A Dogs Life...

Rogue has been with us for about month now.  It sure seems longer, like she's been a part of the family forever.

Rogue really has two lives.  Since Mom and Dad are divorced, one week she is left with just Dad and Jodi, and the other week, chaos reigns with all of the kids at home, four of them!

So, what is it like for Rogue?  Let me see if I can explain...

When the kids are not home, Rogue sleeps in my room, usually with Ike.  Honestly, there are lots of time I fall asleep in the recliner in the living room and she sleeps on the floor by my feet.  Usually, at some point in the night, she climbs up on the couch and sleeps.

First thing in the morning we go outside.  Rogue has the bathroom thing down, knows exactly where to go and has figured out that when I say "hurry up" it means go behind the garage, do your thing, and then come sit by the backdoor.  The only struggle yet is with her intense chase drive.  Mornings are the time this is most likely to happen...just ask the rabbits and squirrels in my neighborhood who are probably still hyper-ventilating.  She does stop when I call her and comes right back.

Then, its a pretty lonely day.  Often times Jodi, who works nights at the Hospital, is there to sleep before the next day of work and Rogue can hang out with her.  Other times, Rogue and Ike are on their own.  You've seen the images of the destruction of her kennel (in the garbage this week), so we have been letting her have free roam and, so far, she has done well.

Then, I come home and it is a little play time and then relaxing with news, a beer (put the bottle up...she apparently likes beer and will stick her tongue down the bottle) and then bedtime.

Now, when the kids are there, it's a different life.

Bathroom in the morning....lots of commotion getting ready for school.  A day of solitude and then a combination of excitement, terror and hilarity once the kids come home.

Every day is different.  We might have a bon fire, we might watch a movie, we could go someplace.  No matter what, the activity level is much higher and Rogue is clearly more tired at night...and so am I!

Last night, after a night on the deck grilling out and having a fire, I found Rogue exhausted and sleeping in the living room.  I'm not sure what wore her out more, the exercise or the embarrassment of what Gracie did to her.  As you can see in the photo below, Rogue gets very different attention when the kids are home.  I never play dress-up with her....well, almost never. :-)

Apparently, nail painting is on the agenda for the weekend.  My response to that:  "Whatever, just do it outside".  We'll see what Rogue's response is...

It was even funnier with the matching hat on her head...

Health update...

A quick update on Rogue's health.

She finished her Lymes medication.  Hurray!

She's gained weight and is probable close to 50 ponds, up from about 46 when we brought her home. She's probably just about to her ideal weight.

Rogue suffered from relentless horseflies while homeless and had about a 1 inch area on each ear that had been bitten raw.  Below you can see a photo from a few posts ago (which was already greatly improved from when she was found) along with one I took last night.  You can still see the spots if you know to look, but most people wouldn't notice them anymore.

The only treatment we used was Neosporen, for about a week.  The shelter had used a dairy skin moisturizer prior to this that also seemed to work (and protect her from more bites when she was outside).

I'd get a better picture right now, but Rogue is busy being a pillow for Grace on her bed :)

About two weeks ago

September 4

The new white tipped ears are actually quite striking

Training the trainers

Rogue has been doing good with her training, so we decided to start getting other family members into the fold.  It doesn't do any good to teach her obedience if she will only do it for me.

Grace likes working with Rogue and Rogue is responding very well.  In the video below, Rogue is exhausted, we had been training for over an hour and she was ready to take a break.

Enjoy the video, especially the cameo by Ike, who tends to get a little jealous of the Rogue videos and sometime "video bombs" them.

The funniest part of making this video might be the confusion it caused Rogue as I was playing this video back, over and over.

Also, for the record, I am sitting in a trainers chair, not a lawn chair...

Defective Dogs

I've heard people talk about the concern of getting a "defective dog" when adopting from a shelter as a reason many people don't consider rescue adoption.

The term "defective" seems terminal to me.  Once you are defective, you can't become EFFECTIVE, can you?  If you buy a defective product, can it become effective?  Not without some effort on your part!

