Titers

I'm doing a happy titer dance!  The vet just called, and Thor's titer levels are protective!!   I'm Soo Glad I stuck to my guns!!

Playful

Thor loves having things in his mouth.  Yet he is gentle and not destructive.  They say a soft mouth is a weimaraner trait but I wouldn't have expected it from a puppy.  Puppies chew!  But not Thor.

When I first met Thor (pictured) at around nine weeks,  he had a blast playing with my shoelaces.  Last night, he untied my shoe.  This bodes well, I think, for teaching him to be an assistance dog.




This afternoon Thor and Glitterbug gave me a big laugh.  We went outside, and Thor went over to the ball bin to get a ball.  After a bit of running around, both dogs stopped.  Thor dropped the ball.  Glitter just stood there and barked.  Thor pushed the ball with his nose.  Glitter barked.  Thor picked the ball up again.  Glitter kept barking.  Thor dropped the ball and batted it around with his front feet.  Glitter never made a move for the ball, acting completely oblivious to it.  All she wanted to do was bark at Thor. 

For about ten minutes Thor kept teasing and trying to get Glitter interested in the ball.  Finally, Glitter lost all interest and turned to walk away.  Leaving his ball, Thor followed Glitter toward the house, not wanting to take a chance of being left outside.  Suddenly, Glitter whipped around, running back to grab the ball!  Then she raced around the yard, ball in her mouth, with Thor in hot pursuit.  I laughed and laughed.  Wished I'd had my camera out for THAT!

"Give Me That Ball!"

A Chip on His Shoulder

Thor now has a microchip ID implanted between his shoulder blades.

After our last vet visit, I had called and told them that I would not be doing another distemper/parvo vaccine but that I would keep the appointment in order to have Thor microchipped.  He is the fifth dog that I have had chipped, and I am a firm believer. 

Having not yet obtained a front-clip harness (yeah, I know, I'm a procrastinator), I used a make-shift method of attaching the leash that I had learned some years ago from trainer Leah Foran.  Leah currently teaches classes at my vet's office.  She also does private in-home training and is certified by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.  So, with Thor attached per Leah's instructions, we made our way successfully inside.  When The vet tech appeared to call us into the exam room, she commented that the leash was tangled around him. I explained what I had done to which she replied, "That's dangerous."  I told her that it would be even more dangerous if I couldn't control him and got pulled down. 

Once in the room, I undid the leash and took hold of Thor's collar.  He immediately twisted around, the collar tightening on my finger.  I cried out, the vet helped untangle me and got me a bandaid.  (One finger was bleeding, another alarmingly indented.  And all because I was intimidated by the vet tech into undoing the leash.) 

The vet then told me that without a fourth distemper/parvo shot, Thor was unprotected against disease.  I reminded her that he had had three.  She replied that the last two had not been close enough together (even though what he had had fit Dr. Dodd's protocol).  Finally, she let it go when I said I was willing to titer him.  Titers measure the level of antibodies to specific diseases and thus measure a dog's level of protection.   Results will be back in a week.

The vet also told me that Thor needed a Gentle Leader head halter to control him.  I said that I intended to purchase a front-clip harness.  She responded that they had wrapped the leash around his nose while he was out back and that it had calmed him down.  A gentle leader, she said, would do the same.  Well, the leash was still around his nose when Thor was brought back to me, and he has doing his best to remove it.  Calmer? Maybe, but mostly just focused on a task. 

After putting Thor in his crate in the car, I went into their store to look for a front-clip harness.  They had them but not in the right size.  I purchased prescription food for Vada which a receptionist carried out for me.  I asked her about the harnesses, whether or not they'd be getting more in.  She told me that she had used a prong collar successfully on her dog.  Sorry.  I'm not going that route.  Told her I'd known them to cause puncture wounds.  She replied, "Oh, I know, but it worked with my dog."

I won't use any product that has the potential to hurt my dog.  I also won't use a product that has the potential to have a negative impact on my relationship with my dog.  Once home again, I went online and ordered a front-clip harness from "Walk Your Dog With Love."  Later, I put a leash on Thor, and we practiced heeling in a small square on the back deck.  All's well.

A Possible Service Dog

One of the reasons I agreed to take Thor was my own increasing disability.  In the week before he arrived, I fell three times.

In December 1989, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  For years, I had relapses and remissions.  Most of the time I was fine but during a relapse I would have difficulty walking and holding things.  During most relapses, with one leg dragging, I was able to run sideways.  My little dog Peabody was very adaptable to the changes in me, and we worked very hard to develop distance skills so that we could continue to run agility regardless of my speed.  In 2008, my doctor told me that my disease had progressed.  It  was now classified as secondary progressive MS.  That means that I will not have the dramatic relapses of the past, but also that I will not recover from whatever deficits come.  I can no longer run.  My balance is poor.  I drop things.  In addition, I have cognitive deficits involving memory, word retrieval, and multi-tasking.  Throughout the course of my illness I have had bouts of severe

depression.  These are all part and parcel of the damage to the central

nervous system that MS causes. 

In thinking about adopting Thor, I knew I would have a big project on my hands.  But I also knew that he was going to be a big strong dog who could learn to help me with balance and getting to my feet.  I knew also that he could be taught to pick up dropped items.  My border collie, Vada, had been a big help to me at home.  Due to her unpredictability (aggression) around other dogs, she could never be a full service dog.  But at home, she helped to steady me.  She learned to pull off my socks.  She learned to pick up anything I asked for such as pens and pencils and articles of clothing.  She could pick up a quarter off my linoleum kitchen floor. 

