Well, a lot has happened since my lost post here.
Xena finished her Graduate Puppy course with Spring Forth Dog Training (might have mentioned this already but it's worth repeating). She came out with flying colors and we are planning to enroll her in their Pre-Agility course once my season at the haunted house is done and I actually have more than five minutes a week to stop and breathe.
Entirely our fault but Xena started being a bit naughty and testing Vasco and myself. Once she graduated from her course we weren't as diligent or as regular with training and Xena took advantage. I started working with her again but didn't have all the tools/skills necessary to address all the issues including Xena's lack of focus and her tendency to ignore us when even the smallest distraction was involved. We tried treats, re-directing, everything we knew but it failed more often than not.
Knowing we needed help, I contacted Hannalore at Boston for the Dogs. I had been following her work especially with her reactive pitbull Maya (who, in my opinion, looks like a giant version of Xena) and thought she could really help get us on the right path.
She came by today for an hour session and introduced us to some new plans and training tools including a StarMark collar which safely applies pressure as a means for correction. In a short time, Xena understood the collar and during a 30-40 minutes walk stayed beside me almost the entire walk and even didn't totally
ignore me when her buddy Inky the Dachshund came out of nowhere trying to play. Hannalore advised us to keep the collar on indoors with a small leash attached that we could use to do corrections inside (have a feeling it might come into play when Xena goes trash digging in the bathroom).
The harder part of our training is that for two weeks we cannot seek Xena out for attention and can only give affection when she chooses to look at us and give us attention. This should help on her focus issues and I know it will be much tougher on Vasco and I than her.
I failed to post about Xena's first Graduate Puppy Class which was just over two weeks ago. In short, Vasco and I learned quite a bit but we struggled with Xena as she was distracted due to the class being held in her daycare (imagine she was immensely puzzled that there weren't a bunch of little dogs running amok) and of course the other dogs notably an adorable basset hound named Poncho who Xena instantly fell in love with. Thanks to a gate and a blanket, we were able to work on sit, come, and hand targets which we had already been working with her on so luckily nothing was from scratch. Mostly the lesson allowed Vasco and I to get guidance on how to best use a small LED light as a "clicker" for Xena.
Now, yesterday's lesson.
Wednesday was not a great day for Xena as far as behavior. She was antsy in the car on the way to grandma's (after spending much of the morning barking at everything which is incredibly out of character for her at 6 AM), pooped inside, and again was antsy and whining in the car ride from grandma's back to our house. None of this had Vasco and I amped for an hour long lesson where we already knew we'd have some issues with her but we buckled down, grabbed the LED light, shoved plastic bags full of tiny cut up pieces of turkey hot dogs, and drove to class.
Per usual for me, we were the first to arrive so we allowed Xena to burn off some energy outside and then brought her in and started work on focusing and trying to convey to her that we weren't there for daycare but there for her to work. After about ten minutes without any other arrivals, the trainer turned what was supposed to be a group class into a much needed private session (funny enough, didn't know it was needed until afterwards).
Without the distractions of other dogs we worked on lying down which Xena seems opposed to entirely, loose leash walking including use hand targets to get her to come and stand next to our right leg and even started the fundamentals of having a signal that means just that (slapping the right side of our leg twice). As I knew, the lesson was more teaching Vasco and myself but Xena was a super star and even indicated when she needed to go outside to do her business.
Near the end of the class, a woman came with her Boston Terrier puppy (she thought the class was an hour later) which gave us the opportunity to focus on getting Xena's attention when she's highly distracted. She did amazingly well with "find it" where in an exaggerated manner (we can't say "find it" obviously) we tossed a treat and she had to hunt it down and she responded well when we taught her that us touching her flank meant she should turn around and face us. After a few moments, she barely even noticed the cute Boston Terrier. To put it lightly, Vasco and I were thrilled.
Without actually knowing, Vasco and I left the class feeling rejuvenated about our training plans for Miss X. Now we are all looking forward to next week!
Yes, I talk to my deaf dog. Often. It doesn't hurt that I already talk a lot in general and have had the habit for years of talking to my cats (they are usually terrible listeners and fall asleep) and mumbling to myself as I work. Also willing to bet some of my family and friends can also attest to my tendency to spilling out as many words as possible.
Now, back to talking to Xena.
I know full well that she can't hear me but I talk to her constantly regardless. Talking is natural during interactions and if I tried to not talk my entire face and body language would change in a not positive manner. When I talk, I smile, I laugh, and convey an entire array of emotions which I'm fairly confident Xena can pick up by visual cues. Trying not to talk would leave me with a stern face which I imagine would leave Xena rather confused especially if she was acting correctly so I will continue to cheer when she does her business outside, say "good dog" when she sits on command, and even tell her how adorable she is even after she steals my slippers and tries to use them as chew toys.
So, training a puppy and trying to handle owning a house for the first time takes more time than I initially thought. Weird.
Hoping to write entries soon as a thumbs up versus a light for a marker/replacement for a clicker as well as some of Xena's resource guarding issues we are trying to tackle.
This entry will focus on trying to get Xena accustomed to loose leash walking.
Overall, Xena started out pretty decently on walks once we got her into a harness. When collared only, she would pull until she was hacking but for some reason doesn't strain against a back clipping harness (weird, I know). Most of her pulling centered around wanting to stop to continue sniffing or attempting to eat something versus lunging forward which is usually easily remedied by continuing to walk forward as even my
small frame moving forward brings the pup along with me. Her inability to hear actually helps make walking easier as noises don't distract her so dogs barking loudly from windows don't even warrant a head turn.
