thank you Stryker

I didn't cry when she left. Her new owners came in to get her and she was absolutely overjoyed to see them. We hauled her stuff out to their car, she jumped right in and started sniffing around. I called her over, held her head in my hands, kissed her nose and said "behave yourself monster, I'm gonna miss you!"

As I watched them drive away, I thought about how much this little dog has taught me.

Start the day off right.
Stryker started every day with an enthusiasm for life I've never, ever, seen in a dog before. It wasn't just about life though, she wanted someone to enjoy life with. We had an early morning routine of going out for a walk in the dark, just the two of us, before everyone else was awake. She started the walk by bouncing all over the place, then progressed to sniffing around, and we ended the walk with some chase games. She greeted every day with gusto and zest!

Always greet friends thoroughly.
We worked a lot (A LOT) on appropriate greetings. In the end, I gave in and decided if she can show enough self control to sit, offer eye contact, and wait for the person to approach; who am I to micromanage the vocalizing, rubbing up against, and other silly greeting behaviors she does? I actually found it quite endearing after a while. If Stryker likes you, you'll know it.

Be picky.
At first I was quite annoyed with the fact that she wouldn't eat well, she didn't play with the assortment of toys we had in the house, and constantly scratched at some collars I put on her. Apparently she just had preferences, like we all do, and that's okay. She started eating really well at her first long-term foster home, chose the toys she liked from their toy bin, and learned to wear a rolled leather collar without complaint. She's much better about all of these things now, but it made me stop and think. I needed to appreciate her individuality.

Bond.
This is a hard one. I took her in knowing she'd always be a foster dog. There was no potential for her being a 'foster failure' as I'd promised my elderly dogs I just wouldn't bring a young, bouncy, energetic puppy into our house. Because of this, I wanted to keep my distance. Then I read Denise Fenzi's post about her "half dog - Juno"

I did not work to develop a deeper relationship with her – to make her feel special and amazing.  I wasn’t comfortable making her “mine” – because she wasn’t.  I kept a wall between us.  It felt unfair to her owner if I bonded with Juno as one of my own.

Substitute "It felt unfair to Stryker if I bonded with her" at the end and this is exactly how I (initially) approached fostering her. I didn't want her to settle in too much, I didn't want to complicate her life even more by allowing us to form a bond, and most of all, I selfishly wanted to protect myself from the hurt of her leaving.

I set about making her “my” dog...I ignored minor transgressions of the house rules if she was breaking them to be closer to me. I watched her style of play carefully and started spending a few minutes each day running around the back yard and trying to engage her when she was at her most energetic – truly an exhausting activity.  In training, I worked very  hard to add value to myself by thoroughly integrating toy rewards with celebration, play and ring... 

While not all of this is applicable, I took what Denise Fenzi wrote to heart. Stryker and I started to play. We started to have morning and night time together. I started taking her to work with me. And she started making more progress than I'd ever imagined. She started responding to my non-conditioned cue words with a wag of her tail and her eyes dancing, as if to say "I'm ready for anything." We could watch something scary together and she'd look to me for confirmation that it truly was okay. She learned to lean into me when she needed support during a stressful situation. She learned to trust me.

Take time at night to enjoy the ones you love.
At the recommendation of two people quite experienced with Shepherds, I started putting my dogs and cats away earlier at night. For an hour or more, Stryker and I hung out, just the two of us. Sometimes we played training games, sometimes we wrestled on the floor, and sometimes we watched movies. Her antics at night made me laugh so much that I called it my "good for the soul" time. She made sure I never went to bed upset.

I took Stryker in knowing full well she'd be a lot of work. I knew she needed to learn a lot of skills in order to be ready for a new home and I knew that somehow, I'd be up for the challenge. What I couldn't have expected is how much of an impact this black and tan beauty would have on me. "I love this German Shepherd, I still don't love German Shepherds."

Some come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever, the same.

--Flavia Weedn

Adios Chica Bonita

Stryker left for her new home today. 

Have a wonderful life, you crazy beautiful shepherd!

