And yet he's not really gone. He lives on in all the wonderful memories he gave to so many people and in all the amazing things he taught me. The best ones really do live forever. As they should.
Ranger
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Best Ones Should Live Forever Part III
The very best dogs do live forever, they live on in the heats and memories of those whose lives they have touched. Therapy Dogs are the very best dogs. They touch not only the lives of their family but the lives of many many families. Truly one of the hardest parts of Ranger's passing was the outpouring of grief from all of those who loved him. Even a year later we still run into people whose lives he touched and have to tell them he's gone from this world.
And yet he's not really gone. He lives on in all the wonderful memories he gave to so many people and in all the amazing things he taught me. The best ones really do live forever. As they should.
And yet he's not really gone. He lives on in all the wonderful memories he gave to so many people and in all the amazing things he taught me. The best ones really do live forever. As they should.
Friday, January 25, 2019
The Best Ones Should Live Forever Part II
The best ones should live forever and the very best of them do; they live forever in our hearts and will never be forgotten.
Living with a dog when you know the time is growing short is one of the hardest things there is. You don't want to let them go but you don't want to make them stay past their time. Ranger and I had an agreement from very early on in our relationship. I promised to give him the most awesome life possible and his part of the deal was to go whenever it was time and to not make me decide when it was time. I did a good job keeping up my end of the deal but Ranger did not hold up his end of the agreement. Fortunately for me Ranger is an excellent communicator and he did let me know when he was ready to go. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one Ranger had to communicate that readiness to; and the others weren't as good at listening.
We'd been watch Ranger become increasingly frail for awhile but the beginning of the end is easy to pinpoint. My son woke me up about 4:00 a.m. one morning. He'd noticed Ranger exhibiting more signs of pain after the rest of us had gone to bed so he chose to sit up with Ranger and noticed that all three cats and the other dog, Finna, were also sitting with Ranger. It had begun to freak my son out that all the other critters were keeping vigil and that Ranger was in pain. He came to get me and I said I'd sit with Ranger. Watching my beloved dog struggling and seeing him in pain I ask and Ranger said it was OK I could let him go now. I resolved to call the vet after breakfast. Before I could make that call there was an incoming call and while I was talking to that person Ranger indicated to my husband that he wanted a walk. I got off the phone and couldn't find them anywhere. I finally called my husband to ask where they were. As had been the custom for the last few weeks I drove to where they were and loaded Ranger into the car to bring him home. He seemed a lot more comfortable for his walk and at the urging of husband and daughter I held off on calling the vet for that last appointment.
The next few days were difficult filled with happy moments when Ranger would make us all laugh with his brilliance. He discovered that he could in effect order off the menu. He was getting dog friendly frozen yogurt, cancer fighting herbs mixed with coconut oil, lightly cooked raw dog food mixed with healthy pureed greens, and special potions. Potions is the name we gave his iron rich foods that we would blend and freeze. Ranger discovered that he could show us the dish for the food he wanted and someone would bring him more. And sad moment when we'd help him up and he'd only be able to walk a couple of steps before he'd collapse. Thank heaven he was wearing a help 'em up harness with a handle at the hips and one mid-back. It would have been a serious challenge to manage a 90 lb dog without the harness. Despite the high points it was clear to me and to my son that Ranger was ready to be done but my husband and daughter took every brief good moment as a sign that it wasn't time. They weren't ready to let him go. Truthfully none of us were ready but my son and I were ready to hear what Ranger was saying, the other two were not.
Through all of this the cats and Finna continued to sit vigil with Ranger. There was always at least one other critter with him. Even Meowzart, that cat that really doesn't like dogs, was there, often close enough to drape his tail over Ranger's paws. My daughter was on call for Ranger each night. We increased his pain meds and added CBD oil. My ever practical son dug a grave. And life went on in our new normal.