Now, I don't want to give the impression she was/is perfect on walks as there is still room for improvement which is one of the reasons we started working with our trainer Kathleen at Spring Forth Dog Training to introduce us to loose leash walking. Loose Leash isn't perfect healing but helps tell the dog how far they can go on the leash before pulling. We started the process in the house rewarding Xena (thumbs up followed by a treat) when she came up behind me on my right side (preferred side for walking) while I walked around and spun to go in different directions which progressed to on the front lawn and we are just beginning to do so on our walks. If she pulls forward as we are walking I automatically spin around and change my direction and reward once she comes up behind me.
It's not easy and gets immensely frustrating when she decides lunging forward constantly for five minutes is a good idea but we are making progress. We have found another helpful component of this training is to reward when she makes eye contact with us during a walk. Since we can't audibly call her positively enforcing eye contact is crucial in our entire training efforts and has helped immensely on our walking adventures.
While we are not 100% sure, my boyfriend and I are 99.9% convinced that Xena is an Italian Greyhound/Jack Russell mix. The Italian Greyhound came out full force two Sundays ago when she had an opportunity to run around my grandmother's fenced in back yard and she seized the chance by sprinting as fast as she could in giant loops her body close to the ground and long legs pumping her right along. Seeing her full sprint edges me on to get at least part of our yard fully enclosed so we don't need to drive somewhere to give her the opportunity to really get going.
Luckily, her Jack Russell portion didn't result in a high prey drive towards the cats or the rats but we learned after almost two weeks with her that she adores digging. She started out slowing, pawing the ground a bit and sticking her nose into the fresh pile of moved earth but that quickly escalated into her trying to tunnel her way to the center of the planet. While we don't want little holes all over our yard, both my boyfriend and I realize trying to stop her entirely is most likely a futile effort so we are trying to teach her a few spots where digging is OK and letting her go loose. Fortunately, Xena doesn't mind being cleaned up as after she's had a rousing time of digging her usually perfectly white face turns almost black. My boyfriend finds it hysterical; I am not as amused.
I don't like to think of training in terms of a dog's breed(s) alone but also believe it has to be factored in when developing an appropriate training plan. Xena gets distracted SO EASILY (thank you, Jack Russell) but she's also immensely food motivated so Vasco and I are slowly learning how to get her to concentrate using smelly, and obviously tasty, liver treats. Xena being deaf doesn't help, of course, but thankfully her "handicap" leads her to look at us more often than most hearing dogs because she relies more heavily on sight and smell. We are also focusing on a positive reinforcement method of training since my research on Italian Greyhounds leads me to understand that they don't do well to harsh training though I think Xena exudes more Jack Russell in her attitude (she's a tough cookie) think the clicker training (done with a thumbs up instead of the noise) will produce some amazing results with our smart girl.
Usually the first question I get from people when I mention Xena is deaf is "how can you train her?". If not that, it's usually them wondering if she can bark (the answer is yes and very, very loudly when she desires). When I respond to the training question I tell them using hand signals and a specific hand signal in replacement of a clicker (will go into this in later blog posts) and tend to follow that response with the fact that I think our bigger challenge with training is the terrier in Xena versus her inability to hear.
Xena has two states of consciousness. Bouncing off the walls and sleeping. That's it. She shies away from any happy medium and just goes full throttle until her eyes can't stay open any longer. Evidence is to the left.
When she is firing on all cylinders it is nearly impossible to get her to focus thus my concerns with training. She is smart, sometimes too smart for her own good, but getting her to sit still to try to teach some commands is a challenge especially if the cats are nearby daunting her or she spots one of her favorite toys from the corner of her eyes.
We have learned in her short time in our house that she is extremely food motivated which we hope to use to our advantage during her training. Unknowingly she does an action we want her to eventually do on command (stand on her hind legs) when she thinks you might have a treat for her. Even though she loves food she hasn't quite grasped that she needs to not be zooming around the person with food if she hopes to munch on the item.
Our first private session with a dog trainer is this coming Thursday so my boyfriend and I hope to kick start Xena's training, and keep you all posted, soon!
Once I decided to purchase my own home after becoming frustrated with the entire renting process my boyfriend and I knew we wanted to add a dog to our already eclectic array of pets. My boyfriend, Vasco, has wanted a dog his entire life and as I start leaving my early twenties behind the commitment of a dog didn't appear as daunting as it once did. We discussed what we wanted in a dog - older, medium energy, house broken, and good with cats.Little did we know then that we'd be bringing home a 8 month old, deaf, semi-house broken, terrier mix.
I first met Xena (formerly Callie) voluntering at an adoption event for Last Hope K9 Rescue. Was assigned to the big dog room but about halfway through the day one of the volunteers walked in with a small, almost pure white, shaky little pup. Gave her a quick pet and shortly afterwards heard the volunteer holding her tell someone else they thought she was deaf but needed a vet to confirm. Didn't think much of it at the time and was quickly pulled back into the chaos of a room filled with rambunctious dogs.
Weeks passed and I saw pictures of Callie pop up on my news feed. More time passed and I was astonished that this adorable puppy, now confirmed as being deaf, still hadn't been adopted. One day, I finally broke and commented on a picture of her snuggled up with two other dogs inquiring if she was alright with cats. After a confirmation from the rescue, and her foster mom, I had essentially set my mind on applying.
Of course, my "go for it" attitude led me to forget about my boyfriend's input so that evening we talked about the possibility of bringing a deaf dog into our home. To say he was reluctant at first might be a slight understatement. Understandably he was concerned about the challenges associated with a deaf dog while all I could see was a pup who needed our help. After further conversations, we agreed to apply to adopt and well, the rest of it will soon tell itself.
