Treasure's Legacy

It's taken me a week to even attempt to write this post.  My heart and my mind have struggled to find words that would even come close to describing the relationship I had with my dearest Treasure for the past eight years.  I'm not sure I will ever find the right words.

I've been blessed to share my life with a dog that has touched so many from all around the world.  I am sure I do not even know how far her legacy has reached.  She has followers and fans all over the world.  She has helped countless dogs to find new homes and to be able to stay in their homes.  She has changed lives that I may never even be aware of.  

And so, I want to share with each of you the magic and the legacy of Treasure.  I will share with you over time and many posts, about who she was and who she continues to be.  You will laugh with us and cry with us.  I hope you will come along and celebrate Treasure's life with us.

This all happened very suddenly.  One day Treasure had a heart attack, and although she appeared to recover, she was quickly diagnosed with heart and kidney failure.  What does one do with a diagnosis like that?  

I did what we all would do - I focused on how to make it all better for my precious girl.  We worked with the veterinary team to do all we could to reduce Treasure's symptoms.  I knew that her time (at age 12) was limited, but I didn't know whether I would have her for another hour, or another couple of years.  My initial fear caused me to try to focus on packing every minute full of things to do with her - a bucket list so to speak.

I quickly realized, though, that focusing on a bucket list was causing me to focus on Treasure's death.  The death that I knew was going to come one day.  I didn't want to focus on her death, so I decided instead to write a Celebration List.  Together we created a list of all the little things that we loved to do together every day.  And then I focused on celebrating all of those moments with Treasure every day, for however long we had left together.  

This shifted my focus from the fear of wondering when I was going to lose her to gratitude for every moment we had together.  This shift allowed me to have some wonderful last days with my friend full of love and remembering and celebrating each memory we had created together.

Treasure is the reason I started this blog.  When I adopted her, so many people misunderstood her as a blind and deaf dog.  They expected her to be miserable and helpless.  I wanted to show and inspire everyone that she wasn't like that at all.  I knew that if so many people thought this way, surely there were many more.  This limited thinking would surely prevent blind and deaf dogs from being adopted, so we set out to change hearts and minds.

The White Dog Blog has become a go-to resource for all things related to double merles and blind/deaf dogs.  This is all thanks to Treasure coming into my life.  We expanded the blog and wrote a book about teaching and living with dogs that are both blind and deaf, and it continues to be the only one of its kind.  Again, this would not have happened without Treasure's inspiration. 

Treasure paved the way for many blind/deaf dogs to be adopted, and to show just what they are capable of!  She loved to learn new things!  She loved nosework and learning tricks.  She was the first blind and deaf dog to earn trick dog titles!  

What an amazing therapy and READ program dog she was!  She was a superb cuddler and when people held her, she surrounded them with a gentle and radiant love, which they felt and commented on every time.  Her patience with children allowed her to teach them that it wasn't scary to be different ... or to be friends with someone who is different.

I cannot even begin to count the stories of lives she has touched and changed for the better.  Many of those stories are shared here in this blog.  I hope if you are a more recent follower of the blog that you will go back and visit some of the older posts to see some of these stories. 

My dear Treasure passed away a week ago, after blessing me with an amazing week full of special Celebration memories.  She is greatly missed.  As she left me, she surrounded me with that gentle and radiant love, which continues to sustain me and bring me comfort. 

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Christmas Crafts 2017 - Advent Doggie Wreath

We made some new items for the Humane Society Christmas Bazaar this year.  They were fun and easy to make, and came out as adorable gifts!  We'd like to share them with you in case you know of special doggies that would enjoy them!

Advent Doggie Wreath:

Cut a wreath shape out of sturdy cardboard.  I used two different sized dog bowls to trace the wreath shape to help keep the circles even all the way around.

Wrap wide ribbon evenly around the wreath shape.  I anchored the ribbon with masking tape on one end.  As you wrap, keep tension on the ribbon to keep it smooth against the wreath form.

Tie or tape the end of the ribbon at the back of the wreath once it is entirely wrapped.

With a narrow ribbon (I used a different color to make it more festive), add the dog bones.  Anchor the ribbon on the back with tape or tie it in a knot so it holds better.  Wrap it around the wreath as you did with the wider ribbon, but with each pass around, add a dog bone.  Hold tension all the way around so the bones don't fall out.  Tie it in the back of the wreath when you're done to hold them all in place.

Add a pretty bow!  Then hang it up ... out of your dog's reach!  You can help your dog to eat the treats while he/she waits for Christmas Day to come!  Ribbon is not safe for dogs, so keep the ribbons out of your dog's reach.  

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Treasure Embraces Eleven!

