It’s Raining Foster Dogs

Well my house is filled to the brim. There are Shibas everywhere. After Ginger left I still had Prince. Add to that Tasha, who is technically being fostered by my mom, but I am looking after her Shiba when she is working with Tasha. To add to that, Toshi, a stray from the Philly Pound came here on Monday because we are just out of foster space. So at total count, I have 6-7 dogs in here at any given time. Thank goodness for crates.

All the fosters are doing well for the most part. Prince is coming around and has really learned to trust. He even calms down when he gets wound up just by saying "stop". Tasha has really started to come out of her shell. She is eager to come out for a pat or a scritch and finally runs around mom's house with her tail up. She also gets along perfectly with all the other dogs. She couldn't care less about them. And finally Toshi. Poor Toshi. A Shiba on the euthanasia list at the Philly Pound. The rescue pulled him from there on Monday and he has taken the whole ordeal very well. As far as we know, he was a street stray. He has no understanding of what a house is or even what people really are. He is cautious but friendly and will put up with anything. He is happy to stand there and be petted but does not have any understanding of basic commands. He also wants to mark my whole house. Guess marking is the first and foremost behavior on my list to fix.

So if anyone reading this is in the NYC Metro Area, please consider fostering a needy Shiba. And if you are not in our area or are simply not a Shiba person, please consider fostering for another needy organization. Rescues are always grateful to have more foster homes and if the dogs could say so, they would thank you too. It can be hard work sometimes, but nothing in this world is more rewarding for me and I know there are other people out there who would feel the same if they just opened their door to a dog in need.

Foster Updates

Well, Ginger is off the another foster for behavior modification testing. I miss her. As much as I tried not to become attached, she really weaseled her way into our family. He social issue were never as bad as most of the other dogs I have worked with. She will make a wonderful companion for someone and I hope her best years are still to come.

Prince is doing well. His snappy behavior has improve immensely. He is much more happy and outgoing. He look to me know for instruction, which is huge because before he used to just run around aimlessly and get into trouble. He loves to come in from outside now because treats and training come soon after. He sits by default now and downs are coming slowly. His loose lead walking is improving and he is starting to get with the program. I think he will make a wonderful buddy for someone who wants to keep training with him and enriching his life.

Dog Camp 2008!!

We had a BLAST! Mashi, Saphira and I packed our stuff and headed to Centenary College in Hackettstown NJ last Friday to attend Camp Barking Hills. We attended so many fun and fascinating classes and accomplished so much. Here is a breakdown of what we took:
Friday night:
Presentation of Classes
Saturday:
Better Training Through Communication — Shaping with Verbal Cues or Clickers, Pet Tricks A, Recall Remedies P1, Swimming Lessons (yes Mashi, a shiba, swam), CGC Prep A, Dealing with Fears and Phobias, Canine Olympics
Sunday:
Skateboarding, Pet Tricks B, Recall Remedies P2, On the Ball: Fitness and Conditioning, Pampered Pooch Cooking Seminar, CGC Prep B, Canine Troubleshooting, Craft Night,
Monday:
Two CGC Tests (Both Passed!!) and Self Control, followed by awards and tricky tray.

It was an amazing weekend. Mashi's team won the Canine Olympics, both of them earned their CGC's (while Flyball was going on in the same gym), and we learned so many things. I wish that it happened twice a year. We had such a fabulous time and I can't wait to go back again next year.

Fostering a Happy Stable Dog

Dog Camp was this past weekend. It was an amazing blast and I will write more about that later. But I wanted to address a topic that camp brought up while I was there. One of the instructors, brought up how she fosters the tough dogs. The reactive, fearful, and aggressive dogs. This is where Dawn and I have a lot in common.
I foster the hard case dogs for NYC Shiba Rescue. The ones that have bit, the ones with food aggression, the reactive ones. I like working with these dogs because I feel like they need a fair chance. They need someone who can get down deep and see if the problems can be figured out. I like being the tough dogs second chance.
What came up in conversation was how our own dogs are so different from the fosters. Not in issues but more in behavior. For the most part, my fosters are better behaved then my own dogs. When looking back at this and talking about it I realized why. Because I run I tight ship at home, especially for my fosters. I also don't let my fosters get away with bad behavior from the start.
To rehabilitate them better, I only ask one thing of them, to be happy, stable dogs. I take all the guess work out of their lives. They have a schedule to depend on. They know when feeding will be, when training will be, and know that they do not have to worry about anything. They simply get to be the dogs they never got to be before. Without unnecessary stresses, they become more confident, stable and calm. They start to listen and look to me for instructions within days and issues melt away. Once they are settled in I can focus on the stimuli that sets off their issues (if I can find any) and desensitize it. Since they are not effected by other stresses their issues fade quickly and they become wonderful companions.
Now off to give Ginger a big hug. She has come so far and I am so proud of her. She will make someone extremely happy someday.

