Joining a Dogs World

As I progress through my masters program, I realize more and more how some of the concepts of therapy can be applied to animal behavior as well as people. When you enter into therapy for the first time, there is a process called joining. The therapist conducts their initial assessment, asking questions about what has brought the person or family into therapy and a series of other questions that gives the therapist a view into the client’s world. Having a positive and trusting relationship is critical to the therapeutic process-without it, change will not happen. Joining involves taking an interest in the client/family, understanding their beliefs, values and perspectives and essentially becoming a part of their family system in order to guide the change that they are seeking. Trust is in integral component of the therapeutic relationship.

Not all people seek therapy out of their own free will, some are court ordered, referred by social services or perhaps desperate parents seek the help of a professional for their child. So, what does this have to do with animals???? I’m getting to that, I promise!- I have previously talked about all the animals waiting in shelters to be adopted and how a lot of them have come from abuse or neglect situations, each has its own story for how it ended up in a shelter, each comes with emotional baggage but unlike people, animals cannot tell us what they have experienced or how it influences their everyday behavior.

When I’m pet sitting, I spend time with lots of different dogs, pure breeds, mixed breeds, shelter dogs- ALL kinds of pups! Thanksgiving week I spent some time with some very special fur babies; one particular dog had a rough start to life before she was adopted into a great family! When I had my initial consultation, her owner’s shared with me that she had been abused by her past owner and while she is absolutely loveable, adorable and a happy dog, her previous experiences still haunt her when faced with certain situations. I knew I might be in for a challenge…

My first visit entailed me getting barked at for at least 30 minutes straight! She clearly was sending me a message that said- “I’m not comfortable with you being here in my space!” I spent a lot of time during that 1^st visit trying to calm her down as she acclimated to me being in there home and for a moment I was really concerned that my presence was going to be too stressful for her. That’s when it occurred to me that I needed to apply the joining techniques of psychotherapy to building a relationship with her. She was like that defiant teenager sitting in therapy, huddled in the corner of the sofa, not wanting to make eye contact and certainly not trusting me or the process! Sometimes, animals are no different. It took some time- and a lot of patience but we made great progress by the end of the week.

I don’t think I will ever understand animal cruelty but what I do know is that animals who have suffered at the hands of abusers deserve a second chance in a loving home where they can live out their lives- surrounded with love. It takes a special family to have the patience, compassion and understanding that an abused dog needs in order to build trusting relationships again and overcome some of their fear. I am proud to work with such families and hope that I will be able to continue building positive and trusting relationships with these amazing pets!

I would like to dedicate this blog to “Jenna”, she lived a very full and rich life with her family but was called home this week. I was lucky to spend a brief time getting to know this sweet girl. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. 

Reaching Out To Those In Need

I have been working on something new and exciting the past couple weeks-I'm really still in the research stage of it but I'm ready to dive in! One of the things on my Bucket List (right above learning how to growl) is to earn a degree in the field of counseling. So, in addition to pet sitting, I am working towards my MS in Marriage and Family Therapy. I have been going back and forth about how to incorporate my absolute love for dogs with my passion for helping others- and there it was-the answer, sitting right in a comment line on our GSD breeders Facebook fan page! (See Facebook really can serve a purpose other than sucking up time that one can never get back!) Thanks to a fans comment about her GSD, I was lead to the Therapy Dogs International website which ironically is based out of the town I grew up in 500 miles away from here!

There has been plenty of evidence compiled over the years linking pet ownership to reduced stress, lowered blood pressure, increased socialization and overall better health- ask any pet owner and I'm sure they will agree-there is something about coming home after a stressful day to a wagging tail and puppy kisses that melts all the bad stuff away or the sense of calm that comes over you as you  listen to your cat purr because she is so happy you're home to pet her!

Why not share that feeling with those in need! Everyone should know the love of a pet at least once in their lifetime. Animal Assisted Therapy(AAT) and Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) programs have made such a difference in the lives of children, older adults, war veterans, victims of domestic violence, and so many more. The presence of a therapy dog has been known to encourage individual's in physical therapy, lift the spirits of folks in nursing homes, build trust between a therapist and client and give a child the courage to speak out.