How did it happen that this amazing girl is 11 years old already?  I'm struck by a mixture of emotions.  I want to bring time to a screeching halt so she never gets any older and I have her with me forever.  I've only had her with me for 7 years and I want to make up those years that I didn't have her with me.  I adore her and my whole heart belongs to her - and she knows it.  I look back and I am amazed at all she has accomplished and all we have created together as a resource for others with double merles and with blind/deaf dogs.  She has been a trail blazer for so many others coming along in her path.  

She has touched so many people's lives - some in person and some from afar.  So many people know her and know of her, that I am humbled over and over again.  I go over so many moments in my heart that are etched there forever.  I see her slowing down.  I see her aging.  My mind doesn't want to comprehend that she's getting older.  

But then I put on her party hat and pulled out her favorite treat - homemade frosty snacks!  Turkey doggy ice cream with special dog treats frozen into it.  And she shows me that age is all a number in my head.  She has no concept of these things I burden myself with.  Her love of life and ice cream, the way she greets me when I come home, how she snuggles with me at bedtime and gently licks me awake in the morning, or how she puts her tiny feet on my leg to get my attention - these are the things that make my heart sing daily.  

Just looking at her brings a smile to my face and a rush of love to my heart.  She's my girl and I'm her person.  Together we are an unstoppable team.  I am so grateful that I started this blog 7 years ago when Treasure found her way into my heart and my home.  I started it as a way to share with others so they could learn along with us.  And I've created a beautiful memoir of Treasure's life and accomplishments.  I hope you take some time to go back and read some of our posts that you may not have seen before.  

Happy Birthday and Gotcha Day, my beautiful Treasure!  I raise a toast of doggy ice cream to the blessing of many more years together as friends and partners.  Love you, Sweet Pea!  

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Just Let Him Cry It Out?

“Don’t go back to him if he cries.  No matter what you do, you must ignore him if he is barking or crying.  You will spoil him.  Don’t reward his crying.  Just let him cry it out.  He will eventually stop.” 

Have you ever heard this advice?  It seems to be pretty popular advice to give someone with a new puppy. 

Trainers may argue that going back to a crying puppy and giving it attention will reinforce the crying.  While there might be some truth in that statement, I don’t think much thought is normally given to the emotional cause of the crying in the first place, nor to the physiological changes that are happening to a puppy’s body and brain while he is crying. 

Yes, a puppy left to cry it out will eventually be quiet, but is that the best thing for the puppy?  Can letting the puppy cry it out lead to problems with anxiety down the road? Is there a better way?

I'd like to propose a different perspective about teaching a puppy to stay by itself.

Let’s talk about getting a new puppy.  Let's think about his first day leaving his mother and littermates, and that safe puppy pen.  Everything he had known up until this day had been comfortable and safe for him.  He was never alone.  He always had the comfort of others around him.  Taking him away from that safety and security is a major life change for him.  He is stressed and looking for his mom and littermates, and the sense of safety he had known.  Very quickly that sense of safety begins to transfer to the person who is caring for him.  

Is it really necessary for a puppy to learn that very first day how to be alone?  When he already feels terribly alone and wants to cling to the new person in his life so he feels safe?

Vinny feeling very safe in his confinement area.  

Staying alone and learning self confidence should be a gradual process.  Puppies who cry are distressed. They don't cry unless they have a reason to cry.  They aren't crying to keep you up at night.  They aren't crying to annoy you or to interrupt your favorite TV show.  They are scared and alone and they feel vulnerable.  They are calling out for someone to care for them and comfort them, and to help them feel safe.

Puppy brains are always learning.  Do we want our puppy's brain to learn and develop from a place of fear or panic (fight or flight), or from a place of trust and safety?  

I hear often about people who let their puppy cry and howl for an hour (or more) until it begins to quiet down.  Each minute that goes by increases that puppy's stress, anxiety and fear.  I have to wonder if letting a puppy cry it out and become more and more upset until it is exhausted may contribute to separation anxiety behaviors later in life?  It is something to ponder. 

I want to teach my puppies to have the capacity to self calm, so they are able to settle down on their own. To a puppy, being left alone must be a scary feeling.  He is unable to take care of himself, and the group of others he’s always been with has helped to keep him safe.  He may feel vulnerable.  He may become hypervigilant, watching everything to see if it is a threat.  

Puppies very quickly form emotional associations with the situations around them. Spending so much time learning that being alone is scary and stressful can't be good for staying by himself later on. These are not feelings we really want our puppy to associate with being left alone at home or with being in a confined space, are they?

It is a process to teach a dog to calm itself.  It is not something you can just throw at him all at once and expect him to get used to and understand that all is well.  Expecting a puppy to just cope with it and get used to it is very stressful for him.  Puppy is calling to you to help him and you don’t come.  Does this build trust in your new relationship?  Puppy doesn’t understand why the rules have suddenly changed. 

