Service Dog Slumber Party

A couple weeks ago, Isaac and I took a short trip to Kansas with my friend and her service dog Jake.  Jake's mom had to go to a business thing and Isaac and I went along for the drive.

Isaac and Jake are good buddies.  They love to play tug, so both myself and Jake's mom packed toys to tug with for this trip.

We got to our hotel about 9 pm.  Jake's mom and I were both tired.  Jake and Isaac were tired too, but not too tired to play. 

Isaac really loves tug and he hasn't had a chance to play tug for quite a while.  I think not since we last saw Jamie at our old dog park in Ohio.  For some reason, Isaac never wanted to tug with Daisy or Lulu.  Probably just because they were not particularly interested in tugging.  But Isaac and Jamie would play tug for an hour if given the chance.

And so they tugged.

We finally got them to settle down about 11 pm for bed. 

Before bed, though, I took both dogs outside to go potty.  Isaac found a nice bush to pee on and of course Jake wanted to pee there too.  While Isaac was still peeing, Jake sidled up beside him, kind of like he was parallel parking or something, and lifted his leg.  I pulled on Isaac's leash to get him to move just in time.  Otherwise, Jake would have peed right on him!

So after peeing, we went back inside and got the dogs settled down for bed.  Jake slept in bed with his mom but Isaac doesn't like to sleep with me, so I put a blanket on the floor for him.  And soon everyone was asleep.

Until 1:30 am, when Isaac woke me up insisting he had to pee.  I tried to tell him it had only been a couple hours since we went out, but he didn't care. 

You know why he had to pee already?  Because earlier he and Jake slurped up a lot of toilet water.  That's right, as soon as we got into the hotel room, Jake went right to the bathroom and helped himself to a long drink.  Isaac thought that was a fine idea so he had a good long drink when Jake was done.

So.  I got out of bed and took Isaac out to pee, as quietly as possible, because I didn't want to disturb Jake or his mom.

After Isaac peed for a really long time, we went back to the room.  I opened the door as quietly as possible, felt my way inside in the dark, and removed Isaac's leash.  I tiptoed toward my bed.

Isaac, on the other hand, ran toward the bed where Jake and his mom were sleeping.  He leapt onto the bed and pounced on Jake. 

Of course, this woke both Jake and his mom.  Isaac explained that he wanted to play and Jake thought that was a fine idea, so he jumped off the bed and chaos ensued.

We finally got them settled down again and everyone went back to sleep.

The next thing I knew, Isaac was telling me he wanted to go out.  I told him it wasn't time yet, but Jake's mom said actually it was, she had to get up and get ready to go to her business thing.   After a quick trip out to pee, the boys were back at it again.

Isaac had a very good time.  He says he loves slumber parties with his buddy Jake!

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Pees on the Toy

When Isaac and I arrived at the dog park this morning, we were both pleased to see two of his good friends were already there, Toby and Clyde. Toby is a labradoodle who loves to play chase and wrestles with Isaac. Clyde is a Saint Bernard/Rottie mix who is a bit older and doesn't like the hot weather, so he often prefers to lie in the shade and watch instead of playing. I'm not sure why Isaac likes him so much when he doesn't play much, but he does.

Also, Clyde does not like all dogs, only certain dogs, so when some dogs come to the park, his owner takes him to another area. However, Clyde and Isaac get along great.

Well, Clyde's owner told me that he likes to play tug so I have been driving around with Isaac's rope toy in my van for a week now, hoping we'd see Clyde at the dog park and they could have a game of tug. So I brought the rope in with us today. Isaac Clyde decided they were not interested in playing tug today for some reason, but Toby really really liked the rope and ran around with it for a while, then played tug and keep away with another dog named Wilbur.

Then a new dog came and he went right to the rope and lifted his leg and peed on it. It's all fun and games until someone pees on the toy, you know. Not one to be outdone (or to lose in a pissing contest), Isaac promptly peed on the rope himself.

