Friend or Foe?

I hate meeting new people. It's stressful. I really only want to be with my mom. I don't understand why she needs me to meet anyone else when we have each other. But she recently explained to me that she needs people to be able to stay with me if she ever needs to go out of town. And that means liking someone enough to be polite while they are in the house for a few days. I have to let them in, let them feed me (easy) and let them put a leash on me (not so easy).

At the end of October, Mom and Dad are leaving for a few days for the annual dog training conference. Mom gets lots of good ideas, and it's important to her, so I try to understand. Grandma was supposed to come stay with me, but she got a new job, which I should be happy about, so I try to understand.

So last week, Mom and I went to the park so I could hang out with a new person. My mom understands that we have to move at my pace, and she's really patient with me. I have met this person once before. She wasn't allowed to pet me this time or last time. I only get pets when I say that I'm ready for them. The last time we met, we went out for coffee, and I didn't interact with her at all. This is my process. This time, I sniffed her a couple of times as we were on a walk. After one more meeting, Mom will let her in the house. Since I am more territorial in my own house, this is the worst place to meet me. So if Mom wants me to like you, I meet you a few times for short interactions at places I like or feel comfortable, like my favorite park in Torrance.

Sometimes, when you have a dog that requires a little extra effort, you just have to remember to move at a comfortable pace. Even though it may not feel comfortable to you, not all dogs can be like Lassie. Losing her temper with me is the worst way for Mom to deal with me because, as new studies are showing, aggression begets aggression. My mom has to use treats and praise and patience with me, and when she does, the rewards are huge because I want to work really hard for her and do the best I can.

So eventually, I will let Stephanie in the house. Because I know it's important to my mommy.

Love, Muggsy

Ear Aches and Allergies and Fleas, Oh My!

I'm sure you're wondering where Muggsy and I have been lately. Well, our allergies have been particularly bad this week, and Mom found fleas in the house. She uses an alternative flea treatment because she doesn't like dumping all those toxins in our back, but fleas have been pretty bad this year, so she's had to go back to the preventative.

And I had to go to a dermatologist this week because my itching is so bad that our regular veterinarian doesn't think he can help me anymore. My persistent ear infections are probably caused by a middle ear infection, and she thinks I'm allergic to fleas. So even if I don't have any on me, one bite can cause me to itch for weeks. Yuck. I also might have food or environmental allergies.

The worst part of the visit was when she told my mom she wasn't a fan of the raw diet. My mom feeds us a raw meat diet, which has raw meat and bone and veggies ground up in it. She adds eggs, yogurt, Omega 3s, coconut oil and green beans, depending on the day. It's soo yummy. She originally switched to it because lots of people told me it would help my skin problems. It did, but really, we all just love it because it rules. It's way tastier than kibble, and we look forward to dinner every night.

Many people who feed raw diets are huge advocates of it. My mom isn't. She loves it because we love it. Yes, we are very healthy, but we still have allergies, and she doesn't believe it is a cure-all for all illnesses. But she does buy into the idea that animals should have food that is natural for their system, not baked food with extra preservatives or fillers that we don't need. There are lots of high quality kibbles out there that she is happy to recommend to clients.

I'm afraid the vet is going to make her take me off of it, but it's not as bad as vets think. We never get bacteria or sickness from it because our stomachs are good at digesting it. I used to skip a lot of meals when I was fed kibble but now I never do! I hope I can convince her that my health will be best with the best possible food! If you see her, make sure to tell her that for me. Thanks!

Love, Fenway

Desensitization Works for People Too!

Hi again, everyone! I'm sure you're tired of hearing from me and wondering what Muggsy and Fenway are doing, but trust me, I'm way more interesting. And I love to talk about myself, so having this blog works out very nicely for me.

Today, I was back at the group home, and the biggest news is not from one of the students, but one of the employees. He has always been afraid of dogs! The first time that I visited, his eyes got huge and he hid from me in another room. I have never had someone be afraid of me like that. I didn't understand.

So a few months ago, he asked my mom how he could put his fears to rest. She said, "Pick a dog like Chubbs who you can trust and then move at your own pace. Only do what you're ready to do." Then we both did what we do best. I sat nicely and patiently, waiting for him to decide what he wanted to do, and she encouraged him and gave him lots of praise. He didn't want any of her liver treats, like I do, but he responded very well to these methods, just like dogs do. Kindness and patience works with every species!