Love,

The Foster-Food-Lady

Exercise Pens Are Wonderful

Stryker has outgrown the "extra large" plastic crate for the most part but it is the largest one I have so we make do. Lately she's been more agitated in her crate at home than I would expect. The more I thought about it today the more I went "duh!" She's been in her crate a lot, she doesn't have any room to stretch out, and she's only been getting out of crate time for an hour or so a couple times a night. (My poor creatures just can't take much of her outrageous enthusiasm for life, so it's not fair to anyone if she's out a lot and I can't manage the situation completely.)

Tonight I hauled the exercise pen up from the basement, set it up in the living room, put her favorite chewies as well as dinner in food toys in there. She was SO MUCH HAPPIER (and quieter than she's been in days). She was able to stretch out, chew on a cow hoof, her bone, her kong, empty the food toys of dinner, and oh... yeah... stretch out while doing so! When I took her out for last pee and asked her to go into her crate again, she was more than willing and settled right in.

Duh!

Watching Dexter.

She is still here tonight. She seemed to show the prospective family her worst and best sides in a matter of 45 minutes! They're going to think about it and sleep on it for a couple nights.

 

She was a HUGE flirt with Dexter!

It was great to watch the two GSDs play together! For once, Stryker ended up covered in as much drool as the other dog after a playdate! Dexter makes Stryker look like a midget even though she measured in a 24" and 63# at work this week!

Stay... what?

Normally I'd say Stryker's lack of understanding regarding the cue "stay" is me being lazy. However, I have a reasonable explanation this time. Stryker came into rescue with one very reliable behavior, "sit." It has continued to be her most reliable behavior and it vies with "platz" as her default behavior at this point. My number one goal when she came into rescue was to teach her to think. I wanted her to think about her surroundings and how she could control them.

From there we learned how to shape things together. I learned how to work with a new dog and she learned how to think. One of her favorite behavior chains is "rise/jump/bottom" (front feet/all 4 feet/rear feet) using a pedestal. She's done it on the fitpaws peanut, the hatbox, and a large plastic storage container. I needed to get a picture of her last night and knowing that "stay" is not reliable enough for me to step away, I cued a behavior that has a long history of reinforcement for duration.

"Rise" while sporting a ThunderShirt.

All this is to say that "stay" hasn't been very high on my priority list. I'm okay with that and feel justified explaining that to her potential new owners. Instead, she has the skill set to watch a toy being thrown and offer a sit or down in order to be released to chase it.

She has a default sit in her crate until released. 

She will offer a sit and wait for water/food bowls to be set down. 

She's able to be tethered to a human while walking and stick pretty close to the left side. 

She'll put her nose into her gentle leader.

She can relax in her crate and out of it.

And, she's learning to pick up a toy when greeting someone, rather than chew on their arm.

Tim much appreciates the toy in her mouth!

Stryker has someone coming to meet her tomorrow, if it's a good match for everyone involved... this could be her last night here. If it's not a good match for everyone, she'll have interacted with two people and their current German Shepherd, and I'll have more information about new/improved/more reliable skills she needs for her home.

I'm pretty sure her tail continues to grow...

Work

Most of the readers of this blog know me personally and have likely met Stryker. If you do not fall into this category, however, here's a little bit more about her life currently.

I work as a veterinary technician, typically 4 days a week. Stryker usually comes with me at least 3 days because then I make time to work with her. I can fit in a training session before work, at least one on my lunch hour, and more often than not we go on a public outing after work. Lately she's been getting playtime with one of my bosses young labs at lunch. I was a good trainer and didn't even substitute that for a training session today (I brought my camera with us outside only to realize my battery was still on the charger, whoops).

When I first started bringing her to work, I'm pretty sure my co-workers were ready to kill me. She was noisy, she beat her crate door, and oh yeah-she was noisy. I've always left her with an assortment of toys, chews, and treats. In the beginning she didn't know what food toys really were so they were often left untouched by lunch time. I brought them out with us at lunch and she started to enjoy the food toys in my presence. She's quite good at food toys by now and they're worked on immediately!