Hard Work and The Show Ring

Ugh, what a long week. The weekend was filled with shows and rescue work. Saphira's breeder was sick so Saphira did not get to show. That meant it was just Mashi's big weekend. While Mashi did not come home with anything but first in his class, he still tried hard. Saturday was the first day he showed on grass. He was excited, a little stressed and very distracted. The table was wobbly and that made him a little unhappy. He tried to focus though and after our ring time we practiced obedience in a grassy area in the middle of the place. She was nicely focused and upbeat. It was a nice opportunity to test him. I finally got to meet Mashi's breeder family and even his brother. They were very pleased with how he turned out.
Trenton was Sunday and Mashi was a lot more together and wanting to show. He was used to the grass by now and was very upbeat. We used a different lead and it seemed to help focus his attention. The judge was very nice and kept telling me that he really liked Mashi. No idea what he did not put him up then but I will take the compliments anyway.
After Trenton I headed to South Jersey to visit with Jenn from NYC Shiba Rescue. We hung out and I got to play with Sophie the new puppy and Tiki my old foster. Tiki looked so good and so happy. Eventually we covered Intake and covered most of the in person training. I know Jenn will make an awesome Intake Director.
Got lost on the way home and didn't get home till late but it was still an nice evening.

The Mashi Man and Heeling

I just had to make a little post about Mashi Man and his super heeling. We were out in the backyard/garden today and all he wanted to do was heel. He even did a drop with half a hand signal and no verbal command. All he wanted to do was strut at my side, looking up with glee.
I have trained a lot of dogs to heel but nothing feels like the feeling I get when I have a shiba heeling at my side. Especially a 10 month old, and especially when he is so happy to be doing it. I am so greatful to have Mashi in my life. He is such a joy to train.
What his heeling means for the show ring Saturday, I have no idea. I guess I will run him through his conformation paces Friday to put him in show dog mode.

Intermediate 1 DONE!

Well Mashi was a superstar last night. He owned the intermediate exercises and wowed our instructor. A week ago we didn't think he would pass this class be he proved us all very wrong yesterday. He was eager, attentive and happy the whole time. I am so proud of him. Now on to Intermediate 2. He is so close to starting Novice Obedience and is has a wonderful foundation for it.

New books

Dogwise was at the Edison shows a month ago and at Harrisburg a few weeks ago. I picked up a few books at each and I wanted to review them.

Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog by Leslie McDevitt
Good book. This book has me very excited. I do love how hard the author pushes about advocating for your dog and working hard to do what is best for them. The principles of the book seem very sound. I have yet to try the lessons on my dogs but I plan on it. I also think this book is going to make quite the impact on all my fosters.

Positive Training for Show Dogs: Building a Relationship for Success by Vicki Ronchette
Great book. Excellent techniques and good direction. Tons of shaping to get what you need for the ring. Has helped Mashi in just the few weeks I have been trying it.

101 Dog Tricks: Step-By-Step Activites to Engage, Challenge, and Bond With Your Dog by Kyra Sundance
Nice book. Lots of great tricks. I don't like every technique she uses but the book has helped me develop my own ways to teach my dog some of the tricks. A great source of material for new things to try with our dog.

Barking: The Sound of a Language by Turid Rugaas
Intersting topic. Very different approach at looking at barking. I have yet to try recording my dogs barking events on the provided chart but I am looking forward to it. Turid Rugaas is a master in her field and anything written by her is a pleasure to read.

Shiba Training - walking the fine line: Psyco babble edition

I thought I would start a series on entries about my experiences with shiba training and the fine line you have to walk to be successful in advancing that training.

