Scent Discriminattion Class: Week 4

Well my mom has been busy busy busy.  My friend Mumble and his mom stayed at my house a bunch of nights in the last few weeks because my mom was away for work.  But we have not missed any of our Scent Classes at the Zoom Room.  Weeks 2 & 3 we worked on the same things as Week 1 (and my mom had to sniff some stuff too) but this last week was really challenging.

First we had to sniff the boxes with the treats again and Birch and Anise and then just one scent.  We have been learning to alert when we smell the scent.  I like to paw at the box or step on in but the trainer says I have to sit - then when I sit he says I don't sniff it enough.  I'm a hound dog I don't need to take big whiff like all those girl dogs.

This week he tried to fool us.  First he put out two boxes with a scent/treat and then one with nothing.  I didn't sit at the box with nothing - so there!  Then he put a box with treats but no scent.  Again I passed it without sitting (and it had turkey hot dogs in it - my favorite).  My mom bought some stuff for us to practice at home with so we'll see how that goes. There is one little dog that is really good - she sniffs for a long time and then sits at the right box - I think the trainer wants me to sniff more but my big hound dog nose can smell it - I swear.

We are having tons of fun and I can't wait to take another class (I've already done Agility classes, Agility League and a Tricks Class).  My mom thinks an Advance Obedience class or a Therapy Dog class would be good for me since I need to learn to calm down sometimes.

TGIF

My mom has been busy busy busy lately and she has to travel for work a few times in the next week so I will get to have a slumber party with my buddy Mumble and his mom (but at my house because Mumble's brother is a cat and I like to chase cats).  I'm very excited but still sad that I won't get to see my mom.

On the upside she's been so busy I have been able to sneak up on the couch a few times without her noticing - I've gotten pretty clever about the whole thing.

You can barely tell I'm there!

I'm super excited for Week Two of Scent Discrimination Class on Sunday and hope that my mom buys me the kit to practice at home (I'm sure she will).  Other than that I plan on spending the weekend lying around doing nothing.

Scent Discrimination Class: Week 1

Well Chopper is still recovering from all of the brain work he had to do this weekend so I will be reporting on our first week in Scent Discrimination at the Zoom Room in Culver City.



First, the class is made up of all female dogs and Chopper. Two of them are very small and two are more medium sized. Chopper is also the only hound dog and probably the biggest by a good twenty-five pounds or so. There is a 14-year old miniature pinscher, a tiny white dog (who might be our biggest competition as it turns out), and two medium-sized dogs that each bore a striking resemblance to other types of dogs but were the wrong size (and they also happened to have the same name).



I didn't tell Chopper ahead of time that during this class the dogs would be in crates when it wasn't their turn so I wasn't sure how he would fare. Chopper never had a problem being in his crate by his choice or mine if I was home (he was not to be crate-trained however and the one attempt early on resulted in him coming to work with me for a week) and we still use it occasionally but about a year ago I decided that two dog beds and the crate were taking over my house and we put the crate away. But truth be told if there is someone in the house he doesn't know and he's in his crate there is a lot of barking and carrying on. (I spent four hours one Saturday with him in there and three cable guys roaming around the house and it was one of the longest days of my life.) We happened to have his couch blanket in the car so I put that over the crate to help block his view but made the mistake of doing it before he got in the crate - why a mistake you ask - well Chopper has been trained that that blanket means he can get on the couch - so as soon as it was on the crate he jumped right up on top. He was very confused that the crate had not turned into the couch and established himself as the class clown.



So the dogs spent the better part of the class time getting used to the box that the scents would eventually be placed in. I'm not sure how they are going to learn to discriminate these scents but for now they just had to get used to the box. So Chopper's "silver" treat of choice - turkey hot dogs - were loaded up in the box and he was told to "find it" and he did. Now Chopper has been playing "find it" for some time. He is fully capable of waiting in one room while you go in the next and hide a piece of dried chicken until I yell "find it" and he will come barrelling in to, well, find it. I sometimes put the chicken in shoes so I suspect that he can actually discriminate scents. So he thought this was good fun and by the end was ever so softly whining in his crate when it wasn't his turn. Most of the dogs thought it was great except for one very shy dog who was a little freaked out by the box.



Next two of the three scents they will eventually discriminate between were placed on a paper towel and put in the box along with the treats and the dogs had to get the treats again. Now you would think - they are just going to do it again - but not quite. These oils smelled strong to us and if you're a dog and not a person they are that much stronger (and if you're a coonhound and not a regular dog - well you can just imagine). So while the dogs did get the treats they were a little more careful and slow about it, which I did not expect. We didn't purchase the at-home practice kit but I'm sure that will be coming home next week.