I know how much love and joy my dogs bring to my life and I have no doubt that they will do the same for others so I am sure you can imagine how thrilled I was last week after meeting with my dog trainer and she told me that both of my pups would be great therapy dogs and she is happy to work with me to get one or both of them ready to be evaluated as a therapy dog next year! I am really excited about this- and for lots of reasons- but mostly because it's time to start giving back to the community and reaching out to those in need!

Volunteering is a great way to give back and it doesn't have to require a huge time commitment. There are tons of great organizations out there that desperately need people to lend a hand-even if one hour a week is all you have-I promise it can make a difference in somebody's life. If you don't know where to go, there are great sites such as volunteermatch.org that can help you get started.

Let Me Hear You Growl

So, I learned how to growl this past weekend-I know, quite an accomplishment! I can cross that one off my Bucket List! Seriously though, I never would have thought growling could be such an art. Purring, now that comes more natural but the growl-and not just any growl- an Alpha Dog growl- it comes from a place deep within!

Let's see if I can stop laughing at myself long enough to write this.....

I've had dogs my whole life and have always had a great relationship with them. Now I've got 2 puppies...I use the term puppies loosely here- one is 9 months old, the other 8 months and combined they weigh a whole lot more than me! Somewhere over the past month or so, I got booted from the alpha dog position in the pack. It wasn't an obvious shift in authority, there was no big meeting where they gently let me down and I walked away with my tail between my legs....no, this was a gradual-yet well planned demotion on their part.

It all started with that gentle placing of a paw on my knee or the nudge from a wet nose saying "pet me please" or perhaps it was the ringing of the bell to let me know they needed to go outside. Maybe it was the countless times they rolled unto their backs when I walked by wagging their tails so I would stop and give them a belly rub...perhaps I will never know where it began but I can tell you where it ended...

These pups are super smart! They learn so quickly and picked up on the basic obedience skills right away but then I hit this roadblock in their training so I called in a dog behavioral specialist/trainer this past weekend. That's when the light bulb went on and I figured out just how smart these 2 are! Turns out that they are experts in training humans! Go figure! As the trainer is going down the list of behaviors such as, when you open the door to go outside, who goes first, you or the dogs? Who goes down the stairs first, you or the dogs? When they nudge your arm, do you instantly pet them? When the dog rings the bell to go outside and you let him out just to have him bark to come back in a few seconds later...how many times do you actually get up and keep letting the dog out? (at this point I lowered my head in shame!)

So, apparently, the puppies have been training me to do whatever they want/need for quite some time now! When they want attention, I stop whatever I'm doing to hand out lots of love, when they want to make sure I know what to do when they ring the bell, they ring it over and over while I practice opening and closing the door, when they want to play catch or Frisbee and they pile all the Frisbees and tennis balls up under the tree instead of bringing them back to me, I walk over and gather them all up for the next round...I could keep going but I will spare myself further embarrassment! I quickly realized that they no longer viewed me as having leader qualities and they were prepping themselves to take over the alpha position. Before anymore work could be done, I needed to gain back their respect and take back my position as leader. That's when I learned how to growl!

Back to the trainer, there we are sitting around the kitchen table sharing stories about our pets when the trainer says-"let me hear you growl" Now for anyone reading this who knows me well enough to imagine my reaction-we're laughing together right about now! I don't want to give away all the trainers secrets...but in the end, within hours of working with my pups there was a huge difference in their behavior and I can say with confidence, I am once again the leader of this pack! My lessons learned this week..... 1. life is so much better when you can laugh at yourself,  2. it's without a doubt better when you have other people to laugh at yourself with and 3. when out in the yard with the dogs and they do something that requires a correction -next time check to make sure no neighbors are within earshot before letting out a really loud GROWL!!!

Zac Brown Band - Free (Feat. Joey & Rory) [Live]

Dog vs. Dyson

How did it get to be the middle of August already?? Life has been more hectic than usual the past few weeks with an unexpected trip to the ER, family visits, back to school shopping/events and mixed in with all that I've been busy with my business and squeezing in a couple of summer classes! Needless to say, this is the first chance I have had to sit down and blog. 

Thanks to this wonderful world of technology, I am able to keep in touch with other owners of puppies from our breeder (here comes my shameless plug) Paradise Creek German Shepherds and over the weekend I was having a funny chat about the pups and vacuums- specifically the most hilarious sound it makes when they stick their tongue in front of the pipe and it gets "slurped" up! (Yes, I AM easily entertained) I was also relieved to find out my dog was not the only one obsessed with sticking his tongue in the vacuum!

