A Sunday Swim

Against his wishes, Dasher endured yet another swimming lesson yesterday. We went to the lake earlier than usual so the water would be relatively still and there would be no other dog or human distractions. We hung out on the shore, easing ourselves away from the edge a little bit at a time. The first step from the solid rock beneath his feet gave Dasher a little surprise, but he began paddling. And paddle, he did. Right back to the rocks and out of the water. 


We called, and he returned. I think he's hating it a little less. We repeated this exercise a few more times. Then he became really reluctant to return, so we took a break. Other dogs and humans had arrived by that point, so we loaded everybody up in the boat and took a ride. Dasher was the first the jump on board. He loves the boat! He must not understand that the boat is in the water, and he might have to swim in anything went awry. He sits regally on the seat as he watched the shore whoosh by us. It's the ultimate head-out-of-the-car-window feeling.


Later in the day, Dasher's favorite human dude had a brilliant idea. Let's try him on a float! When I beckoned him to the dock stairs, he attempted to divert our attention by trying to jump back on the boat. It did not work, and I eventually got him to step onto the float with minimal resistance. A huge step forward in my book. It took some convincing to get him to sit, and then lay, on the float, but we were successful in the end. Dasher wasn't shaking and seemed only marginally afraid, mostly when I walked out of sight to grab the camera.


Then, as proof of our progress, we asked Dasher to swim to the dock from about twenty feet out, and he did! He attempted to get onto the dock where there were no stairs, so we still have some learning to do, but I'm feeling more confident that we'll get there someday soon.

"I will never understand humans. Where is the joy in this? Where is the dirt? Where are the rawhides?"
June 2012

"Alright. It's cool as long as you just hang out right there and pet me. I guess we can work this out."
June 2012

"What are you doing?! I told you to stay right here. Where are you going? You can't breathe under there, you know."
June 2012

"Huh. This is kind of relaxing. Not so bad after all. Hey, will someone throw me a bone?"
June 2012

Riding in Cars with Canines

When Dasher found me, I had recently embarked on a long-distance relationship. He and I traveled 6-hour round-trips every other weekend, so Dasher had to quickly adapt to life in the car. Like any good car dog, he enjoys sticking his head out the window. Once we're on the interstate, though, rawhides and naps are key. I once neglected to throw a rawhide in the backseat before a trip, and, lo and behold, Dasher took to gnawing on a seatbelt. You can bet I no longer make that mistake. Another example of dogs teaching their owners.


We have since moved and are a mere ten minutes from our favorite human dude. Now, Dasher's car rides are shorter, and he gets to hang out in the car when I run errands. He whiles away the wait napping.

Car napping
June 2012

 And he usually has this disappointed look on his face upon my return:

Dasher doesn't know why storeowners don't accept dogs.
June 2012

We do take longer trips with our furry friend, Gracie, when we go to the lake. Dasher gets so excited that we're going somewhere (it might be the lake!!!) that he wears himself out. Gracie doesn't mind when he falls asleep in any ol' spot.

Puppy Pals
May 2012

No matter where we're going or when, Dasher is thrilled. He has come to love car rides and often jumps in any open car door he sees. Today he got a special surprise when his favorite human dude came to take him out of that silly crate for a car ride. Where are they going?! Not sure, but Dasher hopes there will be bacon.

Oh my!
June 2012

Ignorance is Fright

In some cases, ignorance is bliss. We all enjoyed our Starbucks mocha-choca lattés a lot more before we found out there was bug protein in them. Other times, ignorance begets fear. The word "ignorance" isn't exactly fitting. It's more "acceptance without verification", but that's awfully lengthy. Humans have a tendency to outsource their thoughts when things are murky and complicated. We like definitive answers, so when someone proclaims one, we hop on board. Take Jenny McCarthy's posit that inoculation against disease caused her son to contract Autism. Moms and dads all over the country, afraid of the threat of Autism, did not get their children vaccinated. If these parents had done proper research, they would have learned that Autism is not a virus that can be transmitted. It's a genetic disorder. You're born with it or you're not. Fast-forward a few years, and the doctor who claimed the vaccination-Autism correlation admitted he fabricated the data and had financial motivations. Oddly, parents are still hell-bent on not vaccinating their kids. And now there is whooping cough in the Western part of the US.


This concept applies to Pit Bulls. A few bad apples have ruined the bunch. Instead of listening to the whole story on Pit Bulls, the original American family pet, many people have hopped on the bad news wagon. Their confirmation bias has forced them to focus on the sad stories of owners who have untoward agendas. They freeze or move aside when they encounter a Pit Bull in public spaces. They are afraid, and they shouldn't be.


