Klondike Canine Academy offered AKC Canine Good Citizen testing tonight and I said that I'd use whatever time was available at the end to run some of the rescue dogs. I haven't done any formal work with most of them and I've been too busy to prepare recently but I wanted to get an idea of how close they were.

Harley was first. He was wonderful as usual and did a great job at everything...except the stay. He kept getting up to come to me. That surprised me, especially because I knew he was hot and tired. It'll be easy to teach that though.

Bob was next and I thought he'd be a little nutty but he did fine. He passed!

Since I had just brought Keowee back to the kennel I decided to try him. Another pass! He was surprisingly good.

I was prepared for utter failure with Judo but he surprised me too. He did much better than I expected but still failed the stay and he also bumped someone with his nose when walking through the crowd. It will be easy to train for those.

I was delighted by how well all the dogs did and amazed that Bob and Keowee passed. Good dogs!

We invited a couple of Kitty's friends to bring their children to meet the dogs. One family might borrow Bob soon.

I arranged to meet some people to introduce Peyton today. I knew that he wasn't smelling great so I loaded the dogs from home (minus Marley who was already being groomed and Grazie who went with Kitty to the farmers market) and headed to the kennel to bathe Peyton.  Wrangling the other dogs took about as much effort as bathing Peyton.

Peyton was clean when I got him so this was his first bath with me.  He was easy.  It was a pleasure to work on him.  The other dogs also did a remarkably good job of waiting while I bathed him.  Then we all went out to play!

It's been awhile since the Norwood family visited us. The boys are growing! They got along beautifully with all the dogs. They especially liked Conner and plan to borrow him next week.

"152 nails to trim.  152 nails.  Grind one down.  Move to the next. 151 nails to trim!"

I've been neglecting nail trimming.  I didn't want to try the new dogs until I felt more comfortable with them and I was really reluctant to handle the crazy-long double rear dewclaws on Harley and Dexter.  And I'm lazy.  But Grazie, Marley and Bob have Pet Partners tests tomorrow so I decided to do them.  Then Kitty helped so I decided to do the rest of the dogs.

O.k., it wasn't quite like that.  I was trimming Bob first.  We were outside and I put some pieces of raw venison medallions on the table.  Bob is so easy that I didn't grab any meat treats for awhile.  Then I heard something and turned to see Harley coming off the empty table.  Grrr...  So I decided to switch to Harley.  He struggled a bit at first but Kitty gave him lots of treats (Ewww!  Meat!) and I sat on him.  It took quite awhile to grind down over half an inch from each of his four rear dewclaws.  By the time I finished he was lying on his side and relaxed.  I was sweating.  I cuddled with him for awhile before switching back to Bob.

Bob makes nail trimming so easy.  It's remarkable how calm he is about it.  Since Grazie is testing tomorrow I did her next.  She was happy to get treats during the trim.  Marley tests tomorrow too so I did him next.  That was a breeze, especially with his recent haircut.  He's such a sweetie.  (He's lying on my leg as I type this.)

I was feeling refreshed after Marley so I decided to try Dobky.  He tends to "freeze" whenever he's stressed so I was hoping he'd just hunker down and let me trim.  He was a bit more active than that but he did well, especially for his first time.  He got a lot of meat.

Another set of long dewclaws remained.  I've been wincing whenever I see Dexter's rear dewclaws and it was time to tackle them.  I was expecting it to be quite a chore but Dexter was a doll!  He was so good about letting me grind and grind on him.  He even remained standing the whole time.  I was impressed.  Dexter was the big surprise of the evening.

Jarreau...oh, Jarreau.  He's a handful.  Nothing new.  I finished on Morgan because I can always count on him to be solid.  I'd say that he's stoic about nail trimming but I'm not sure it even bothers him.  He's so confident and trusting.  It's a joy to work with him.  And that's it!  No more nails to trim...except my own.  I really gouged a couple with the grinder.