Positive Reinforcement vs. Positive Punishment
(and a little negative reinforcement and negative punishment for good measure)

Aversives are a very touchy subject in the world of dog training these days. To some, any correction is looked at as cruel. Also many people do not educate themselves to the psychology behind the training that they swear by. Just because the word "positive" is attached to something, many people think it means "good, happy, nice, etc.". However this is inaccurate.
Positive reinforcement is an increase in the future frequency of a behavior due to the addition of a stimulus immediately following a response. (Wikipedia 2008)
Therefore "positive" is in reference to the addition of stimulus, not something kind or caring. Meanwhile punishment is not inherently the cruel monster that many turn it into.
Punishment is the reduction of a behavior via a stimulus which is applied ("positive punishment") or removed ("negative punishment"). (Wikipedia 2008)

Now that we are all on the same page when is comes to lingo I can move on to my system.
Note: This is my personal system and theory for training my dogs. If you don't like it, don't try it, its that simple.

I walk a very fine line with my dogs. Positive Reinforcement got us quite far on its own. Luring and shaping are the foundations of everything I train my dogs to do. Food or the promise of a toy are my stimulus. I only lure to periodically speed up the process or clarify something. Also if I hit a loop shaping I will try to steer the dog in the right direction via luring. Sits, downs, drops, stands, ect were all taught with a lure. Heeling was not. It was trained strictly with shaping and a verbal cue when the dog is in position. After the dog has learned heel position I randomize the treats and only give them a moment to notice and take it otherwise they lose out. This increases their precision and keeps them attentive.
Once my dog knows the command and the behavior I begin to fade the shaping. I will periodically shape if my dog looks lost, but I will not if the dog is choosing to ignore the command.
This is where my positive punishment comes in. I will leash correct with an upward pull (not a pop) to correct an ignored sit. I will leash correct a down or drop with a downward pull (not a pop). I only do this when the dog is clearly ignoring the command. If the dog is simply distracted I will not leash correct but instead I will run in the opposite direction of my dogs attention (negative punishment/negative reinforcement). This causes them to want to watch me in case I take off again. This technique has worked so much better then a leash correction due to the fact that too much correct seems to turn off the shiba. If they are not sure of what you are asking for they quickly give up and turn off.

Good luck to anyone training a shiba or any other primitive, free thinking or independent breed.
I will continue to elaborate on our training experiences when the moment moves us.

Back From Harrisburg

Well we're back from Harrisburg. I'm still exhausted and recovering but glad I went.
Mashi took first in his class both days and Saphira took second and forth in her classes. Alyssa's dogs showed well but didn't take home any points either. We are so proud of Mashi and Ariel though. Both showed happy and eagerly and in the end we could ask for nothing more. They both showed tails up and with happy grins. Both see to be getting more and more confident in the ring.
My shibas, along with Alyssa's and Jody's participated in the Meet The Breed portion of the show. Thanks Jody for inviting us to participate. So many people met our dogs and socialized with them. I got to show off some of Mashi's obedience heeling and tricks and shocked so many that a shiba could actually do those things. I even taught Jody's shiba to sit for the first time. The dog is 4 years old. I handed out a lot of breed information and talked to two people interested in breed adoption. One even brought her daughter to come meet my dogs and will be filling out an NYCSR adoption application soon.
On Saturday Alyssa and I played Non Sporting Group Uno. Two games and about 45 minutes later we were laughing our heads off and our sides hurt. I really need to pick up a copy of the game.

Now for the unimportant whiny ranty shit.
First of all, if you see someone pulling a crate dolly filled with crap - "MOVE!". Don't look at my stuff and then continue to stand in the middle of the walk way. Also move your dogs. I really don't want to hit you or them. Its nice when you move but don't then leave your dog in the way. Also don't cut me off because you think I might be walking slower then you. First of all I'm not and second, when I hit the brakes to avoid running into you, the dolly hits me, and it hurts.. alot.

Next, I always forget how petty so many dog show people are. Not all of them mind you, but too many of them. Is it that people with no social understandings chose dogs to be their friends or perhaps they are just inept, but I am always so shocked at how ridiculous, clueless and vicious so many people are at these shows. Now don't get me wrong, everyone involved with any animal is different and all of us have big personalities, but please, some of them need to learn social cues.

