Sunday Sweets!

Every Sunday we showcase the sweeter side of cairn terriers. If you would like us to consider your cairn’s photo for an upcoming "Sunday Sweets," send it to cpcrnblog@gmail.com.

(All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.)

Hazel's Spa Day

Bacu fna CP Klara

Foster Lucky Toobee

Pepper fna CP Peata

Foster Doodle Bug

Foster Matagorda

Monty fna CP Moffatt

Foster Newell

Foster Sand

CP Stannis

CP Fargo

CP Truly

Friday Funnies

Note: Click on the image to enlarge!

 by Gemma Correll

Thursday training tips: Are we setting our dogs up to fail?

I admit it. I sometimes read through the hundreds of Facebook comments in response to someone’s question about how to handle an issue with their dog. When it’s a medical issue, I usually just want to scream “TAKE YOUR DOG TO THE VET!” Facebook discussions about behavior problems can also send my blood pressure soaring, like it did earlier this week. A terrier owner was asking for advice on what to do to prevent her new puppy from chewing electrical cords, and one group member advised “Command him sternly to “leave it!” Sure, like a new puppy knows what those words mean… Following that advice, the owner would be setting her puppy up for failure, which can lead to frustration for the owner and the dog. In this case, it could also lead to a fried dog, literally.

Our goal should be to aim for the highest quality connection between our mind and and our dog’s mind. There are a lot of factors that go into that, but one of the most important is to be thoughtful about our commands. That begins with one of the most commands: Come!

Being thoughtful has helped me with 7-month-old Peaches. For instance, since I’m not yet confident that she will respond to my “come!” if she is observing a butterfly on the other side of the yard, I try to make sure that I always have her attention before I call her to me.

Trainers Patricia McConnell and Brenda Scidmore are quite explicit about this in their book, The Puppy Primer:

“Be thoughtful about when you call your dog to come… Avoid calling your dog to come if he’s intensely focused on something else. Your goal is to create a foundation of coming every time he’s called, so don’t set your dog up to fail (and to learn to ignore you when he feels like it).” 

So what do you do if your dog ignores you? Do you shake a can full of pennies in her face, or spray her with water from a squirt gun? Well, you know those aren’t appropriate responses, don’t you?

I was discussing this issue with some lovely friends who share my belief in positive training. 

Gail G. tells me that one of Maryland’s best trainers, Cindy Knowlton, explained that “if you ask your dog three times to do a known behavior and he doesn’t do it, assume that he can’t do it.” 

Was she referring to a behavior that was known to the dog? Like asking him to sit (when he's done it all his life) and he doesn't do it?  

“Yes, a well known behavior,” Gail confirmed. “The environment might be too stressful, the dog’s behavior might not be as well-learned as you thought, or maybe sitting is painful -- or something else.” 

So I guess that means we shouldn’t keep screaming at a dog to “come” when he’s having a meltdown. It also means that a trip to the vet may be necessary. Or, as another friend pointed out, we need to “remember that we often think a behavior is ‘known’  when it isn’t -- or at least not known in the way we think it is.”

Nan M. used one of her dogs as an example. 

“Maybe you think you know which cue will trigger the behavior you’re asking for, but you can be wrong,” Nan said. “I knew my labrador was at great risk for blindness, so I thought I had taught her every behavior carefully using verbal commands. When she became blind it turned out I was mostly right; she could do all sorts of complex behaviors and even competed in freestyle. But she couldn’t do one fairly simple ‘known’ behavior. So I had myself video taped. When I said that word, my right hand moved slightly at my side. It turns out, she knew the hand twitch cue, not the word I was so sure she knew.”

Eileen B. added an important reminder. “My dog’s trainer told me that dogs often forget a learned behavior the first year after you think they’ve nailed it,” she said. “He told me to reinforce training regularly.”

Following all of this great advice, Peaches and I are having fun learning the basics, and I have no doubt it is setting us up to succeed.

