FAT HEAD! 1st trip to the ER.

Two nights ago, we awoke to Ripley acting like he was vomiting. After turning on the light, we saw that his nose was HUGE. It was really swollen. After prying open his mouth, we saw his tongue was swollen too. The sides of his mouth were not just swollen, but very hard to the touch. The swelling was definitely more predominant on his right side.

Thus, we rushed him into the emergency vet clinic. I had remembered seeing bees outside earlier that day and we surmised he was having an allergic reaction. The vet had that estimation as well, but said it could also be a foreign object stuck in his cheek and getting infected. Ripley wouldn't let her look in her mouth. She gave him a shot of antihistamine and steroids. We were to keep an eye on him and give him some Benedryl if the swelling came back.

Other than thinking someone was going to sneak up and shove a thermometer up his butt, Ripley seemed to enjoy the whole thing.

Yesterday, the swelling seemed ok in the morning and then it came back in a bad way on his LEFT side. We can only surmise he got stung again. We gave him the benedryl and that helped.

The vet called around 6:30 to check on him and he seemed fine. Unfortunately, after the call, he developed a habit of vigorously shaking his head. We gave him one more dose of benedryl before bed hoping that it would help. Well, benedryl makes him sleepy. He slept for about 4 hours and was up again with his crazy head shaking. Tom called the vet and she said he should come in since he could rupture a blood vessel.

Back to the ER for the second night in a row where he got another steroid shot. We also got some steroid pills. Ripley really didn't like getting his temperature taken, but that was still the worst thing about it to him.

Tom and I are super POOPED today. We can only hope we don't make it a third night in a row.

Boot and Rally

Yesterday, we found that Ripley had consumed a whole bar of cream cheese...wrapper and all. Not thinking that this was healthy, we decided to make him puke it up rather than try to pass it. 1 teaspoon of salt and 3 minutes later. Puke-a-rama. Nice trick, but not something I would have done if it wasn't 6pm on a Sunday afternoon and the vet was definitely gone. We learned this trick from Kirsten Bailey who spoke to Dr. Dodge, but we got the volume of salt necessary from the internet.

Ripley! Heel! Gentle Leader, Peanut Butter, and Short Stop

I have introduced a few methods to help Ripley learn how to heal. It is much more difficult to do with Skye present so in general, both dogs get individual training sessions. However, the gentle leader is a tool we can use when both dogs are together.

The Gentle Leader® Headcollar is similar to a horse bridle or halter. It features two soft nylon straps - the collar portion fits high at the top of the neck, and the nose loop fits loosely and comfortably across the base of the muzzle. Each strap has a distinct and important effect.

The Nose Loop - Dogs are naturally "pack" animals with a highly structured social order. One of the ways the "pack leader" will demonstrate his position is to gently but firmly grasp a subordinate's muzzle in his mouth. This is a non-aggressive, very clear signal regarding who's the boss! The Gentle Leader's® nose loop encircles your dog's muzzle in this same manner, letting him know in his own language that you are his leader. Dogs feel more secure when they know who the leader is.

The Neck Strap - Have you noticed how puppies seem to melt in relaxation when their mother picks them up at the back of the neck? Gentle Leader® applies pressure to the back of the neck rather than the front of the throat, working with your dog's natural relaxation instinct with an amazing calming effect. Also, dogs tend to pull against pressure so the gentle pressure at the back of the neck causes the dog to pull backward, not forward.

Ripley is ok with the GL most of the time, but he is still getting used to it and tryies to push it off his nose with his paws. The issue we may see is that he is great with it on, but really doesn't learn what heel means. So, I also use some offleash training techniques and regular leash training techniques.

Off leash: Peanut Butter technique. I will walk around in the back yard with peanut butter on my left hand so he can sniff and lick it right by my knee. I also use "NO" when I have told him to heel and he isn't right by my knee. We walk in random patterns around the back yard. I have also noticed he does this behaviour equally well if I have a dummy and he wants it. When he is retrieving in the field, the dummy commands all of his attention.

On leash: Short stop technique. As soon as Ripster pulls to the end of the leash, we stop until he sits. Then, I walk again. We haven't gotten to the point of actually being in heel position, but at least he is learning pulling means we stop.

Ripley! Down!

In an effort to make Ripley's learning curve shorter, we have been implementing the "Down" command prior to releasing him to eat. He does not want to do it. This suggestion was given to me be Tom's dad. I was reading that since this is such a submissive position, that a dog will be very relucant to do this in front of another dog. So, we may start feeding them separately again. We had just moved to having both Skye and Ripley sit, then feed them at opposite sides of the back door. Ripley and Skye are currently at El Hardie boot camp while we go on vacation for a week. Hopefully, Ripley will improve, but Iris, Tom's dad's dog, will also be in the mix adding another interesting dynamic.

Basic Training

Both Skye and Ripley work on the basics every day:

• Sit before going inside or outside and wait for "Kennel" or "Go On" command prior to leaving sitting position
• Sit before eating and wait for command prior to leaving sitting position
• "NO!" means no.

Currently, we are working with Ripley on a variety of basic fundamentals:

• "Here" command
• Long sits
• "Down" command
• "Fetch" command

Ripley seems naturally inclined to fetch objects and hold them in his mouth. We won't need to do a forced fetch on him. We need to be careful about not taking things away from him too soon. He displays the typical prize keeping behavior most pups develop and we don't want him playing keep away with us.

He also seems pretty good on a leash. He pulls much more when Skye is off leash and ahead or when he hears a dog behind a fence. We have been combatting this with frequent use of "here" and reward with treats.

His next training steps will include "heel", "high five", and more retrieving basics.

We have established dominance with Ripley by getting him accustom to being flipped on his back and held until released as well as taking a bath. We didn't do this with Skye as a pup and it is really detrimental to getting her to comply with uncomfortable things like bathes, nail clipping, and putting drops in her eyes or ears.

Skye has a lot of advanced training under her belt. She has been hunting solidly for 3 seasons. Her current training is hunting focused. Her goals are:

• Being steady in a duck blind
• Fundamental retrieving
• Blind retrieving
• Faster response to commands

Tom is using an e-collar and traing manual to help achieve these goals. The nice thing about this training program is that physical correction is not always necessary since there is a tone warning on the collar. More on this later...

Welcome

The Dog Log Blog decribes the development of our two beloved community members, Skyebomb and Ripplestinks.

Skye is our 4 year old female black labrador retriever and Ripley is our 6 month old male yellow lab/Austrailan Shepard mutt with bobbed tail. They are quite the handful, but loving and smart.

It has been Tom and Kristin's continual joy to train the dogs to do many things.

When you read through this blog, you will find our training program, our observations, our successes, and our failures. Hopefully, we can build this history and leverage our learnings in the future.