My Dogs

My Dogs!
Aren't They Gorgeous?! :)

Etta has re-taught me everything I ever thought I knew about training dogs.
As a puppy she was brought to the veterinary hospital where I work by an
elderly man who discovered that she was way too much for him to handle. She
was, at the time named "Cocoa", which was the name of a dog that I had just
had to put to sleep. It felt like fate, so I called my fiancé and asked him to
meet me at the hospital after work. We were getting married in a few months
and our song was "At Last" by Etta James. It fit perfectly, because, WOW,
can Etta hold a note/howl! We did not realize how sad our other dog, Maggie,
was about Cocoa's passing until we saw how happy she was to have Etta
around. They are the best of friends.

Etta Continues to teach me something every day. She is a fun dog to learn
with and our current undertaking is working in Free Style and Rally Obedience.

4/12/06, tonight was my orientation for Puppy Pre-School. Maggie is always
my "demo dog", showing new puppy owners the behaviors they will learn in
class. Etta came to her first orientation and got to show off her skills! She
spent the night flirting with everyone and had a blast performing some of her
new Free Style moves!

Name: Etta James, a.k.a. "James", "Little One",
"Super Fly Jimmy Snooka" (that one came from Chris,
don't ask!), and "Monkey".
Breed: She is at least part Blue Tick Hound, the
rest is Whippet and ??? She has a curly tail, we have
no idea where it came from! She is my good old
American Who Knows What!
Color: Brindle
Date of Birth: November 15th, 2002
Biggest thrill in Life: Eating, sleeping, finding sunny
spots to sleep in.
Dislikes: Loud noises and cloudy days.
Favorite Toy: Anything that holds food in it or
moves. Once it stops or is empty, it is not
interesting anymore!

Best Trick: "That Was Easy" - Etta loves to use her "Easy Button" from
Staples!
Training Goals: Expanding on her Freestyle behaviors, she knows spin, Hi Ho,
and bow, we are working on weaving through my legs as I walk.

Lately Etta has been working very hard helping "reactive dogs" become
comfortable being around other dogs. Etta seems to have a real skill for this,
I attribute this ability of hers to living with Maggie, who is uncomfortable
around any dog except Etta. It seems that Etta just somehow knows how to
read their signals and is able to help them read hers. When working with
these scared dogs, Etta sits or lies down quietly by my side while we are
standing and talking, then she walks nicely by my side when we move onto the
walking exercises. Etta's strong points are her lack of reactivity if the dog
does happen to react and the way she tells me information about the dog.
There will come a time in our walking that Etta will suddenly refuse to move
any closer to the dog. I unknowingly made her move closer twice and the dog
reacted. All of a sudden in dawned on me (stupid human!) that Etta saw that
the she was too close the dog for it's comfort. I have since learned to listen
to my dog!

Name: Maggie, a.k.a. "Pie", "Mag-Pie", "Pie-Dogger"
Breed: Labrador Retriever
Color: Yellow
Date Of Birth: January 31st, 2001
Dislikes: Baths and people who do not freely give her cookies!
Best Trick: "Get a Manicure", Maggie offers her paw for nail trims.
So much nicer than wrestling for a basic need!
Favorite Toy: Kongs, Frisbees, Tug Toys, Tennis Balls, Anything!

Training Goals: Maggie is a very Type A personality! We are working
on getting her to relax and have more fun with her behavior. There is
more to life than perfect heeling and staying!

Maggie is our "First Born". Chris and I got her early on in our
relationship. We drove over three hours deep into Vermont to go get
her! :)

Having never had a dog, Chris let her do all of the things that I
gasped at and said he couldn't do! Despite the fact that she was
supposed to be mine, she is all his girl! She has been a wonderful dog
for him to learn with. She is sweet and smart and so very forgiving
for any mistakes anyone might make while training her! Maggie and
Chris are the best of friends, and it is so cool to watch the
relationship they have in action.

Maggie is typically my "demo dog" for puppy class orientation night.
She shows all of the new puppy owners what they can accomplish. She
absolutely loves coming to class and meeting everyone, especially if
there are children there. Maggie loves everyone, but she adores
children.

Maggie was enrolled in a puppy class shortly after we got her. I
signed her up so that Chris could get a feel for what it was like to
train a dog. I learned a lot in that class, sadly it was what not to
do. Chris and I had decided to take turns each week handling Maggie
in class. The instructor was so mean to Chris that he begged me each
week to work Maggie and he promised that he would do the work at
home. She was more like a drill sargent than a puppy class
instructor. I also learned how important it was to speak up for my
dog. The instructor asked to use Maggie in a demo one class. I said
yes, not questioning the instructor. She sprinkled food on the floor
and waited for my 10 week old puppy to go for it. At that time she
ripped back on Maggie's leash and screamed "NO" at her. The rest
of the class Maggie would tremble if she heard the word no. In a
way, Maggie is also greatly responsible for me teaching the way I do.
I feel bad that she had to go through that class, and I am lucky that
she is such a great resilient dog.

Through positive training, Maggie has learned many tricks. At
orientation night she often performs her heel work, staying while I
leave the room, speak, whisper, sit up, high five, wave, stand, back up,
play dead, crawl, roll over, and my personal favorite, get a manicure.
Get a manicure involves Maggie sitting and offering her paw to have
her nails trimmed. Not only is it a cute behavior, it makes trimming
nails a breeze!

Maggie is a complete flirt and feels the need to climb in the laps of
everyone who attends "Puppy Pre-School"! No one leaves without a
Maggie kiss. We joke that Maggie misunderstood her breed, she is
not a "Lab", but a "Lap".

Every year Maggie has a great time visiting pre-school and
kindergarten children. Maggie goes there to teach the children about
safety in approaching dogs. She also had a great time showing off her
tricks and being loved on by all of the little children!

Me and my girls on July 4th, 2007 at the
Hopkinton Everett Dam after a day of swimming!

08/26/08: Our newest endeavour is learning agility! For the last few months
we have been taking classes and having so much fun! Etta is a pretty lazy dog
but when she gets on course her eyes just light up and she comes alive! Etta
is one of the oldest dogs in class and it is pretty cool to see an older dog
learn a new trick.

Puppy, Please! Dog Training, LLC ~ www.puppyplease.com ~ (603)261-9283