Living an Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Dogs

 

I feel like everyone who takes dog training seriously either grew with dogs that needed training OR they were a horse girl (no hate just an observation). I was neither of these things. My family dog growing up was a Bassador (Lab x Bassett hound). His name was Buckley. We rescued him around 2 years of age and he lived to be 15. I swear he was someone’s well trained and well loved pet dog before becoming part of our family. He was found wandering down a highway in Alabama and shipped up to a shelter in New Hampshire where we found him. He knew all of his basic commands, had good manners, loved car rides, and was satisfied with a 1-2 mile walk per day. This was all I knew of dog ownership before I brought Vinny home. My experiences with Vinny laid the groundwork, but nothing prepared me for living a normal life with a cattle dog (now two!). 

Buckley, my well loved family’s Bassador

I want to start by saying, it can be done. I also want to start by saying it is an entire lifestyle change and more work than I can express in a written paragraph. People always meet my dogs and seem to enjoy their company. It would be a disservice of me as a cattle dog handler to not give a realistic picture of what it is like to fulfill them every single day. These dogs were bred to work, and although they can live an extremely happy and fulfilled life without working cattle, they still require seemingly endless mental and physical stimulation. 

Something I didn’t know before having cattle dogs is that working breeds need to learn to do nothing. All of the dogs I have interacted with, no matter how excitable they are when I met them, eventually calmed down and took a break on their own. Even the craziest of dogs seem to be able to tire themselves out. Cattle dogs typically do not innately have this off switch. When I brought Chief home, I knew he would be energetic and require a lot of exercise. So, that’s what I did. We ran around for hours and he seemed to get increasingly excitable albeit much crankier as the day went on. It took me a few months to understand that he needed to be instructed to settle, or else he never would. I added naps into his daily routine, and this was a complete game changer for both of us. Today, he is able to settle when needed which is important for both of our mental health. 

My cattle dogs train every day. Mental stimulation is extremely important to their fulfillment. When Chickie first came home, she showed a high level of interest in walks. We would take short walks almost every day, and she would be relatively tired afterwards. Seemingly overnight, a regular walk was no longer sufficient to tire her out. In the mornings, we walk, play (her favorite games are flirt pole and frisbee rollers), then train for her breakfast. Afterwards, she is ready for a long nap in her pen until my husband’s lunch break. This process may seem like a chore but it is something I truly look forward to doing everyday with her and Chief. 

Teaching Chickie to “do nothing”

I fit my workout in somewhere in between the morning routine I discussed above. It is important to make time for yourself to be the best version of yourself that shows up for your dogs. When I get home from work in the evening, I have plenty of free time to spend with them. We play outside, go for a walk, and occasionally go practice dog sports like dock diving in the summer or nose work games when the weather is bad. The dogs eat their dinner then have “calm down time”, which right now means Chief is on his place, Vinny is in his bed, and Chickie is in her pen or her crate if she can’t settle. We eat dinner, then typically play with the dogs again before bed.

On weekends, we dedicate a lot of time to our dogs. Chief and I do our longer runs together on Fridays. Saturdays we typically attend pack walks with our training facility, sometimes even a group class, and usually do more activities later in the day when they have recharged. My dogs’ favorites are trail walks, beach trips, or swimming. Sundays are more often than not spent doing chores or yard work, so the dogs always get a nice long trail walk at some point in the day for fresh air, exercise, and mental stimulation. This may seem like a lot but this is what I feel my dogs need and deserve. I chose to bring working breed dogs into my life and the least I can do in exchange is make sure they feel fulfilled each and every day. 

I heard on a podcast recently that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has many animals including dogs, does not check his phone/email/text messages until his dogs are fed in the morning. This is such a great testament to the fact that no matter what is going on in our lives, our dogs’ worlds keep turning. We need to show up for them every day. On the days I feel “lazy”, I find it turns my entire day around to just do something active with my dogs. My extraordinary dogs have helped me become a person that lives in the present and enjoys life more fully. 

“But, Did you die?”

 

Up until a few years ago I was an extremely active member in the Crossfit community. I ended up with a back injury that forced me to walk away from the sport, but I still admire the mentality of the athletes that show up to challenge themselves physically and mentally. A popular saying in the Crossfit community is “But, did you die?”. This is a piece of dark humor that is thrown around as a counter to complaining after a hard workout. Yes, it was difficult. But you survived and will likely do it again tomorrow. 