Perhaps this is how it's always been done - letting him cry it out.  Or perhaps it worked for a puppy we had a long time ago, so we are sure it is the best way to do it.  Or maybe you know someone with a dog and it worked for them, so you're sure it will work for you and your puppy.  But don't we owe it to our puppies to consider them as individuals?  To do all we can to build their trust and their confidence that we understand what they're communicating to us?  Sometimes we do need to think outside of our box ... 

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Teaching Eye Drops

Many dogs with vision impairments will at some point in their lives require daily eye drops or medications. Treasure gets eye drops daily to keep her comfortable and to keep her eyes moist.  She has learned that they are part of her routine and accepts them with no complaints.

If' you've been following this blog, you know that my work with Vinny to accept handling and grooming has been extensive.  I've been very careful to teach him that he can be a part of the process of his care, which he started out not liking at all, and that he always has the option to say no and walk away.  Most dogs don't do well with humans holding them in place while forcibly doing things to their bodies.  By giving Vinny the option to stay and cooperate with me or to leave, he controls the session and how we progress.  This means that he remains within his comfort threshold.  It also means that I don't get into "dog trainer mode" and try to push him too fast when we are making progress.  It is truly a mutual decision whether to continue or not.

I was amazed at how quickly the process of teaching Vinny about eye drops progressed.  A total of 6 short teaching sessions and he allowed me to put drops into his eyes.  It will take many repetitions and some back stepping in our process to make sure he can commit to a daily process.  But that is OK.  We all need to take steps backwards sometimes to practice the previous steps that we are fully comfortable with, as we begin to stretch our comfort zone to do new things that may not be as comfortable.  

Luckily Vinny is not in a position where he needs to have daily drops.  I am simply teaching him this so that he is prepared should that day ever come.  We are using natural tears drops, which are not medicated in any way, and were recommended by the veterinarian as being safe to use for my dogs' eyes. This means it is safe for me to teach and practice with Vinny, as the drops won't have any adverse effect.

Here are the basic steps I used to teach Vinny to cooperate with getting eye drops.  I have only shown you a snippet of each training session to show the behaviors in the order I taught them.  This is definitely a more lengthy process than is shown in the video, but it will give you some ideas and a place to start.  If you are having trouble, find a positive reinforcement dog trainer in your area that is comfortable teaching husbandry behaviors to help get you started.  And, stay tuned to this blog into the new year!  We will have many more educational opportunities to offer you with a brand new project we are starting!  

Watch the video here ... 

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Making and Using a Solid Leash

A solid leash can be helpful with a smaller blind deaf dog.  It allows you to have a way to give subtle leash cues at your dog's neck level, which are clearer to the dog than if they come from far above her.  It also will save your back from needing to bend over to give those cues or lead your dog around obstacles on a walk. Think of it as an extension of your arm to allow you to reach down lower.  

A solid leash can be useful during walks on busy sidewalks or in areas that you will need to steer your dog around obstacles or people, or when teaching certain training exercises when you want your dog to stay right next to your leg.  A solid leash will not be very useful on walks when you want to let your dog sniff around and explore.  A regular or long leash would work better for that.  

It will take some practice for you to learn how to handle the solid leash fluently.  There is less slack than with a regular leash, so your cues travel directly to your dog's neck.  You will need to use much less leash pressure - sometimes just a small adjustment of your hand or wrist will give a different cue to your dog. 

You can use a very simple and inexpensive version of a solid leash, or you can create a very elaborate one. The solid leash I use is a curtain rod that was the right length for me to hold easily in my hand and also reached down to my dog's neck level.  Getting one that is too long will be cumbersome to hold. Getting one that is too short will require bending over to hold it.

The curtain rod has a finished surface and has comfortable end caps on it.  It has a more finished look and feel than a wooden dowel rod, which would have worked just as well.  I cut up an old leash with a small clip that wouldn't be too heavy or clunky for my dog's neck.  I left a small tab of leash connected to the clip. This allows for a bit of flexibility between my dog and the rod.  I then used heavy tape to attach the tab of leash to the end of the curtain rod.  Voila!  This version works so well for us that we haven't seen a need to change it.

Notice there is a bit of leash between the rod and the clip

This leash is meant as a guide to help cue your dog around obstacles and people.  Please don't use it to pull or push your dog.  Take the time to teach your dog the cues and you will be amazed how easy it is to convey information to your dog through a gentle touch on the solid leash.  

You can use the same techniques for teaching regular leash walking to teach solid leash walking.  If your dog already knows gentle collar cues, it should be easy to review the steps with the solid leash.  But don't assume that the cues coming from the solid leash will feel the same to the dog as what she already knows.  Take some time to review and keep it a positive experience for both you and your dog.  

If you would like some help with the steps of teaching leash walking to a blind and deaf dog, here is a great article to help you:  Click here to go to the article.   The same steps in the article can be used to introduce the solid leash to your dog.  