I considered gifting the peeing dog's owner with the rope.  I considered leaving it at the dog park for whomever to play with.  I ended up bringing it home, thinking I might soak it in bleach water.  But I might just toss it.

And Here He Demonstrates That He Has Not Yet Learned the Art of Sharing

Today at the dog park, another dog was playing fetch in the lake with a toy. The dog's owner threw the toy, and both Isaac and the other dog took off after it. The other dog got to it first, so Isaac snatched it right out of the poor dog's mouth.

I know, it's rude, right?

Off Duty Dog

A friend suggestion that I post more videos of Isaac playing and goofing off and just "being a dog."  Many people think service dogs work all the time but that's not the case.  Isaac gets to go for a long walk almost every day and often gets to run and play off leash and swim in lakes and ponds and creeks and rivers and roll in smelly stuff and chase squirrels or geese, etc.  He has lots of time off duty. 

This is a typical hike for us - except it lasts for an hour to an hour and a half.

He also gets to chase geese a lot at this time of year, which he loves.

The Funky Monkey

Isaac has a new toy.  It's a stuffed monkey, now named the Funky Monkey because after a few days of being licked and chewed by a big slobbery doggie, trust me, it's funky. 

Isaac usually tears stuffed animals to shreds in a very short amount of time.  They rarely live 30 minutes.  That's why I buy them at the thrift store for 99 cents.

But every once in a while, he decides to keep one.  I don't know why.  He had a stuffed tiger and a stuffed hippo for a long time, though he eventually decided to kill them.  I don't know what made him want to keep them or what made him decide to kill them.  They did not have much in common.  The tiger was bigger than the hippo and the hippo had kind of weird fur.

Both the tiger and the hippo had squeakers in them, which I sewed into them after Isaac indicated he planned to keep them for a while.  He loves squeaky toys but usually rips out the squeakers right away.  But he liked the tiger a lot and he loved the hippo.  Until he killed them.

So now he has a monkey and he has apparently decided to keep it for a while.  He did chew off its nose right away but nothing else.  So I stuck a squeaker in the monkey's face and sewed up the hole where Isaac had eaten off its nose.  Its face looks kind of scary and deformed now but Isaac loves it.

And you can see a video clip of him playing tug with the Funky Monkey here.

Service Dog Off Duty

I've written before about how service dogs typically get plenty of time off duty to play and just be dogs.  Here are a couple of video clips of Isaac off duty.  Unfortunately, I am having trouble uploading them on my blog, but you can see them on Youtube.

This is Isaac enjoying a swim in a creek at the state park near our home.

And this is Isaac playing in another creek, a much smaller one, near our home.

Doggie Beach Video

This is Isaac at the doggie beach.  Not taken today, obviously, he is recovering from being sick.  It was taken a month or more ago.

Isaac is the one that runs out into the water, barks, and then swims after the dog with the frisbee.  He only wants the frisbee because that other dog has it.  I later bought him his very own frisbee and he totally ignored it.

Isn't he cute, though?

This was taken at Alum Creek dog beach, our favorite dog park.

Fierce Doggie

Look at this fierce doggie playing tug with what's left of his basketball.

Find the Hotdogs Game

This morning Isaac and I played a couple rounds of Find the Hotdogs.  It's one of Isaac's favorite games, since it involves hotdogs.  Isaac firmly believes hotdogs are the most wonderful food in the whole entire world.

Cayenne likes them, too, by the way.  She wanted to get in on the Find the Hotdogs game.  Although she wasn't really that interested in finding them.  She just wanted to eat them, really.

Anyway.  The game.

I tell Isaac to sit and to stay.  He does and then he watches with rapt attention while I "hide" small bits of hotdogs around the room.  I usually do five or six hotdog pieces at a time.

Then I tell him, "Find the hotdogs!" and he finds - and eats - the hotdogs.  He usually remembers where he saw me "hide" the last two pieces.  He goes directly to those and gobbles them up.  He knows there are more but doesn't remember exactly where, so he goes around the room, sniffing for them.  If he has trouble finding them all, I give him a hint by pointing him in the right direction.

