I have been following Carol of SAINTS ’s blog about the saintly crew. I love her honesty and integrity and sheer love of the animals and respect for them. Real respect. They are special and are treated so. Yet they really are dogs or cats or horses or bunnies or whatever species they are. They are “allowed” to be the best they can be as they want to be.
She recently has a cat dumped on her - we at Turtle Gardens have the same problem. Animals are dumped on us but often they are dumped just down the road from us. There is a reason why we have to say “no, we are full” It is because we feel we have all we can care for with our resources, money in the bank or lack of, time and how we feel. We want to give the animals in our care the best possible advantage and when we are stretched to the max we say “no, we are full at this time” Please call back in a couple of weeks. For us it can change - we may get a large donation to pay off our vet bill, or we may have perfect matches for adoptions or we just may have a renewal of spirit and the energy to do the work well is back. But to dump an animal and hide him so he won’t be found right away - how cowardly and unthinking is that. And it happens. Dave has a new arrival. A brother to a fellow we had - remember the red heeler pup we got in? And fostered to adopt so quickly? Well his brother came in yesterday. Too much dog for them - he needs a job. They knew I was away so they just came down and showed him to Dave. They made it seem that I had already given the ok to come in. That is another form of dumping an animal on a rescue. Stretching the truth to suit them is dumping. No two ways about it. They took advantage of Dave and it isn’t fair. But he is safe now, will be neutered asap and will find his perfect match. Just like Crayola(Roy) and Abby Rose and all the other Turtle Gardens Alumni. The funds will be there to vet check, vaccinate and speuter the new arrivals. The energy and renewal of spirit will ensure they are given their opportunity to heal and become dogs again - to feel good in their fur; to be well grounded ,to be dogs! They will learn to play, learn boundaries and restraints and learn to be great family companions. They will learn to trust, to love and to be companions. That is what Turtle Gardens does. Turtle Gardens welcomes another red heeler!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

posted by Lorna :
Help! I’ve brought a monster into my home!

The sweet 16 lb puppy adopted Oct 6 has turned into a 19.5 lb chewing machine who gets into everything and destroys it. What did people do before Xpens and crates were invented?

It’s great that Kitsa is full of confidence and feisty and I want to encourage these qualities. It’s not so great when she balances on the back of the couch to pull ornaments off the shelf and make off with them! When I cann’t actively watch her she has to be confined, if she’s not life is a series of "Noes". Don’t touch the garbage, the cat food, electrical cords, the cats; don’t get on the kitchen table or the counters, don’t chew books, papers video tapes — the list of "no"s is endless. I want her life to be full of "yesses", you’re a good dog to come, sit, touch my hand, follow; it’s good to watch me rather than chase the cats, to chew on a bone rather than the couch, to play tug with a dog toy and drop it when asked.

She’s learning fast — she can sit on one command just about anywhere, now I’m adding distractions. She has to sit while I open the door, if she jumps up the door is closed. We’re working on sit while a piece of food is placed on the ground, she can wait until it’s about nose level then jumps up, so it’s going to take a while to reach ground level. She can touch my hand 3 or 4 times for one treat, can follow beside me for 10 or 12 steps on either side. When we’re walking I play games with her, I’ll get 3 or 4 feet ahead of her, call her name and walk quickly away with one hand held out to the side saying "touch". If she comes to the outstretched hand I click and treat, if she comes to the other side nothing happens. This is ground work for both obedience and agility. When she’s not actively engaged with something I’ll call her to come  — sometimes staying still and guiding her into front position, sometimes running away, sometimes dragging a tug toy — there’s always lots of praise, excitement, special treats or games when she gets to me. We’re also doing restrained recalls, one person holds her while the other calls, we want her to run between us, this also gets her comfortable with being held and going to someone else for affection and treats.

I’ve also started to work on shaping with her, I want her to learn that her behaviour affects her environment. With a small cardboard box on the floor and her supper nearby I wait for her to investigate. Any interaction with the box is rewarded  –  looking, touching with nose or paws, putting a foot inside, pushing across the floor, to encourage as many different behaviours as possible I only click 2 or 3 times for each one. What she does is not important, it’s the process.    It’s encouraging her to interact with her environment and to think, to learn that certain behaviours will be rewarded. The first couple of sessions she was confused, she would paw the box a couple of times then wander off, or continue to paw after I stopped treating. By keeping sessions short, 5 or 6 clicks, and ending when she had done something with confidence, she soon learned the game, now she touches it with her nose and looks at me as if to say "was that good enough? do I earn a treat?"

                                   

 

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

This is the story of a rescue puppy named Honeysuckle who was adopted by my friend and clicker trainer Lorna. Lorna has agreed to keep a diary of her new pup’s daily activities and her progress to help you our readers to "see" a pup’s training from someone else’s viewpoint. Happy Reading!

This is Honeysuckle when she arrived at Turtle Gardens.                        