Last week, Chief joined me for a 9 mile trail run. I was incredibly proud of my little sidekick for sticking with me for the hour and a half it took to complete. So proud, in fact, that I boasted about him to anyone that would listen. What I was not prepared for were the looks of horror on people’s faces as I told them what he had accomplished. Multiple times I was asked if he was ok, if he should be doing that, or why I didn’t leave him home. It dawned on me that some people have not had the opportunity to truly see what dogs are capable of. 

What these people didn’t see is all of the days, weeks, and months of preparation leading up to this run. We didn’t just walk out the door, pick a random number of miles, and take off at a full sprint. This has been carefully planned and executed over an extended period of time. Chief is conditioned daily to make sure his muscles and joints are stable and protected. He started at short distances and worked his way up in mileage. We run shorter training runs multiple times a week to build endurance. This is a dog that is capable of doing hard things. 

Fi Dogs x Strava stats from our 9 mile run

I know not every breed, or dog of any breed for that matter, is able to rise to the same challenges that Chief has faced and overcome with me. I do think there is a lesson here for every dog handler. Your dog is built to do amazing things. Dogs are resilient, thrive in a learning environment when given the right guidance, and bred with a purpose. Even mixed breeds are derivative of a dog that is genetically designed to excel at a particular function. So many dogs will never realize their full potential, but will live an incredible and fulfilling life nonetheless. 

The challenges Chief and I take on together have solidified our relationship in ways I hope every dog handler will someday experience. When we run together, we don’t just run in silence at a steady pace the entire distance. We run, I give him verbal praise for exhibiting solid trail manners and good behavior, we take water breaks, I let him swim if we come across clean water, and of course he gets to sniff along the way. If Chief comes on a run, I run HIS pace. I don’t push him to unsafe limits, but I let him show me what he is capable of.

Enjoying a mud pit at the half way point of our run

I am sure some of you are reading this thinking “my dog could never safely run long distance” due to breed/injury/medical issue/etc. There are so many other ways to challenge your dog that are fulfilling and focus on relationship building. Have you ever tried dog sports? Enter your dog’s breed and “sport” into a search engine and I bet you will find a dog sport you have never heard of that is fairly specific to your dog’s breed. Unable to participate in dog sports? Try trick training. Even simple, fun tricks are a great way to challenge your dog as well as test your skills as a handler. Challenging your dog and tapping into their sense of purpose is extremely fulfilling for them. 

This is a topic I have had at the forefront of my mind as the warm weather months have come around in New England. Everyday I see dogs walking on my street that I have never seen before, as I assume they were kept indoors through the winter. Dogs are an incredible source of support to us and as we should challenge them, we should also allow them to challenge us. When you don’t want to go for a walk, remember how much they would enjoy it. For me, there are days where I have no motivation to run. Chief has completely changed my mindset and I find myself excited to exercise with him even when it isn’t the easy choice to make on that particular day. 

Show up for your dog, and help them be the best dog they can be. I hope keeping my dogs fit, active, and mentally sharp will contribute to them living longer and happier lives. Having dogs isn’t always easy, but as we challenge them, they challenge us to be a better person and handler.

Photo by Sport Dog Photography

Step One: Call It What It Is

 

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who read our last post “The Happy Heeler is Not Always Happy”. The outpouring of support we received was truly inspiring, and wildly unexpected. We are with you, and know that reactivity is not a life long issue if you do not want it to be. You and your dog are capable of creating an incredible future together.

I touched briefly on how I helped train Chief through a lot of his reactivity. We met up with other dog and handler teams facing similar issues, attended group classes, booked private lessons, and challenged ourselves to improve as often as possible. All of this is standard procedure, and of course helped immensely. One piece of the process I did not mention was acceptance. I wasted so much time not calling it what it was.

My rescue dog Vinny is on the extreme end of reactivity. He will never be trusted off leash, he is unpredictable, and his behavior stems from a long, abusive start to life prior to his rescue. Until I had Vinny, I never knew what a reactive dog was. I thought all dogs were happy go lucky, loved people or were just a little shy, and naturally gravitated towards a positive existence. With Vinny, my entire belief system about dogs collapsed. I had to recognize the fact that dogs can be difficult, reactive, and even at times dangerous.

