A Happy Camper

So, we're still a work in progress as far as Vespa's training goes. The barking at home has completely stopped, unless a neighborhood dog walks past her window. But even then, our "VESPA, LEAVE IT!" command works pretty darn well.

I say that we're still a work in progress mainly because of her leash walking aggression. This little 5-6 pound pup thinks the world must submit to her hollering and screaming, just because she says so. I've reduced myself to using an emptied-out contact lens solution bottle as a water squirt bottle on our walks when she starts bubbling up (you remember, the whole "Buh... buh... BAAAAAA!" ordeal). It's perfect for aiming a skinny stream of water right at her, and it definitely grabs her attention when she starts getting out ahead of me or tugging on the leash.

As another approach to taking these serious aggression issues head-on, Carlton and I recently decided that introducing her to groups of dogs might be a positive experience, as well as a great behavior recovery tool. When I was shopping around for pupsitting options for while we're on our cruise vacation with the families, I took a tour of a nearby doggy day camp playground business near Vespa's groomers. Her fantastic groomer Naiomi recommended the place for days that we might have lots of company over (ha! yeah, right), or to get her a bit more exercise, or to let her play with other pup friends while we're at work all day long. Camp Bow Wow requires updated shots (a bad Monday experience for Vespa which turned into a pitiful Tuesday experience for her and me). They also offer a free first day, which they call her "interview day" because they introduce her first to one dog... if they get along okay, they bring in another dog with a different temperament... if that works out alright, she's good to go into the pup club with the rest of the group.

Well, as it turned out, Vespa finally healed from a couple painful and sickening vaccines by Thursday morning when we woke up, and I decided to take her in this morning for her official Interview Day. She and Sadie Sweetheart (yes, they caller her Sadie Sweetheart and I absolutely loved it!), a poodle/shih-tzu/maltese mix got along like the best of girlfriends would. Then Jake, a Chihuahua/mut mix, was introduced. Uh-uh, Momma! Vespa did NOT like the fact that Jake ran into the room and jumped on her face and pounced on her from the left, knocking her down. But once Jake's excitement subsided and Vespa could warm up to him on her terms (slowly and with great caution), things went smoothly. The rest of her stay (she was there from about 8:15 until 2:30) went very well, and we could even check in on her from our home computer via their conveniently-placed web cam in their "Small Dog Indoor" view. I took a couple still views so you could see her "rollin' and patrollin' " activities!

There were actually up to 12-15 small-medium sized dogs in this group, but when I sat to take these still frames, many of them were out for their hour-long lunch breaks. She looks like she might be a little lonely, but I assure you, there was plenty of pup romping and trotting all morning long! And, yes, from what I could tell, she was the itty-bittiest of them all and she held her own quite well with no aggressive behavior whatsoever! Also, when I took these four frames within about a minute of each other, their pupervisors were either in the outdoor area (where the bright light is coming from in the very foreground) or bringing/taking a dog to/from a kennel for lunchtime. They are 100% supervised all day long, which is a total relief in case something does come up.

Here are Vespa's notes about her first day at Camp Bow Wow from the owner herself!


Vespa came in the door, immediately drank about 10 gallons of water, ate a few bites of food, and hasn't lifted her head off the sofa cushion since. This was definitely a great day of playful exercise and fun interaction!

Graduation Day!

Well, we got the thumbs-up... Vespa earned her graduation cap and diploma! We have worked hard to teach her many commands, and she can perform redily and with enthusiasm! She has advanced with flying colors when approaching dogs--although, we are still working on this point on a very daily basis. Here's a picture of us at the end of her last training course:

Uh-oh, another blink from the camera's flash. Can't have that as the official graduate photo!:

Proud Momma and Puppa!

Knitting and Committing

I've been working extra hard and extra quick to make sure I finished one thing that I reeee-hee-heeally want to make a tradition of: knitting stockings each year for the fireplace mantle. I started learning the process of "knitting in-the-round" last year before Christmas, but just couldn't wrap my brain around it. It finally stuck this year. I have just finished both mine and Carlton's, and I am sooooo proud of myself! I am now working on a miniature striped version for Vespa. Here are the results!!!




Since our embarrassing trip to PetSmart, there have been one or two other "situations" with Vespa that finally convinced Carlton that we needed to enroll Vespa in a doggie training class. (I had wanted this since the PetSmart situation, but Carlton convinced me that we could work on it ourselves, until he took her for a walk and she encountered the next door golden retriever. Then he was ready to make a small investment in training/rehabilitation classes.)

Vespa was enrolled in a group class that was supposed to start Wednesday night at 6:30. Before bringing her into the store for class, I called to check and see if I needed to bring in anything at all: a certain leash, treats, etc. Turns out, due to the holidays, Vespa was the only pup enrolled in her class. The instructor and I talked for about an hour over the phone, and she talked me in to private lessons... with Vespa enrolled in the "class," she was limited to a specific curriculum, one which she wasn't really in need of. By enrolling in private classes, the instructor can work with both of us on her specific needs, and teach me how to handle her when she starts to get out of control. Unfortunately, Vespa didn't ever get out of control last night, so Trainer Lana, who uses the exact techniques as Cesar the Dog Whisperer, didn't get to experience the horror... or correct it. I did learn lots of great techniques and a few sure-fire commands that Vespa is very responsive to. Leash walking and encounters with other dogs in the store went well over all! She was very shy and submissive, and didn't really want to be anywhere except under my feet. We'll work on that! I'm totally, 100% committed to making this work. She's going to be chill and proud of herself in no time!