Tuesday Tails: Pablo's Excellent Adventures

Some dogs have all the luck! Col. Potter rescues are among the luckiest, but Pablo is especially fortunate. His adoptive family – Rod  and Nancy K. – is the perfect family for this little adventurer.

We don’t know what Pablo's past was like; all we know is he was voluntarily surrendered to CPCRN when he was five years old.

“Pablo was a challenge to us as foster parents in a number of ways (and mind you, we had fostered some of the most fearful ‘mill mommas’ you could ever imagine),” says foster Lynne Prokop, “but he is also such an incredibly loving and funny little man!”

“When Rod and Nancy came to pick Pablo up, the little stinker jumped into Ron's huge pick-up without looking back. I knew right then that he had found the best forever home!”

Wearing his life jacket, Pablo enjoys kayaking with Ron as they watch the birds, dolphins, and manatees.

He also loves boating, and is very comfortable on the high seas.

Roaming the beach is cool too!

Pablo is a natural biker, riding alongside Rod and wearing a special pair of "doggles." He is an honorary member of the Aleppo Shrine Motorcycle Unit.

Don’t get the wrong idea about Pablo. He is not some shallow gadabout. He gives back to his family, as well. For instance, Pablo is a big hit at the assisted living facility when he visits Rod’s dad.

Of course, Pablo has his special moments, like any other cairn.

And he shares common doggie fears, as well...

"The other night we had a very bad storm with lots of thunder. He doesn’t do well with that or with fireworks,” Rod recently wrote to CPCRN. “I stayed up with him and comforted him. The next day he woke me up with licks and never left my side.”

“Nancy and I couldn’t love this guy any more than we already do. We were so lucky that we all found each other.”

❤❤❤

Share stories about your CPCRN dogs! Send your stories and photos to cpcrnblog@gmail.com.

Sunday Sweets!

Sunday is full of SWEETS!  Each week we showcase the sweeter side of Cairns.  If you have a sweet filled Cairn and would like us to consider YOUR photo for an upcoming "Sunday Sweets!" send it to us at cpcrnblog@gmail.com (All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.).

Foster Arvada

CP Wells

Foster Sand

Gabby

Orval and Doris

Oonagh and Donegal

Foster Jim

Foster Claymoore

Foster Raquel

Foster Breckenridge

Riley fna CP Beauregard and Clyde fna CP Trent

CP Hidalgo

CP Fargo

Zeus fna CP Wooster, Kady fna CP Kea, Foster Sondra Dell, Foster Volusia

Friday Funnies

Note: Click on the image to enlarge!

 by Loryn Brantz for Buzzfeed

Thursday training tips: It's all in the voice

Training should be a positive experience… If you are not getting the results you want, especially when you begin training, it is probably because the dog is confused rather than because he has decided to ignore or defy you. Always assume at first that the dog does not understand, and help him learn. Even when you are certain that the dog does understand and is making the decision not to obey, your attitude should calmly convey to him: ‘Perhaps you didn’t understand me, but that was a command and not a request. Let me help you.’ Then, when it does as you ask, praise the dog lavishly, reward and play with him and go on to something else. 

 -- Daphne S. Gentry, The New West Highland White Terrier

I know people's hearts are in the right place when they thank me for adopting a “special needs” dog, but really, as so many others in a similar situation can attest, no thanks are necessary. The pleasure is truly all mine. Peaches may have a severe heart defect, and her energy may not come close to what we usually see in a Westie puppy, but her love of life inspires me every day.

Just as we all have to discover the activities that best suit the temperament of our individual dogs, I’ve been spending our first couple of weeks trying to find the activities that will fulfill Peaches’ natural terrier spunk without overtaxing her heart. Fortunately, she is such a gentle explorer of backyard shrubbery that "go to ground" would be absolutely foreign to her.

"Be very afraid, I am the great white hunter!"

One of our biggest challenges is with an everyday activity: a walk. Peaches and I tried to take a walk down the block – she is so good on a leash! – but she asked to be picked up and carried after going a couple hundred feet. Peaches’ heart is not being fair to her nose, which wants to smell all the “richness” that a typical suburban neighborhood can offer. So, we found a solution. Her very own custom-decorated buggy.