Then the day arrived. Ranger was crying with pain and we'd maxed out the pain meds. Everyone agreed it was time. Our wonderful vet had offered to come to us or have us bring him in when the time came. She scheduled us for after work hours and because it was a cold November day we opted to go to her. It would be very dark by the time she got to us and with Finna in the picture we'd be euthanizing him outside. Everyone said their good byes and my son and I loaded Ranger into the car and took him to the vet. My son chose to wait in the car while the vet and I helped Ranger into her practice. She'd set everything up in the treatment room including a air infuser with her own special blend of calming smells. Ranger collapsed in the waiting room and rather than make him get up and walk further she moved everything out to him. She gave me string cheese to feed Ranger while she prepped things and he enjoyed that. As she was getting ready she asked me leading questions to draw out good memories of life with Ranger. And while I stroked his head and talked about what an amazing dog he was and all the people whose lives he'd touched she did what was necessary to let him go peacefully.
I'd thoughtfully brought a big blanket which we spread in the back of my small SUV and with the vet and her fiance Ranger's body was loaded into the car. When my son and I got home we unloaded Ranger and brought him in the house. We wanted all the critters to have a chance to know that he was gone. It was interesting watching the reactions of the others. The cats couldn't have cared less. None of them came to sniff or investigate. When I picked up Purrcasso and put him on the edge of the blanket he simply walked away. Finna, however, came back repeatedly to sniff and check. We made a paw print plaque in plaster and cut a lock of fur. When we were done my son and I took Ranger's body and buried him in one of his favorite places.
And thus began the hard part of informing people and adjusting to life without him. We'll talk about that in The Best Ones Should Live Forever Part III.
Living with a dog when you know the time is growing short is one of the hardest things there is. You don't want to let them go but you don't want to make them stay past their time. Ranger and I had an agreement from very early on in our relationship. I promised to give him the most awesome life possible and his part of the deal was to go whenever it was time and to not make me decide when it was time. I did a good job keeping up my end of the deal but Ranger did not hold up his end of the agreement. Fortunately for me Ranger is an excellent communicator and he did let me know when he was ready to go. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one Ranger had to communicate that readiness to; and the others weren't as good at listening.
We'd been watch Ranger become increasingly frail for awhile but the beginning of the end is easy to pinpoint. My son woke me up about 4:00 a.m. one morning. He'd noticed Ranger exhibiting more signs of pain after the rest of us had gone to bed so he chose to sit up with Ranger and noticed that all three cats and the other dog, Finna, were also sitting with Ranger. It had begun to freak my son out that all the other critters were keeping vigil and that Ranger was in pain. He came to get me and I said I'd sit with Ranger. Watching my beloved dog struggling and seeing him in pain I ask and Ranger said it was OK I could let him go now. I resolved to call the vet after breakfast. Before I could make that call there was an incoming call and while I was talking to that person Ranger indicated to my husband that he wanted a walk. I got off the phone and couldn't find them anywhere. I finally called my husband to ask where they were. As had been the custom for the last few weeks I drove to where they were and loaded Ranger into the car to bring him home. He seemed a lot more comfortable for his walk and at the urging of husband and daughter I held off on calling the vet for that last appointment.
The next few days were difficult filled with happy moments when Ranger would make us all laugh with his brilliance. He discovered that he could in effect order off the menu. He was getting dog friendly frozen yogurt, cancer fighting herbs mixed with coconut oil, lightly cooked raw dog food mixed with healthy pureed greens, and special potions. Potions is the name we gave his iron rich foods that we would blend and freeze. Ranger discovered that he could show us the dish for the food he wanted and someone would bring him more. And sad moment when we'd help him up and he'd only be able to walk a couple of steps before he'd collapse. Thank heaven he was wearing a help 'em up harness with a handle at the hips and one mid-back. It would have been a serious challenge to manage a 90 lb dog without the harness. Despite the high points it was clear to me and to my son that Ranger was ready to be done but my husband and daughter took every brief good moment as a sign that it wasn't time. They weren't ready to let him go. Truthfully none of us were ready but my son and I were ready to hear what Ranger was saying, the other two were not.
Through all of this the cats and Finna continued to sit vigil with Ranger. There was always at least one other critter with him. Even Meowzart, that cat that really doesn't like dogs, was there, often close enough to drape his tail over Ranger's paws. My daughter was on call for Ranger each night. We increased his pain meds and added CBD oil. My ever practical son dug a grave. And life went on in our new normal.