Click, treat. Click, treat. Eyes shining, big ears pricked, the fawn 4 month old puppy watched me intently, waiting for another signal. A few minutes earlier we had gone into the vet’s office to allow her to become familiar with it and to get her weighed. Each time she stepped up onto the digital scale, I clicked and gave her a treat. After 1/2 a dozen treats she was comfortable with the slight movement and I asked her to sit. "You can’t teach a puppy to sit that quickly" scoffed an acquaintance, "thought you said you brought her home from Turtle Gardens yesterday". "I did," I replied, handing the sitting puppy a treat, "and she’s learning to touch my hand". "Clicker training is great, she’s learning how to learn and we’re communicating."

Honeysuckle, her Turtle Garden name, attracted my attention with her personality. Bright and alert, she followed Yvette around inside and out, always watching her face and hands. When I took her out for a few minutes she came willingly, stayed focused and was easy to lure into a sit, down and come with food. She pounced on toys, hung around off leash and was relaxed with dogs and people. Add in a short easy care coat and appealing fuzzy face and she was irresistible.

Getting another dog was not a snap decision. Being responsible for another’s life for 10 to 15 years is not something to take lightly.  But Tassie is around 14 years old now and Rayla is 6years, I was sure someone else would come along in time.  

She traveled quietly in a crate for the 100 km trip home, followed the other dogs to the bathroom area and settled for the night in an X pen in the living room. I was pleasantly surprised when she was quiet all night and was clean in the morning, again going out on leash and doing her business easily. Day 1;  we got to know each other, a walk on the Flexi in the am let her interact with the other 2 dogs and kept the cats safe. Because I want her to look to me as a primary source of fun, food and affection I didn’t feed her before going out, instead we interacted throughout the walk. Every couple of minutes we would stop and I’d ask her for a sit by luring her with a piece of food. When she did, click and treat. Putting my hand an inch from her face, when her nose touched it, C and T. If she happened to look at me while walking, C and T. Food was the reward as it’s easy to handle, if she was busy watching the other dogs or sniffing I’d wait until she was not so preoccupied. My aim was to let her learn that paying attention to me is good. I want her to be successful, have fun and start building a relationship based on trust.

Later it was back in the crate for a 10 minute trip   to town to get a small collar and leash and be weighed. She wasn’t thrilled about the crate but a few more pieces of food tossed inside coaxed her in. That evening she earned her supper by sitting in front of me while I held food in my clenched fist. When she stopped licking and pawing at my hand, C and T. I threw the kibble across the kitchen floor, the noise and movement attracted her attention and she chased it down. When she turned and was coming back to me I called "come" and clicked her for returning. Because coming is so important she got something better for treats, wieners or a piece of turkey.

I’m not too concerned about upsetting her stomach with different foods, she was running at large  before coming to TG and ate all sorts of dog food (whatever is donated) and meaty bones there  (it’s hunting and slaughtering season), so she’s used to variety.

As the weather is still mild she came to work with me the next day. To give her space she was in Shadow’s crate, an extra large Furrari   which gave a 16 lb.puppy lots of room. She had a stuffed Kong to occupy her and provide breakfast, and a meaty bone at lunch. Letting her out at coffee and meal breaks seemed enough to keep her happy and provided  more opportunities to practice sit, touch, come and play with toys. Night shift was easier because she was more tired, a walk and play session at midnight was sufficient.

When our club held its obedience classes on Sunday I talked to a couple of people with young dogs and we set up "play dates". Her dog social skills are great, she’s friendly, playful, if she’s snarled at she just moves away and I would like her to be able to interact with as many dogs as possible to maintain that level.

Six days after bringing her home we have both learned a lot. I know to keep the cats’ food off the floor, also the garbage cans. She is not allowed in the bathroom or any of the   bedrooms — there is just too much temptation. Socks, tensor bandages, cardboard boxes, plants, pens and paper are all toys to her so she’s in a pen in the living room when I’m busy and out in the living room and kitchen when I can keep an eye on her. I deliberately leave her in the pen while I go out of sight for a few minutes, I want her to be comfortable on her own.   She is usually quiet in the pen and crate (with a stuffed toy or bone to help occupy her), has never soiled in the house, is very adept at rolling around a plastic ball so her dinner falls out, will sit on a verbal command or hand signal just about anywhere, will touch my hand several times for one treat, and will follow on either side of my body in an approximate heel position for 10 or 12 steps in a quiet location. She’s learning to shake a paw and give up a toy when playing tug. Because she is young I’m trying to let her set the pace. If she’s energetic we play, if she seems tired I try to let her rest.  Training, play and dinner are intertwined, she is having fun, learning and eating at the same time. I try not to ask for the same behaviour more than twice in a row, wanting to be fast and fun to keep her interest.

When people meet her they ask 4 main questions:

The answer to them all has been  — "I don’t know".

All I know is she makes me laugh, she’s interesting to be around and her new name is Kitsa.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.