Peaches loves to see and smell the neighborhood from the convenience of her buggy.

I thought I’d have to slowly condition Peaches to accept her buggy, to sit still, to not jump out as we stroll down the boulevard. Well. Peaches loves it! I think there are two reasons for that. First, this little girl has the normal terrier courage and curiosity, and the buggy is a new and fun experience; second, I used a happy voice in a high pitch when I introduced her to the buggy. Most dogs have a positive response to the high pitches and happy voices of their owners, as CPCRN Foster Director Sandy Tiller recently reminded me.

A note from Sandy:

Have you ever read The Other End of the Leash by Pat McConnell? I am reading it now. One of the things she talks about is our tone and how we say words to our dogs. She suggested that you use short, crisp words or sounds (smooches, clicks, “come, come” in a high voice) to get a dog to come to you or follow a direction and to use elongated words like "noooooooo" in a low deep voice when you want them to stop doing something. 

Well, I had to try it with my little mix, Monty, to see if he responded – and I’ll be darned if it doesn't work! When I want him to come, I now say "come, come" in a high voice and clap my hands. He instantly runs to me! He used to meander and take his time coming – not anymore. He was barking at a deer he could see through the chain link fence and I just said, "Montyyyyyyyyy noooooooooooo" in a lower tone and really drew the words out and I’ll be darned if he didn't stop and turn and look at me.

Monty recognizes the tones of Sandy's voice

I am really enjoying McConnell’s book. Now I just need to remember: short, quick words to get Monty to do something, and long, drawn-out words to get him to stop!

This great tip – with the proper nuance adjusted for your dog – came in handy today, when I was walking a neighbor’s collie, a wonderful and smart dog who loves children. We saw a mom and her toddlers walking towards us. I could see that the mom was uncomfortable with the possibility of meeting a strange dog, so we crossed the street to walk on the other side. Even from across the street, the collie was so happy to see the children that she started jumping in delight, putting the mom in high alert. I tried to calm the collie down with my high-pitched happy voice. “No, no sweetheart, let’s be good!” WRONG. The words weren’t making sense to her (what does “let’s be good” mean to a dog???) and the tone of my voice told her that I was joining in her fun. I lowered my pitch a bit and gave a command she understood. “Lassie, COME!” She stopped jumping, and she came to my side and looked up at me as if to say, “lady, all you have to do is ask.”

What do you think? Have you observed this with your dog? Please feel free to add your thoughts to the comment section, below.

Tuesday Tails: Super Senior Sweet Sophie Soprano

Col. Potter Cairn Rescue network has rescued nearly 4,500 dogs since 2001. Imagine how many laughs and tears those pups have brought to our readers! We want to hear about it. We want to hear about the funny times, the happy times, and times of greatness (yay pup!).

Every Tuesday this blog will focus on YOUR stories about your Col. Potter pups. Please send your submissions, maximum 750 words, to cpcrnblog@gmail.com. Attach photos as separate (not embedded) jpg or png files. (We reserve the right to edit for clarity and grammar.) 

Today, we share the story of super senior Sweet Sophie Soprano, who was adopted by Terri Bruno. Like many of the Col. Potter rescues, we don’t know her exact age but vets estimate she is between 17 and 19 years old.

Sweet Sophie Soprano

Sunday Sweets!

Sunday is full of SWEETS!  Each week we showcase the sweeter side of Cairns.  If you have a sweet filled Cairn and would like us to consider YOUR photo for an upcoming "Sunday Sweets!" send it to us at cpcrnblog@gmail.com (All photo submissions become the property of CPCRN and may be used for fundraising, promotion and/or outreach purposes.).

Maggie

CP Julie

Angus tunnelling for a chipmunk

Foster Cayla

Baby D and Sophie

CP Hayden

Gertrude

CP Volusia

CP Wiggles fna Erin Renee and CP George

Foster Newell

CP Taiwan

CP Stamper

CC fna Prana

Edith Anne

MacDougal camping

Friday Funnies

They Can Talk

Note: Click on the image to enlarge!

by Jimmie Craig

Thursday training tips: Is my dog stupid (or is it me)?