Then the day arrived. Ranger was crying with pain and we'd maxed out the pain meds. Everyone agreed it was time. Our wonderful vet had offered to come to us or have us bring him in when the time came. She scheduled us for after work hours and because it was a cold November day we opted to go to her. It would be very dark by the time she got to us and with Finna in the picture we'd be euthanizing him outside. Everyone said their good byes and my son and I loaded Ranger into the car and took him to the vet. My son chose to wait in the car while the vet and I helped Ranger into her practice. She'd set everything up in the treatment room including a air infuser with her own special blend of calming smells. Ranger collapsed in the waiting room and rather than make him get up and walk further she moved everything out to him. She gave me string cheese to feed Ranger while she prepped things and he enjoyed that. As she was getting ready she asked me leading questions to draw out good memories of life with Ranger. And while I stroked his head and talked about what an amazing dog he was and all the people whose lives he'd touched she did what was necessary to let him go peacefully.
I'd thoughtfully brought a big blanket which we spread in the back of my small SUV and with the vet and her fiance Ranger's body was loaded into the car. When my son and I got home we unloaded Ranger and brought him in the house. We wanted all the critters to have a chance to know that he was gone. It was interesting watching the reactions of the others. The cats couldn't have cared less. None of them came to sniff or investigate. When I picked up Purrcasso and put him on the edge of the blanket he simply walked away. Finna, however, came back repeatedly to sniff and check. We made a paw print plaque in plaster and cut a lock of fur. When we were done my son and I took Ranger's body and buried him in one of his favorite places.
And thus began the hard part of informing people and adjusting to life without him. We'll talk about that in The Best Ones Should Live Forever Part III.
Sunday, December 2, 2018
The Best Ones Should Live Forever Part I
This is part one of the story. It covers the basic facts. In the next one I'll talk about the emotional side.
And then the dog died. It's the worst part of any story about dogs but it's part of the deal. Dogs don't live forever although the best ones should.
That dreaded day recently arrived for us and we had to let our beloved Ranger go. He was 12.5 years old which for a dog his size is the human equivalent of being over 90. He had a good long life filled with adventures, a job he loved, a family that adored him, and all the attention he could soak up. Of course from our perspective it still wasn't long enough.
When he was about 11 we noticed he was getting stiff in the back end and preferred not to sit. That's when he began seeing his orthopedic vet. She was giving him cold laser treatments and massage for arthritis and the consequent hip dysplasia every few weeks which made him feel a lot better. He was willing to sit and to walk up household stairs again.
About seven months after his first visit his vet noticed lumps on each hip. The one on the left was smaller by a little bit but both were easily felt. Diagnosing a couple of fatty tumors which are very common in older dogs she started him on some Chinese herbs and things continued as normal. In a few weeks the lump on the left had vanished and the one on the right had grown significantly. That's when we got his regular vet involved. Needle aspiration was inconclusive, X-rays were inconclusive, biopsy said cancer and surgery was scheduled. After surgical removal of the large lump the pathology report came back with the proverbial good news/bad news. The bad news is that it was an aggressive sarcoma that would almost certain to recur. The good news was it would be very slow to metastasize.
One nice side benefit to the cancer surgery was the set of x-rays. The regular vet is great and whenever x-rays are necessary he does his best to get an excellent image of the area in question but also as much additional area as possible. This meant that the ortho vet finally had clear pictures for diagnosing Ranger's structural issues. Ranger's spine was in much better shape than we'd assumed although the hip arthritis and dysplasia was clearly present. The interesting discovery was that he had a lot of arthritis in his chest. That allowed us to change his treatment which was nice for our budget. The other thing the surgery and x-rays revealed was just how hard sedation was on Ranger. Even the light sedation for the x-ray took more than 24 hours to clear his system.
Following the pathology report the regular vet referred Ranger to the nearest canine oncologist--about an hour away. After a brief exam and time spent with the pathology report the canine oncologist told us that the cancer would almost certainly return. Chemotherapy would be useless against his particular form of cancer and our only option was radiation treatment. This would be nearly four hours round trip five days a week for six weeks. And he would need to be sedated for every treatment.
Knowing that we had a 12 year old dog that did not react well to sedation we chose quality of life over quantity. I simply couldn't imagine putting Ranger, who always loved car rides, into the car to take him to something he would hate every weekday for six weeks in hopes that we might have him longer. And when you factored in that even light sedation took a long time to clear his system it didn't seem reasonable or safe to sedate him five days a week for a month and an half.
