I almost lost Deuce

We are taking a nice and leisurely hike over the holidays.  Deuce and Rio had made a new friend. Suddenly I see both my dogs clearly taking a scent and off goes Deuce. Poof! Gone. Out of sight. I have boasted confidently in getting Deuce back from pretty much any distraction and this - whatever they scented was a distraction with a 99% success rate.

All it takes is for me to invite him to take the tug toy and distractions be gone. Not too long ago, we were taking another off-leash hike and apparently, a pack of coyotes were having a celebration. Both my dogs noticed this and now Deuce is dashing down the hill hoping to meet-up with his “cousins”.  I am in a state of panic at the prospect of Deuce joining them.  I call him back with the tug.

So, after Deuce is running away from me, I call him back to take the tug to no avail. I then call him back using a verbal cue that also is quite predictable for Deuce recalling back, which is the “that’ will do” phrase I use when we are actually sheepherding (top activity for this Border collie); implying that he must stop what he is doing. Again, no Deuce.  My mind is racing as I think that I lost my dog on the first day of the year.

I decide to walk in the direction where I saw Deuce take off now with Rio next to me on a leash. After about 600ft I turn to find Deuce at the edge of a big drop and on the opposite side of where Rio and I are standing.  I realize then that if he tried to join us he can easily get injured as the drop in front of him is quite a drop and now it all becomes clear to me. Deuce was kind of trapped.

I ask him to stay put not wanting to drop into the wash in an attempt to join us on the other side, and Rio and I walk further down to find a place where we can join Deuce.  He parallels us and once we fond a drop he came rushing to us.  Perhaps more relieved than I was.

I leash him while I tell him what a good boy he is.  No, there is no point in scolding him.

With my dog back to safety, I try to put the pieces of puzzle together: Deuce takes off after something interesting. He hears me calling but now he cannot find a way to get back.

The point then and the lesson that I think people miss sometimes is that dogs can and do get lost on a regular basis. People wrongly assume that their dog will use its nose to find its way back to us.  Well, maybe.

It is also possible that Deuce was not distraught, as he never vocalized in an effort to unite with the group.

After we were all united, we continued our walk with Deuce still on leash.  He has no problem walking next to me. We get to a soft sandy wash and Rio and her new friend are gearing up for some fantastic and energized dog play.  I let Deuce off to enjoy in the game as we watch almost in full silence as these three jump & chase, and stop to catch their breath.

I learned something about dogs in general and specifically about Deuce.  Yes, yes he is a Border collie but still this boy could not find his way back to me. Sometimes we give dogs too much credit as to what they can do, when instead we need to be open to the possibility of something else preventing the dog from coming back to us - as in this incident - or just to be able to carry through with our daily requests.

Give them what they want

I am taking one of our usual hikes with Deuce and Rio with a friend who is visiting from out of town. It is normally John who takes this walk with them, but it is my turn to walk them with him being away.

We exit our property and before I have time to think about it, both dogs are running ahead and directly onto one of our neighbor’s property; something I don’t like them to do, even if the neighbor does not mind. My friend Gita and I continue up the trail and I know they will join us soon, but still I am not happy about them taking off as they did.

We continue our walk with me doing my standard routine of calling them to me here and there, and releasing them for more off-leash fun. They do well most of the time; however I noticed that Deuce is sort of complying but really more focused on smelling and peeing - favorite dog activities, of course.
Whenever I hike with someone I am always torn between engaging with my dogs and practicing recall skills and holding a conversation. This is what is happening today.

Later on, I am thinking about the hike and how I need to up my game. A few days later a contractor comes by with his dog Gracie. Gracie and my dogs are friends.

I decide to bring a tug along with me as we are discussing moving the fence on our property. My plan is to not call Deuce excessively while we are outside to engage with me. Instead, what I am going to do is make him aware that I have a tug with me and call him just once from a distance.

As we continue to discuss fencing options I will keep my eyes peeled on Deuce and just give him tug opportunities when he is either sticking around of sort of asking for it - doggy style.

Sure enough! I am walking with the tug and Deuce spots it ASAP. I call him from about 40 ft. and ask him to take the tug (which means run really fast towards me and put the tug in your mouth so that we can begin to play.)

As I call him he takes off in my direction like a bullet. Now we are playing tug.

I release him to go be a dog and he does so, but now closer to me - wondering when I might just ask him to come play tug again. We repeat the drill a few more times and we are done for the day.