Rogue was a "defective dog".  She was likely a puppy mill dog because she is clearly Lab and Jack Russell, two popular breeds...and therefor popular with puppy mills as well.  She was found with puppies in a Clark County ditch, the puppy mill capitol of Wisconsin, soon after new state laws went into effect that are finally shutting down puppy mills.  It seems reasonable that she either escaped, or was simply released.

She contracted Lyme's disease and had some funky ears from hundreds of horse fly bites.

The sad thing is, she was adopted by someone and then returned less than 48 hours later.  Their feelings were that she was an outside dog and not right for them.  Their loss is our gain.

Shelters routinely have dogs and cats (I'm not a cat person, but cats need rescuing too) that are brought in with a range of problems.  Some have medical issues such as Rogue did.  Some have temperament issues (think about what they may have been through) and still others have other hindrances to adoption...too old, too big, too small, etc..

Certainly you have to find a dog that is right for you.  If you live in an apartment, a St. Bernard is probably a bad choice and will not work out...that doesn't make the dog defective though.

When you look to adopt a dog (or cat), you need to think about breeds and what characteristics will work with your lifestyle.  Do you have several hours a day to groom  and exercise your dog (not walking, but hard exercise)?  If so, a working breed might be a good fit.  Border Collies are my favorite!  Talk to your shelter, they are a great resource to helping select the right dog for you.

What I can tell you is that when you adopt a dog, you need to be ready to train it.  You are making a commitment.  No dog, purebred from a reputable breeder, or stray adopted from a shelter, will be the dog you dream of the day you bring them home.

As far as medical issues go, most shelters are fantastic about treating animals and rely on volunteers to assist with finances and caring.  Rogue was being treated with antibiotics when we adopted her and we simply had to finish the medication which was given to us at adoption.

What most people fear, and understandably so, is that they will get a dog that has temperament issues.  Many dogs are abused (I suspect Rogue was because of her reactions to certain things).  Dogs, like people, need time to learn to trust their new owners and environments.  They will need someone who understands that there is a history with them that they can't share with us, but that shapes their behaviors.

Rogue has a reaction to touching of her rear legs.  We learned this when she nipped at one of the kids when they were playing.  It was a reaction, that was clear.  She immediately knew what she did was wrong and was simply reacting because of an instinct.

What caused this instinct?  We have no idea.  She lived in a ditch with puppies.  Did raccoons bite her at night in the ditch?  Was she routinely pulled by her hind legs by her previous owner?  Anything is possible.  We just needed to know that was an issue for her.

Now, I' not going to tell you to learn to live with that "defect", you can make great strides at correcting it, with just a little effort and patience.

Rogue sometimes lays in the chair with me at night.  When she does, I pet her and gradually make my way back to her hind legs.  She always looks back at me...apprehensive like...when I do this, but over a few weeks, she has gotten better.  I can do this now without much of a response from her.  Now we need to get that level of trust with everyone else in the house.  In time, that instinctive reaction will simply disappear as more trust develops.

I'll be honest here, this might not be the best path to pet ownership for everyone.  Adopting a dog is not like buying fish...they need a lot of attention and training.  Shelter rescues sometimes come with some psychological baggage that will take some effort to correct, but once you do, you will be well rewarded with an incredible dog.  This can also be true for purebreds from breeders.  If you can't commit time and effort to a new dog (rescue of not) fish might be a safer bet!

In just one month of very low level training (15 or 20 minutes a few days a week), Rogue has learned to sit on command reliably, laydown (still working on it), head down (new), come (mastered with me), Hurry Up (almost there...this is command to go to bathroom behind garage) and kennel, which is the command to go in her kennel, which she does pretty well as long as we are by the kennel.

That's in just 4 weeks.  She's also almost housebroke.  In my opinion, that is remarkable.

Now, if we had gotten a puppy, it would be about 12 weeks old right now.  How many 12 week old puppies could do all of this? 

On top of all of this, Rogue is a huge ball of love.  If you could sit in our living room at night and watch her, you would see that she lays as close to us as possible (on top of us usually), she can't get close enough to us...and she is calm around us.  She's a fantastic dog with a long life ahead of her and the efforts we put into training now will yield a decade or more of benefits as she lives her life with us.