After his recovery from surgery Ranger resumed his regular activities and then he developed a skin infection. That ended up being treated by a short hair cut and some antibiotics. Finally everything got back to normal and Ranger's coat started coming back in. But just as we were settling into that normal the sarcoma came back. We added frankincense oil and more herbs to fight the cancer but you could see it continuing to grow. Soon the tumor located on his right hip was throwing off his balance and making it hard for him to get up and down. We added a help 'em up harness to assist with his mobility and settled into this normal.
The tumor continued to grow steadily and we added more pain meds, we tried CBD oil, we added CBD oil with THC and we increased the dosages but it finally reached the point where the tumor was huge and was pressing on his spine and the pain meds couldn't keep up. His mobility had decreased significantly and his quality of life was poor. It was time to let him go.
His ortho vet offered that service and since he liked going there because she made him feel better we chose to take him there. Then we brought him home and buried him in the yard in one of his favorite places.
And then the dog died. It's the worst part of any story about dogs but it's part of the deal. Dogs don't live forever although the best ones should.
That dreaded day recently arrived for us and we had to let our beloved Ranger go. He was 12.5 years old which for a dog his size is the human equivalent of being over 90. He had a good long life filled with adventures, a job he loved, a family that adored him, and all the attention he could soak up. Of course from our perspective it still wasn't long enough.
When he was about 11 we noticed he was getting stiff in the back end and preferred not to sit. That's when he began seeing his orthopedic vet. She was giving him cold laser treatments and massage for arthritis and the consequent hip dysplasia every few weeks which made him feel a lot better. He was willing to sit and to walk up household stairs again.
About seven months after his first visit his vet noticed lumps on each hip. The one on the left was smaller by a little bit but both were easily felt. Diagnosing a couple of fatty tumors which are very common in older dogs she started him on some Chinese herbs and things continued as normal. In a few weeks the lump on the left had vanished and the one on the right had grown significantly. That's when we got his regular vet involved. Needle aspiration was inconclusive, X-rays were inconclusive, biopsy said cancer and surgery was scheduled. After surgical removal of the large lump the pathology report came back with the proverbial good news/bad news. The bad news is that it was an aggressive sarcoma that would almost certain to recur. The good news was it would be very slow to metastasize.
One nice side benefit to the cancer surgery was the set of x-rays. The regular vet is great and whenever x-rays are necessary he does his best to get an excellent image of the area in question but also as much additional area as possible. This meant that the ortho vet finally had clear pictures for diagnosing Ranger's structural issues. Ranger's spine was in much better shape than we'd assumed although the hip arthritis and dysplasia was clearly present. The interesting discovery was that he had a lot of arthritis in his chest. That allowed us to change his treatment which was nice for our budget. The other thing the surgery and x-rays revealed was just how hard sedation was on Ranger. Even the light sedation for the x-ray took more than 24 hours to clear his system.
Following the pathology report the regular vet referred Ranger to the nearest canine oncologist--about an hour away. After a brief exam and time spent with the pathology report the canine oncologist told us that the cancer would almost certainly return. Chemotherapy would be useless against his particular form of cancer and our only option was radiation treatment. This would be nearly four hours round trip five days a week for six weeks. And he would need to be sedated for every treatment.
Knowing that we had a 12 year old dog that did not react well to sedation we chose quality of life over quantity. I simply couldn't imagine putting Ranger, who always loved car rides, into the car to take him to something he would hate every weekday for six weeks in hopes that we might have him longer. And when you factored in that even light sedation took a long time to clear his system it didn't seem reasonable or safe to sedate him five days a week for a month and an half.
After his recovery from surgery Ranger resumed his regular activities and then he developed a skin infection. That ended up being treated by a short hair cut and some antibiotics. Finally everything got back to normal and Ranger's coat started coming back in. But just as we were settling into that normal the sarcoma came back. We added frankincense oil and more herbs to fight the cancer but you could see it continuing to grow. Soon the tumor located on his right hip was throwing off his balance and making it hard for him to get up and down. We added a help 'em up harness to assist with his mobility and settled into this normal.