So-for your entertainment purposes (let's hope you're as easily amused as me)and my attempt to get some blogging done this week...here's is a recent video of this vacuum obsession!

"Juli" Without an 'E'

As much as I love sharing silly and fun stories about all the crazy stuff my pups do-I have a special tale to share today. I had the honor of taking care of a super sweet pup this week that has left quite the impression on me and gave me a lot to think about.

It all began when I met with her owner for an initial consultation. As I was filling out my paperwork and getting all the details I would need for the week, my client pointed to the folder where I had her dogs name written and she said, "it's Juli without an 'e'. She then shared with me a little history about Juli.

We all face challenges in our lives. We all have baggage that we carry. We all suffer hardships from time to time. Hopefully, most of us have family, friends and members of our community to help get us through these times-even if it's simply a kind word shared, a hug offered or lending a hand when we've taken on too much. We have been blessed with a voice and can use it to share our fears or excitement, to ask for help or offer help to another.

If your an animal lover like me, you have probably watched your fair share of animal rescue shows on Animal Planet. Or perhaps you have seen your local news channel's segment on this week's pet for adoption through an animal shelter. Have you ever stopped and really thought about the hardships, challenges and baggage that these shelter animals carry with them every day? What their eyes have seen, their ears have heard and their hearts have suffered from?

I learned that day that this is Juli's 3rd family in her many years of life so far! I don't know what her early life experiences were but she found her way to her second family by a husband who desperately hoped that this dog would bring some joy to his wife's world. See, his wife was not well and had struggled with her emotions for quite some time. Juli did bring lots of happiness to her and they were described as being like "peas and carrots". Inseparable thanks to the bond that only a dog and his owner know. Sadly, life's challenges were far too overwhelming for Juli's owner and she made a choice that left Juli alone in this world once again.

Juli found her forever family and couldn't be happier! (by my standards anyway!) She is surrounded with love in a home where life is happening around her with every minute of every day. She always seems to smile when you walk into the room and doesn't hesitate to lay down at your feet and roll over in hopes that she'll get a nice belly rub! Dogs are simply amazing.

Dogs don't have a voice, they can't ask for help, they can't share their feelings, they have no way of showing you what their eyes have seen in hopes that you will understand what they need- not the way we do anyway. One thing is for sure though- they will never run out of love and understanding for their human companions! If your family is ready for the unconditional love of a pet-check out petfinder.com, they have almost 350,000 pets just waiting for their forever family to bring them home!

Unfortunately, even those with a voice are not always able to use it to get the help they need and life's challenges overwhelm them. Today's blog is dedicated to a childhood friend of mine who left this world way too early this week ~ And to Juli without an 'e', for sharing your puppy world with me.

A Thief Among Us

This crazy southern weather has been doing a job on my flowers and vegetable garden this year. Usually I am overwhelmed with tomatoes by now-but not this year-so every ripe juicy tomato I pick is worth its weight in gold! In my haste to get out of the house the other day (Garden Ridge was having a huge sale ~ and I have been in search of a park bench-how could I resist?!) I left the basket of veggies I had just picked on the table, vowing to wash them when I got back.

Shopping turned into dinner...dinner turned into dessert...needless to say it was no quick trip to Garden Ridge~ though I did manage to find an awesome bench for the front porch! I had long since forgotten about the basket sitting on the table until I saw one of my puppies jump up on the table {{GASP}} and poke his big furry head into the basket! (Note to self: work on table manners with the pups) That's when I noticed something was missing. I had waited days to pick this tomato, checking it daily for just the right firmness and color~it was the perfect tomato! And now it was GONE!

I was willing to overlook this until I went back out to my garden...okay, apparently in my rush to find the perfect bench I also forgot to close the gate to my garden...and the ONLY other tomato on that plant had a big 'ol bite taken out of it!





It was time to take action and have a little "chat" with my not so sneaky dogs. I don't mind sharing veggies with them but there needs to be rules! I called them each into the interrogation ~ I mean living room, and this is how it went...

First, I questioned them about the basket. I already knew who the guilty one was but I wanted to see who would cave first!





It quickly became obvious that an alliance had formed among the new guys and I got the feeling they were well trained in how to get through an interrogation! Then I brought up the half eaten tomato on the vine left to rot ~ and that's when it all started to fall apart!