 If enough of us pervade the public with happy tales of our pals, we might be able to shift the attitude. Here's one pooch we encountered at Bark in the Park, a fundraising event for the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley:

Bird Dog
June 2012

He just hangs out and walks along, nary a false move, with his bird buddy hitching a ride. And who could not love this face?

Sad face
June 2012

Maybe those who know why he had his sad, puppy-dog, sorry-mom eyes?

Bad Dog
June 2012

Dasher's new favorite weekday pastime is knocking his crate over and pushing the table and chairs as far as he can. Sometimes he manages to get them on their sides, too. Where do they come up with this stuff?!

Friday Fun in the Sun

It's Friday, and the sun is shining! I basked in the glory of it all by going home during lunch to throw the ball around with Dasher-y-doo. Fetch is a newly found fun-time for this big guy. For the past year and a half, he has run after the ball when I've thrown it, rarely picked it up and never brought it back. I decided he was easily distracted and that he just isn't a fetch kinda dog. Then about a week ago he brought me the ball back, unsolicited! I did an enormous amount of energetic encouraging, and the concept seems to have stuck.

The pounce portion of Fetch.
June 2012

Somehow Dasher already knew "Drop It". No lesson required. He is gentle with the ball as he runs back to me and when he drops it to the ground. Sometimes he lays down to idly gnash on it, but he is careful not to tear it. That is a huge improvement from the first tennis ball I ever threw for him. He ran after it, picked it up and promptly began pulverizing it.

Drop It was the easy part.
June 2012

Fetch never lasts too long. A few throws, and Dasher has had enough. It's hot, he's tired and there might be critters to chase at any moment. He needs to save his energy for this potential circumstance, so he finds his way to the shade and usually gets a belly rub. Today, he let one of his best human friends adorn him with leaves. Why adorn him with leaves? I'm not sure. 

He's Greek!
June 2012

This leaf endeavor went on for about ten minutes, and Dasher didn't do so much as raise his head. He just didn't care. He wasn't asleep. He just simply wasn't bothered and, so, had no interest in what was going on with this silly human and the leaves. I am pleased by his response because it's an indicator of how he'll react when children try to do goofy things to him. Dasher didn't start out particularly interested in children when they came up to pet him. He has either sat completely still and let them do their thing or turned away to show he wasn't really feeling it. Lately, though, he's been a bit more proactive with kids. I think he's figured out they usually have some tasty bits on their faces because his favorite place to interact with them is at the ice cream shop. They pet, he licks their faces and everyone is happy, myself included. Another indicator that Pit Bulls are just dogs like any other, whose behavior is influenced by its upbringing and not its breed.

Water Wary

We spend a lot of time here:

A portion of the people and dogs who spend Sundays on the lake.
April 2011

Dasher loves boat rides but would rather not deal with the water. Not a sustainable outlook on lake life. I'd like him to be a superior swimmer in case anything were to happen and so he can join his best furry friend in all the fun!

Gracie goes crazy for fetching in the lake!
April 2011

Dasher has become comfortable enough to walk among the rocks at the shoreline. He even lets us pour handfuls of water on his fur. But, as soon as we coax him into swimming, he goes into panic mode, flailing his paws at the air and the water so frantically that he makes huge splashes that inhibit us from helping him. He heads straight for the dock and attempts to climb aboard in places without stairs. During the latest lake attempt, he stopped paddling in order to hoist himself onto the dock and instead went under water! Poor guy. We called it a day at that point and decided a little excursion at the pool might be a better introduction to swimming.

So last night, that's what we did. We hung out on the steps with Dasher for a couple minutes to get him warmed up to the whole experience. As soon as we brought him off the steps, he began to paddle his crazy paddle and head straight for the side of the pool. We repeated this exercise a few times with the same result. By that point, Dasher was worn out and a little frightened of another go of it, and I had stinging scratches from errant paws. I left feeling dejected and wondering what our next step should be.