Isaac likes the game because it involved hotdogs, but I like it for several reasons.  First, he has to practice staying even when he sees enticing hotdogs.  That's good practice for him.  But it also helps with memory, and with nose work, and with learning about he concept of "finding" something.  And it's fun for a cold day when Isaac does not get to go out for a run.

Rainy Day Fun for Doggies

I came across an interesting idea today in an article about indoor games to play with your dog.  The idea is to play fetch with your dog on the stairs.  You sit at the bottom of the stairs and throw a toy up the steps.  You dog runs up and gets the toy and brings it back to you.  The reason you throw the toy up the steps instead of down is that dogs will usually run faster to get the toy than they do when bringing the toy back to you.  Running up steps is safer for dogs than running down steps.  If the dog goes racing down the steps after a toy, he might fall and hurt himself.

I love this idea.  Isaac and I do play fetch in my apartment but there is not much room to run, really.  But there are stairs in the building and Isaac actually likes stairs for some reason.  I think it's just because he likes to be physically active but I'm not sure.  I just know he enjoys going up and down steps.  Most of my neighbors use the elevator most of the time (I do, too).  So we wouldn't likely bother anyone by playing fetch on the stairs.

I think Isaac would like that a lot.  It would be a good way to burn off some energy on a day he can't get outside much.  I wonder how many times he'd have to run up the stairs before he got tired.

Have a Hippo, You'll Feel Better

Today I got upset about something and started to cry.  I sat down on the floor and called Isaac over to me.  He put his head on my shoulder and sat there sweetly with me for about a minute, then abruptly got up, trotted off, and returned with his favorite stuffed hippo, which he dropped on my head.  It was like he was saying, "OK, enough crying.  Have a hippo, it'll help you feel better."

So I squeezed the hippo's butt to make it squeak, and Isaac picked up his tiger, whose butt also squeaks, and we began a game of what an online friend of mine refers to as "co-squeaking."  I squeak the hippo, Isaac squeaks the tiger, repeat, repeat, repeat.  Only Isaac couldn't decide which toy he wanted to squeak and which toy he wanted to let me squeak.  Every time I squeaked the hippo, Isaac decided he wanted the hippo and snatched it out of my hand.  Then I would squeak the tiger, and he would decide he wanted that, and drop the hippo in order to snatch the tiger away from me.  He's like a little kid that thinks whatever toy someone else has must be the best one.

He was right, though.  After ten minutes or so of co-squeaking the hippo, I did feel a bit better.

Dog Days at the Beach

Saturday I took Isaac to the doggie beach at Alum Creek State Park.  It's a fenced in area, like any dog park, but it's on the lake and the fence extends into the water so that dogs can swim in the lake but are still in a safe, enclosed area.  Isaac loves water (except for in the bath tub) and I was sure he would love the lake.

He did.  Isaac has a routine he follows at dog parks.  First, he sniffs every tree, bush, clump of grass, fence post, etc.  Then he pees on all those things.  He usually spends the first 20 minutes or so sniffing and peeing.  Then he wants to say hello to any people at the dog park.  He likes people more than he likes other dogs.  After he greets the people, then he is ready to greet the other dogs and to run around.  He loves to run, but he always sticks to his routine.  That means unless we stay at the dog park for more than half an hour, he doesn't end up getting to do any running.  It takes him that long to sniff, pee, and greet all the people.

So he did the same thing at the doggie beach.  I couldn't wait to see what happened when he realized there was water and he was actually allowed to get in it.  Isaac, self-entitled dog that he is, just naturally assumed he would be allowed to get in the water.  He didn't hesitate, didn't glance back at me to see if it was OK, or anything like that.  He dove right in, after he'd completed the necessary sniffing, peeing, and greeting rituals.

There was a guy there throwing sticks into the water for his dog to chase and of course Isaac wanted to chase them, too.  Mike was with us and he tried to throw some sticks for Isaac (I could not bend over to pick up sticks due to my back pain) but Isaac ignored those sticks.  He wanted the other dog's sticks.  At one point, he swam up to the other dog and snatched a stick right out of his mouth!  How rude is that?