This is a longer post, but if you take anything away from this, I hope that it is that all dogs have the ability to adjust, and do so relatively quickly.  There are no "defective dogs", just defective behaviors that can be corrected.  There is a wealth of information available online to assit you with any behaviors you need to correct.  Most dogs naturally want to please their owners, which makes training a lot easier then most people thing; but remember, it takes time.  Dog's don't speak English...they don't know what "sit means", but with repetition, they learn the action that they need to do when they hear that word.

Most importantly, take your time.  Everyone would love to have the dog that can walk off leash through the middle of a crowd the day they bring it home...not going to happen.  When you get frustrated, stop.  I've stopped lots of times.  I never want Rogue to sense I am frustrated while training...training needs to be fun.  Learn what works to motivate your dog.  Is play time a reqard that motivates them?  Is it treats?  Once you learn their "currency" you know how to reward them and make training even more effective.

And never forget.  Dogs want to please you.  I believe this to be universal.  You just need to learn to communicate in a way that is effective for your dog.

More to come....

I  apologize for no posts this week about Rogue.  As the IT Manager at the UW-Marshfield/Wood County Campus, this is a busy week and I have been a bit consumed with end of summer projects.  Don't fear!  I have more blog post ideas for this weekend.

As an update:

Rogue continues to improve.  We had a spurt of inside accidents again, which was frustrating, but when I look at her training to this point, about a month after she came home, her progress really is remarkable.

She sits on command fairly consistently.

She sometimes likes to play fetch, but seems to need Ike to do it first before she gets excited enough to want to do it.

She is doing better with come.  This morning she was let outside with Ike and a squirrel has the misfortune of running through the yard.   Rogue was off.  One loud "COME" from me and she stopped dead in her tracks and came running back.  That's great!

As I mentioned, housebreaking continues to be a challenge.  Housebreaking takes a lot of patience.  However, she has learned where to go (we designate an area behind the garage for the dogs and Ike is let out and goes to that spot every day).  Today was the first day she went to the spot on her own without me walking her there.  This is useful considering the 90 degree weather we have had lately will change to freezing temperatures all too soon.

Rogue is starting learn Lay Down, which is a bit tough for her...laying down takes her further from us physically, so she doesn't like to do it.  However, we are also working on Head Down, so that when she lays down she can then be told to put her head down. Why?  Because Rogue is a cuddler...and that is nice, but she has a habit of getting right in your face...head down allows her to be by us, but not right in our face.

Finally, Rogue is going to be famous.  There will be an article in the Marshfield News-Herald in the next few weeks that discuss this blog, rescue adoption, etc...  I'm very proud of this, because this Blog is meant to help others who would like to adopt a rescue, but are hesitant.  The idea of getting a defective dog can keep people from taking the step to adopt.

My next blog post will be about Defective Dogs...and how they don't exist.

Chewing...and more chewing

Rogue is a chewer.

You saw the last blog post, Murder in Marshfield, were her stuffed monkey experienced her chewing first hand.

That night, her dog bed was shredded as well.

We've had some issues with her chewing and it is frustrating...but what can you do?

I set out to try and figure out the best way to stop the chewing and came across another Zak George video on YouTube that I plan to try.  The basic premise?  EXERCISE.

Rogue has done a good job with "drop it" when she picks up something she shouldn't have.  That makes stopping her when you catch her chewing pretty easy...but its the chewing she does when she is alone that needs addressing.

Starting tonight, I am going to do 15 minute exercise sessions in the morning and at night.  These will be play sessions meant to stimulate her mind as well as body.  The idea is that this will calm her down so she is not so restless during the day and is therefore not tempted to chew as much.

To date, besides the monkey, the bathroom door, her kennel, various kids toys and shoes have been her targets...so this needs to be corrected ASAP.

I think it will take more than 15 minutes, but we will start there.

Here is the video I mentioned.  I will keep this blog updated with the results.

Murder in Marshfield

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT FOLLOWS


As I write this, my backyard is a crime scene.

Rogue has been spoiled with toys since coming home with us and she loves to play with them. Unfortunately, she sometimes gets carried away.

R.I.P. little monkey

 

The Cremation Service

Rogue's Puppies

Many people have asked me what Rogue's puppies looked like.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the puppies at the time we adopted Rogue, but I did find the pictures of all three puppies on the CCHS Facebook page with their new families.