We've had two dogs, Maddie and Marley, pass their Delta Society Pet Partners evaluations after being adopted.  Today one of our adoptable dogs, Bob, passed his DSPP evaluation!  Kitty tested with Marley, Kyler tested with Grazie (for renewal) and then Kyler tested with Bob.  All of the teams passed!  Grazie did a great job but the boys barely made it.  Bob was quite social and had no problems with people but was doing too well at being a Husky (tight leash) and showed much more interest in the neutral dog (a Corgi mix) than he should.

Judo returned from a two-night outing today.  I understand that he did a great job inside.  When he stays at our house he never has to ask to go outside because I am letting the other dogs out frequently so I was surprised that he clearly asked to go out during this visit and had no problems relieving himself on a tie-out.  He went on some walks with the family's other dog.  I was also told that he distinguished between dog toys and other things (pillows, etc.) on the floor and only chewed on appropriate toys.

Bob visited a family with small children after passing his therapy dog test today.  We retrieved him after dinner and got a good report.  He pulls too much to make walks pleasant but he did well in the yard and house.

Yesterday I took everyone but Grazie (3 family + 4 foster dogs) for a quick jog around University Place.  Harley had a seizure early the next morning so I thought it might have been too much for him.  Today I went on a longer jog to campus with only six of the dogs (3 family + 3 foster).  It was comfortable.  I kept my guys on the left and the fosters on my right and they all did well.  Bob, of course, lives to run and always pushes me.  Dobky is often in trail but sometimes comes up with the others.  I keep a close eye on Dexter because I always wonder how he'll do with others on the trail but we passed and were passed  a few times and he ran right along like a gentleman.  O.k....there were a couple bunnies and a squirrel that ran in front of us.  That did cause a bit of excitement but it was easily managed.

The dogs do fine even though we're running in 80F weather. We stopped half way and had some drinks but most of the dogs were not interested. (Dobky was happy to drink from my bottle.) I'm looking forward to going on longer runs as the weather cools and the dogs get the rhythm.

Kitty and I took all the dogs to playgroups, as usual.  The kids were walking Dr. Banker's dog, Zeus, out as we arrived.  He got mobbed a bit but everyone handled it well.  He's getting so big!  But he still acts like a puppy.

Judo, Keowee, Peyton and Conner were already out of the kennel and had been playing for awhile when we arrived. Keowee was too much for a Dalmatian in the large area but Judo was still playing there. Layla ushered us down to the agility area to help with evaluations of a couple Yellow Labs. Grazie, Jarreau, Dobky, Peyton and Dexter quickly entered there while I worked on the gate so we could use the playgroup area with a tree. The dogs roamed while I worked on the gate. Morgan joined Judo in the big area and Harley was invited into the adjacent playgroup. By the time I fixed the gate I had only Bob and Keowee. I wandered over to check on the evaluations.

Everyone in the evals was doing remarkably well. I expected my guys to be a little high-energy for the Labs. There was one outburst. I didn't see what started it but I did see Dexter getting chomped by a Lab a few times and he kept moving away. I called him and he came to me. The Lab had a bunch of white fur in his mouth. I was so proud of Dexter!

During evals a guest joined us to see Dobky. He was more social with her than I expected and she took him for a walk in the playgroup corridors. I was impressed that he did so well.

After the evals I moved my dogs into the area with the tree. We were adjacent to some very small dogs and Dexter was especially interested in them. Eventually I took Dexter on-lead to see them. There was a Boston Terrier with his owner and a smaller terrier(?) girl, Morgan, who was "stay and play." Conner was also in there but he didn't come to see us. Dexter did great with the little dogs. After the Boston left I let Dexter go off-lead with the tiny dog. (We joked about taking a photo and calling it "stay and pray.") Eventually I just opened the gate and let tiny Morgan meet the rest of the big dogs, including Harley who had joined us by then. There were no problems at all.

Oh!  One more brag on Dexter.  We've always had to help him into the Jeep.  Today he jumped in all on his own both to and from playgroups!  I think he's lost a bit of weight and is feeling more comfortable but I'm sure that the peer pressure (literally!) of seven other dogs shooting/squeezing past him helps too.

Good people. Good dogs. It was a good day.

