Sammy at the rubble pile
Sammy at the rubble pile Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
Introducing the puppy to rubble, Ok in all honesty not much was done in the way of introduction, we brought the pup out and let him plan and explore the environment. Sammy has been through several foster homes because his temperament is really not pet quality. On the other hand that same fearless attitude seems to be serving him well in a working environment. He loves food and play and interaction with people, all good foundation for a working prospect pup.
Bluestone runs a track.
Bluestone runs a track. Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
Our newest addition Bluestone is running a track. Bluestone (also affectionately known as “shut up!” Has some pretty big shoes to fill if he is going to help Chewy and step into Xena’s place on the detection team. But he is on the right track (pun intended.) He seems to understand the start concept all ready, like Chewy he is more interested in tracking than crittering. Now we just need to work on the indication concept of sitting or down instead of dancing all over the subject when he finds him or her.
Leu and Flower
Leu and Flower Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
I went to WV to help Lisa look at a potential working dog ended up bringing home three dogs that need homes! These two pups are pretty amazing. LeuSid the pointer/hound boy on the left is amazing detection work potential. He loves to eat did runaways for play and most important nothing appears to faze him. He loves people! He is confident in every environment we put him in so far. Just a real nice pup with good conformation and confidence to start working with. (There is that little issue about his bark a little deeper bark would be nice, but hey he doesn’t need to bark in order to smell after all is said and done.) We started out talking to the conservation folks about training him to locate Cheetah scat to help save the endangered species. If that does not work out we will be looking for someone else that might be able to use this little guy. Flower on the other hand is turning out to be quite the little lover, she is the beagle mix. Loves to be held and cuddled she is probably going to be looking for a good pet home as that seems to be what makes her happiest. We could train her as an assistance dog for a therapist. Ideally place her in an assisted living facility program or with someone looking for a therapy dog. Know anyone that might be interested in one of these two pups please have them contact me. Thanks Laura Totis 410 236 2788
Flower and Meg
Flower and Meg Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
Flower and Meg doing baby tracks at Morgan Run. We took the pups to a number of different places and just messed with them. It looks like flower will probably be best in a home as a pet. Therapy or therapeutic assistance dog would probably be ideal for her. My aunt was the activity director for a nursing home/ assisted living facility they tried to implement a program with a resident dog. Again this would be ideal for flower as she lives to be held and cuddled. She is a super pup all ready and still just a baby!
Lost Your Elderly Dog?
SEARCH DOWN HILL.
Looking at our records from the last couple of months we searched for several elderly pets.
Of these guys
We consider elderly dogs a priority simply because I don’t believe they wander off to die, rather that they get disorientated or for whatever reason they get themselves out of their safe yard and can’t physically get back home. There are two messages here; one is that if your dog is getting elderly and developing mobility issues fence the yard. None of the older dogs we looked for have been out of the yard in years. “They just went outside did their thing and came back inside according to the owners.” The other message is that if your elderly pet is missing start at the place he/she usually is, then look down hill especially if you don’t believe your pet would ever go down there because he/she had so much trouble walking in that area. If your elderly pet does not get stopped for some reason he/she is capable of covering many miles just slowly shuffling along. When we are called to search for lost elderly animals we search the immediate area first. The age of the track and/or weather is not a consideration because while we are happy to utilize a trail we are really clearing the area as we are searching for the actual animal. By the way in most of those cases the owners reported their pet was deaf or seriously hard of hearing, so calling was not an effective technique you may walk right past your pet and never know it, get a flashlight and look. Scent detecting dogs are one other resource that can be utilized in addition to visually searching. Their ability to search for the scent of the pet complements our emphasis on visually looking for the pet.
Good luck!!
Laura
Look For Your Pet Don’t Just Assume They Will Respond to Your Call.
Sometimes The lost pet will not respond even a well trained pet!
Aron (Xena’s daughter) is a rock solid confident rottweiler I have always been proud of the fact she is quite the agility dog (there is a photo of her on top of a roof when she was searching the 9th ward in NO last year on my website.) Anyway the other night she did not come she likes to “hunt” and the yard is fenced so we did not worry. Hours later I realized she still did not come in or respond when I called. Finally I got the flashlight and started checking around the yard. NO dog! Naturally I assumed she had found a hole in the fence and was gone somewhere I checked the fence could not find a hole. What is the point of having pet detection dogs if you can’t use them to find your own pets? I got Chewy out to recheck the fence line with me. (There are no lights outside in the yard) “Check Check Check…” we went a long the fence at one point Chewy left me and dove under a bush. I called her out Chewy popped out bounced down on the ground then went back under the bush. (She had found River-the cat under a cart under that bush last week for training so of course I assumed she was playing me for a fool.) We repeated the scenario with her bouncing out happily indicating and bouncing back in and me telling her to get her “#$%! Back to work.” Finally I get down look under the cart there was Aron with her head caught in a loop of wire (the break line) under the cart! Twice before I had Chewy help I had passed within feet of this dog she did not make a peep. I’m thankful Aron did not panic and flip, and that her feet all touched the ground and that she is OK! But boy what an eye opener, we talk about preconceived owner opinions skewing the search, to see how close one can pass w/o a clue, and what a difference a competent trained dog can make. Chewy by the way is getting steak for dinner tonight, and I’ll be eating crow.
An article about Bingo a lost hound dog.
One of Chewy & Brando’s searches for Bingo, a lost hound from a local rescue. I am asked frequently about the percent of success for our dogs when they search. My response is that the actual walk up find and recovery by a searching dog was low probably 20% HOWEVER the successful recovery of animals we help I believe is relatively high probably as much as 70 or 80%. I like to believe it may be because of our dogs contribution, getting the owner in the right area, or it may be because the owners that are committed to using all the resources available and call for a search dog are going to go the extra distance and get the job done. At any rate I believe the single most significant factor is the owner. Anyway here is a link to Bingo’s story as well as some other critters PAWS has in their rescue.http://www.paw-rescue.org/PawNewsletter/PAWShakes2006Fall.pdf
River touch the stick
River touch the stick Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
I present the target stick to the cat as he touches it I click and treat and take the stick away. Then present it someplace slightly different, where he gets a click and treat when he touches it. I quit while he still wants to play more, but keep doing this little game until he will touch the stick wherever I put it. As he touches the stick I put it on cue and say “touch” as he connects with his nose. Then click & treat.
River into the box
River into the box Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
OK so I have to confess the only lure here was River’s curiosity about what was inside the box. Getting him in consisted of opening the box door.
River expects treat with click
River expects treat with click Originally uploaded by Laura & the pack.
Once in the box we make it a good place to be with lots of goodies.
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