Rogue is a Lab/Jack Russell mix, and the puppies father is a purebred "sneaky neighbors dog".

All of her puppies where cream colored with a white stripe on the face and various white markings on their bodies.  They were also tall, so we suspect dad was as well.  They were nearly as tall as Rogue when we brought her home and they were only about 3-4 months old at the time.

All puppies were very healthy and active when we saw them at CCHS.

Here are Rocky, Rocca and Roscoe with their new families.  If you are in one of these images, please drop me a note and say hi.

Rocca

Rocky

Roscoe

Microchipping

Yesterday's blog was about Rogue getting loose and then lost.

EVERY pet owner should take the time to microchip their pets.  It is very inexpensive and much more reliable compared to just tags.

As you see from the last Blog post, Rogue had all of her tags on, Rabies, license, ID tag...but they were left laying on the ground. They won't do any good there.

I was confident that we would find Rogue, because she had a microchip implant at the Shelter.  When she was eventually caught, the police or shelter would scan her and see my name and phone number and call us.

What is a microchip implant?

Technically, it is an RFID Tag, slightly larger than a grain of rice, injected into the animal under the skin using a needle, much like a regular vaccination.  In dogs, it is normally placed in the back of the neck, between the shoulder blades; though it can be placed almost anywhere.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identifier.

RFID tags are very common and are used in many areas such as inventory management and product tracking.  There has even been some experimentation with people.  For example, how convenient would it be to go to the Doctor, have your hand scanned to provide the doctor with your entire medical record.  RFIDs can do that.

Of course, there are major privacy issues.  Who else could walk by you and scan your ID, getting any information tied to it (Medical, financial, etc...).  Plus, we have that whole "mark of the beast" issue that comes up anyone even discusses something like this; so for now, RFIDs are pretty much limited to helping make sure our pets always find their way home.

There is a picture of a microchip below, as well as a video that explains the entire micro-chipping process in more detail.

Rogue's Great Escape

Last night was homecoming...well, that's what I call it.  It's the Sunday night when all of the kids come back home for the week.  It's a fun time.

We had a campfire and were hanging around outside.  Around 8:30, when it was getting dark, I told Grace to tie Rogue up.  She has a 50 foot training lead that we clip to her collar and then tie around a tree...just to be sure she stays near us in the dark.

Around 9:00 we were making all kinds of noise, kids were on the trampoline (and some adults) and I was sitting by the campfire and realized Rogue wasn't there.

I called and asked everyone to stop.  Rogue was gone.

I found her lead, with the ring for her ID tags stretched out.  The lead had gotten connected to the ring for her IDs, not the ring on her collar.  One tug and she was free.

We called Rogue, no response.  We all stood in the backyard, calling for Rogue.  Tears started to flow pretty quick for Gracie.

We got in the car, leaving one team (Brianna and kids) at home in case she came back.  We drove around the block, but saw no sign of her.

We then split into two cars to cover more ground.  I in one car and Grace and Jodi in another.  At about 9:30, I called the police department to report our missing Dog, in case they found her.

At this point, kids are crying and I'm getting really worried.  I keep telling myself that she made it for a long time in a ditch with three puppies, she will be okay for one night.

Although she is new to us yet, this just didn't seem like something Rogue would do.  Certainly she takes off after things, such as Rabbits, but she is always right by our side; it doesn't make sense for her to just take off.

After driving all over the South East part of town, I returned home.  Brianna was in the driveway and said Rogue had not returned, but she heard something in the neighbors backyard; but wasn't checking on it herself!  We headed out back.

We walked into the neighbors yard and I called Rogue.  I didn't hear any reply, but I saw some raspberries move.  I called again...

Then, there she was, behind the fence.  Somehow she had gotten into the neighbors garden, probably chasing a rabbit, and gotten stuck.  Why she didn't bark or whine when we called her, I have no idea, but she was trapped, at most, 75 feet from where we were sitting all night.

Needless to say, everyone was relieved.  It goes to show that anyone can make a mistake when it comes to caring for a dog.  Rogue was tied up at night, to keep her safe, but one small mistake allowed her to get free.