I played volleyball this morning, then went to a birthday party in the afternoon and had a jazz party in the evening - all without the dogs. I needed to give them some activity but I didn't have a lot of time...and then I got a work call and had even less time. I decided that I'd jog with the dogs to our evening party to meet Kitty and I'd grab the Jeep and drive home to shower so Kitty could be there on time and we'd end up with only one car. It didn't work that way though.

I took only six dogs again, leaving Grazie and Harley at home. I ended up with the skijoring belt I use to connect the dogs on top of the waist pack I wear to carry water, my phone, etc. It seemed a bit more comfortable there so I decided to try it for this trip. We took the path along Lindberg, through the Celery Bog and as we came up the hill we passed a young lady with her dog. For some reason Dobky was having trouble right then and was dancing out it front of me. I tried and tried to just pull him back into position without stopping because I wanted to keep up the speed as we passed the other dog. And then Dobky's collar snapped open. It's no fun having a loose dog at the side of a busy road, especially a new dog who doesn't yet respond to his name. Fortunately he stayed close and checked out the other dog. I asked the dog's owner to grab Dobky and she did. As everyone mobbed her dog I looped a lead around Dobky's neck and we were quickly jogging again.

It wasn't until I was waiting to cross Salisbury that I realized I'd lost my phone. I flipped around and retraced our steps. I kept thinking that it must have happened during the Dobky incident and I was relieved that when I reached that area it was there in the grass where we'd pulled around the other dog. (I'm guessing that the skijoring belt pushed the phone from its spot when I was twisting and bending.)  We went straight home and Kitty got one of our collars to replace Dobky's faulty quick-release collar.

I've hit an especially busy time and I've been neglecting the dogs and my updates. I'm going to stuff this entry with updates.

On Monday I took Grazie and Bob to the clinic for their Delta Society Pet Partner health screenings. I took Harley along because he's still drinking amazing amounts of water. Everyone seemed in good shape so we decided to test some more samples from Harley. (Kitty submitted those samples today.)

For a long time, I've been feeling like the dogs need more than just "free play." Taking them all for walks is difficult but six of the dogs at our house are getting quite comfortable with jogging. (I've been leaving Grazie and Harley at home during our runs.) We've been doing a 5-6K path that loops into campus. I'm trying to get the dogs accustomed to being in public and especially on campus before the students return. They're tired enough and "in the groove" when we reach campus so they don't react much to people around them. I'm hoping that this will be such routine that they'll be comfortable when students return.

Dexter...oh, Dexter. He's rolling on the floor with Jarreau as I type. Marley is in on it too; Kitty just removed a big glob of white fur from his mouth. They are all such great playmates. Dexter frequently initiates play with them and they go for hours.  Dexter is doing great at eating from my hand every meal.  He goes right into his crate when we ask and he doesn't bark when we leave or return.

Dobky is standing into Kitty to be patted right now. He'll do that for several minutes. I haven't worked with him beyond the general stuff around the house and during our runs. I'm trying to get him to be comfortable and confident before I push much more on him.

Bob delights in our runs. He's always in the lead. Such a Husky. Then he crashes at night. I love tired dogs.

Kitty took Marley to the West Lafayette Farmers' Market this evening and then they went to a friend's house for dinner. With only seven dogs at home I decided to take everyone for a jog but I didn't want to push Grazie and Harley so we just went across the road and around University Place. We ran into some residents in back and when we stopped to talk I think the entire dining staff came to greet the dogs. It was good to see everyone and the dogs behaved beautifully. I am especially pleased that the foster dogs are so social without being overbearing (although Dexter does like to thoroughly greet everyone).

Allison wrote that Keowee is staying with her again and keeping Mackie active. She also told me that everyone's samples came back "normal" today. That means we're still trying to determine why Harley drinks so much. I'm taking him to the clinic for another blood draw tomorrow.

The weather was beautiful this evening - sunny but not terribly hot, especially in the shade. We arrived at 5:00 with all eight of the home dogs and the four kennel dogs were already out. Judo, Keowee, and Peyton were playing in the main area while Conner was in an evaluation with a tiny Pomeranian in a small area. Conner was his usual - relaxed and off to the side.