He had a great time.  He got soaking wet, of course, and smelly and now my car smells like a wet dog.

Playing Tug

Look at this fierce doggie playing tug!

Doggie Version of Simon Says

Isaac and I have been playing this game this evening and I thought I'd share it with you.  Try it with your dog, if you have one, and let me know how it goes.

Isaac loves this game because it involves lots of treats for him.

To start, get some yummy doggie treats and tell your doggie to sit.  When he sits, toss a treat in front of him and see how fast he runs to get it.  When he comes back to you, tell him to sit again.

Now, tell him to stay.  Toss another treat in front of him.  He is supposed to stay until you tell him "OK."  Then he can run and get the treat.  If your dog doesn't know how to do this, practice it by itself first, because you play Simon Says. 

Alternate between tossing the treat and allowing your doggie to get it right away and telling him to stay first and making him wait before he goes for the treat.  He has to really pay attention in order to get it right.

When Isaac and I play this game, he is allowed to make one mistake.  The first time he forgets to wait until I say "OK," we will continue playing.  The second time he doesn't wait for my "OK," the game ends.

Tonight, though, I ended the game when I decided he'd scarfed down enough treats already.  He didn't make any mistakes.  One time he started to go after a treat, then realized I hadn't said "OK" and stopped.  He just stood there looking at it.  I told him to sit, told him to stay, then gave him the "OK."  I was really proud of him for catching himself and he got a couple extra treats as a reward that time.

Smart Dog

One recent Saturday, Isaac's dog walker (otherwise  known as his running buddy) was scheduled to arrive soon and I was preparing for her arrival.  I got out a couple plastic bags for picking up poop and put a few doggie treats in a baggie and put those things on the table near the front door so they'd be ready when she arrived.  Isaac, tail wagging with anticipation, began running from window to window, looking out to see if she was here yet, whining and wiggling and just generally demonstrating how excited he was at the prospect of a run.

"Does he know she's coming?" Mike asked.  "Is that why he's acting like that?"

"Yep," I said.

"Really?" Mike asked.  "How does he know?"

The dog walker usually comes at the same time of the day, but she doesn't come every day.  She doesn't even come on the same days of the week.  Her schedule varies.  But Isaac is a smart dog.  He knows that when I get out plastic poop bags and put treats in a baggie, it's because his running buddy will soon be here.  And he loves to go running.

A Day at the Doggie Park

Isaac and I decided to check out a new dog park today.  Since it was chilly and early on a Thursday morning, I hoped it would not be too crowded.  It wasn't; in fact, we had the whole place to ourselves for quite a while.

Isaac enjoyed running around like a lunatic, of course.

Then a man showed up with his dog, a lab/terrier mix.  Isaac had a blast playing with her.  Basically, they raced back and forth from one end of the park to the other.  She got tired and wanted to rest, but Isaac would bark at her every time she stopped to rest, like he was saying, "Come on, lazy, let's go!"

There were two mud puddles at the edge of the park.  Isaac found them, of course, and made a point of running through them multiple times.  He would swerve out of his way to run through them.  He also took a drink from one of them, even though I had fresh, clean water for him.

I guess that's how he got the mud on his face.  Can you see it in this picture?  He was muddy everywhere, though.

As soon as we got home, I got him into the tub.  He was disappointed about that.  Apparently it is tons of fun to play in cold, muddy puddles of water, but getting into a bathtub of warm, clean water is akin to torture.

Now he's a worn out dog.

I am worn out, too!

Isaac's First Trip to a Dog Park

There are no dog parks close to where I live, so Isaac had never been to one before today.  Plus, I was hesitant to take him to a dog park because I've heard so many scary stories of people taking  their aggressive poorly trained dogs there.  I know people who've had their dogs attacked by other dogs at dog parks.  A friend of a friend of mine actually had her dog attacked and killed at a dog park.  How scary is that?

