Jo's Old Site

Today a physiotherapist named Claire came out, and mum and I had to answer all sorts of questions as she had to evaluate the compatibility of my house with the sort of mobility problems I have; then after it was over she said that this house was set up quite well for me.

Mum and I also told her about my ambition to get back into trialling again, and mum told her about a person that was using a different type of walker to what nan uses.

Then Claire mentioned that there are walkers that can be used inside and outside, and I thought using a walker will be useful as it will give me more support when I do fast pace.

So as she had one with big wheels in her car she brought it out so that I could test it out, then afterwards she started making arrangements so that I could get my own.

Mum had to go in and get her new glasses today, and while she was getting them I sat outside with Ilse and waited for mum to come out. This is also the first time Ilse had been outside a shopping centre and there were people walking past us on either side.

There was also a man that was working on the window in front of us, and he decided to tell me you got a quiet dog there; then he asked what breed is she and how old? I then told him that she is a miniature schnauzer and she is four months.

I was really happy with Ilse as she reacted very well, and there was a mother who went past us with a pram, and her daughter said “puppy” when she saw Ilse; there were also a couple of elderly people on walkers, and one man using a wooden cane.

As I live with my parents, I put Ilse in her crate and leave her with the radio on while I have tea with my parents; then after I came back would let Ilse out of her crate and because I have been making this a routine she has become impatient and was barking and howling.

So as neither mum nor I wanted to encourage this, as we both wanting Ilse to be a quiet dog for her breed mum decided that Ilse needed to be squirted with water; and when I went out not responding to Ilse’s barking mum silently went in and squirted her with the water.

Then another thing that I want to add is that mum said “quiet” when she squirted Ilse, then after the first squirt mum told me then to go inside the main house.

So I did that but Ilse didn’t make a noise after she was squirted twice, then two days later mum had to do this again.

Also some people make very good dog trainers, while others find that training a dog doesn’t come as natural for them as they perhaps begin to realise how much work and responsibility it takes. So what I’m trying to say is that I think people have to approach bringing up a dog as a chance to study their dog’s behaviour and their own.

As dogs don’t usually learn what we want them to learn on their own, as they need us to teach them and this requires time and a ability to problem solve and this may mean changing how we interact with our dogs and trying to look for reasons from a dog’s point of view.

As mum is getting the dog food ready, Ilse has got into a habit of getting herself worked up about food.

So instead of letting Ilse run around and barking, because as we found out she is a bit impatient I then decided that to control this behaviour that it was a good time to do a bit of training while she waits for her tea.

I’m teaching her to look at me by hiding the titbit behind my back, and saying “looking, good girl” then I give her a titbit. We also did some recalls too, and of course “sit,” “drop,” and “stand” then when mum came in with Ilse’s food I then told her that seems to work.

Then I explained to mum that I have been keeping Ilse occupied by training her while she waited for her food and then another thing that works too while she is waiting is playing with her with her toys.

Last Friday mum and I took Ilse out for a bit of socialising, and Ilse met eight people then after mum had walked Ilse around they went back to the car and a man with a hat and a long metal stick was standing near; and Ilse went up to him for a pat. I could tell that he really liked Ilse, as he spoke to her and said do you shake hands? And when he put his hand out Ilse put a paw in this man’s hand. We then drove home and when we were having our tea I was telling dad about this and discovered that he has been teaching her to shake hands.

Another thing I noticed that Ilse does sometimes is when I put her in her crate, she gets on her back and then goes round in circles; and when I told mum this she said rap dancing Ilse. Well, sort of.

Yesterday, I attended another physiotherapy session and this time Jenny got me to go on a wooden thing that goes side to side. She also explained while I was doing it that it will work my lower leg muscles, and it also requires concentration.

This is because as I’m going side to side I have to be aware of keeping my back straight to prevent my backside from sticking out.

Mum also noticed that when I was doing the other exercises, that I was lifting my legs from the ankle instead of the knee and that I was lifting one leg at a time.

Jenny then let us take the wooden thing home so that dad can make one up. She also said that we can get an exercise ball through her if we can’t get one; as she can order them in.

Then on the way to the Plainlands Shopping Centre, the subject of wheelchairs and walking frames came up and I told mum that I have no intention of being wheeled around in a wheelchair, nor do I want to use a walking frame to get around; as I plan to walk as long as I can.

I then told mum that if I kept doing the exercises what I am hoping for is that I will eventually be able to ditch the stick and walk unaided.

This pleased mum quite a bit, and when she parked the car and we got out I noticed in the window as we were heading for the entrance that my left leg was straighter, and the knee didn’t go in.

My mum had a blue merle sheltie named Gemma, that had something wrong with her and when she was alive we never did find out the name of it or what causes it despite taking her to the vet and having various tests done.

What Gemma had was a real mystery, but it was like she was having strokes and when her tri colour daughter named Phoebe started having them I was determined to find out if I could find out any info about it.

So I typed in how do you know if your dog had a stroke? But there was nothing on Australian pages so I searched again, this time clicking on search the web and I found a website that explained the different types of strokes and that how I discovered Old Dog Vestibulopathy.

It then explained the exact symtoms that Gemma, and now Phoebe had.

The site also explained that it was like experiencing very bad motion sickness, and also that this type of stroke is cause by something in the middle ear that goes haywire; though it isn’t known why this happens.

But at least we got a name for it now.

Yesterday afternoon, Donna from Dog Sense suggested to teach Ilse to catch; so I have been looking up websites that can tell me how to teach Ilse this trick: I then found a website that told me that if the dog catches the treat it eats it, and when the dog doesn’t catch it the dog doesn’t get it.

I then tried this with Ilse, and it just became a race to who gets the dropped treat off the floor first (perhaps she is too young.)

So therefore as I thought teaching her to catch was a good idea I’ll wait until she is older. Ilse is also a smart dog, and a quick learner.

The website that told me how to teach “catch” and other tricks is: http://www.newhopecattledogs.com/tricks.htm

Yesterday afternoon mum took Ilse and me to a puppy class called Dog Sense, and the person who runs it is Donna. Also Ilse wasn’t the only pup there, as there was a Siberian Husky named Demon, a Kelpie cross and a Cattle Dog. There was also another person with a pup but they didn’t show up.

The class is for three to six months old puppies, and cost $75.00 for the course and we get a folder that has information sheets in it.

We also have to have our puppies vaccination certificate when we show up on the first week, and it is quite enjoyable, as even though I have trained dogs before I got something out of it.

Also after Donna gave us a talk, some of the things she got us to do is get our pups to look at us; we also took our pups for a short walk on lead and then Donna took our pups individually so that we could do a recall.

Then before we turn up again for next week, we have to have our pups meet five different people a day or at least five a week and we also have to bring a tug toy and this is so that we can teach our pups to let go.