The tumor continued to grow steadily and we added more pain meds, we tried CBD oil, we added CBD oil with THC and we increased the dosages but it finally reached the point where the tumor was huge and was pressing on his spine and the pain meds couldn't keep up. His mobility had decreased significantly and his quality of life was poor. It was time to let him go.
His ortho vet offered that service and since he liked going there because she made him feel better we chose to take him there. Then we brought him home and buried him in the yard in one of his favorite places.
Saturday, June 4, 2016
I Want My Dog's Life: A Day in the Life of Ranger Reprise
Both Ranger and Finna live pretty good lives since we adopted them but recently I find myself envying Ranger's life just a little bit. Let's look at a day in his life.
I get up and let both dogs out. Ranger patrols the yard and then finds a comfy place to lounge while I play ball with Finna. When it's time to take Finna in Ranger sets himself where he can see the door hoping this will be one of those great days when The Great Catsby decides to make a break for freedom so Ranger can herd him back inside. This is one of Ranger's great joys in life. It's a good day, the cat obliges. Today Ranger decides to follow the cat back inside and chooses to doze at the top of the stairs until breakfast. After breakfast Ranger goes out to hang out in the yard until later.
Today Ranger will be listening to kids read at the library. As we load him into the car he gets a few minutes of grooming.
This is the only part of Ranger's day he won't really enjoy. He'd rather not have the grooming rake drawn through his coat since it does find all the snarls and pull them out but he knows this is what happens so he tolerates it.
At the library Ranger settles happily into his listening spot and enjoys the attention that comes his way. The great thing about the library is that most of the kids come with an attached parent and Ranger knows that parents are wonderful at petting. Ranger enjoys the petting, the stories, and accepts as his due the staff members that sneak over to love on him and whisper that Ranger is their favorite.
From the library Ranger goes to the Farmer's market. First stop at the market Ranger checks in with his good buddy that sells grass fed beef. While they're having their reunion the guy from the food booth next door slips over. "I've got this one little piece of meat left. Can Ranger have it?" We give permission and Ranger makes friends with his new buddy. We wander through the market and Ranger greets his friends, makes new ones, says hello to a few dogs and leads us back to the food booth belonging to his new buddy. We are hungry so we order our food and settle at a picnic table to eat. Ranger accepts the few bits that fall his way as his just due and then another friend Ranger hasn't seen in awhile shows up and they have an affectionate reunion.
Finally it's time to go. Ranger gets home, greets Finna, enjoys another opportunity to put the cat back inside and settles in a shady spot to doze and keep an eye on things. Later Ranger joins Finna on her late night walk. Since Ranger discovered that late night walks involve lots of training and lots of treats he's eager to join in. Dad has Ranger's leash and The Boy has Finna's leash. Mom has the treats. The rule is first dog to complete the requested behavior gets their treat first. Both dogs seem to enjoy the friendly competition and they really enjoy the high value treats.
After the walk comes dinner and bedtime. My dogs like a nap after eating so feeding them at bedtime just follows their natural inclination. Tomorrow will be another great day in Ranger's life.
I get up and let both dogs out. Ranger patrols the yard and then finds a comfy place to lounge while I play ball with Finna. When it's time to take Finna in Ranger sets himself where he can see the door hoping this will be one of those great days when The Great Catsby decides to make a break for freedom so Ranger can herd him back inside. This is one of Ranger's great joys in life. It's a good day, the cat obliges. Today Ranger decides to follow the cat back inside and chooses to doze at the top of the stairs until breakfast. After breakfast Ranger goes out to hang out in the yard until later.
Today Ranger will be listening to kids read at the library. As we load him into the car he gets a few minutes of grooming.
This is the only part of Ranger's day he won't really enjoy. He'd rather not have the grooming rake drawn through his coat since it does find all the snarls and pull them out but he knows this is what happens so he tolerates it.