The solid leash is not a tool that I use every day, but I have found it very helpful with Treasure, who is a small dog, in certain situations and for teaching certain behaviors.  I hope if you have a smaller dog, that you may find it helpful as well.  

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An Extraordinary Sense?

Sometimes people ask me if my blind and deaf dogs' sense of smell is more highly developed than that of other dogs.  I'm not sure how to answer that question, because a dog's sense of smell is already so much more developed than yours and mine.  There is really no way for me to measure that sense of smell against my other dogs that can see and hear.  I don't notice that it's any more developed, just that they do rely on it more than the others seem to.  

I am always amazed, however, that my blind and deaf dog is sometimes the first dog to react when I come home.  Even though she's in a room behind a closed door.  How does she know that I'm home?  Even though I don't notice it, the floor boards creak in a certain way, and the door closing as I come into the house does create a vibration.  But sometimes I think it's something so much more than these things that she is noticing.  Is she reacting to my energy coming into the house?  Could she be noticing that energy before I am even close enough for her to smell me?  Or to feel the floor vibrating?  There is a lot of really cool research out there that goes into this more in depth - how we know instinctively what others are doing, feeling, etc. through a connection of energy.  I see it every day and I know it's true.

I don't know how many times I have felt sure that Treasure could see or hear something based on her reactions at the perfect time.  In the beginning of our time together, I would set up little trials to see if I could get her to react to the same noises or situations again.  But I was always disappointed.  Her reactions seem to be strictly coincidence in those circumstances - but are they?  There is no way for me to know exactly what my dogs sense or how.  

When I adopted Treasure, she was already almost 4 years old.  She had already learned to use the senses that she had to react to her world.  Her senses have always amazed me.  

Yet, it is interesting to me watching Vinny, from a very young puppy, learning to use and hone his senses. His first month here, he was very accident prone, as his balance was not developed.  I know that our sense of sight and our inner ear are important to developing our sense of balance, and I've been told by people who are hearing impaired that their balance is affected as well. Most puppies are a bit clumsy on their feet, but Vinny seemed to be exceptionally so.  Now he is growing into a more balanced puppy who is more sure-footed.  

As a seven week old puppy, he could not sniff out individual treats or toys and pinpoint where they were.  Now he is an expert at finding whatever it is that he wants to find!  And it's not just his sense of smell that is becoming more expert.  He has some of that extraordinary sense going on too.  

It's almost scary how good he's getting at perceiving things!  Sometimes he faces something in space and waits, almost as if he is watching it with his eyes, and then he pounces right on it - a toy, a dog bed, another dog, me, ... But when I test out his eyesight again, he doesn't seem to see or track anything.  Of course, other times, he does a totally adorable pounce into nothingness which always makes me smile. But more often than not, he hits his mark right on now, and I think he will continue to get better with practice.  

He knows things.  Like when I walk in the room and he is in his crate or pen across the room.  Yet he always knows.  He knows when I am there to open his crate even if I've been in the room near him already.  He's not hearing anything or feeling any vibration because I haven't done anything yet, I'm just right there ready.  I know he's probably smelling me, but he isn't visibly scenting.  I think there's more to it than that.  He is just learning how to know.  

On our walks, Vinny is becoming expert at knowing where my leg (or especially between my legs) is so he can touch me to touch base.  More often than not, he comes running and will squeeze right between my legs and stop to wait for a scratch.  Yet he will still run right into a tree or something else in his path.  He can track me on our walks and if he falls behind, he can catch up real quick!  He is always on a leash or a long line for safety reasons, but I like to give him the freedom of the whole line so he can run and explore where it is safe.  

His mapping skills continue to expand. He now can trot from the bedroom, down the hall, through the kitchen in the exact arc that will take him from the hall to the steps heading to the outdoors.  He will stop directly at the top of the steps within a couple inches, quickly find the steps, head down, and then knows the turns and how many steps to take where to get to the back door.  He searches out surfaces in the yard and once there knows exactly how many steps until he gets to the next surface or the door back to the house.  He knows the way home from our walks as we start to get close to the house and will take off out in front until he leads me home to the door.  

He has maps for work days when we go out the side door, to the grass to potty and then back across the parking lot to the car.  And maps for once we get to work, from the car, to the grass, to the building and to the office where his pen is.  From the pen to the front outside for potty breaks.  

Of interest to me is that I started teaching Vinny some tricks involving using his paw.  The very next day, I noticed him beginning to use his paws to gather information about more than just surfaces.  He will sit waiting to be let out of his crate and he will put his paw on the crate door so he can feel the door open and knows when he can come out.  He is not scratching at the door, just sitting calmly with his paw resting on the crate door.  He is using his paw now to feel for another dog now as they are playing so he knows where it is and can pounce more accurately.  