“People frequently assume that certain breeds or types of dogs are stupid, smart, stubborn, lazy, aggressive, friendly. And their beliefs shape their actions, sometimes most unfortunately for the dogs involved. Very often, what we label as stupid or stubborn has little to do with the dog’s level of intelligence. What we really mean when we say that a dog is stupid or stubborn or lazy is that he’s not in agreement with us, that he’s not doing what we want him to do. When we try to force a dog to accept our particular methodology and ignore what he tells us about its unsuitability for him, we are really saying that our toolbox does not contain a teaching approach that will work for him and that we don’t really care.”

-- Suzanne Clothier, Bones Would Rain from the Sky

The ritual has been the same for the last 19 years… Wake up (or, more accurately, get woken up by a wet dog nose in my face), do a quick check to straighten out my bedhead, and then head for the backyard so the pups can have their morning pee. This week, I was surprised that instead of heading out the door with her four companion collies, Westie pup Peaches veered off to the dog crate I keep on my back porch. She squatted, and started to pee in the crate. Well, how stupid is that?? Everyone knows you put a dog in a crate so she won’t pee.

My question should have been: how stupid am I? Peaches was only doing what she had done for the first formative months of her life in a puppy mill -- where she likely lived, ate, pee’d, and pooped in a crate. Her past life required me to re-think our housetraining, to go against crate-training orthodoxy. So, I’ve locked up the crates. I’ve also cancelled events where I’d be gone more than two hours, at least for the next week, so we can focus on “let’s go potty!” timing and treats. I don’t think it’s my imagination that cairns and Westies, more than a lot of breeds, will try to get away with eliminating indoors -- if we let them. And it sure doesn’t help when a rescued pup was restricted to a crate, or was left outdoors, or had their noses pushed into feces or urine when they had an accident. (I remember back in the 1970s, when my first husband threw our puppy against the wall after she pee’d on the floor. Sadly, that was a fairly accepted "training" method back then.) Now, there is no end of advice on housetraining, so our job is to find the positive method that works best for us and our pups.

BTW, while we’re on the topic of positive approaches, I’d like to share a tip that works for us when we have especially onerous challenges. I reserve special high-value treats for special tasks. The pups only get that treat when they perform that specific task. For instance, the collies get dehydrated salmon treats when I dremel their nails, so they look forward to nail trimming. Well, “look forward” is a bit of an overstatement; “sit calmly most of the time” is more accurate. Peaches’ special task, twice a day, is accepting a squirt of heart medicine in her mouth, and her high-value treat is dehydrated ground rabbit. Anticipating a treat she loves, she will happily jump up into my lap when I announce “time for medicine!”

I had a big dose of reality from the vet during our initial “welcome to your forever home” vet visit. After going over all Peaches’ heart problems, I mentioned that I had signed up Peaches for a puppy behavior class. Dr. K advised me to cancel it. While I was thinking that I needed to perfect Peaches’ responses to “come” and “settle,” to keep her from getting too excited or stressed, the vet gently reminded me how exciting puppy classes are. Since Peaches loves to play, putting her with five other playful pups and asking her not to play could be sheer madness for a dog that needs to avoid stress. It looks like homeschooling for Peaches!

My collies have fallen in love with Peaches, so separating them is essential for training.

Collies Eddie and Nemo team up to give Peaches a tickle fest.

My smallest bedroom makes a great training space. It’s small enough that I can keep Peaches’ physical exertion to a minimum, but large enough to play games that strengthen our relationship. I covered the main portion of the floor with interlocking foam tiles, and we have puzzles and a snuffle mat to start.

One of the most valuable dog classes I’ve participated in is called CCC -- Connection, Cooperation, and Control. I’ve taken three of my collies through the program (which is expanding rapidly across the country), and I kept the manual (yay, me!) so Peaches and I will start our own CCC training this week. Hopefully, I can keep my stupidity to a minimum.