This morning, we are off to a regular hike and I am ready to try having him focus on me by playing tug instead of what I normally do: call them and give them a treat and release them. Once again he is walking ahead of us and I yell at him to 'get it!' He dashes down the hill and we engage in tug.

John is with us and he cannot believe the speed at which he returned to me. 'Wow, that really works,' he says. He is now eager to try it himself. We let Deuce go play and we work with Rio doing the same thing. I tell John that it is important to keep Deuce guessing as to when he might turn into the most fun guy he has ever met. John calls Deuce and he dashes to him.

We do this in several “hot spots" where the dogs on this hike love to go say 'hi' to people or at least go visit people’s homes. Because in the past John has allowed this to happen, now we need to change the expectation the dogs have with these two particular spots. One of them is the former home of another doggy friend so obviously Deuce and Rio make their way down the hill to go look for the absent pal.

With our game of tug we manage to keep both dogs focused on us as we pass the “hot spot” and as we do we tell them to 'go play.'

I cannot stress enough the importance of teaching our dogs to be engaged with us when walking off-leash. For some dogs the promise of a treat when coming is all it takes; for others, like Deuce it is a game of tug. Ideally dogs will work with equal gusto for both: food and toys/play. The more reinforcers a person has to their disposal the easier it is to keep the dog engaged in them while off-leash.

I practice daily with my dogs some sort of training game variation where the fun revolves around interacting with me.

As we are ending our walk, I spot another one of Deuce and Rio’s friends in her backyard. She barks at us excitedly and I call out her name. Now both dogs are aware of her and are wanting to dash down the hill to go say hi. I test my tug game in such a high-value distraction. I call Deuce as customary and seconds later he is hanging from the tug toy.

John calls Rio and now she is searching for some treats on the ground. Yeah!

Working on recall with a high-level distraction! We tell our dogs to go say 'hi' as we all make our way down the steep hill. All three dogs are happy to see one another and they take off running and playing… a nice way to start the morning I think.

Rules of Engagement

During the Xmas holiday we took the dogs snowshoeing.

We found a spot where dogs were invited to run off-leash while we went snowshoeing. We were all excited to get out of the car to begin the “big adventure”. John was out of the car first and proceeded to let Deuce and Rio out of the car.

Both our dogs are now off leash as we are all standing next to the beginning of the off-leash trail. I turn around and I tell John that the dogs must be on leash in the parking lot.

He proceeds to leash the dogs while I am still fumbling with the back strap of one of my snowshoes. At this same moment a man comes out of the trail with both his dogs off-leash.

One of the dogs approaches our dogs. Rio is getting very worked up. She, like most dogs, does not like to greet an unknown dog while leashed. She proceeds to growl and sneer. All people are oblivious of the dog’s interactions and instead they are minding their skiing equipment.

I remove Rio out of the situation as fast as I can, as I am still (remember) fussing with my snowshoe.
Off we go into the trail and we are having a blast. We basically have the whole route to ourselves. Both Deuce and Rio are kind of pinching themselves in disbelief.

Almost 2 hrs. later both dogs are clearly tired and the humans cold so we end our adventure.

We are back at the parking lot with our dogs on leash and ready to get them into the back of the car when another off-leash dog approaches us. I am farther away from both my dogs while John is holding the leash.

Now we have a dog fight in our midst! #%$&**@… I am so pissed. I guess some people think the rules do not apply to them. I am so angry that I am ready to give the owner a piece of my mind as I am shooing her large dog away from mine and I hear her across the parking lot calling her dog.

I know that incidents like this are unfortunately the norm and not the exception. So what is one to do?

That evening I am thinking of how we could have prevented both incidents and while life is never 100 % I come up with these conclusions: Follow the rules - which we did and work your plan - which we did not.

The “plan” in this example would have been to leave the dogs in the car where they would be safe until John and I were perfectly ready to hit the trail. Instead of having to manage the dogs and other people’s dogs while we're fumbling to get ready.

We avoid at all costs having our dogs meeting strange dogs on leash. In these two instances we were left with little choice but the plan and goal should remain the same: Be ready to move away from the approaching off-leash dog.

In addition, it is crucial that everyone plays a defensive role in the event that a dog fight ensues. Your dog is counting on you! Nobody - and that includes our dogs likes to be jumped!

People really do not get that dogs do not do well (it is not part of their “vocabulary” and communication) meeting and greeting on leash (unable to move away from danger) and it is even more problematic when one dog is leashed and the other is not!

The problem is, of course, complex. We need better laws that dictate when and where dogs need to be leashed as well as provide ample places where dogs under voice control can run loose. The laws do exist, but what does not is their enforcement as well as hefty consequences for breaking them!

