually doing the job but not realizing it by cueing the dog with "show me, show me!" ugh! pet peeve!

This is where it got interesting.  My training partner asked why I didn't just tell him "such" to put his nose down.  Just like a good trainer should, I knew the answer to that one.  I couldn't tell him to such (pronounced zook) because that is his tracking command and tells him to put his nose down and find the track.  And if he would find the article, thinking "track" the proper behavior would be to lay down to indicate.  I told her that if he layed down I would have to correct him, and that would only serve to confuse him in TWO disciplines!  Even more importantly, I wanted Quinn to learn on his own how to work to the source of that odor.  And he did!

The last search we did was back in the crate/table/chair area.  This time additional articles were place in the area, placed by my training partner.  Being the good sport she is, she emptied her pockets for the sake of training, even though she said she hoped Quinn didn't munch her cell phone! I think we had keys, a cell phone, a knife and something else.  The keys were placed where the dowel had been previously and the dowel was placed in between a dog crate and a bookself on the exterior wall.  Remember in training placements, where your scent cone is going to be affected by other items around it or hot/cold walls or fans.  This time Quinn picked up the keys, but after several "uh-uh's" and repeating "finden" again, he went back to the search and located the dowel.  It was interesting that he did not bother at all with the other articles and retrieved the keys because they were in the same place the dowel had been previously.  In this, he is trying to define the perameters of the search.  Is it this thing, or is it the location of the thing?

So, my Quinnster did very well!  We did some whistle-backs to his place between my legs and he is really picking this up well, too  Next week I am registered to attend a 3 day seminar with Michael Ellis, and it is my goal not to be too far behind in our prep from those dogs who regularly and solely train in ringsports. Rock On, Quinnster!