I am enjoying watching Vinny's senses develop and seeing how he chooses to use them.  Giving him so many new and varied experiences is allowing him to learn more confidence in his abilities and how to use his senses in many ways.  Allowing him the freedom to explore and learn as much as possible is important for his brain as it grows and develops.  And being aware of energy and how it connects us to each other has given me a unique perspective into his extraordinary senses.  Yet, even though I know what a blind and deaf dog is capable of, it still continues to amaze me in the most incredible ways.  

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Group Dynamics

Part of being a puppy is learning where and how you fit in with the humans and other animals in a household. And part of bringing home a new puppy is that the people and animals learn how this new being fits in. Sometimes, this can be a difficult lesson - such as when adorable puppy noses get snapped at by older dogs who are trying to teach some manners.  Vinny has had a couple of those during his time here.  

Treasure has her own way of communicating that she would like the dog bed now.
Vinny did take his bone and move out of the bed right after this was taken.  

It's normal for adult dogs to discipline puppies at times - this is how puppies learn.  But it's harder when that puppy is blind and deaf.  Harder for the puppy, and harder for the adult dog.  Dogs give a lot of signals before they snap - signals that say stop that or go away.  They may give a hard stare or lift a lip, or they may growl.  A blind and deaf puppy cannot read these signals accurately and so will usually keep doing the behavior that the adult dog doesn't like, which then results in a snap.  It can take some time for an adult dog to learn how to communicate differently with a blind and deaf dog too.  

Thankfully my dogs are well-versed in this already, but to them, it seems to be case-specific.  They treat the other blind and deaf dogs differently, but this did not carry over to Vinny.  Now they are beginning to learn that he too, requires special treatment.  By this, I mean, they are starting to realize that if they growl or lift a lip while chewing their favorite bone, he is not going to respond.  So, they now are picking up their bone and moving to where he can't get them with it.  This is the behavior they do with the other blind and deaf dogs.

Of course, I have tried to keep a close eye on them when they are together and want the adults to have some time away from worrying about a puppy, but still there are times when something needs to be said by the adult dogs.  

Adult dogs can play a bit rough for a puppy, and so there is learning about just how much is enough to keep the game going.  Too rough, and the puppy stops and leaves the game, or the human steps in to referee.  Just the right amount of tumbling without getting too rough allows the game to continue indefinitely.  Just this past week, my rougher players are figuring out the perfect balance with Vinny.  And my shy one is beginning to get in on the play also.  

Playing with puppies that can see is different for dogs than playing with dogs that can't see.  If they bounce or run away from a blind puppy, inviting a chase, the game just isn't as fun, since the blind puppy can't see which way they went.  But they learn to play close by, inviting contact by touching or poking to let the blind puppy know where they are - also a tactic to keep the game going. 

There is more learning to be done - learning that play with humans must be different than play with other dogs!  Vinny likes to pounce on me and bite my skin and clothes, and those puppy teeth hurt!  Sometimes I think he thinks I am one of the dogs and if I happen to be nearby he pounces and gets me instead.  But often he just gets excited playing and can't stop.  He is learning that human skin is for being gentle with.  I am careful to only play with him with toys, and it's important to use toys that are longer when playing with blind puppies - give them plenty of room to grab the toy without grabbing your hand, since they can't see where your hand stops and the toy begins.  I don't want him to think that my hands are play things.  My  hands always touch him gently and give him soft and calm touching so he can learn the difference.  

It is working.  I don't correct him for biting me in any way.  Using his mouth is one of the few senses he has to learn about his world.  I don't want him to stop using his mouth.  I want him to learn how to use it gently. If he learns to use it gently, then one day when he grabs my hand instead of the toy, he will immediately loosen his grip and be gentle.  Or, the day that he bites down too hard for a piece of food and gets my finger, he will immediately know the difference and will become gentle. This is an important lesson for any puppy to learn. By being consistent with  my examples to him when to play and when to be gentle, simply by how I interact with him, he is learning what is expected.  

He has progressed to the point that when he is getting too excited at playtime, I can scoop him up into my lap for a moment, and just by my hands touching him gently, he can calm himself for a moment. And then I can let him go play again.  

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Puppy Update - 11 Weeks

It hardly seems possible that it's been a month already since I picked up Elsa and Vinny!  Things have settled into a routine for the most part and have gotten easier.  Pups know the daily routine, and I know their potty schedules.  They are sleeping through the night.

Sweet Elsa left for her forever home a couple days ago.  I am so thrilled for her and for her new family!  She is in an experienced double merle home that will help her have every opportunity to shine and develop her full potential.  Plus, I will get to see the updates and pictures of her growing up!