I've been changing the location of her crate somewhat lately, usually rotating between two spots as well as giving her some time in an outside run if the kennel dogs are inside. While it's added to the initial barking if a dog walks by, she's still settling pretty quickly after the episode. 98% of the time people can walk by without much more than a tail wag, a huge improvement over 0% of the time in the beginning (I assume she hoped each and every person walking through would release her).

She noticed another of my bosses dogs, Cappy, on the other side of the gate.

All this is to say that all but one of my co-workers were able to be in the break room, eat lunch, watch tv, and socialize without Stryker uttering a single noise. One even commented... "I had no idea there was a dog back here!"

She'd just met Cappy through the baby gate!

After her play session with Crow, she accidentally met one of the other Labs, as well as the Greyhound. (Due to the gate below being open. Thankfully both of those dogs are incredibly low-key about meeting other dogs and are Good Dogs in general.)

Ram is really good at sleeping. He's also got wonderful dog-dog skills.

Not-so-little Stryker was wonderful and wanted to keep playing with everyone. Today is the first day I asked for impulse control exercises during play. There was some initial vocalizing (whines) but she quickly learned the faster she sits and offers eye contact, the faster she gets to go play again.

She slept well the rest of the afternoon and we even visited Tractor Supply tonight on the way home from work. This is the first time I've taken her out in a store and she was absolutely thrilled by all the sights/sounds/smells. She was incredibly confused by the giant broom a worker was pushing so we watched it together and "talked" our way through it. She never stopped eating, she always turned to me after the click, and never went over the top trying to get people to pet her.

She should be tired, but she's not... :)

I AM the cute!

Fetch

(I'm posting out of focus pictures... ohnoes! I did NOT have my camera settings right tonight... I'll have to work on that some more!)

Tonight we took fetch "on the road!" She came into rescue understanding the "chase after it" but not the "bring it back so it can be thrown again" part. It's been a work in progress, a successful work in progress.

I started by shaping a retrieve. We either use a hunting-dog bumper or the wonderfully PINK Planet Dog "Fetch!" ball. Tonight's outside session was the ball, as she seems to enjoy the erratic bouncing of that more.

Camera Fail. Puppy Win.

She's been wearing her Gentle Leader while we do exciting things more often because I want to continue the "THIS MEANS FUN" associations. She's usually quite good about wearing it these days. That's why she's got a gentle leader, collar, and a Sure-Fit Harness (with long line attached) on at the same time.

The most important fetch rule is that she must be lying down before I throw it, and it must be an offered "platz" (lie down from a stand, not from a sit). She doesn't always get it right...

You throw ball now?

Sorry pumpkin, let's move over here...

Oh, right, you throw ball NOW!

Good girl!

I have a ball!

Fetch tonight was mostly a success. We still had some errors (they're mostly dropping the ball on the way back to me) but the successes were great! If she made it back to me with the ball, every one was a delivery to hand!

Silly puppy on leaf patrol!

Not Corporal Cuddling?

It's not corporal cuddling if she initiates it, right?

For the last week or so when everyone else is in bed, Stryker comes out of her crate for 30-45 minutes. We usually do some training and then settle in for some good computer time (for me) and bone chewing (for her). If I grab my computer and sit on the floor, she'll come over and want to be pet. Sometimes she'll bring me a toy and we'll play for a bit, sometimes she just chews on a toy while we sit, and sometimes she chews on a bone (it's really funny to watch her get into chewing a bone... sometimes her tail starts to move with the gnawing of her teeth, I often laugh at her and she rarely notices my laughing... must be a darn good bone).

Tonight was much the same with a little less playing since this weekend was so eventful. I got up to get my camera for photographic proof and she followed me, but settled right in again with her bone when we got back. She doesn't always lay right next to me, but she often will at some point or another. She's very much a mover, even while chewing on her bone... there is no 'right spot' that she'll stay in for more than 5-7 minutes at a time.

She's most excellent about sharing her high value goodies with me. I traded her for everything in the beginning, not wanting to create a problem, and now I rarely reinforce with anything other than giving it back most times.

This outtake made the cut due to hilarity!

We now return to our regularly scheduled bone time, then bedtime!

