#2017 Train4Rewards Blog Party

One of my favorite education websites, a major source of insights and thought-provoking articles on dogs (well, I focus mainly on the dog stuff), is Companion Animal Psychology. They have this fantastic blog party event June 16th to celebrate the joys of training your dogs with treats and clickers and all things good, and I thought it would be great to join in and celebrate how much positive reinforcement and happy training methods have helped Sherlock to calm down and become the beautiful dog he now is. Although I'm a bit late, I am so grateful to the community for sharing the knowledge and training tips freely so that I can apply it as best I can here with my setters in Japan, even though my regular dog trainer and doggie sitter Dodo-sensei has passed on across the rainbow bridge.

Sherlock had been browbeaten into submission by choking, rattling of jars, spraying of citronella, shocking and beatings...when he came to our home a year ago after rescue and a month in the pound, he hugged the ground to avoid being kicked in soft underparts, his tail beating frantically against his belly to signal appeasement, and his mind racing in fear at the slightest noise or movement, so that he either barked and leaped, mad and frantic, or heeled in soulless dull compliance. He was plagued by fleas, itchy skin and matted fur, not to mention a wounded foot and the incipient heartworm-no wonder even now he still flinches at being stroked around the hindquarters, cowers down at an inadvertent hand movement.
All the joys of being with a setter, the wise alert decision-making, the gauging of scents and wind and seasons, the architectural mapping of animal tracks and lairs...the benign gaze as they laze on the couch, the regal poise, the supple equilibrium...all were lost, as wee Sherlock frowned, confused, panicked and hunched up, yet still so eager to please.

Photo by Yakobu Miyajima

And so began our journey together, as I massaged his neck, his ears, around the eyes, and gently eased the skull bones apart so his brain wasn't all squeezed in. We tried tryptophan supplements and chamomile/ frankincense essential oils together with salmon oil...there was the heartworm to be dealt with, and he needed to fatten up, the wee bag of skin and bones. Using treats to train him made perfect sense: scavenging was how he had survived, and now I needed him to think for himself from a safe space of food galore. It seems hyper dogs also need the treats to feed the brain so it can function. 
What was really exciting and uplifting was the way a clicker followed by treats really worked, so that he could begin to understand exactly what was required (simple things like sit, wait, shush) and be rewarded. Thankfully over this past year as my clicker broke down with the constant use, the whole daily routine has become a place of safety and embrace, and he has so much more confidence. Knowing when it's okay to chill, that it's okay to say no if you don't want to be brushed or share the couch, that we wait for each other to peewees or sniff or chat on walkies and choose the paths depending on who has the strongest desire, either to hunt more cats or head for home, that a poopies does not mean an instant u-turn back, that life is good! 

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That he can sit with head held high, saliva dripping from his mouth as he waits with such ardent appeal, has power to summon delicious bowls of home-cooked soup and kibble: the nourishment of training with rewards is not just in the belly, but in the mind. The space is about communication and understanding, confidence and sharing, really discovering and knowing your dog, and him knowing and trusting you! Wouldn't do it any other way! 

Photo by Lelantos

Tsumamizaiku Flowers and Kanzashi

Dog Grooming Inuya

The end of May is an expensive time for the family as we buy 7 month's worth of heartworm meds for three dogs, plus bloodwork and vetting. At the same time Nobunaga goes for his summer trimming session at Inuya、one of the few dog grooming salons that cater for big dogs. 
The owner personally grooms Nobunaga, and since he has trained with dog show groomers in the US, I know I can trust him with the setter breed. He always makes Nobunaga look superb for a very reasonable price by market standards. Thank you, Inuya!

Nobu loves being cool as the summer heat intensifies, and always comes home with a big smile, which makes the hole in my wallet worth it. 

Talking about holes in wallets, GundogRescue CACI , the pointer and setter rescue organization that saved my three setters (four if you count Chiaro di Luna) needs to renew the lease on the rescue facility in October and together with outstanding vetting fees, they need a whopping sum or face closure...please help out and donate if you can, every penny helps and every donation goes to saving English setter and pointer lives here in Japan:

What big teeth!