In preparation for her going to her new home, both puppies got their first bath.  Elsa was content while I got her wet and soapy, but then decided during the rinsing that she was not a happy camper.  She complained extensively and loudly!  But she was oh so very white and sparkly afterwards!  Vinny wasn't quite as vocal, but he was frustrated with the whole thing.  Vinny has had a harder time with containment and restraint since he came home with me.  He is learning more tolerance one situation at a time, but he did not like being contained to the tub and wanted to go exploring.  He was very wiggly to give a bath to!

Continued socialization this week included meeting and playing with new people, taking long lead walks in new areas for playtime and sniffing, nail cutting, new meal toys, new fenced areas to play in and explore, new adult dogs, and new obstacles and toys.  Both puppies take it all in stride.  Interestingly, Elsa, who is the more rough and tumble and active of the two, can be the one who stressed quicker.  This has been seen in her giving up easily with the food challenge toys.  Also on our long lead exploring walks, she is confident and happy for the first 10 minutes and then she starts to get a bit concerned about getting back to some place she knows and is comfortable with.  Because these experiences are meant to be positive ones for her, I allow her to go back to places she is more comfortable with when she decides she's had enough.  

Some interesting things happened this past week.  When exploring a new play area, Vinny discovered a plastic drain pipe spread along the ground.  He stepped over it in one direction, turned around and then stepped back over it in the other direction.  This continued as he went first one way and then the other, just as proud as could be stepping over the drain pipe.  Even when he seemed to tire of his new game and he went off to explore other things, he continued to come back to "his" drain pipe to step over it back and forth a few times.  I don't know why he found it so fascinating, but it was fun to watch him.

Vinny has gotten very confident on the few steps leading to the outside.  I had stopped holding his collar to help guide him and only used the tactile cue at the top of the steps to let him know there was a step down. He has gotten creative and will take the first step down, and then make a flying leap down the last two!  But to my surprise, he did not land in a heap at the bottom.  He lands perfectly on his feet and has judged the distance perfectly.  I tried to tell him he shouldn't be able to do that since he can't see anything, but Vinny was not impressed.  My daredevil Vinny.  So, I am back to holding his collar to remind him to take each step so he won't get hurt.  

I introduced Vinny (while holding that collar!) to the big flight of steps this week.  He confidently went down the entire flight on his first try!  He did stop after the first few and seemed a bit confused as to why there were more steps, since he had only done the few to the outside up until this point.  But he did stop 1/2 way up that staircase and decided that was far enough, so I carried him the rest of the way. 

I wanted to work on some sits with Vinny for his lunch yesterday and wasn't thinking.  We were near his crate and he smelled his food.  So he was frantic to get himself into his crate to eat, and had a hard time focusing on his sit cue even with the food right at his nose.  After letting him eat a handful of food from inside his crate, he did eventually come out and do some sit practice with me.  So smart - I guess he showed me! He knew what he was supposed to do!  

Vinny knows his way from the back door to his potty spot and back in.  He will lead me with little puppy bounces and happy circles around me as we go.  He knows his way from the side door to the grass to potty and then to the car to head to work in the morning.  His nose is getting more keen and he is more accurate with searching for dropped/hidden treats.  He can also scent his way back home from our short walks to new places.  While he is confident and happy on our way to a new area, on the way back he is leading with his nose in the air, trotting toward his yard.  

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Four Amazing Dogs!

Recently, Treasure and Vegas both earned their Expert Trick Dog Titles, bringing the total of Expert Trick Dogs in my home to four!  Here they are with their certificates.  

These are super fun trick dog titles that can be earned from Do More With Your Dog!  Vegas learned his tricks with hand and touch cues, and Treasure learned hers with touch and scent cues.  Congratulations to my crew!  

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Library Local Authors Event

Treasure and I were recently chosen to participate in a local author's event at our county library, for my book, Through A Dark Silence.  We had a great time signing books and educating people about double merles.  People are always surprised to find out that the issues that many double merles face with sight and/or hearing impairments are completely preventable!  

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I Want One!

Wow, she’s gorgeous! Is she an albino? What kind of dog is she? I didn’t know shelties came in white! Where did you get her? How can I get one? I want one! These are questions and comments I hear every day when I am out and about with my double merle shelties. People are fascinated by them.

Yes, my dogs are gorgeous, but they are also very impaired due to people’s poor decisions. My dogs are mostly white and are stunning to look at. They are always kept well groomed and their coats are fluffy and clean. I’m glad to have people interested in them because it gives me a chance to educate them that shelties are definitely NOT supposed to be all white! 

People are always drawn to the unusual. My job is to help them go away with the knowledge that double merles are not a new fad that is up and coming, like the multitude of “doodle” mixes out there now. Nor are they rare and extra valuable. They are victims of a very sad epidemic - one in which people are creating dogs with severe impairments for their own gain. Double merles do not just happen by falling out of the sky. They only happen when two dogs carrying the merle gene are bred together. Thus, double merles are totally preventable. 