Training Thursday

One of my great friends and an admirer of Stryker does Training Tuesday with her dog, rather than directly copy her, we're going to do Training Thursday!

Stryker played with one of my bosses young labs today. I did the meet and greet just how SaraB showed me; distract her and present the other dog without Stryker being able to see ahead of time. Crow and Stryker circled each other for a while, sniffing and leaping around then they settled down to business racing around the yard! Crow was quite a bit better at taking sharp corners at a high speed than Stryker and I heard some frustrated whining from coming from the black and tan one when she just wasn't fast enough to keep up! I continue to be so pleased with her play style and social skills if she isn't given time to think about the situation.

There was some actual training tonight... just no new pictures or videos!

Fetch. 

Tonight was her third session with a shaped retrieve. The set up is a hallway, reinforcer is kibbles (dinner), and I got multiple correct reps! The only criteria right now are 1) pick the ball up, and 2) keep bringing it to me until I click. The next step will be to change the toy (we're using a fabulous Planet Dog mint-scented/flavored ball) and continue to build the "deliver to hand" component.

I introduced coming to heel position without the pedestal and we continued to work on pivoting/heel position with attention on the pedestal.

New Experiences

I make it a point to get her out in a new place at least 3-4 times a week. Last night we visited by boyfriend in the city and while she's been there multiple times, and even walked in the dark (and rain) before, we built upon that and went for a jog. She is a baby so we didn't go for very long but she ran alongside me like a pro, like we'd actually done that before. It was dark, it was raining, she was leashed to my waist with her gentle leader and she never once had a reaction involving vocalizations. We saw a cat and a bunny move quickly across the street. She chose to sit and watch, never lunged, and was easily called away to continue jogging. After we walked to cool ourselves I gave her some water and put her up for about an hour. When I took her out to feed her, she greeted a friend so appropriately with no management from me I was in awe! She walked up to him casually, nuzzled his hand, and enjoyed some petting. She'd never met him before! Reactions to new people usually involve whining, leaping, and other crazy happy dog behaviors.

She was a GOOD dog last night. A very good dog.

She's a puppy.

We trained today, we always train to some degree. I even have video of training, but I was so happy watching her be a puppy today. She interacts with my dogs quite regularly now. They don't play with her, but the three of them can definitely co-exist.

She makes me laugh on a daily basis. The video is of Stryker, being a normal puppy. Enjoy!

Corporal Cuddling

A friend coined the term long ago and it's stuck. Stryker came into rescue not being too fond of restraint or "relaxing" near a human (not doing anything, or in her words "boring!"). It's something a good training friend recommended we work on. Physical contact needs to be a positive experience and she should be able to relax without doing something, even if just for short periods of time.

Tonight she brought her huge stuffed cat over to me to play with, so we played for about 10 minutes then we worked on cuddling. I've worked on pairing touch with food and toys. When we play tug, I put my hands all over her: face/legs/nose/ears/chest/etc. and at first she would release her tug when I touched her, now she holds on and gets more excited! As concerned as I was about creating a "fake" relaxation, I've shaped her to lie down and put her head down if I'm sitting on a chair as well.

After our play session I asked her for a down and started slowly massaging her body. She actually leaned into me and seemed to want more. Overall I'd say we sat on the floor together for about 10 minutes. She never "asked" for more attention, but she also didn't try to get up and leave (unless there was something exciting going on, like a cat walking by). This is the first time she's relaxed with me. I didn't even have to resort to sitting on her! (If anyone reading this thinks I'd seriously sit on her... I promise I wouldn't... I don't think!)

Corporal cuddling tonight was a success. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Sleep Over

I went out of town Saturday into today so Stryker stayed with a friend of mine! I think experiences like these can be great for dogs. She got to frolic with a Great Dane and hang out with some people she met once a couple weeks ago. She was no more excited to see me today than she is when I get home from work. I think she thoroughly enjoyed having another dog to roughhouse with!

Sara managed to get some wonderful pictures of her!

(Both photos courtesy of SaraB.)

Pedestal Video

(Apparently some of the words in the video are above the frame... sorry!)

