Paws of Fury and Something Else...My Story, Sticking to It

Ellie has made a shift in the nature of her relationships to the cats again. At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

It isn't that, if she is outside and she spies a cat out of the corner of her eye she doesn't rush towards it. Her drive instinct is REALLY strong. Kafka just hunkers down and ignores her, and Ellie will just move on to something more interesting, which is usually Socks. Socks might run, might jump up on the wall, sit and stare at her from the wall, or maybe walk along the wall. So, he's way more fun, and one might interpret this behavior as Socks having fun, egging her on.

We humans have changed our rules a bit, since Socks made the decision that he wasn't giving up his place in the house to a DOG. With Kafka, we use the cue 'Leave Kafka', should Ellie forget that Kafka is off limits. However, we just let Ellie and Socks work things out for themselves. What typically happens is that Socks will sit, staring at me, on the left side of my work chair, and Ellie hangs around her run on the right side of the chair. Or, Socks will sit in T's lap and stare at Ellie.

Both understand the clicker game very well. I click and reward for each minding their own business and I have gradually lengthened the amount of time required for compliance. I will say however, that Socks does tend to be the initiator of this clicker game.

Socks has the patience of Job, so sits until Ellie can't stand it anymore and leaves her spot to see what he's up to. He might ignore her, he might give her a warning stare, or he might leap up and smack the daylights out of her. I half believe that the fun for her has been his utter unpredictability, and how swiftly he shifts from stone buddha cat to paws of fury.

We've noticed how she has shifted from intense drive behavior to more of a play behavior. She tries play bow, she tries to get him to chase her (which is not currently allowed in the house, since it's a wild game).

This morning, something new. Ellie loves her Bunny, a small soft toy with long dangly legs. We play house fetch and house catch with Bunny. Today, she offered Socks her Bunny. Of course, he ignored her. But, she offered Bunny again, and then gave me Bunny. We had a few Bunny tosses, and Socks retired to a chair for a morning nap. She's been hanging close to me, just hanging out as I prepare for the day.

It's subtle, but she's gained a little something in how she understands how relationships work.

At least, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

From the Barn to PetSmart -Good Girl Ellie!

Ellie's second trip to the River Valley Ranch, a horse facility on the east side of Tucson. Her first trip was maybe too exciting, what with barking at those big curious creatures, but today? Calm as a cuke, curious, enjoying meeting with the riders warming up for their lesson, and she likes watching the riders on their horses. Watched a lesson, met some old friends (human). Movement is calming for our Miss Ellie.

Stopped at the bank, and there was PetSmart across the way. What the heck, let's take care of another milestone. Clicker, check. Treats, check. I decided to just go in and pick up a small bag of treats and leave, and that's what we did. Ellie got to meet and greet with store clerks, young children, all the great scents of the treat aisle, and another dog barked a greeting at her, and she calmly watched him.

A good day.

The 80/20 'rule' and Downward Dog for Ellie

The 80/20 rule applied to dog training new behaviors goes something like this; at home, Ellie is about 80% reliable with two of her new shaped yoga dog behaviors. Get ready to show the husband the new behaviors being on cue, and that 80% turns to 20%. Or less.

I've been casually capturing and shaping Ellie's doggie play bow to put on cue as 'Puppy Stretch'. The play bow is the dog pose that gave rise (we think) to a common yoga pose known as Adho Mukha Svanasana, otherwise called Downward Facing Dog. In people, it's a great release for stress in the back, especially when done with attention to the action of the pelvis and hip joints in line with opening in the shoulder area.

Dogs already know this, which is probably why they do it on rising from their nap. So, it's a great spinal and hip release for the dog - why not put it on cue and encourage your dog to 'take the pose'. And, since Ellie's job is to be a Yoga Dog, what better asana (pose) for demonstration?

I prefer shaping behaviors whenever I can, so we've shaped puppy stretch. All this means is that, whenever Ellie would do her own stretch, I'd start with clicking and rewarding. Then, I added 'Puppy Stretch' as a cue as she was going into her stretch. Since I wasn't in a hurry to teach her the behavior on cue, I just kept doing this whenever I was there to see it.

Then, I started to ask for the behavior, and I started to do this when I could see that it was a likely behavior for her to do on her own. This is where we are, where I can ask for the behavior, when there are no distractions, and 7-8 times out of 10, she will Puppy Stretch on cue.

Her other behavior, by the way, is 'chin rest', which means for her to place her head on my upper thigh, with some weight. This can be a useful behavior for people in chairs and people who have general pain issues. This is an element of the SynergYoga program I'm working on with my friend, Laura, of Equality Dog Training, where we address chronic pain with the aid of the dog. More on that to come.

Who is teaching Whom?

I thought I was educating Ellie...turns out, I'm the one learning from her utter free spiritedness.