Nobody was willing to fess up to the crimes...and I'm pretty sure this isn't the last of the veggie burglar!

If by this point you're still reading this-and thinking I have way too much time on my hands...you are probably right! And I am fairly certain the only one that learned anything through all this was me... (1) always double check the latch on the gate leading into the garden and (2) next time Garden Ridge is having an awesome sale that just can't wait ~ buy the red cushions to go with the bench...

Blackberries For Breakfast

We've had some wicked storms come through here over the past couple of days. Yesterday, Mother Nature sent some tornado's our way and about 10:30 pm last night the power went out.

No power = my Blackberry didn't charge last night so I left it on the nightstand this morning-plugged in...about 30 minutes later one of my children hands me an unidentifiable object and tells me one of the pups had it. As soon as I turned it over, my mind went into search mode-scanning my memory to identify what this light purple piece of plastic went to.

That memory search took all of about 5 seconds to identify it as the back cover of my Blackberry! I sprinted upstairs-muttering a few choice words under my breath, desperately hoping that the rest of my phone was still sitting safely on the table.

No such luck! Caught him red handed (or is that red pawed) chewing on my Blackberry like it was a delicious treat! This week alone I have found my clothes, hair accessories, flip flops and now my phone in his kennel! I think I have a battle for the alpha dog position on my hands...

I learned a couple valuable lessons- the first one is that the couple $$ a month for insurance-is well worth it. New Blackberry will be here tomorrow morning. The other lesson I learned is that it's important to stay positive and have a sense of humor when things like this happen... I'm still trying to find the humor in all this...

Anyway-I am posting a couple pictures...one of the guilty culprit obviously displaying his look of shame afterward and a picture of what used to be a brand new Blackberry. The picture doesn't actually do it justice because the screen actually has tooth marks that go right through the phone and the backside is pretty much chewed up!

One Bad Bird!

I am an avid gardener. I am that neighbor that drives the rest crazy every spring and fall because I am right out there digging, composting, mulching, pruning, moving around plants to make room for new additions-and I do it with enthusiasm! I am that motivator for everyone else-though not always willingly. I have gotten used to hearing their 'sighs' as they comment that I am making them look bad! We have fun with it though -I have some great neighbors.

One of the benefits of my obsession- I mean hobby, are ALL the birds who nest in my Bradford Pear trees, grapevine and Chinese Privets. Each spring the birds get busy building their homes as close to my house as possible, after all, my yard has one of the few 5-Star restaurants known to birds in our community! Each morning countless birds wait in line on the fence for their turn to dine in my veggie garden and compost pile.

This year two Northern Mockingbird's nested in my yard. We watched these Momma's work tirelessly, carrying twigs, twine, leaves and netting up to their new homes and then we waited with anticipation to hear the sweet sounds of baby birds chirping so we could get our first glimpse at our new fuzzy friends. That's when things turned bad!

Each morning I let my two German Shepherd's out into the backyard where they run around as fast as they can, chase each other, chase some butterflies and burn up energy before coming in for breakfast. On one particular morning, I noticed that they were hovering near the door and no amount of encouragement was getting them to go play. Later that afternoon the same thing happened! I decided it was time to investigate.

I walked my yard looking for anything suspicious that would cause these two gentle giants to cower in the corner but found nothing. My being in the yard must have given the dogs courage because they quickly joined me, nudging me towards the pile of Frisbee's waiting to be thrown and that's when it happen! Out of her nest, Momma Mockingbird came swooshing down with determination and poked the dogs right in their butts! And it didn't stop there! She called out for a full assault on these poor pups and before I know it there is another Momma coming from the other angle!

This aerial assault went on every time the dogs tried to go outside. The poor things could barely get one paw off the patio and it was on in full force! Now, it did not take long for these smart pups to figure out what was going on and they must have had a secret meeting to plot their counter attack because after a day or two of this rather comical act-they figured out how to bait the birds to chase one of them-so the other could get out to the yard to "take care of business" and then they would switch places! Smart pups indeed!

Our fuzzy friends have long since left the nest...and each morning they can be seen in line on the fence waiting for their turn to pluck a juicy worm from the compost pile or pick at the ripe strawberries. As for the German Shepherd's...they are back to their old games of running around playing and barking at all the new sounds they hear, obviously content to have their space back again...that is until Momma Mockingbird does an occasional fly over just to remind them of who the real protector of the yard is!