Pedestal/Pivot

I brought out my trusty hat box soon after I picked Stryker up almost two weeks ago. I successfully taught her to punch it with one foot in a matter of 5 clicks. Hrmph. Brilliant puppy, poor training plan!

I put it away and focused on other tasks for a while. After talking with my great training friend, Kristen, I developed a new training plan.

Tonight I got both feet on the hat box within 10 clicks. I was even able to c/t and return my left hand to my side while she kept her eyes on me. It was just for a split second but I was so proud! We'll have a couple more sessions to build the eye contact in position before I start looking for movement of the rear feet.


Srs puppeh is srs!

Tethering

When I picked Stryker up from her other foster home, I was alerted to the fact that she likes to chase the vacuum. Adorable when the puppy is about 20#, not so adorable for a 60# puppy! Andrea had luck with throwing treats in between vacuum movements. I have had luck with this, as well as crating her, but I also thought tethering her to me might work. Today I tested that theory.

While she wasn't so keen on having to follow me around the house, she learned pretty quickly she couldn't go too far. I vacuum with my right hand, so keeping her on the left was easiest.

(Yes, the vacuum is on, but who wants to listen to that... and she does have minorly sad ears but I wouldn't call her overly stressed by the experience.)

She didn't try to eat the vacuum a single time, and she's working on her LLW skills at the same time! 

Tethering also gives me enough hands to work with her on walking through the doorway with a person, rather than sit/wait/RUN/sit. I'd like her to sit, walk through, reorient, then continue walking.

As I type, she's still tethered. We've been moving around the house like this today. Rewarding with pet/praise/food for appropriate behaviors. Reward based on level of difficulty. We practice sits and downs, chewing on bones while I do dishes, going in and out of doorways... and letting the cats walk by without giving chase.

She's a brilliant puppy.

kennel

Sorry the video is so dark, I didn't realize I was blocking ALL he light where I was standing!

A New Food Toy!

Tugging

Another video of the puppy!

30 Minutes

I left my house at 6:15 tonight on a mission. I packed the puppy, some wonderful treats, her gentle leader, and a clicker. We went into "town" (relative, as the town I live in has about 650 people) and did some serious work. As I parked, two people started walking towards the car with dogs. I body blocked from outside the car but she had already seen and was vocalizing. I thought about turning around to head home at that point but decided to wait it out. She settled soon after the dogs had passed and I was able to get her out of the car alert, and ready to work.

We walked by a mini schnauzer in a yard, with just a road length between us. I didn't plan on this happening but she was absolutely wonderful. Rather than my previous thoughts of "if we just move quickly it'll be okay," I stopped and let her look. There was no vocalizing and she was turning to eat after the 4th or 5th click (I put the food under her chin at first). When she started breaking her gaze to make eye contact with me, I told her how brilliant she is and we moved on, c/t the whole way. She did glance over to the dog a few times, but she continued to move and worked nicely!

As we were walking down another side street, a golden retriever (on a flexi...) walked about a block away from us. She alerted with her ears but reoriented after the click every. single. time.

Our once around the block walk took about 20 minutes but we got some brilliant work in!

My mission is to get out with her at least 3-4 times/week. If we can have more situations like today, we'll keep making GREAT progress!

I pulled into the driveway at 6:45, fed her dinner and now she's resting. Being a good dog is hard work!

Crate & Door Manners

We worked on 3 skills today.

1) Crate-Today I added distance to her "you must sit and wait for the release to leave." Previously I worked on duration standing directly in front of her crate. Very successful with multiple repetitions over 2 sessions. (I need to collect data, I really do.) She left early on two trials, I body blocked and she returned to her crate. That in itself is a big improvement!

2) Doorways-walking through with my back to her. I have previously walked backwards or sideways to exit a doorway, so I can keep my eye on her. We practice this on 2 inside doorways and 1 outside doorway. 

3) Doorways-reorienting after exiting the doorway. She has a tendency to be a freight train when released from a stationary position. I like enthusiasm, but there are some times it's just nice to have a controlled behavior chain. I cued sit as soon as she exited the doorway. She sat promptly on all 4 trials tonight.