Here's a dog, supposedly 3 years of age, who acts as if she is still a puppy, bringing with that all those behaviors that we train out of our puppies so they are socially responsible citizens.

No jumping, no mouthing, no chasing cats, no getting on the furniture, be careful with that wagging tail. mind me when that interesting other dog goes past. She manages now to maintain some control for minutes at a time around the cats and she tries hard not to jump (mostly). She only gets on the furniture when I'm not looking, and she does like to show off her good behaviors when at home. But, dare I say, she accomplishes her self-management with a bit of a wry grin and look towards the pool - can we go swimming now?

There's a part of me that envies her complete abandonment in the joy of being a puppy who is an adult dog. That part of me is growing. I wonder how she got to this age with this joyful spirit intact but I sure am glad she did.

Who is the teacher here?

Vet your vet: Ellie likes Dr. Darwooalla, me too!

Consider, if you are looking for a veterinarian, setting up a friendly visit to 'vet the vet'. I was pretty sure I knew the veterinarian I wanted, Dr. Kayoomee Darwooalla (they don't have a website that I can find) of Bernarda Veterinary in Tucson. She was recommended by a friend, the same friend who recommended the housecall veterinarian (Dr. Lee Fike) that we use for critters who find the trip to vet more stressful than their dis-ease.

I'm partial to ayurvedic, traditional Chinese, holistic, complementary, and integrative medicines for animals (and humans). It can be difficult to find a veterinary practice that is integrative, so I'm glad that Bernarda fills that niche.

I requested about 15 minutes for Ellie to meet with Dr. D and the staff, so that Ellie's first trip to the vet would be 'fun'. I made a big production about going to see 'the vet lady' and we packed up our clicker, good treats, and made the short drive over. The waiting area was large and spacious, with some contented cats within a large kennel tucked out of the way. The vet techs were courteous and friendly with Ellie and with me, and we waited in a nice room furnished with futons instead of stainless steel. We practiced learning 'futon' while we waited.

Dr. D came in and I liked her instantly, with her confident, quiet, and smiling demeanor. She gave Ellie the time to come to her and respected Ellie's 'head-ducking' issue. We talked about Ellie's rather unknown past, she listened to her heart, and asked permission to look into her ears. Ellie's pool time has her on the cusp of an ear infection, and the recommendation? Dilute vinegar solution, and they gave me a little bottle marked for correct proportions.

Total cost? $15.80 - a bargain and a happy dog to boot.

Thanks, Dr.D and staff, for being a veterinary space that's comfortable for critters and for humans.

Curbing Cat Chasing: Update

You can see the difference in how Ellie expresses her interest in Socks. And, you can see Socks has transitioned from "Get the #$%@ away from me" to near nonchalance.
Yay!


It's been a little over 3 months since Ellie a.k.a "Cat Chaser" came to our home. I started clicker training the cue to 'leave kitty' right away and progress was steady, if slow. Socks and Kafka (the kitty members of the family) both have some rudimentary clicker knowledge, so when the clicker came out, they would show up, hang around to get treated for hanging around so I could reward Ellie, then go off to mind their kitty business.

Kafka eventually started ignoring Ellie, so it became relatively easy for the two of them to be in the house together without constant supervision. Socks decided to reclaim the house, and did so relatively belligerently, so I was spending a lot of time clicking and rewarding the two of them, until they could be fairly close without a blow-up.

But, the true progress happened when Socks decided that being close to Ellie could be okay. Its my preference that the animals work out their relationships on their own as much as possible, so I try for as little direct interference as possible. I follow the clicker principle of rewarding what I like, and ignoring what I don't. It helps when the protagonists in our little get-along drama follow the same principles!

Ellie and the Animal Communicator: Part III

How did the session with Janet, an animal communicator, affect Ellie's and my relationship?

In our case, Janet's impressions and perceptions fit pretty closely with what we had surmised after living with Ellie for nearly 3 months. (You can read about that here.) Ellie is a free spirit, a Wild Child.

I took away from the session with Janet a stronger determination to explore how Ellie can express her spiritedness and yet be socially appropriate - how to find that common ground that honors her unique Wild Childness?

The session also helped me to more clearly understand Ellie's dharma, her work, her purpose, in connection to my own work. It isn't so much that I'm teaching her how to do her work, it's that I have to be open to what she has to teach me about partnerships with animals that go beyond obedience to arbitrary sets of rules.

I thought that's what I was already doing in my horse and dog work, but Ellie is helping me explore this on a different level. Would I have gotten to this place without our communication session? Maybe, but it would have been a longer journey.

It's still exasperating when she noses my hands off the computer keyboard, but she gives me that look like - haven't you been there long enough? Don't you really want to take a break and PLAY?