When Chief started showing signs of reactivity, it did not even cross my mind that he was a reactive dog. Compared to Vinny, he was an angel. He barked and lunged at dogs but not to the extent Vinny does. I put so much blind faith in Chief as I truly did not believe what I was witnessing. One day, that was no longer an option for me. I wish I had realized it on my own, but it took me being called out by a respected professional to see things clearly. It was an embarrassing moment but here I go sharing it with you all anyways.

Last fall, I attended a training “field trip” at a sanctuary farm. The majority of attendees were experienced trainers and I was fortunate to have been invited to participate. The field trip focused on obedience, exposure, and situational awareness. There was a large group of dogs in attendance, most of which were brand new to us, as well as an assortment of animals that we were going to encounter as we toured the farm. We were briefed on the program, and set off as a group. Immediately, Chief began barking and displaying nervous body language. I made some jokes about it, took direction on how to handle him from the trainers, and carried on with the group. A lot of the paths were tight and forced us to be in close proximity with other dogs. Chief had a handful of outburst at other dogs throughout the clinic.

At the end, we were asked to share something we learned. I still don’t know why but I said “Well, my dog isn’t reactive but he can be”. I was IMMEDIATELY called out on this statement by a well respected trainer who told me point blank “Your dog is reactive, we all saw him react to multiple dogs today”. Just like that, my entire perception of my relationship with Chief changed. I later found out the trainer assumed I was also an experienced trainer and would likely have not called me out if he knew I was a pet dog handler. I was embarrassed in the moment, but now I see that exchange as the exact motivation we needed to make a major change.

Often people will misconstrue dog behavior as something it is not. There is so much anthropomorphic discussion about dogs and it truly makes me cringe. Here are some statements I have heard from dog owners and what the dog’s behavior probably means:

• “Aww he’s sitting on my foot, he loves being near me!” He is likely uncomfortable and trying to protect you.
• “He’s smiling!” Dogs showing teeth can be a sign of aggression, warning, or submission.
• “He just wants to say hi.” Typically a dog lunging, barking, or pulling their handler towards other dogs has underlying socialization issues or lacks a respectful relationship with their handler.

These are simple examples of people not being able to call the behavior what it is. Humans are so quick to superimpose our behaviors onto dogs. Dogs are their own individual species with different social standards, emotions, and behaviors. By making excuses and not taking the responsibility of figuring out what our dogs’ behavior actually means, we are unable to progress with our training.

After I was called out on Chief’s reactivity, I took some time to come to terms with this reality. Ultimately, this comment was of monumental importance in our training journey and successes thus far. I hope anyone reading this takes some time to reflect on the reality of their dogs’ behavior, both good and bad. Celebrate the wins and positives, and work on improving the difficult behaviors every day. The greatest love we can show our dogs is a true understanding of their behavior and what they need from us to be successful.  

 

 

The happy heeler is not always happy

 

Tomten Farm and Sanctuary for a dog training “field trip”

As much as I wish this post was about Vinny, it is actually about Chief. I don’t discuss it openly often but he has always been a reactive dog. Herding breeds have the tendency to be reactive. They like to control movement, they are protective of their space, and heelers specifically tend to choose one person as “their” person which can lead to resource guarding. Chief specifically struggles with proximity to other dogs. Through almost two years of training, we have learned to manage his behaviors so he can join us in almost everything we do. He has really strong periods of time, but also relapses and spirals out on occasion. Those days are so disheartening and if you have them with your dog, know I feel your struggle.

When Chief was a puppy, he would see other dogs, scream, and try to run towards them. I shook it off thinking he would grow out of it. For a while, he seemed to have done just that. Last July, we were attacked by a dog much larger than him while walking in our neighborhood. That is where everything went downhill. Chief had a hard time taking direction around other dogs, would get emotional when seeing them at a distance, and had major leash reactivity issues. At one point, I would avoid certain roads, or peek around corners and hide behind cars to avoid dogs. I realized how ridiculous this was and that it was just my way of avoiding what needed to be done- the only way to move past this issue was to move through it.