Internet advice suggests kiddie pool beginnings, life jackets, tons of treats (apparently cooked hot dogs float), a calm environment and plenty of positive reinforcement. This weekend we will try again at the lake without other dogs to distract us or people playing in the water. The most important thing we can teach right now is probably where to get out. Dasher needs to know to go to those locations for a safe and easy exit from the water. Maybe that will relax him and free him up to have some fun! In the meantime, he's pretty relaxed on land:

Dasher, post-pool escapade. Too tired to put his ear down!
June 2012

Delicious & Nutritious

Choosing a dog food brand was serious business for me. I wanted to give my new pal the healthiest life I could. My goal: maximize nutrition and minimize payout. I did some internet research (is there any other kind these days?), and I learned that the first five listed ingredients should be meats and grains that I can pronounce. Meat should be first, preferably plain ol' meat, but meal would do and by-product would not. Supplemental dye of any kind is just a silly addition - the dog isn't going to turn up his nose because of aesthetics.


I found the best bang for my buck in Rachael Ray's Nutrish. Not only did it meet all of my criteria, it's also out there saving more doggies like Dasher! Rachael Ray gives her pet product proceeds to canine rescues around the country. One recipient is BAD RAP, a Pit Bull rescue group in the San Francisco Bay Area that has me considering a move or beginning a pit rescue of my own in the Southeast. Nutrish has continued to please me. Amid dog food & treat contamination scares from Chinese factories, Nutrish has continued its careful production in a family-owned factory here in the US of A. Less worries for me and yummy grub for Dasher. He and his pals gobble it up, so it must be tasty, too!
                               

Publix and Kroger carry the Nutrish line, as do other box stores. Find a store near you! 

Books to Love a Dog By

A few of my friends rescued pit bull puppies this weekend, and I reflected upon the start of my pit bull story.  The first night I brought Dasher home, he looked like this:

Dasher, Day One
December 2010

So skinny, but so happy to have found his forever home! I had already purchased a doggy bed, and he promptly took up residence on it. I laid down with him and gave him some good-dog pets. And then I cried. It was a little bit of relief for having saved him from his previous life and a little bit of "Oh dear God, what have I done?". No turning back, though. This was a done deal. We had a bit of a rough start - there was some bad-dog chewing and barking. Then, a couple weeks into our journey, we were lucky enough to be shut indoors during a snow storm due to Atlanta's poor winter preparedness strategy. Dasher and I played in the snow (one of us fell a few times), and we napped together on the sofa. I also managed to read this book:

                                

Alexandra Horowitz, a psychology professor in New York City, wrote 'Inside of a Dog'. In it, she tells us what dogs think and how they make decisions. The knowledge was supremely helpful as I tried to decipher Dasher's desires. The most valuable takeaway was the importance of a dog's nose. That's how he learns about his surroundings and what drives a large portion of his decisions. Horowitz speaks about the value of what she calls a "smell walk". Dasher and I take walks where the only objective is to smell stuff. We're not a mission to burn energy or evacuate the morning bowl of kibble. If those things happen, great! But we're really just out to smell. Horowitz likened this exercise to a human needing to use the brain to remain alert and active in other facets of life. Since I read her book to remain alert and active in my dog facet of life, it's only fair that Dasher gets to smell things so he can be alert and active in the human facet of his life. After all, we're always demanding things of our dogs, and I imagine it's exhausting trying to figure out what exactly those crazy commands mean!

   

Fast forward a year and a half. Dasher plays outside while I read 'A Dog's Journey' by W. Bruce Cameron. It's a sequel to 'A Dog's Purpose', which I read last year. The books are told from a continually-reincarnated pooch's point of view. The story is touching, heartwarming, happy, sad, frustrating, and elevating. Read with a box of tissues and your furry friend nearby.

I did.

Dasher wishes I was petting his head instead of reading a book.
June 2012

Onto the next book. Jim Gorant's 'The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption'. I have only read the introduction, and I can already tell I'll need that box of tissues back.

                   

                                         

Dasher the Dog

Pal.
Buddy.
Pally Pal.
Pit bull.
Dasher-y-oo.
Bud.
Boo Boo.
GET DOWN! 


That last one might be from his point of view. Meet my dog. Real name Dasher. He graced me with his companionship at Christmastime, earning his reindeer name.

Dasher, the Georgia Red-Clay Nosed Reindog

He's a "lab / boxer mix" according to his papers but a pit bull according to, well, anyone who looks at him. He enjoys chewing rawhides, chasing critters, catching flies, giving kisses and, as you can see, digging. He hates baths. He makes a squeaky sound when he yawns. He laps up the ice cream and leaves the milk bone when we go to the local creamery.


He's a regular dog with regular quirks who sometimes gets treated unfairly because of his breed's bad rap. Dasher and I are here to dispel the disillusionment with Pit Bulls.


Welcome and happy tails to you!