Finally I wanted to say that while above I vented about bad show people. I also want to say that some of the best people in the world are dog and/or show people and I am so grateful to have the in my life. I made new acquaintances this weekend as well as educated a lot of people.

Well, my dogs are exhausted and so am I. Time to unpack, put the new ribbons away and take some time to relax and cuddle with my gang.

Vet Day

Today was vet day. Haiku, Saphira, Mashi and Tracker. All at the vet together... and no one got into a fight. I guess that makes it a win. However $350 poorer is still a lose.
Now everyone is up to date for at lease a year if not more for the older dogs. Lepto free 3 year Distemper shots are a wonderful thing.
Saphira decided that she was not going to sit back and get her bordatella. After about 10 minutes of wrestling between me, the tech, and the vet, plus a muzzle, we finally prevailed. Well, am we all were covered in shiba snot. Everyone else did great. Now I just want to sit back and take a nap... but no. I have a home visit to do for a possible adopter and then pick up Kiera because her foster mom won't be home tonight.
Then maybe some time to rest... maybe. I have a feeling the shibas will have a surprise of some kind to welcome me home.

Focused Posts

As much as I enjoy rambling on, I want to make some constructive entires in this blog. I need to think of some topics I can flush out in a reasonable amount of time and then get them up. Hopefully I can think of something interesting while I am at Harrisburg.
If someone would like to have a topic addressed, just ask and we can talk about it.
Some topics I am considering entries about:
Dog Reactive Dogs
Resource Guarding
Definition of Aggression and Dominance
Shaping
Breaking the Language Barrier
Traveling with Your Dog
more to come.

Prepping for Harrisburg

Well Friday I leave for the Harrisburg show. I still have a ton to do. Mostly because I have done almost nothing to prep. I am crates to find and clean, soft crates to clean, clothes t pack, dogs to wash and so much more. It will be fun though. A well needed break for a few days. Mashi will probably be a jittery mess for a little while, but he will deal. Saphira will love it, she is such a diva. She lives for this. I can see her super big grin as I write this.

I finally remade my website this past weekend. I really like it. It looks a lot more serious and functional then it used to. It has a lot of information I have been meaning to post and room for all the things I have forgotten. Now if I could just get my thoughts organized I could add so much more content.
Anyway here is a easy link to the website:
Kihaku Shibas

Ginger

Ginger is my new foster. She is a tough girl with a challenging past but she is a good girl. When she got here she looked for a way out. She wanted to return to her family badly. It took about a day for her to start to move on and accept her new home. Yesterday she decided a game of fetch with her tennis ball would be a blast. We had quite a nice time. Today her new game is to attack the waterfalls in the yard.
She is still getting used to life with other dogs. She does not growl as much but she is still uncomfortable around them. She will work with Haiku but it will take a lot of positive experiences to get her to start to like other dogs. That doesn't matter though. She is such a wonderful dog and I am glad to help her start a new life.

Rally-O Ho!

Tonight was the last class for this session of Rally Novice classes. The only other woman in the class could not attend tonight so it was just me and Saphira.
Do dogs just somehow know it is the last class or something? I was going to sign up for 10 more weeks of Rally but I just don't have the money right now so tonight was going to be it for a while. Well Saphira was at the top of her game. She was amazing the first two times we did the course. Then Susan decided to step it up a notch and make us do it off leash. The first run was good. Really more excellent then good. But the send run she was much more interested in playing, tapping me with her foot and being a goon. That all said she still made a pretty good run of it and I was damn proud of her. Proud of the both of us really. I think she is going to make a damn nice Rally dog. Next we really need to start proofing at new locations. I am going to need to take time out at Harrisburg and find a nice quiet corner to practice in. We need to take it on the road, so to speak.
With hope she will be ready to show what we have got at the Shiba Obedience and Agility Show in Erie PA this fall.

Finally the Blog is Up and Running!

I have been meaning forever to start a blog about me, my shibas, and everything in between.
A lot of this is going to be show and training stuff, but some will be the normal day to day annoyances of someone with too much on her plate but loving it.
So sit back, grab a dog, and watch the fun.