Chief and Cami, Photo by Alpha Dog Media Group

Through Instagram, I connected with a group of dog owners who were having similar issues with their dogs and wanted to work together. We would meet up in a neutral location, and work on our dogs staying neutral to each other. Chief did extremely well in these scenarios and his behavior improved so much. Throughout this time, we were charged, chased, and rushed by dogs on a handful of other occasions (including being full sprint chased down our own street by two LARGE dogs that ran out of their yard with us as their target). We learned to handle these situations quickly, with less drama, and in a way that proved to Chief that I could stand up for both of us and he could trust me to protect him.

Now, he will go long stretches with no issues. He has been great lately but unfortunately had an extremely tough day this past weekend. We went to our first big Dock Dogs dock diving event of the year. This organization is extremely friendly and welcoming, so a lot of people will show up to an event with their dog to try it out for the first time. Although they always say at handlers’ meetings to “keep dogs on a 4 foot leash at least 8 feet apart”, many people seemingly ignore this and attempt on leash greetings. Not only is this dangerous in general, but add in the fact that most dogs are in high drive at these events and you can see how bad situations can happen.

We were in line waiting for our first jump on Saturday, and a man with a rowdy black lab moved far too close to us with his dog bouncing and barking with no regard to its surroundings. The dog jumped right on Chief and I literally saw him SNAP. He exploded, jumped in the air, scratched me, could not calm down, and would not listen until I moved him away. Honestly, this was BAD. Usually his reactions are just barking and maybe leash pulling. The stress of a busy public environment and dozens of dogs being present plus as I added the drive for the sport already setting in was a disaster in the making. Chief jumped well on Saturday but I left the event truly thinking he did not enjoy competing anymore. He was on edge all day, and seemed to be looking for dogs to explode at. I was crushed, and honestly heartbroken knowing he couldn’t fully enjoy one of his favorite activities.

 

Sunday brought day 2. I was determined to give Chief a better day. When we lined up for our first jump, I made sure I brought food in a training pack. We moved into a pocket of shade away from the line of dogs waiting to jump, I asked him for a down, I used my body to block him, and gave him treats for engagement while we waited. I am happy to report this method not only worked but he seemed to be enjoying it. It seems so simple but if you have ever been to these events you rarely see handlers using treats because their dog has so much drive and focus on the toy they will be jumping for. Chief usually does too (he goes bonkers for his NERF bumper) but just didn’t have it in him this weekend. What he will never lack is food drive, so I leaned into that. We went on to hit a personal best by almost TWO FEET. We had fun, played together, trusted each other, and had an all around memorable day.

Here are my take aways from this story…

• Advocate for your dog- You have the power to say no. Never be afraid to tell someone not to pet your dog. Never be embarrassed to make space for your dog. Never be shy to ask someone to give your dog space. It gets easier every time you do it, and your relationship with your dog benefits so much from these small gestures. I cannot tell you how many times I had to physically step between Chief and another dog this weekend and ask them (semi-politely) to not allow their dog to greet him on leash. They might be angry with you in the moment (which is something I will never understand) but always put your relationship with your dog first. If you don’t advocate for your dog, they will advocate for themselves and that might look like Chief’s explosion at the other dog I detailed above.
• There is ALWAYS another way– You know your dog better than anyone. If one way isn’t working, pivot and try another. I have tried ALL the things to help Chief cope with his emotions, and today food, praise, and obedience gave us our day back and allowed us to be successful.
• Just because a dog doesn’t seem reactive doesn’t mean they aren’t- I think I speak for everyone with a reactive dog when I say please give dogs space. Stop normalizing on leash greetings without consent of the other handler. Do not act visibly upset if a person tells you “no” when you ask to greet their dog. Do not reach down and pet a dog without permission. This is not only for the dogs’ safety, but yours too. Chief is The Happy Heeler, meaning the majority of the time he has a HUGE smile on his face. Most people that approach us comment on the smile, and immediately reach for him. What they don’t know is he isn’t always comfortable being directly approached by strangers and his smaller size and “smile” aren’t a perfect reflection of his current attitude. He is happy, but like all of us he can’t possibly be happy all the time.

If this story about Chief reminds you of your dog, don’t be afraid to do the hard things. Train your dog, build your relationship, develop trust in each other, and know incredible things are ahead. Reactive dogs can do sports, or whatever your goals and dreams are, too.

To leave any questions or comments, check out our post on Instagram here!