All in all it was a fun way to spend a Sunday morning with the Chops - now if I could only remember the people's names in addition to the dog's names.

Valentine's Day

So it is only a month until Valentine's Day.  I have no idea what to get my mom and honestly I'm not feeling that much in the spirit since she made me a vet appointment for that day.  But if you are looking for a gift for your pooch then here are some gifts any dog would like.

For the dog that has everything how about a little blue box.  My mom has boxes like this on her dresser at home so I figure it must be a good gift. 

My mom loves these little blue boxes!

For those of you that will still be buried under snow come Valentine's Day, how about a lovely sweater for your dog.  This one is pink and blue and I think it would look good on either a boy or a girl dog.  And it comes in larger sizes.

I wouldn't mind wearing this sweater if it was cold where I lived.

A personal favorite, my mom got this for me a few months ago, is this "Mommy Dearest" collar (there is a leash too) that lets everyone know how much your dog loves you.  Also it looks like a tattoo but I'm going to guess it is a lot less painful.

This is one of many collars my mom has bought for me.

If your dog is going to a party (like me) he is going to need at least an accessory.  How about this little collar attachment? And they even have a matching collar (more up my alley than a bow). These little beauties are pretty reasonably priced ($6-$9) so almost any dog can feel special on Valentine's Day. 

This "bow" snaps right on your collar - it's like a doggy corsage!

And if you think your pet is even more festive check out these Valentine's Day "hats" or the cupid wings (but don't tell my mom about those or I may have to wear them).

In n Out

So last night my mom got stuck in traffic and was late picking me up from daycare.  Then she said she had to use the restroom (she won't go outside like me) and it was getting past my dinner time so she pulled in to this place with a big yellow and red sign and went inside for a little bit.  When she came back she got me out and we had a picnic - it was my first In-n-Out hamburger (well just the patty) and it was FANTASTIC.



I think I'm in love!


I hope we get to go back again - I better be on my best behavior.

Woman's Best Friend

Chopper really is my best friend. He's (usually) the most easy-going roommate I've ever had. He is always happy to see me, even if I'm an hour late, and one goofy look will make me smile. Afew months ago when I cam across this little gem at Trixie + Peanut that I thought was just too cute:

Now at first I had some flashbacks to junior high (not all good) but I decided in the end that we had to have it.

I thought I would put mine on my keyring and Chopper's on his collar and we would be very cute. The problem was that it was really tiny (really is more of a charm size). Nonetheless I put it on the key ring and got Chopper's on his collar (along with his city license, his ID tag and his St. Francis medal). Now Chopper has only ever lost one ID tag (some have just worn out) so I was pretty sure this was a safe bet. The cost ($12) was not too bad if we had to replace it though so I wasn't that worried if he lost his.

Guess who lost it first? Me. My key ring opened up after a meeting and keys flew everywhere. A colleague helped me collect them and when I was certain I had all the keys I left. I forgot about my little charm though. So now I have to order another one because poor Chopper is walking around with "be frie" around his neck and I don't have my "st nds" and I don't want him to feel like some poor junior high girl whose best friend stopped wearing her charm.

Either way I though it was just too cute not to share. Also if you sign up for the newsletter at Trixie + Peanut they send you coupon codes. The next time I'm in NYC I'll have to check out the shop.

New Year's Improvement

Well I am pretty happy with myself so I'm not sure I really need to make a New Year's resolution.  I go on walks daily, I eat organic food, and since the Three Dog Bakery closed in Santa Monica I only get desserts on special occasions.  But everyone can improve a little (even me) so my mom has signed me up for Scent Discrimination Class.

I'm not sure how this is going to go - I am a coonhound so hopefully that will give me an advantage and I'm really good at finding treats so I'm hoping this won't be too hard.  Class starts next Sunday morning (doesn't my mom know I need my beauty sleep?) so I will report back with just exactly is happening there.

The other area I am looking to improve on is how I treat my guests.  I have gotten a lot better with having people guests over (I'm not as scared anymore) but I have been a little jealous when my buddies come over.  Sometimes they want to take my treats and sleep on my beds and get petted instead of me or lick a bowl that I've had my eye on.  I am ashamed to say that I don't act nice when that happens and I bark in their faces and tell them "to go home."  My mom says this is not nice and I've been getting timeouts.  I get separated for a few minutes in my room and then I can come out and play again.  I don't respond well to getting yelled at or scolded or negatively punished in anyway so I have to be removed from the room for some "me time."  Then I can choose to come out again or just stay in bed. 

So those are the areas I would like to improve in - learn to smell some new things and be nicer to my friends - pretty good for a dog.