Finally, he was able to pet me and sit next to me. Now, when I walk in, he is happy to see me. In fact, he saw my picture in the paper, clipped it out and hung it on the wall in his office. We are all so proud of him! Today, he wanted to get his picture taken with me and my mom. He was so happy! It was a great moment.

Camp Escapades Gone to the Dogs!

Well, I had a very interesting experience this week. I went to a camp for autistic children, and there was this pug sitting next to me who got all the attention! Everyone wanted to pet him when clearly...what, Mom? This isn't what you wanted me to write about? Oh, sorry.

Let me start again. Did you see my picture in the paper this week? I was in the Beach Reporter, but they misspelled my name. I mean, how hard is Chubbs? It's written on my vest. What, Mom? OK, fine...

I went to a camp in Torrance for autistic children called Camp Escapades. There were all these fun stations for the children to visit, and one of them was our Paws 4 Healing station. I was there with two other dogs and was clearly the cutest dog there. I'm just saying. The kids were of all different levels. Some could clearly see that I was the cutest and spent the whole 15 minutes with me, and some just wanted to pet this pug. I mean, some had dogs and knew a lot about them, and others weren't even sure how to pet a dog. It was very interesting for me, and it's a very difficult environment. Not everyone was allowed to go.

I found it really rewarding, but I also realized that I had to communicate with my mom when I had had too much stimulation, so I would turn my head away if anyone was bothering me. Since I usually don't do that, my mom knew that I was telling her to intervene and help the child interact with me differently.

The thing about dogs is that we don't talk like you humans do. So we find ways to tell you we are unhappy. If you don't want that to be barking and growling, then you have to recognize our subtle signals early on. If you have a reactive dog, like Muggsy, one of the first things to learn is how to recognize the subtle signals that preceed the really awful ones (like when he attacks me for staring at him too long!) Sometimes, a turn of the head, repeatedly looking at you or walking behind you is the signal that too much is going on. It doesn't mean that we can't do it. Maybe we just need a little break.

Remember this when socializing your puppy, too. Sometimes, we ignore scared puppy signals because we want them to get used to something, like children, but if we ignore the signals, they learn that we adults can't be trusted, and that's when the aggressive stuff starts. So watch your dog for their subtle signals this week and see what you can learn!

Love, Chubbs

Fun with Books

My mom loves to read. Her mom is an actual librarian. So that love has been passed along to me, a dog who will never be able to read. Thus, I sit at a library about one Saturday a month, especially in the summer, to let children read to me. This requires a unique set of skills. The first of those is that you're not really the center of attention. The children are staring at and touching a bunch of paper instead of me. Sure, there's the greeting part, but then the attention isn't on me anymore. What's that about?

The next is that I have to be able to pose for a picture almost every time. I'm excellent at that. The camera loves me.

I also have to be able to calm down and look like I'm paying attention. Since dogs don't see in two-dimension, this is a little harder. I'm much more interested in the sibling who is petting me or the little boys running around or the other dogs sitting nearby. It is a definite challenge to settle down and pay attention. The training book that my mom had to read to qualify me for this program suggests that when you teach your dogs how to do this, you should read to him and hide treats in the book so that he is always looking at the book. But I drool all over everything when treats are involved. Kids don't like that. I'm not sure why. So my mom taught me to lie my head down flat in the direction of the child. She also taught me, go say hi, which she says to me when I'm not social enough. That means, you'd better walk closer to that kid.

Sometimes, it's hard. Kids like to get right in your face, and I don't like that. Mom usually recognizes that and tells me to lie down. Sometimes, when I'm upset, I go lie behind her to let her know I need a break. Muggsy would bark. I'm so much cooler than him.

But sometimes kids are really funny. Like today, this little boy ran to get all the books about trains and then didn't read me any of them, just looked through the pictures as fast as he could. He didn't look at me or pet me once. There was one little girl who asked, "Can he really understand me?" My mom didn't want to lie, so she said, "I think he understands books about dogs," so she read me all the ones about dogs.

My mom can train you to do this if you are interested. It's a lot of fun, and it gets kids excited about the library. Definitely check your library's calendar and bring your child down to check us out. I'm in Manhattan Beach, Lawndale and RPV, but lots of libraries have similar groups. It's really fun! Check us out!

The Torture Chamber (aka The Bath Tub)

It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I hate baths. I have since I was a puppy. When Mom brought me home from the shelter, I had ticks, so he gave me a bath in the sink, and I screamed the whole time! I was six weeks old. Dogs aren't even supposed to have a fear period til nine weeks. I'm very mature.