But I decided to try it out.  I think in the future I will try to go during the week and during the day, when it will be least crowded.  But I went on Saturday this time because a friend was going with me and that's when she was available.

It was almost a 90 minute drive to the dog park, which was OK because Isaac loves to ride in the car.  Absolutely loves it.  Map Quest gave me crappy directions and told me to turn left where I was supposed to turn right, so I had trouble finding the dog park, but I finally got there.

Isaac was thrilled just walking from the car to the fenced in area because apparently about a million dogs had peed on every bush and tree along the path.  He wanted to sniff and sniff and pee and pee.  I kept telling him the fun part was inside the dog park but he was like a little kid that isn't interested in their present but just wants to play with the box it came in.

We finally made it into the fenced in area and a bunch of dogs came running over to greet Isaac by sniffing his butt.  He looked a bit intimidated by it all.  He would let them sniff him for a minute, then come over to me for reassurance.  After all the other dogs said hello, Isaac wandered off by himself, sniffing and peeing on trees, benches, the fence, etc.  I had expected him to want to run around since he was off leash but no, he wanted to stroll very slowly, sniffing and peeing as he went.

After a good 20 minutes or so, I guess he's sniffed and peed enough, and then he became interested in the other dog owners at the park.  Not in the dogs, but in the people.  He went from person to person, greeting them, getting petted and told he was a pretty dog, and happily slobbering all over them.  One woman was throwing a toy for her dog, another yellow lab, to fetch, and Isaac was interested in that.  I brought one of his toys to throw for him but he would not even look at it.  He wanted the toy the other dog was playing with.  He chased it a few times when the lady threw it but let the other dog actually catch it.

Finally, he was ready to check out some of the other dogs.  He seemed to enjoy sniffing their butts.  He always wants to sniff my cats' butts, but they won't let him.  The other doggies were happy to be sniffed, though.  For the most part, he behaved nicely.  There were two dogs that he didn't seem to like too much for some reason and he made a kind of snarly noise at them.  My friend said she thought he was telling them that they weren't playing right.  When he did that, I made him come away from those dogs.

Another time, there was a dog about half his size that he ran over to sniff, and that dog seemed very intimidated by him.  The dog dropped down to his belly and flattened himself out on the ground.  Isaac then stood over that dog, further intimidating him.  I made him leave that dog alone, too.

Other than those few things, he did really well.  He ran around a little but not nearly as much as I'd thought he would.

He got really thirsty with all that running around, of course.  I took water for him and was surprised to see that apparently not one other dog owner there had brought water for their dogs.  I had a half gallon container of water, and when I poured some into a bowl for Isaac, the other dogs swarmed around us, wanting some, too.  Isaac looked a little distressed but he did share, which made me feel really proud of him.  I let the other dogs have some water but made sure Isaac got enough.

The dog park was very muddy, but I was kind of expecting it would be.  I was disappointed to see some of the dog owners weren't picking up after their dogs.  I saw a couple dogs pooping and no one was around.  I wasn't sure who they belonged to, otherwise I would have said something.  I think it's really important to pick up after your dog at a dog park.

Isaac was really exhausted by the time we left.  He conked out in the car on the way home.  I was pretty tired myself.

It was fun, though, so we will do it again.  But I'm going to try another park that is a little closer to home and try going during the week when it might be less crowded.

Treats in a Blanket

This morning Isaac and I played a new game.  Well, Isaac played it, actually.  I got to sit down and get some writing done while he was busy.

I had him sit and stay, then sprinkled some treats on the floor.  Then I covered the treats with one of Isaac's blankets (which was wise, because he ended up chewing on the blanket a bit, and I'd rather him chew a hole in one of his blankies than in one of mine).  Then I told him to go get the treats.  He had to dig around and figure out how to get under the blanket to get the treats. 

It took him a surprisingly long time.  He wanted to stand on the blanket, which of course made it difficult to move the blanket to get to the treats underneath.

He finally figured it out, though.