We also need to have a population of educated dog owners who will take into consideration the safety and well-being of their dog as well as the safety and well-being of someone else’s dog.

Back to Basics

Coming when called is such an important behavior -  especially when certain distractions are present that I am putting on the breaks of letting Deuce run free (off-leash) until he is more keen in giving me his attention – eye contact on a regular basis no matter what is going on around us!

I have found that some dogs are hyper- stimulate by their environment that they kind of truly “forget” that someone actually drove them to the beach or the trail and they would be happy as clams if they could just be dropped-off and picked-up when they are done… many hours later. Not the dog’s fault really, just being a
dog… following their noses religiously, making sure they leave their mark on every single shrub and chasing after anything that moves. The bottom line however is that whatever behavior one reinforces…the more of that behavior will be [come] the “default” behavior. This applies just the same to cracking the difficult nut of having your dog return to you when you want or need him to.

I teach recall classes (come when called) at least twice a year because they are fun, I have a great place to do so and people really know they need to have their dog and them learn the skills to become successful at this. So these days, Deuce is being put through the same program I teach. It also makes me feel good that
I am keeping it real by evaluating where Deuce needs more help and more training AND in moving forward with the training.

What it has been reinforcing for me is that in just two outings he is beginning to “get it”. Now he is beginning to realize that I actually chose the trail and took him and Rio there. I take his glances as his “acknowledgment” that I was the one with the brilliant idea of taking a hike and the one with the clicker, the treats and tug toy.

One of my biggest challenges here is Deuce’s over-stimulation and curiosity of his surroundings that even the best treats are second best. So sticking to a good dose of common sense and learning theory (how animals learn) is of the utmost important. I must very carefully plan our sessions/outings and control his environment to a “t”. In other words: no free lunches until he has been handsomely reinforced for minding me and coming back when called at rocket speed.

As I have expressed in many past blogs, the experience of working with dogs- especially my own becomes a parallel process with my own learning, my flexibility, frustration and yes, elation.

Most importantly, regardless of what I am feeling at the time of training it is super important that I remain focused on the process. This is how we move forward. How we get results. Reminding myself that the process of learning is never just linear (from point “A” to “B” to…) without turns, stops and hills is essential. Sort of two steps forward, one backwards and more discovery and challenges. What I am doing with Deuce is relatively straight-forward: No off-leash romps until… we improve Mr. and click every single time he
choose or I ask him for eye contact, followed by a reward of walk (and explore within the constraints of a longish leash) or a piece of a very tasty and novel treat. Sure enough two outings and his eye contact is becoming a default response… the key to moving forward, investigating and some food.

As Deuce offers this behavior more regularly I call him for a quick recall followed by a quick release… because really, who wants to hang out next to mom when you are young, handsome and restless? So I get it and I let him go.

Mindlessness

Rio comes with Deuce and me sheepherding and waits in the car until we are done. This morning she and I took a walk while Deuce rested in the car. Besides, I like to do different things with each one of my dogs on occasion.

Rioja is so good at recall that I can let her free to explore without much worry that she will not check in or take off. So we walked on a wash and headed to an open area for me to throw some rocks and have her chase them. In the process I came up with a new game to encourage her to check in with me when off-leash as well as for her to continue thinking of me as a major reinforcement on our walks and with other distractions present.

Not only is the manipulation of the environment a “trainer thing” but it really helps in teaching the dogs to stay somewhat close to us when needed and, besides this engagement is fun for both parties.

The name of the game is Recall (with a Twist) in essence it consists of engaging with the dog in such a manner that they are happy to run back at you just before being sent off for more exploring. There are three basic behaviors that the dog must have learned: come when called (at least some recall is needed!) Sit /stay or just stay and drop it. By playing this game they get to practice all these behaviors a ton and we all know that practice makes… permanent.

Here is how the game works:
With Rio in my proximity, I start to egg her on with anticipation as I have a rock or a stick in my hand. After a few seconds of this I throw the item for her to go get… as she is returning to me, I begin to run away from her, engaging her predatory instinct of chasing. Once she gets to me, I ask her to drop the object. When she does, I take the object and ask her to stay (sometimes I ask for a sit too but not always). Stay for me and my dogs means keep your butt on the ground.

I proceed to move a few steps sideways while watching her. As I am saying r-ee-aad-yyy??? And I see her anticipating… I throw the item always in a different direction. Now she has learned that if she comes to me quickly we get to do it all over again. It only took her two trials to drop the item on the ground before I even asked her to do so. A clear indication that she is enjoying the game and has learned the "rules of engagement."

