Dog Gone Dangerous!

My rant today involves the use of retractable leashes. These leashes have been a pet peeve of mine for quite sometime. Don't get me wrong, I own a retractable leash (the all tape style 26') and I acknowledge that these types of leashes have their place. The newbie owner and untrained dog, however, should never, never, ever be within 20' of a retractable leash. Unfortunately, for all of us, they are exactly who uses them these beastly contraptions the most. The know it all with their new 16' retractable, bags on board, built in flashlight, button stop retractable leash, proudly parades down the street, dog out of control at least 10 feet away, peeing on lawns, winding around signs and chasing anything that moves.

New students come to me all the time wanting me to help stop their dog from always pulling on its leash. All to often that leash is a retractable. The whole principle of how a retractable works is that a dog pulls away from his owner and more leash comes out of the handle/cord housing. Pulling=more room to roam. Dogs learn this very quickly, leash gets tight, pull and you get to go further. Why would they NOT pull? Retractable leashes teach a dog to pull its owner. One cannot train a dog not to pull while using a retractable leash.

These leashes also pose a threat to human as well as canine. Many injuries have been attributed to retractable leashes. If one follows the warnings that come with the leash, one may avoid such disasters, but things do not always go according to plan. Many people have found themselves with serious rope burns and deep cuts. A lot of these leashes are mostly made from a very narrow round braided cord. The use of cord makes the leash advance and retract very smoothly. It also makes the leash very dangerous. When a dog begins to run after something, catching the handler off guard, the first instinct is not to push the trigger and stop the advancement of cord, but to grab the cord with ones hand, we're only human after all. This action has caused very deep cuts and these cords have also been known to sever a finger off on a few occasions. Burns to the legs are also very common when a rambunctious dog wraps his handler up in the leash. Cuts and burns to the dog's or another dog's leg occurs all to often as well, as dogs play on leash with others, getting tangled in their cord.

Losing the dog to accidentally dropping the leash is another big danger to retractable leash users. This happens so often that now the handles often come with safety loops to put around the wrist when walking. These leashes are easily dropped as the hard plastic handle can be pulled out ones hand quite easily by a large dog. Once dropped, the handle begins to retract the cord and the end result is the plastic handle chasing the poor dog all the while scrapping along the ground making a hideous and very scary noise. Dogs are compelled to run for their lives, and far away from their clumsy masters.

As I said, retractable leashes do have their place. The well trained dog, with a strong recall and good leash manners, can be happily handled in a park or field on a retractable. These leashes, when used by knowing and experienced handlers, offer security (as no dog needs to be loose in unfamiliar territory) and allow a dog and handler a lot more space for exercise and play.

Bringing up Baby

Meet McKenzie or should I say "Nikitazkya's Lucky McKenzie Mystique" as her papers will eventually read.  She is our newest addition.  McKenzie will hopefully be my next service dog, a vacancy left open far too long by the passing of Starr and the over exuberance of my Cody.   McKenzie has been a wonderful puppy for the past two weeks that she has lived with us.  Each day, however, I notice that she is a little more bold and mischievous than the day before.  I am sure I am in for some clever puppy antics before too long. 

So far there have been two casualties as a result of puppy free time, 1 piano adapter cord and 1 DVD car plug.   I realize, even if my kids will not admit it, that both of these losses are the result of human error in judgement and not the fault of an innocent, though mouthy, little pup.   We are finding it challenging to live the words I hear myself saying to my clients all the time, "puppies need to be contained or supervised at all times."   It is sage advise and I am determined to make it work, and not just by containing the pup 100% of the time.   My kids on the other hand are a different story.  "Sure we'll watch the puppy"  then within 15 minutes the puppy is chewing up something or peeing or worse.  What happened to watching the puppy?  

I have now begun the tether policy.  Whoever is in charge of the puppy must have said puppy tethered to their person.   That way the puppy is at least very close by and could be heard chewing, peeing or worse.   We will see how this new policy works out in the long run.   Meanwhile we take her outside every hour or so during the day unless she is asleep.  She pees when she wakes, before she sleeps, before she plays, after she plays and every few minutes in between.  Peeing has become like a hobby.    She still does not really care where she is when she's got to go, she goes.    The only time McKenzie is in a crate is when we are all asleep, or when we are not home and I cannot take her with me.  (her service dog scarf has not arrived)  She is slowly becoming accustomed to her crate and the screaming fits are getting fewer and fewer.  I am thinking that eventually she will go quietly and sleep the night.  

Having said all this, she sounds like a nightmare,  or like an average puppy at least.  She is actually quite wonderful.  McKenzie seems to pick up on what I want her to do rather quickly (with the exception if the whole peeing thing.) She is actually quite calm for a puppy and has learned to ride in the van nicely.  She is going to be a big girl and I can't wait to begin her real service dog training.  Look for updates soon.

Dog Gone Good Movie!

Today I went to see Marley and Me at the theater. First of all, I did not realize it was a tradition to go to the movies on New Year's Day. It was mobbed! My friend and I made our way in, after hiking in from the far side of the parking lot. We then stood in a line for tickets. This particular movie theater usually has you buy tickets at the concessions, no lines, today it was out the door. We finally get tickets and I waited in line for popcorn and soda. Normally I forgo these things, as I have no equity on my house to make such purchases, but today I had coupons, so I waited. 20 minutes later I paid $3.50 for a large popcorn and 2 medium drinks. (you see why I HAD to buy) I walked into the theater just as the movie started. I was skeptical, being a dog trainer, a movie about an ill behaved dog may have been more irksome than entertaining. I was laughing from the word go. The puppy was adorable, even if it was a lab. The behavior was somewhat typical unchecked lab behavior. It was funny and so well written. What I loved most about the family dynamic and the relationship between Marley and his owners was the unconditional love. Dogs give unconditional love all the time, but this movie shows people giving it to the dog as well. They do nothing right in training Marley, but they love him no matter what he chews up or pees on. Never do they blame Marley for the way he his.

Too often I see owners blaming others for their dog's behavior. They either make excuses for their dog, or think that they got a bad dog. There are bad dogs. They are built by owners who allow behaviors to start during puppy hood and continue through adolescence and adulthood. Owners who think it is OK to allow a puppy to sleep with them the first night and expect to stop such privileges as the puppy grows up. By the time these dogs are 10 months old, many owners have given up and either give the dog away, drop it off at a shelter, or tie it outside for the remainder of its life.

Jon and Jen Grogen managed to survive Marley. They never gave up on him, they loved him. There were moments of total frustration, but they understood that a dog is a member of the family and no matter what, you can't just ditch family. This is not a dog movie, not a silly movie that follows the crazy antics of a wacky family dog. It is a movie about relationships and family dynamics, of growing up from newlywed, to dog owner, to parent. This is a movie for anyone who has ever loved a dog. This movie was worth every minute I spent in line today.