We mostly milled around the corridors for awhile. Layla requested a big dog to introduce to the Pom so I sent Jarreau. He did beautifully, of course. Eventually I also sent Grazie, Morgan and Harley to meet the Pom. I also took Dexter on-lead at first but he did a great job and I quickly released him. Dexter provided a wonderful example of how barking is not always aggressive. Layla narrated as Dexter did a full play bow and barked repeatedly to invite one of the small dogs out from under the chairs. Although he's a bit overwhelming he's always careful with the little dogs.

Bentley, the Dalmatian, arrived soon after we did. Peyton was a little too much for Bentley so Peyton got to join the house dogs in the second area while Judo, Keowee and Mackey worked on Bentley. There were several heated exchanges and the monitors had their hands full keeping control of the situation.

Peyton wanted so much to be with his buddies that he popped the (weak) gate a few times so that he could run in the corridor along the main area. It's not that he's "mean" - he's just so active and driven. He needs someone to give him a lot more attention. I had no problems retrieving him and the others each time and herding them back into their area.

Dobky didn't get any special activity. He obviously would have enjoyed sticking with me the whole time but I wasn't yet comfortable putting him with new small dogs. It's not that I think he'd do anything wrong but I just don't feel like we know each other well enough to ensure that he'd behave appropriately. He's really gaining confidence though. He often goes head to head with the other dogs, not fighting so much as just asserting himself. Morgan has been incredibly forgiving of this behavior. Although Morgan has given Dobky some corrections they've all been minor.

I played volleyball at Purdue for a couple hours this morning. We had a date for disc golf in the evening so I took the dogs for a run in the afternoon. I extended our route a bit; we went on campus, circled the IM fields on the bark path, went around the RSC, and then along the street in front of Tarkington, continued the bark path around the track, headed up the hill and returned home. Due to construction we had some tight spots on the path and Dexter went wide once, catching a pole and snapping his collar. Oops. At least he was easy to grab. Everyone did a great job running and no one seemed bothered by all of the sounds and activity of students arriving on campus. We're also getting the hang of drinking from the bottle I carry. Everyone can now drink from it without "gacking." And oh, how they did drink. It was warm and they cleaned me out quickly. I might need to switch to my two-bottle pack for these runs or refill along the way.

As we entered Blackbird Farms Kitty's mom motioned for me to come help her. It's garage sale day and she'd sold her grill but the gentleman who bought it needed some help. Kitty was there with Harley and Grazie but her mom must have really wanted me to help with the grill because she wore my belt with everyone attached while I worked. They were mostly in down stays but I was still impressed both at how well the dogs did and that she'd handle all of them.

After disc golf I got dropped at home to feed the dogs and then bike to meet everyone for dinner. As I was feeding Dexter (by hand, as usual) I saw Bob nose over a couple of times as Dexter was waiting to take the food in front of him. When we started doing this such an incursion would have gotten at least a lip curl from Dexter but tonight Bob even nosed Dexter's paw and Dexter just moved it a bit while continuing to watch me, waiting for his command to take another handful of food. I am so delighted that he trusts me to handle the situation.

We returned home late and I had some work to do on the computer but now it's about 11:00 PM local and I'm at the bar with most of the dogs passed out at my feet. I think the dogs have had a full day despite me being gone so much.

I was contacted a couple days ago because a foster home was having trouble with a biting dog. Uh oh. I really didn't want to get involved with a dog who bites but this was a special situation. I was told that the dog only "play bites"; he bites without puncturing skin when he's excited. It's not an aggressive behavior.

I rode my trike to Celery Bog with Bob to meet Oscar. Oscar was all snarls and snaps about Bob. Bob was wonderful though! It is not his nature but Bob backed off and trusted me to handle the situation. We muzzled Oscar and still he came at Bob. I wrestled him in an attempt to quiet him but he wouldn't discontinue. Finally I got him in harness and in position to run.