We played this game for a while and the proceeded to the car. Rioja was still off-leash smelling here and there and grabbing the occasional cow patty… No damage done... I let her carry the patty and have her drop it just before getting into the car (I thought) as I saw her happily prancing with her special find.

On our way to the car my mind wandered. I was thinking about what I needed to do next or… who knows – I sure have a "monkey-mind." My voice brought me back as I heard myself calling Rioja’s name once, twice… and then I stopped. Feeling a little bit embarrassed as if I had done something “bad” and was caught red-handed.

Ah… mindlessness. I don’t know about you all, but I am aware now that it is often that I fall into a mindless mode and I begin to ask my dogs to do something - most of the time to come to me without really needing them to do so because they are “right there”! This morning as I called her name I realized that this type of mindlessness dilutes not only our recall cue (which is bad enough) but in some way it points to a lack of connection with the dog.

Food for thought: Instead of just repeating cues as monotonous mantras or prayers why not remain quiet, observant and connected with the dog and only ask them to do something when is really needed? Besides, we must be ready to follow up with a consequence if our (mindful) request falls unattended otherwise our verbal cues will become irrelevant to our dog.

Laika’s Christmas Horse

Laika had a fascination with horses. The first time I saw her in the presence of a horse was on my birthday a few years back. I was taking a hike with her and a foster dog named Annie - a cattle dog mix. Suddenly a pack of horses appeared on our hike - they were part of a summer program for kids.

I was lucky enough to put both dogs on leashes a.s.a.p while Laika squealed with delighted at the now nearby horses. From then on I was continuously on alert when it came to the possibility of finding horses on our hikes. The likelihood of what could happen gave me goose bumps (or as we say in Spanish literally - chicken skin).

On another occasion, Laika and I were on one of our often outings. On this particular day we were at a dog friendly park that extends to a beach AND the local horse track. The track actually has a handful of ways to allow a dog to venture into the track.

One day Laika saw from the car (mind you) a horse being exercised at full gallop. As we got out of the car and began our walk, Laika took off across an ample parking lot in the direction of the horse… wow, wow, wow! There was no freaking way I could catch her, not even then when I was younger. In an instant images of Laika being trampled by the horse or the jockey falling on the ground flashed in my mind as I tried to figure out how to call Laika back to me. I did the only thing I thought of at the time and it worked! By sheer luck Laika looked back as if wondering if I was coming along for her private adventure only to find me running in the opposite direction. Her predatory instinct kicked in full swing and she returned to me.

After these (and a handful of other less dramatic incidents regarding horses) I did some training sessions in the presence of corralled horses and Laika on a leash.

The goal of my training was to teach Laika to make eye contact with me when she saw a horse. She did this with no problem as she was hungry and what I offered her was something truly delicious. Yet the question remained: what would Laika do if she was once again off-leash and the horse out of the corral? Some scenarios I was willing to try just to find out… what if… but this particular one I was not - the stakes where just way too high. I guess, thought, that life has a way of presenting us with situations for us to learn about ourselves or perhaps it is just the nature of life…

As John, Laika and I began our hike on one Xmas morning here in Santa Fe, Laika and I were down below a slope with John on the trail just above us. Laika was off-leash when suddenly John alerted me to the presence of a horse. “Look a horse” he said. It took me a split second to leash Laika only to realize that the horse was loose. The horse was just wandering around at the border of the national forest as so many species of animals do in New Mexico. As I approached with Laika, we got very close to the horse. The horse remained standing and was also curious about our presence just as we were of him.

Laika and the horse touched noses, and then to my disbelief she gave this friendly black horse a play-bow! This is one of the moments where I wished my eyes were a camera just to capture that passing moment which was never to be repeated again.

My often cautious nature let me to move away from the horse and insist that we get back on with our hike. However I was secretly hoping that the horse would follow us.

Now a couple of years later, I sure wish I had let things play out a little more… could this horse and Laika have become fast friends?

Would I have found out once and for all what all the fuss she had made with horses was about if I had just let her interact (off-leash) with the horse?

I've been thinking about the social relations between different species. We all have read stories where animals in their natural habitat would not even interact with another species, yet do so peacefully with a chosen pal to the amazement of those who witness it. Or how about those stories where prey and predator also challenge their very nature to become close companions? What the heck is going on?

The possible reasons as to why animals of different species & natural “adversaries” form close bonds… might surprise you…stay tuned as we explore some of these reasons.