Fortunately, the fact that she was right by us and couldn't get to us reaffirms my feelings that her running off didn't make sense.  I would have been much more frustrated if we had found her blocks and blocks away.  While Rogue has a lot of training to go, she has made great progress, to the point that she is off-lead in the yard with me.  That would have all changed had she taken off and not come back.  Fortunately, we know her pretty well and were right that it "just didn't seem like something she would do".

PROGRESS!!!

If you've ready through this Blog, you will know that Rogue is a rescue from the Clark County Humane Society

When Rogue was taken to the shelter, she had badly bitten ears.  To read about how this happened, click here.

Well, it has been a couple of weeks for Rogue with our family and she is fitting in just fine.  She's also healing well.

She continues to take antibiotics for her Lyme's disease and that should be completed in another week or so.

Then it will be time for booster shots and Rogue will be officially current on all health needs.

As for her ears, we really weren't sure if the hair would ever fully grow back and it still has a ways to go; but take a look at this picture from today.  They are healing very well and she looks like she will be back to normal in no time.

If you look closely, you will see the hair that is growing in is lighter, almost white.  Those areas were part of her wounds when we brought her home.  We've simply left them alone recently, initially, we used Neosporin to help the healing.

More about Rogue's Past

Over the last week we have noticed a few things with Rogue that gives us some indication of her past.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it was a good past.

We've allowed Rogue on the couch with us.  This was only going to happen once she was fully housebroke.  She's not there yet, but we decided we couldn't hold back any longer.  Of course, within a day of allowing this new privilege, we had two accidents in the house after going days without one...

In any event, when Rogue was on the couch with us, she was worse then my son Alex, who is the worlds biggest "squirmmer".  She was climbing all over us, laying everywhere.  It was fun, she is definitely a loving dog!

At one point I was trying to move her and I started to move her back legs when she nipped...very rare for her.  She immediately knew what she did was wrong, but instead of saying No, I decided to see what would happen if I did it again...same thing.  I suspect that something in her past happened and that surprise touching of her back legs is not something she likes.

A few other things we have noticed...

When she is scared, she hides.  She will climb behind the couch or under a chair outside.  She certainly has learned to love her crate and I suspect she really needs a safe calming place like her crate, more then other dogs.

Yesterday, when getting the mail, I also grabbed the Buyers Guide out of the paper box and was walking into the house.  I rolled the paper up as I carried it and as soon as Rogue saw that, she laid down in a very submissive way and wouldn't move.  I tossed the paper in the trash can and she was fine.

So, we know Rogue spent an unknown amount of time in a Clark County ditch in the hottest days of July, caring for 3 new born pups as a stray dog.

Clark County has over half of the estimated puppy mills in the state.

I suspect that Rogue may have escaped from her former home, possibly a puppy mill (since she appears to be part Jack Russell and Lab, two very popular dogs that you would expect to be present in a puppy mill).  I have no doubt she was abused.  Probably by hitting with a news paper.

I also suspect that she was either dragged by the rear legs, or maybe had some interaction with another animal while a stray to cause her to dislike touching of her rear legs.

These are the things you really need to spend time thinking about with a rescue.  Nothing that I have listed here is major.  Everything can be trained or reverse trained.  While training can have tough moments, Rogue loves praise as a reward and I think that the more of that she gets the less these quirks will show.

Tomorrow I will post an update on Rogue's ears, which where badly bitten while she was homeless.  It will be a good update!

Until then, Zak George has a great video on working with a nervous dog.

Housebreaking - Advanced Level

Rogue has graduated.

With very few accidents over the last week, we've moved from just learning to go outside, to also learning WHERE to go outside.

When you have kids running around, and occasionally find yourself rolling on the ground, you want to make sure you are in a safe area!  Ike has been trained to "hurry up" behind the garage.  Only rarely does he, for whatever reason, forget this rule.  It has worked out great and kept many kids (and adults) from needing additional baths/showers.

Rogue, of course, didn't start going in the same area as Ike...maybe this is some sort of territory thing...I'm not sure, but we all need to get over that!

Yesterday I took the dogs out and called Rogue and stood in the area and wouldn't let her leave until she went.  It took a long time too.