At the library Ranger settles happily into his listening spot and enjoys the attention that comes his way. The great thing about the library is that most of the kids come with an attached parent and Ranger knows that parents are wonderful at petting. Ranger enjoys the petting, the stories, and accepts as his due the staff members that sneak over to love on him and whisper that Ranger is their favorite.From the library Ranger goes to the Farmer's market. First stop at the market Ranger checks in with his good buddy that sells grass fed beef. While they're having their reunion the guy from the food booth next door slips over. "I've got this one little piece of meat left. Can Ranger have it?" We give permission and Ranger makes friends with his new buddy. We wander through the market and Ranger greets his friends, makes new ones, says hello to a few dogs and leads us back to the food booth belonging to his new buddy. We are hungry so we order our food and settle at a picnic table to eat. Ranger accepts the few bits that fall his way as his just due and then another friend Ranger hasn't seen in awhile shows up and they have an affectionate reunion.
Finally it's time to go. Ranger gets home, greets Finna, enjoys another opportunity to put the cat back inside and settles in a shady spot to doze and keep an eye on things. Later Ranger joins Finna on her late night walk. Since Ranger discovered that late night walks involve lots of training and lots of treats he's eager to join in. Dad has Ranger's leash and The Boy has Finna's leash. Mom has the treats. The rule is first dog to complete the requested behavior gets their treat first. Both dogs seem to enjoy the friendly competition and they really enjoy the high value treats.
After the walk comes dinner and bedtime. My dogs like a nap after eating so feeding them at bedtime just follows their natural inclination. Tomorrow will be another great day in Ranger's life.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
How Do You Solve a Problem Like My Finna
At my house we often parody songs suiting them to the dogs and cats as the spirit moves us. Lately I find myself humming the tune to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" from Sound of Music and changing the words to fit Finna. I recently discovered that Finna can learn in a flash as long as it's relevant to her. I discovered this by accidentally teaching her the cue 'give me some slack.' We've been working on leash manners specifically not having Finna dragging me around on leash. When she starts pulling hard I stop and wait for her to come back to me and see what's wrong, as soon as there's slack on the leash I start moving forward. One night (because Finna is still so reactive to people we're walking her at midnight--quite literally) she'd reached the end of the leash and was pulling as hard as she could trying to drag me forward she was so focused on whatever goal she wanted to reach. Just to be doing something I said, "Finna, give me some slack." She turned back to me, probably in response to hearing her name, and I started moving forward again. Seconds later she reached the end of the leash again and started trying to drag me forward. I said, "give me some slack." and she did so I started moving forward again.That's all it took, just two repetitions, because getting to continue moving forward is very relevant to Finna, it's what she wants to do. Now if she's starting to pull I just tell her to 'give me some slack' and she eases the tension on the leash.
Thinking about it, everything Finna has learned has been because she wants to, because in some way it's relevant to her. And that's where the problem of my Finna comes into play. Finna has her life organized pretty well the way she wants it and strange people aren't relevant to her; in fact getting strange people as far away from her as she can is really what Finna wants. How do I make strangers relevant, how do I make strangers ignoring her relevant, and how do I keep everyone safe while I figure it out. If she was an adorable 10 pound puppy with her huge ears and paws she'd need to grow into some day this would be easy, I'd have everyone we met toss her treats. All her meals would be feed to her by strangers. Unfortunately, she's no an impressionable 10 pound puppy she's 70 pounds of teeth and muscle who doesn't want treats from strangers she wants strangers gone from her presence and she knows just how to get it--bark fiercely and show them your teeth and they'll go away or Mom will drag you away; either way no more strangers in her presence.
Ranger likes people. He never meets strangers just people who haven't fallen in love with him yet. To him new people are all potential sources of interesting things, maybe treats, maybe petting, maybe new behaviors. To Finna they are unpredictable monsters who might hurt her and will certainly push her outside her comfort zone. So how do I solve a problem like my Finna, how do I stop the barking and the growls. How do I solve a problem like my Finna. Can she learn to mind her Ps and Qs and even vowels?
It's an interesting challenge. We're starting with something that is relevant to her and that's her walks. Finna likes going for her midnight walks. We live near a busy church so throughout the day there are people coming and going and in our neighborhood the mail is delivered not to individual mailboxes at each house but at two central mailbox stations so all of the neighbors are likely to visit that area frequently. Walking her at midnight we're pretty certain that there won't be a lot of people to contend with but there will be lots of scent of people. I encourage her to explore the areas of the church where people have congregated and to spend time around the mailbox stations. Sometimes I'll see her tracking someone's trail and learning about them through their scent. The hope is that learning about people through her nose in their absence will make their presence less threatening.