I have tried everything to keep my mom from giving me a bath. I can be very scary -- lunging at her barking with my teeth bared. But she never gives up on me. That's what happens when you're best friends.

It had been about a few months since my last bath, so I knew I had it coming. Chubbs, of course, is perfect in the bath. I think he does it on purpose just to piss me off. Fenway is too little to protest, so they just pick her up and toss her in. But what about me? How do they handle me?

Well, they have tried everything, including a muzzle and leashes. But in the end, what works best is positive reinforcement. My mom took a bag of lamb lungs (yum) into the bathroom and waited for me to climb in the tub for them. It took a long time because I was scared. She kicked Dad out when he got too impatient. I let her put water on me, and then I jumped out. I was too scared. She was giving me lamb lungs the whole time.

I'm afraid of shampoo, anything coming out of a bottle really (don't ask me why), so she puts the shampoo on a washcloth before I even walk in, so I don't have to see her do it. When I was standing outside the tub, too afraid to get back in, she sneak attacked me with the wash cloth and gave me lamb lungs. After a few more minutes, I got back in, and she washed me off. I got more lamb lungs. Because of her kind approach and lamb lungs, I didn't try to attack her once. It's the first time in a long time. She said she was very proud of me, and I'm the best and smartest ever. She's right. I am.

Love, Muggsy

In the Eyes of the Beholder

I have never been a big fan of toys. Treats, yes. Toys, not so much. Except one ... my friend, Polly. My favorite toy as a young pup was a stuffed parrot named Polly. He was such a popular toy that if Muggsy took him outside to hide him from me, Mom could say, "Muggsy, go get Polly," and he would know which one to bring back inside. And he hides a lot of toys outside.

I didn't even really enjoy playing with Polly. I just carried her in my mouth. I don't play a lot of games. When I first started going to therapy work, my mom would take a toy so the kids could interact with me. I would ignore it. She has since taught me to shake, and I think she has decided to teach me another. I'll keep you posted. As long as she doesn't make me balance a treat on my nose, that's fine.

Anyway, since Polly met her unfortunate end (I chewed off her face, what?), my mom always gets me a stuffed bird for my birthday. I always love them. Well, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but my mom was sick, so she surprised me today with a stuffed duck. I was so excited to get it that I didn't even drop it to take a treat. I ran into my crate to hide him and stayed in there for a whole hour protecting him from Muggsy and Fenway, professional toy destroyers. My mom laughed so hard that she told me I should tell the story of the toy that made me turn down a treat. And I do so love treats.

I guess the moral of this story is: You never know what is going to be valuable to your dog, so be sure to surprise them with a special treat from time to time!

A House Without Violence

This weekend, we had a visitor. It was my mom's birthday, and her best friend came. We all like Kelvie very much, but any sort of change stresses out my brother, Muggsy. And when he gets stressed out, he used to attack my other brother, Chubbs. That hasn't happened in a year, and it didn't happen this time either. We had a peaceful house!

When we first moved to California, Muggsy was attacking Chubbs once or twice a week. There was only bloodshed once, but it was still really scary. Now, it has been more than a year. That's because Mom did lots of work with them. The first thing she had to do was learn to read body language. Muggsy gives very clear signals when he is upset: freezing, whale eye, growl, bark and then finally bite. You never want to punish a dog when he or she is doing one of these signals because they don't realize what you are punishing for. So they stop growling, for example, but the feelings that make them want to growl don't go away and then they just go for biting with no warning! Scary! With Muggsy, we always know it's coming. She also had to notice what Chubbs was doing -- turns out, he was starting the whole thing by starting at Muggsy. Mom didn't notice it because it was so cute, but staring is a major confrontational move in the dog world.

She started recognizing the signals early and sending both dogs to their crates, not just Muggsy, when she noticed the confrontations coming. By preventing it before it started, she taught the boys what she wanted them to do instead of fight -- and she punished Chubbs, not just Muggsy, for being a jerk. That's important to stop his part in the mess. She is very careful to watch for things that upset the other and stop the problem before it's too late. Now, Muggsy goes to his crate when he starts to feel upset, way before he ever attacks Chubbs. Or he goes into the bedroom or his bedroom in the garage where he can get some space from Chubbs until he is calm. Today, he has spent most of the day outside calming down. And we know to leave him alone when that happens. He'll come inside when he feels better.

It's so great to see them getting along. It was a long road, but it has worked so well. If you have dogs that are fighting, it's best to consult a trainer sooner rather than later, so you can stop the problem before it gets even worse. I hope that all of you have a house without violence, just like I do!

Love, Fenway