She was off-lead and comes pretty reliably when called now.  She sat by me, stared at me and kept trying to leave the area and head to "her area".  She responded perfectly to my calls each time she tried to leave.

Knowing that she had to go meant it was a battle of wills.  I just waited; and so did she.  After about 5 or so minutes, she started to sniff around.  A few redirects when she started to sniff her way out of the area worked well.  Eventually she went and got lots of praise and high energy rewards.

This morning I took her out again with Ike.  She headed to her spot, but I called her and she came.  She went right away.  In the right area.  Now for the tough part.  Consistency, not just on her part, but on ours too.

We are also working on returning to the backdoor when she is finished, sitting and waiting.  Ike has done so well for so many years.  In the winter you can open the door, say "hurry up" and he goes right to the back of the garage, does his business and comes right back to the door and sits and waits.  Rogue is going to take some work on this, but so far is doing great.

I also maintain that having Ike helps tremendously.  I don't know how much dogs learn from observing other dogs, but it can't hurt!

"The Teacher"

Acting Guilty

Sunday afternoon was pretty laid back at our house.  There was some laundry done, a little cleaning and a lot of relaxing.

We were going to take some pictures of Rogue to post on Facebook.  All of her puppies were adopted from CCHS and we thought we would post a photo of Mom to the Facebook posts that show her puppies with their new owners.

I got down on the floor and called Rogue so I could take a few pictures.  She came in, then stopped dead in her tracks and laid down like this and wouldn't move.  I had no idea why...she always comes running and usually right into your lap.

As I moved around I realized the floor was still wet from the shampooing I gave it on Saturday...then I realized that spot I was sitting in was more wet than the surrounding area...of course, being a parent, I instantly stuck my nose into the carpet and immediately realized why Rogue wasn't interested in coming any closer.  Accident.

She's doing remarkably well.  Positive reinforcement works great with her.  The fact that she knew what she did was wrong is promising.  She has done a good job of holding it through the night.  We even let her free roam in the bedroom at night and have only had a few accidents.  As long as she is out first thing in the morning and right before bed, she is fine.

What happened on Sunday, I can't be sure.  With 6 people and 2 dogs in our house, its easy for things to get overlooked, like making sure she gets out every couple of hours.  I think we need more training...not just Rogue.

The fact that she can't hide her guilt might be one of the best things about her!

I'll stay right here, thank you very much.

Opportunity Training

I am a planner.  I have a spreadsheet for everything.  I've even considered a spreadsheet to keep track of my spreadsheets...seriously.

So, it shouldn't surprising that I have a spreadsheet for Rogue; a training plan.

Last night I realized that there are times that training opportunities arise that I should take advantage of, even if they aren't on the plan yet.

Last night, as Rogue and I worked around the house and yard, I was talking to her.  I would see her go potty and I would say "Good Girl, Hurry up" (Hurry Up is, for whatever reason, the phrase I have used when I let Ike out...and it has stuck).

When we were inside and I went upstairs or downstairs, Rogue would fillow me and I would say, "Good Girl, Downstairs".  These are some of the commands that I have used with Ike and since she is doing the act, it just made sense to start rewarding her and introducing her to the command.  There was no correction, no negative reinforcement.  If she did something, I pointed it out and statted the command several times.

Likewise, when she went in her kennel, I would say, "Good Girl, Kennel"...of course then she would get out of her kennel and come over by me...but over time I think she will get the connection.

Ike is a Retriever and so we spent some time throwing Frisbees and tennis balls last night.  Rogue was interested, so we tried it with her and her 50 foot training lead.

The first few times, she didn't return to me, so I guided her back on her lead while remaining upbeat and excited.  After a couple of throws, she was returning back to me 75% of the time.

The coolest thing was that the very first time I told her "Drop it", she did.  All I can imagine is that she learned this from watching me with Ike.

We also found out she likes to try and catch the ball when thrown to her, so we did this some as well.  Again, accuracy wasn't great, she probably caught less than 10% of the balls we tossed to her (short distance, maybe 3 or 4 yards away from her), but she like the game.

So, while I have a specific command planed for each week, we are going a little off script and doing this will, hopefully, keep things interesting for Rogue too.