It may be helping. I'm taking her out during the morning to collect the newspaper at the end of our driveway. Several houses down someone was out working in the yard. Rather than the wild barking that would typically have resulted from seeing someone I saw Finna watching carefully and sniffing the breeze. I'm hoping she was making the connection, that this was someone she'd smelled by the mailbox station and observing that this somewhat familiar through scent person was paying no attention to Finna so was clearly no threat.
Finna really makes me think about things. Ranger finds cooperating with me and doing the things I ask interesting. He enjoys the puzzle of figuring out what I want and seeing what happens when he does what I ask. Finna, though doesn't care about figuring out what I want she cares about what's in it for her and whether or not what I ask is relevant to her getting what she wants. Ranger enjoys the cooperation. Finna is all about the results. Lots more thought is going to go into how I solve the problem of motivating my Finna and how I make other people relevant to her but knowing that it's the relevance that's the key faction should help.
Thinking about it, everything Finna has learned has been because she wants to, because in some way it's relevant to her. And that's where the problem of my Finna comes into play. Finna has her life organized pretty well the way she wants it and strange people aren't relevant to her; in fact getting strange people as far away from her as she can is really what Finna wants. How do I make strangers relevant, how do I make strangers ignoring her relevant, and how do I keep everyone safe while I figure it out. If she was an adorable 10 pound puppy with her huge ears and paws she'd need to grow into some day this would be easy, I'd have everyone we met toss her treats. All her meals would be feed to her by strangers. Unfortunately, she's no an impressionable 10 pound puppy she's 70 pounds of teeth and muscle who doesn't want treats from strangers she wants strangers gone from her presence and she knows just how to get it--bark fiercely and show them your teeth and they'll go away or Mom will drag you away; either way no more strangers in her presence.
Ranger likes people. He never meets strangers just people who haven't fallen in love with him yet. To him new people are all potential sources of interesting things, maybe treats, maybe petting, maybe new behaviors. To Finna they are unpredictable monsters who might hurt her and will certainly push her outside her comfort zone. So how do I solve a problem like my Finna, how do I stop the barking and the growls. How do I solve a problem like my Finna. Can she learn to mind her Ps and Qs and even vowels?
It's an interesting challenge. We're starting with something that is relevant to her and that's her walks. Finna likes going for her midnight walks. We live near a busy church so throughout the day there are people coming and going and in our neighborhood the mail is delivered not to individual mailboxes at each house but at two central mailbox stations so all of the neighbors are likely to visit that area frequently. Walking her at midnight we're pretty certain that there won't be a lot of people to contend with but there will be lots of scent of people. I encourage her to explore the areas of the church where people have congregated and to spend time around the mailbox stations. Sometimes I'll see her tracking someone's trail and learning about them through their scent. The hope is that learning about people through her nose in their absence will make their presence less threatening.
It may be helping. I'm taking her out during the morning to collect the newspaper at the end of our driveway. Several houses down someone was out working in the yard. Rather than the wild barking that would typically have resulted from seeing someone I saw Finna watching carefully and sniffing the breeze. I'm hoping she was making the connection, that this was someone she'd smelled by the mailbox station and observing that this somewhat familiar through scent person was paying no attention to Finna so was clearly no threat.
Finna really makes me think about things. Ranger finds cooperating with me and doing the things I ask interesting. He enjoys the puzzle of figuring out what I want and seeing what happens when he does what I ask. Finna, though doesn't care about figuring out what I want she cares about what's in it for her and whether or not what I ask is relevant to her getting what she wants. Ranger enjoys the cooperation. Finna is all about the results. Lots more thought is going to go into how I solve the problem of motivating my Finna and how I make other people relevant to her but knowing that it's the relevance that's the key faction should help.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Dogs at Play
Part of the reason we adopted Finna was as a playmate for Ranger. Unfortunately, Finna's efforts at wrecking her knees have made playing together less of a constant than we'd like. At the moment though Finna seems to be fairly sound so I've been encouraging them to play together. I'm sure my cheering for "dog fight, dog fight" to encourage some play fighting is very politically incorrect but Ranger and Finna seem to enjoy it. And in the context we all know that it is a play fight that I mean and that if things get out of hand or either of them seems to be getting too amped up I'll be putting an end to the game.