I remember my first kiss so vividly, truly a moment that will never fade in my memory. Not because of the passion nor conversely the innocent sweetness of it, but the gentle, loving and mind-blowing exploration of new, what I could only understand as tactile sensations via my tongue, as oppose to my habitual fingers. It felt like I kept returning again and again to explore the slippery smooth surfaces, the osculation, the softness, until my brain registered, aha, this must be teeth, and this, lips, okay, so, gums, tongue...and I could finally give in to the emotional meaning of the embrace with another. Deep space without stepping off the planet!
...And so to dogs` mouths, which is what this post is about, technically speaking, bite inhibition acquisition: because it seems clear to me that for dogs, kissing is their mode of being, their primary means of haptic communication, in effect the way they touch. We humans unlearn this mode of experience after babyhood, because we are so focused on experiencing and grasping with our hands. 

...So when we adopted Nobunaga, and this big setter was always jumping up on me bitey bite as I shrieked, to the great comic enjoyment of my male family members, and while I personally had a problem with him biting my breasts and nipping my love handles, bruising my forearms and scraping my hips with his strong embrace, I nevertheless realized that for him this was his true mode of being and his primal expression of loving contact. In other words, I felt very uncomfortable, even hurt, but never felt intentionally threatened. To have him stop biting was unthinkable, because it was so integral to his being. He needed to learn how to do it gently and well.

First I tried to get him to actually stop, by turning my back on him and crouching down, hunched in a little ball. This didn't work, he would just climb on top of me even more. I realized I had to let him bite something else instead, so I made a habit of carrying an old shoe and shoving it in his jaws when he came at me, saying Omocha, omocha (toys, toys). I made a tugsy toy out of old jeans cutoffs, and invited him to play. I asked friends for giant discarded stuffed animals which he can bite and tug as hard as he likes. He particularly loves my winter coats because he can bite harder without it hurting me! (Good thing he came in winter, and he was bite sensitive by summer!) 

We bought all kinds of chewies, horse tendons, turkey tendons, pig trotters, deer horn, and I would sit with him and hold it while he chewed away until he got the hang of using his paws, so he could tell the feel of skin and fingers round his mouth.
I would stick my hand in his mouth covered in coconut oil and the like to let him lick it off and play with my fingers (this works well with Sherlock too, who seems to have had treats thrown at him rather than given). 

Just this morning, after meeting a six-month old Akita puppy on a very short leash, who of course invited Nobunaga to play (not sure his owner understood that at all, and the leash was like held so tight, so short)...Nobunaga finally got all fired up and started barking and play-bowing, and when the poor puppy couldn't respond, he turned to me instead, jousting and jostling, and jumping up to bite my breast with just the right amount of pressure so it doesn't really hurt, whereupon i grab my toy from my waistpouch, omocha, omocha, and I can let him bitey bite and I play with him at will until he's feeling loved and appreciated and the world is good. The Akita owner wandered off and fed his dog some treats, they probably thought I was being mauled by a very untrained dog, but on the contrary, this is a dance of delight we have perfected over time...he lets me stroke and hug when I get blue, I let him gently bitey bite when he's fired up, that's who we are.
Special thanks to Companion Animal Psychology who brought the topic to my notice and make my day thinking about the issues and how they relate to me and my setters.

Photos by Lelantos

Off the beaten track

I love wandering off the path and exploring the verdure, not too far, but just to get that feeling of being totally absorbed into the elements and away from mankind, if only for a brief moment...me too, says Claire.

Photos by Lelantos

Celebrating Milestones

Pictures are Nobu having a good old roll in Nasu Pension Olive woody dogrun. Always a glorious event to behold and chuckle at...but the milestone I am celebrating today is Sherlock's silence! As Claire gets older, she needs a wee rest inbetweentimes on our longer walkies, and has a tendency to stumble as she gets tired. Meanwhile Sherlock has so little patience, he barks and barks for us to hurry on, and his strident tones in your ear are enough to kick even Buddha himself out of meditation mode. 

But today, oh happy day, oh glorious day, Sherlock pottered around eating grass and never let out a peep...what bliss, to sit under the fresh cherry leaves on a carpet of grass and dandelions, enjoying the breeze and the beauty of my three setters in perfect idyllic silence. Finally one of the ultimate joys of being a setter mama is restored, lazing in nature just beaming at the green. I only hope he keeps it up.

Photos by Lelantos

Pension Olive Woody Dog Run

Photos by Lelantos