The Pupcrew's Post

It's not particularly dog-related, but I have to start off with: I GRADUATED! Hallelujah, I have my Bachelor's of Science in Psychology.  Hopefully this means I'll actually start writing more posts for this blog--I'll no longer have my creative tendencies sucked out of me by 14 page academic papers.

Inspired by several of the May blog prompts on BlogPaws, I'm sharing a little bit about what's going on in each of the dog's lives right now, and what's coming up over Summer.

From our vacation to the beach last year!

Ah, Quenya. She is, honestly, the perfect dog. She loves people, she's great with other dogs, she's a good listener and wants to please her people. She's slightly higher in the energy department than the "average" dog, but for me that's a plus. Truly, her only real behavioral downside is her dumpster diving tendencies if left unsupervised in the house for too long. The toughest problem with her is her allergies. They'll flare up for seemingly no reason at all, until I discover whatever new thing is in her diet or environment that is causing her fur to fall out, leaving behind red, oily patches of irritated skin. Spring is awful for her, poor itchy thing. She's lost a strip of hair along the backside of each of her hind legs. She's on a couple topical ointments/sprays, and I'll be switching her back to a Salmon based kibble, which always seems to help her get back on track.

Quenya has her Novice Trick Dog title, and we're currently in a class preparing us for her Intermediate Trick Dog title. We have 10 intermediate-level tricks prepared so far. We need a total of 12 in all and have two class sessions left, so I'm confident we'll be sending in our title submission soon! This Sunday we're also going to a practice session to see how far along Quenya is in Canine Good Citizen preparation. Loose leash walking is my only concern--I'm not 100% sure we're quite there yet. However I know within a month or so we'll be ready to take the test, as long as I'm diligent with our training! (I readily admit we aren't there with loose leash walking because it's one of my least-favorite things to practice).

My bicycle has been broken for several months now, and our bikejoring has been put on an indefinite hold :'(. Everything else is great, though!

Victoria has recovered amazingly well. It's hard to believe that building up to New Year's day she was immobile, full of pills, lying on a pillow after a visit to the veterinarian. Her pelvis fractured in several places, a corneal scratch and serious damage in one eye due to a prolapse at the time of accident, and, scariest of all, spinal nerve damage of uncertain severity. We weren't even sure she'd be able to walk again.
Five months later Victoria is running, jumping and playing almost as though the accident never happened. I've nixed our longer hikes as she does become weary on those--rather we walk in the city, sit in front of Starbucks together, and take the occasional visit to a well-groomed park. At home we play with tunnels, dog-walks, and small jumps (with full vet-okay) and love every minute of it! Agility and/or parkour type activities are the only training situations Victoria really enjoys--she's more of a "let's just go somewhere, explore, and then hang out" kind of girl--so it's wonderful that we can still do some of those things. I am so, so thankful.

Skipper has been doing great! He seems to finally be reaching the end of the darkest period of adolescence, and has started to show real interest in training once more. Recall still isn't perfect, but our stays are getting better and he's once again reliable with all the other behaviors I've taught him. We start Nose Work classes two weeks from this Sunday, and I'm so excited! I've been taking him out in the world more frequently lately, and bought an "I need space" button for his leash/collar at a local dog boutique. While it hasn't stopped every unwanted approach-n-pet, I do believe it has helped slow the rush. It also gives me something to point at to help clarify what I mean when I ask people not to pet him. Skipper definitely seems much more comfortable on walks and trips now that every person that passes us doesn't stop to coo at him.

Because I'm not sure I've ever discussed the issue I'll explain here: Skipper has anxiety about being petted by strange people. He doesn't care if they're around him, and if he's off-leash at the park he'll even go up to people sometimes, but he hates being approached by other people when he's on his leash. He'll cower away from them and try to move away. He isn't reactive or aggressive, but his anxiety is severe enough that I'll take very assertive steps to keep people from petting him if I have to. I've actually had to move someone else's reaching arms out of the way, pick him up and walk away because they didn't listen to my "he needs space, please don't pet him" request.

It's common for Rat Terriers to be one-person and/or one-family dogs, and I really have no desire to turn Skipper into a dog who loves everyone. All I want is for him to be completely comfortable in busy places, and for him to trust that I'll keep unwanted attention off his back. We're really getting there and I'm so glad of that!

I also took Skipper for his first swimming lesson at the river. He isn't scared of the water, but he doesn't particularly like it. I have a feeling that will change for him once he realized the full extent of Florida's Summer heat. It took Quenya four to five river visits before she fully embraced it, and I imagine the same thing will happen with Skipper.