Once people realize that my dogs are blind and deaf, they are shocked and saddened that someone could be so irresponsible to cause this. Sometimes they make cruel comments that my dogs would be better off dead. While I know my dogs are happy and healthy, some people assume that I am the cruel one to have kept them alive in the first place. Some try to convince me to put my dogs out of their misery. What misery?

To read the rest of this article, click here ...

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Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

I have updated some of my previous articles and added some new ones, which I will be sharing here over the next months.  Here is a great one to read again and to share to help educate others.  Happy New Year everyone!  

Dangers of Breeding Merle to Merle

©Debbie Bauer 2015 

Despite the efforts of many in educating others, there still are so many double merles showing up on the internet and in shelters needing homes. Why aren’t people listening? Why are they continuing to produce dogs with blindness, deafness, or both? And for every dog that ends up in a rescue or a shelter, or in a home, there are so many more that are being killed shortly after birth for a crime they didn’t commit. They didn’t ask to be bred this way. People made the decision to take a gamble with their lives. 

There are many breeds of dogs that carry the merle gene. Some of them are: Cocker Spaniels, Australian Shepherds, Pyrenean Shepherds, Border Collies, Cardigan Corgis, Catahoulas, Chihuahuas, Collies, Shelties, Dachshunds, Great Danes, Pomeranians, and I even recently saw pictures that people are developing merle lines of Schnauzers and Poodles! The merle gene is being introduced to more and more breeds (and mixes) due to the cool way it looks. I have to admit, I love the pattern of merle! It’s very pleasing to my eyes. Breeding merles responsibly (a merle to a non-merle dog) gives us the cool mottled look and can give us healthy and sound dogs, while breeding merle to merle often produces puppies with severe impairments.

(To read the rest of this article, follow this link ...)

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See some enrichment games in action!

Click here to watch Treasure (blind and deaf) and Vegas (deaf and visually impaired) play some of their favorite enrichment games!  Try some of them with your own dogs!  All dogs can play these games - even dogs that can see and hear just fine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4XW0S9EMZg

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Happy Birthday!!

Mom and I are working on a new book, and because today is my Gotcha Day (the day when I got her and she got me), she asked me to share a part of what we're working on.  This is the part - my very favorite part - where Mom comes to bring me home!  I hope you like my story!

Love,

Treasure

Me saying goodbye to my foster mom.

Today was the day!  There was much emotion in the air – excitement, anticipation, and perhaps even a bit of trepidation.  They said she is coming!  She wants to meet me!  She wants to take me home!  I can’t help but feel a sense of hope.  I’ve wanted a permanent home for a while now. 

But what will she be like?  Will she love me?  Will I be good enough for her or will she leave without me?  And lately, I’ve been questioning, just what does “home” mean, anyway? 

I thought I had a home … once.  I lived in a pen with my friend.  It wasn’t an exciting life, but we had each other and it felt safe and comfortable to us.  It was our space. Our home. 

Over the past weeks I had been in many homes.  But they weren’t meant to be my home.  And now, here I was, in yet another home where I’d only spent a few weeks.  They were so kind to me here.  Everyone had been kind to me.  Yet I was tired.  I wanted it all to stop.  I was tired of traveling here and there, adjusting to new places and smells and people and dogs.  I just wanted a place of my own where I knew I never had to leave. 

For a moment, my thoughts are interrupted.  She is coming!  She wants to meet you!  She’s been waiting for you for so long!  She wants to take you home!  They kept repeating these words to me.  They held me close and I could feel their excitement that this would work out for me.  I could feel their sadness, for they would need to say goodbye just as we were getting to know each other.  I could feel them trying to hold all these emotions back just in case.  What if it didn’t work out?  What if I wasn’t what she was hoping for? 

I was resigned to the fact that I would be leaving again.  This had become just another part of my routine.  There would be a new house to map out.  Everything would be new around me.  I was not afraid, just weary.  But I couldn’t deny that the energy around me was different from the last few times I moved on.  It reminded me of my time back when I left the shelter, so far away.  I had stayed at that new house the longest of any place since.  I remember how safe it felt to know the lay of the land and the routine.  To stay for awhile and call it my own. 

I wanted that feeling again.  A sense of belonging.  That comforting warm glow was getting stronger and closer, but suddenly I felt a bit frightened by it.  Where was it leading me?  Would this person like me?  Would she pass me off to someone else?  Or perhaps she would notice that I was special and leave without me, thinking I will be a burden to her?

She’s here!  I am being carried outside.  I feel the vibration of my foster lady talking, but I am so distracted that I hardly noticed.  There is a new smell in the air.  A new emotion.  A new feeling.  That warm glow is all around me now.  She touches me.  I tense my muscles to not allow myself to give in. 