Vespa, come. Vespa, sit. Vespa, stay.

One or two nights ago, Carlton decided it would be a good idea to take Vespa's collar off and let her chew on it for a few minutes. I don't know about you other dog lovers, but one of Vespa's most cherished and rare toys is a fresh-from-round-the-neck collar. There's something special about it. She can hardly sit still while you're taking it off her neck! It wasn't five minutes after she had the collar as a chew toy that she bit the plastic buckle in half. It was one of my favorite two collars of hers! And it was ruined. It was all pretty, with green and purple paisley and everything, and now it's all busted.

A little while after Carlton got home from work tonight, we took a trip to PetSmart. The last thing Carlton ever wants to do when he gets home from work is go right back out for errands, but he felt guilty about the collar situation so he agreed to go. Carlton decided that Vespa should have a "Thanksgiving" collar, so I picked out something festive for fall. She'll probably get another special Christmas collar for her birthday on December 2nd, too.

Now, let me preface this by saying that Vespa has been a bit "barkey" lately... meaning, she barks at anyone or any animal that walks down her street in her neighborhood past her window. She barks through the cinderblock fence at neighbors who are cleaning out their pools, grilling dinner, or any other typical neighborly back yard behavior. It has been frustrating me to the point of keeping the door closed, which I hate because she also loves to just lie down in the sunshine and chew on a raw hide. I'm afraid that we are turning into those neighbors with that dog in the back yard. When we were growing up on Remington Drive, my dad named our across-the-street neighbor "Dumb Donny" and his dog "Stupid Sam." Granted, Vespa doesn't hump other girl dogs, but she is starting to bark at everything!

So, back to the PetSmart story. We took Vespa with us just because... that's... what you do when you go to PetSmart. You take your dog with you. In we go. Of course, I was nervous taking her because of how barkey she's been. And I should have been. Walking in was pretty successful. Finding the collar aisle was successful. And picking out a collar was successful for the first minute or so. There was some sort of dog training class in the back of the store, and there was a lot of barking and dog traffic in the store. She started bubbling up.

"Buh."

"Buh."

"Raaah!"

Then she started this new thing she's been testing out at home from the window that looks out at the neighborhood. It's not a howl. It's not a bark. It's a freakin scream!!! She began echoing throughout the entire store, and it sounded like we were stomping on her tiny little puppy feet and kicking her and she was being run over by a truck all at the same time! It was so terrible! A lady walked by with a basket of dog chew toys and looked at us like we were crazy. I gave the hastily-selected orange collar to Carlton to check out at the front counter while I tried to get screaming Vespa out the door without walking past too many more dogs. And, of course, because there was a dog training class going on right then, there were about 4 dogs at the door practicing "sit" and "stay" with distractions all around. Distractions like Vespa, the screamer pup. I mean, the screams were piercing!!!

I got her outside and she started to calm down until she saw a dog in the distance taking a giant poo. And then another dog came out of the store, and she screamed some more. Scream, scream, scream!!! I was sooooo angry. Where did this behavior come from? It's terrible! Carlton came out of the store and we made our way to the car as quickly as we could. Still screaming once we're in the car. Dog still taking a giant poo. Other dogs getting into and out of their cars. It was a nightmare!!!

This was it. I'd had it. As soon as we got home I started looking up ways to train your dog. Tonight, Carlton and I decided to begin with the basics. "Vespa, come." "Vespa, sit." At first, she totally got angry at us. Since I always talk for Vespa at home, I'll translate for you exactly what she was saying to us: "You want me to do something for that cheese stick? I don't have to please you to get food. Are you kidding me???" With a few other choice words here and there, that's pretty much a summary of what she was saying. And as she said that through frustrated bubbling and little growls, she hopped, ran, and bounced around the room. I would hold out the cheese and she would come in for it until I gave her a command. That's when the tantrums started.

Eventually, with Carlton (the dominant male of the pack) by my side, we were able to calm her down and beat her into submission. No, just kidding, we got her calmed down by talking very quietly and gently. And with a peace offering of cheese. Once the "come" command was sticking, we re-taught the "sit" command. Yeah, we are starting all over. She hasn't been "sitting" for us like she should in order to remember the action associated with the command, so we started from scratch. Tomorrow we'll practice with her throughout the day (I'm off work, w00t! and Carlton is working from home, double w00t!!!) so we can get a full day of practice in. Then we'll start reteaching "stay" which she has learned from her total freak-outs when someone rings the doorbell. Barking, according to Caesar the Dog Whisperer, can be stopped/controlled once the pup is comfortable with taking other commands from us. Come, sit, stay, no bark, and we'll branch out from there. I'd like her to be able to "shake" everyone's hand when we come home for Christmas!!!

FYI: During Saunders and Katie's visit to Arizona, Katie made a valliant attempt at taking some pictures of Vespa for her blog. The crazy Vespa pictures in this post are thanks to her efforts!