Today I was encouraging them to play and Ranger got just a little too rough for Finna's taste. I was fascinated and impressed with how they both handled it. Ranger was popping Finna with his paws and hit a little hard. Finna whirled around clearly irritated and bit the fur around Ranger's ruff about four times really hard and really fast. She wasn't making contact with any part of him that she would hurt just making it clear that he'd played too rough and if he didn't play nice she could hurt him. After she finished explaining that with her bites she stepped away and Ranger turned to her and gave her a couple quick apology licks. Then they raced around the yard a bit and I called them to come in. No one held a grudge, no one escalated, no one went off to pout, both clearly communicated and they worked it out.
Here's a video from a couple years ago of Ranger and Finna playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juXAQYwE3oA
Today I was encouraging them to play and Ranger got just a little too rough for Finna's taste. I was fascinated and impressed with how they both handled it. Ranger was popping Finna with his paws and hit a little hard. Finna whirled around clearly irritated and bit the fur around Ranger's ruff about four times really hard and really fast. She wasn't making contact with any part of him that she would hurt just making it clear that he'd played too rough and if he didn't play nice she could hurt him. After she finished explaining that with her bites she stepped away and Ranger turned to her and gave her a couple quick apology licks. Then they raced around the yard a bit and I called them to come in. No one held a grudge, no one escalated, no one went off to pout, both clearly communicated and they worked it out.
Here's a video from a couple years ago of Ranger and Finna playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juXAQYwE3oA
Monday, November 16, 2015
The Genius of Ranger
Everyone knows that Ranger is an exceptional dog but from time to time he goes beyond even our expectations. Case in point.
Yesterday my husband and I took Ranger out to the pet food store to buy more cat food. The store was having their customer appreciation sale and offering $5 nail trims with the proceeds supporting the local Humane Society. Since all our current menagerie came from the Humane Society we like to support them. And $5 for a nail trim is a good deal. It isn't Ranger's favorite thing but he stood patiently while the groomer clipped his nails. In fact she kept remarking that it was the most effortless nail trim all day.
When we'd finished buying cat food we needed to go to the grocery store. Trying to be efficient and knowing how much my husband hates shopping I offered to drop Ranger and him off at a nearby nature preserve so they could have a walk while I did the grocery shopping. I dropped them off and told my husband which grocery store I was going to. They set out on their walk and I drove to the store.
At the grocery store they had a Bar-b-que grill set up outside and were bar-b-queing ribs that smelled amazing. When I was done with my shopping and carrying the bags back to the car they offered me a sample of the ribs. How could I resist. They were so good I decided they'd make an excellent dinner but I didn't want to leave husband and Ranger standing in the nature preserve parking lot waiting for me so I gave my husband a quick call. They were heading back to the parking lot but could take another loop through if I wanted to run back for a rack of ribs.
I ran back in to get the ribs and the lasagna noodles I'd forgotten on my first trip through. Meanwhile Ranger and Dad headed back into the preserve with Ranger leading the way. When they got to a trail intersection Ranger stopped, considered for awhile, and then insisted they take the trail to the south. This is a favorite place to take Ranger so we all know the trails pretty well and it's hard for us to get lost so Dad agreed to go that way and then to take a little used side trail off that. My husband had forgotten that the grocery store I was going to backed up onto the preserve until Ranger led him out into the store parking lot. That's when he called me.
I was just putting the ribs into the car when my phone rang. Thinking he wanted to know how soon I'd be there to pick them up I told my husband I'd just put the ribs in the car and would be there in a couple minutes. That's when he told me not to bother that they were coming to me. I looked up and there they were heading across the parking lot.
So, how did Ranger know where I was? How did he choose a route that would bring them to me? Does he know the name of the grocery store and keep a map in his head of where it is in relationship to the preserve? Did he smell me or the ribs and follow his nose? As the crow flies the distance between the parking lot of the preserve and the store is probably half a mile or more but the trails meander so the distance by trail is more. I have many more questions than answers perhaps it was all coincidence and we're just reading too much into it but this is Ranger we're talking about and these days I put nothing past him.
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