It took a few tries to get him moving forward instead of at Bob but once he started to run the issue with Bob disappeared. We ran about a mile to Wal-mart and on the return leg I decided that he'd had enough of the muzzle. I reached over and unclipped it while we were moving at a good pace. No change. Eventually I decided he'd be fine and pulled it completely off of him.

After a couple miles Oscar seemed to have his fill. We stopped in the shade and he was panting hard. He had no interest in Bob and he seemed happy to take some water from me. His pads were wearing and tender so I decided to just walk the dogs home after a long break. Oscar didn't seem to have a "slow" setting though. He ran/trotted the rest of the way home.

At home I hitched him to the car and brought a few bowls of water to him. He quickly drained them. I decided to delay introductions to the other dogs until later because I need to get Conner to the shelter. I realized, however, that after the initial meeting (when I was wearing gloves!) he showed no interest in biting at me.  (I wouldn't say that he was biting at me initially anyway.  He was just interested in Bob.  He had plenty of chances to bite me but he didn't, even when I put my hand in his mouth.)

We didn't get to run yesterday so I was especially longing to hit the road today. Then, of course, I had an afternoon meeting that ran long. I was hoping to run six dogs to the library to meet Kitty and the other two at a concert there. I fed the dogs late and we were way behind schedule. I didn't want to run them right after eating but after 45 minutes I had everything in order so we went!

This would be a test of how well the dogs do in public. We took the path along Lindberg through Celery Bog and then joined Northwestern at Cherry Lane. There was a fair amount of road and foot traffic but not nearly as much as there will be in another week. The dogs did well. They quickly get the rhythm and Bob is doing well at playing the lead dog and following my calls. I rarely get tripped...unless my shoe comes untied (as it did today).

Coming through campus was a non-event. The dogs pretty much ignore other people. I can usually keep them in line by just picking up the pace if they get distracted. It was a good quick run to the library and then I picked up Harley from Kitty and walked to the restaurant while Kitty drove with Grazie. Kitty got a parking space right by our table so I put the foster dogs in the car with Grazie. The boys stayed on mats by us while we ate. Jarreau and Morgan did great but Marley was constantly breaking his stay. The dogs in the car got a lot of attention from passers-by.  Although Grazie hides in the driver's footwell, the other dogs seemed fine in the car - alert but content and not at all bothered by the busy area.

Four of our friends came over for dinner and brought a Great Pyrenees and a Standard Poodle puppy. Things went pretty well but the Pyr was a bit overwhelmed by all the dogs. Marley and the puppy, however, had a glorious time playing by themselves.

I returned from the farm just in time to load the dogs and head to the park. The kennel dogs were already out playing. Bizet was with the little dogs. We joined the bigger dogs in the main area. All the dogs there were cool so I brought Bizet over to join us.

Dobky and Bob were a bit too interested in Bizet. Once, when Dobky was chasing Bizet Peyton broadsided him. I could imagine that he was "splitting" - trying to diffuse the situation.

Some young friends joined us and did a great job with the dogs. It was a good night.

Toward the end of last semester some Purdue students contacted me about working with the dogs. What a wonderful opportunity! I've always had this hope that I could get students involved with working the dogs and I know there are students on campus who miss their own dogs or wish they could have their own but can't because of their housing, schedules, etc. The students took a couple of the dogs out for tours of campus last year and did a great job with the dogs. I looked forward to their return - and today I got the call!

The ladies were already at playgroups when I arrived. We talked about the current group of dogs and some of the changes coming to the group. There's still a lot to resolve but I'm excited about getting more people involved and getting dogs on campus for socialization. There are wonderful possibilities.

I caught a brief nap after playgroups and then fed the dogs. After waiting an hour we still had some sunlight so I took everyone for a run to campus to get a glimpse of the weekend before classes start.

We take the trail along the golf course and then through the IM fields to Purdue West. I could hear the band playing as we approached. They were practicing right where we turn to head toward the RSC. Even though they made some startling sounds and were milling around the trail, the dogs did well staying with me and keeping pace. We needed to go off-trail a few times due to traffic but the dogs didn't get spooked by any of the activity.