Since Thor was already friendly, exposed to young children, good with other dogs, the right size and coat type, I thought he'd make an excellent service dog.  I was further encouraged the day I took him to the vet.  Even though he was awful at walking on a lead, once we got inside he sat quietly in the waiting room.  In the exam room, he lay down, completely relaxed.  If he was able to do that at five months, he'd certainly be able to as an adult. 

One of my next projects will be to introduce him to adaptive equipment.  I sometimes use a cane, crutches, or forearm crutches.  I expect that my future holds a walker and/or wheelchair.

Show Me a Trick

Glitterbug, Thor and I played this game for the first time today.  It's a great game but one I have never played with my dogs before.  Here's the gist:  I say, "Show Me a Trick!"  Then each dog gets rewarded for any cute/good behavior shown.  This morning's reward was string cheese.

Glitter showed me sit, down, spin (both directions), and lots of back ups.

Thor showed me sit, down, bow, and 2 get-in-your-crates.

All tricks were offered, not cued.  Each time I saw a "trick," I said, "That's a good trick!" before delivering the treat.  What a fun game!

This game gets the dogs thinking (Thor did some jumping up but those "tricks" were ignored).  It's fun and silly.  Some people require that it be a different trick for each treat.  I didn't because we've never played before; I wanted to keep the rate of reinforcement high while establishing a new game.  My verbiage meant nothing to the dogs but kept the game silly and fun for me!


Thor's Private Game:

When Thor outgrew the collar he came in, I replaced it with an old one I had.  This one is two big and the excess length hangs down about 6 inches.  While I was working on my computer, about six feet from Thor's crate, he started to chew and pull on the hanging tab.  I must have been really focused on my work because I wasn't aware that Thor's antics pulled the buckle from its hole, and he was collarless.  Mission accomplished!  He didn't chew on the collar any further.  Silly dog!

Those Who Wait

Thor is learning that "all good things come to those who wait."

When we go outside and again when we come in, I have been having Thor sit while I put on/take off my boots.  That's pretty routine now.  So I've upped my criteria.  He now has to stay sitting while I open the door, waiting for my release.  I started by simply putting my hand on the doorknob.  If he remained sitting, he got a treat and we went outside.  If he got up, we simply tried again.  Next step was to open the door while he remained sitting.  Just a crack at first.  Again, stay sitting, get a treat.  Get up, the door closes and we start over.  When we progressed to the door opening fully, I slipped my fingers through his collar to ensure success.  This morning, he stayed sitting with door fully open and no fingers!  His reward for staying put is sometimes a food treat and always a release to go outside.  A bonus to this game is that Thor is beginning to understand a verbal release ("okay"). 

What Thor Knows

1. Housetraining is coming along well.  He has an occasional "pee" accident in his crate but they are few and far between.  I can get all bent out of shape over it or I can accept that that is where he is right now.  I prefer the latter.  Several people have suggested to me that he probably has an immature bladder and will grow out of it.  I have been allowing him brief periods of freedom in the house; no accidents!  I really think that Thor learned the basic idea/expectation of housetraining in his previous home.  He always gets vocal when he needs to go out, and I didn't teach that.  And he always tells the truth.  When we go out, Thor grabs a stick  or a ball, then quickly finds a place to pee.  If I want to stay out, so does he.  If I want to go in right away (because it is cold and windy and the middle of the night!), then so does he.

2. Thor understands the word "sit."  He responds better to the verbal cue than the hand signal.  The hand signal seems to be interpreted by Thor as an invitation to jump. So I've dropped it for now. May try to invent a new signal...

During his vet visit, the vet asked Thor to sit 4 or 5 times, and he did every time.  It was a big surprise to me to discover that he could transfer that skill to a new person. 

I had been frustrated that Thor was rocking backward into his sits.  This meant that if he was walking next to me and I stopped and asked him to sit, Thor ended up sitting well behind me.  I asked several people who are involved with competitive obedience for ideas to address this.  None had any suggestions for me.  So here's what I've done.  I come to a stop and say "sit."  I have food in my right hand, held forward of my body.  My left hand slides down Thor's back, no pressure, just a reminder.  It's working well and his "sits" are much better!

3. I have not done much with hand targeting simply because it wasn't fun for me.  Thor wasn't getting it.  (I need to be "clicked!")  Early today, I played hand targeting games with Glitter while Thor watched.  Tonight, Thor is targeting!!  Dogs do learn from other dogs, no question.

4. Lying down was very hard for Thor to learn.  For some reason, known only to him, he wasn't comfortable with the idea.  So we played click/treat for approximations--head bobs, front foot movement, reaching forward and down.  Within the last few days, he quickly and happily lies down on a verbal cue and/or a hand signal.  Wow.  He actually "pops" down the way my previous dog, Peabody, did.  Anybody believe in reincarnation?  [grin]  At times, he will even offer a default down.

5. Thor goes into his crate on cue, "Get in your crate," another skill he brought with him from this previous home.  Now that I am giving him bits of house freedom, I have noticed that if I am near the treat cupboard or fixing dog dinners, Thor will go into his crate.  Wishful thinking.  Good boy!


Next priorities:

1) Loose-leash walking.  I've been researching front clip harnesses; wish I could try one on and play with it before purchase but that's not going to be possible.

2) Change in location.  Once we have an appropriate harness, I'll  have to plan trips to various parks and parking lots to begin to expose Thor to different places and to generalize his learning.

3) Find a class in basic obedience, manners, tricks, or foundations for agility.  Anything just to get Thor out and about.

4) Handling.  Thor needs to accept handling of his feet, mouth, tail.  He does not like having his nails clipped; it's the only time he puts his mouth (gently) on my hands.