But when she touches me, something inside of me melts away and I surrender - to the warm glow.  Her fingers melted into my fur.  Her touch feels so familiar, yet so new.  I can’t see them, but I feel her body welling up with tears.  They aren’t sad tears, but tears of relief and great love.  Tears of acceptance.  She was that warm glow I had felt all this time.  And here she was!  Meeting me!

She stayed for awhile, talking with the foster family I was with.  She held me.  I fell asleep on my back in her arms.  I was so content and happy.  I felt so safe.  I felt accepted.  For a moment, all my worries were gone.  I no longer wondered if she’d like me, or if I’d be good enough.  I no longer even wondered if she would take me with her or if she would leave me here.  It was all about that one place in time, that one moment.  I loved her from that very first touch. 

When the time came for her to go, she put me carefully into her car.  Immediately, my mind tried to go in a different direction.  Oh no, another car.  Another trip away from everything I had known so far in my life.  No, don’t close the door …

But I smelled her.  This car smelled so much like her.  She was still near me, I just knew it.  I was quiet, but I did not sleep.  The anticipation was just too much.  But, that warm glow surrounded me and comforted me.  I knew something different was happening to me.  Something I would remember for a long time.

Me in my new home! 

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Could Vegas have his own show? In Vegas?

Vegas is such a fun dog to play with!  He is learning new tricks so quickly.  I think perhaps he is aspiring to have his own trick dog show in Las Vegas!  He finished his Advanced Trick Dog Title in April, so these pics are a bit overdue.

Vegas LOVES to use his paws!  Ever since he came to me as a little puppy, he was always using his paws.  The usual ways of teaching him not to jump on us and not to grab our legs with his feet were just not working.  Then I watched him playing with his litter sister whom we fostered for a short while and saw that he used his feet to keep track of where she was.  If she moved and his feet were on her, he knew right where she was.  Vegas has some vision, but it's hard for him to locate what he's seeing.  He was keeping track of where we were by touching us with his feet.  It comes as no surprise then that all of these new tricks involve his feet in different ways.  Having learned from Treasure that a visually impaired dog seems to be able to hit a target better when the dog and the target are not moving, we tried this trick with Vegas lying down.  He picked it up right away and with a little practice, learned to hit the button with pretty good accuracy.

Playing the piano and wiping his feet on a mat were both pretty similar.  He just has to use his paw to stroke something.  These he can do in any position - lying down, sitting, standing up.  You can see me giving him his thumbs up sign while he wipes his paws on the blanket.  He can see the signal best when it's close to his face.

Vegas likes things that move under his feet.  He's very confident about it.  He enjoys pushing his skateboard and can also roll a peanut and push a shopping cart.

Perhaps the hardest trick for Vegas this time around was chorus kicks.  He is to put his paw onto my foot and together we alternate right, left, right, left.  He never did get the concept to look down at my feet.  He is very attentive and wants to watch my hands for his cues.  With a bit of creativity, he learned touch cues on his legs that I gave with my feet and he aced this trick too!  What a guy!  

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Treasure's newest tricks!

Treasure continues to learn new tricks.  She has perfected pushing her skateboard, and she really seems to enjoy it.  She steps onto it eagerly, while I hold it still for her.  Once she's in position, she starts pushing and away she goes.  Once she gets off, she can't wait to step back on, so I have to be quick to pick up the board and take her back to the starting point so she can go again.  Of course, I stay nearby to make sure she doesn't run into anything or go off the side of the walkway.  And I can stop the board if there is any danger.  I have found that in addition to being a cute trick, this exercise helps to strengthen her rear legs, which helps with her fitness program!  

The piano was easy for Treasure because she likes to step on new surfaces, but when she would stand on it, she tended to then just stay in one place instead of moving her feet around and making music.  So I decided it would be better to teach her to play while lying down so she could move her feet more easily.  Well, let's just say that although Treasure does humor me (she likes those treats, you know!), she does prefer to play standing up when she gets the chance.  

Perhaps one of the hardest we've accomplished so far is targeting the easy button.  The smaller size of the button compared to other surfaces I've asked Treasure to step on or touch, made it much more difficult for her to pinpoint where in space it was and how big it was.  We tried many different techniques.  Some resulted in her pawing the air repeatedly, trying to locate the button.  Together we discovered that if neither she nor the button moved, she was able to find it much easier.  So, with her lying down (so she didn't move), and the button next to her foot where she could feel it, she was able to target it easily.  I think this may now be one of her favorite tricks.  Every now and then she will miss the button, but she tries again until she gets it.  

Treasure and I would love to hear what new tricks your dogs are learning!  Tricks are a great way to have fun with your dog, and to keep your dog active and stimulated.  Some tricks even help provide great exercise!  Happy tricking!  

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