dig by dog

This georgous boy is Brutus. He is a French Mastiff, also known as a Dogue De Bordeaux. (Remember the dog from the movie Turner and Hooch?) He isnt the best specimen of his breed and we think he came from a back yard breeder based on his records. But that doesnt matter because he is super sweet. His is 6 years old, already neutered and looking for a new home. You can find him at the Humane Society of Knox County in Thomaston Maine. (207-594-2200) He was abandoned in an apartment. My brothers landlord who owned the apartment asked my brother if he could foster him until they found him a place. He of course called me since I have a few dog connections. Sadly mastiff rescue didnt have a place for him either. Luckily I know this great shelter who had some space.
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He has lived with another dog and also a cat. He walks well on a leash once he settles down. He does have some conformational issues in his hing end but it doesnt seem to affect him at the moment. He will need a home that can afford joint supplements down the road however. (he has a massive vet history that shows he was even taken to a specialist to check him out. Thankfully the former owner left his info behind with him.) He also drools, a LOT. Mastiffs do that so a home that can accept that would also be best for him.

Like I said he is a VERY sweet dog that just needs a second chance. Please pass the info on if you know someone who might be a good match.

(Top photo: me, my brother George and my sister Dee.)

My apologies for not posting in a while.
Heres a neat little fact about dogs vision.
Their sight is as bad as ours in the dark, with one big exception.
Dogs can see movement in the dark. What Ive heard is that movement in the dark appears to them in a glowish, night-vision-like form. Think cats.
Not that Ive done any scientific research on this, unless you count my experience with Sensi as scientific.
Heres what happens:
We have a long, dark hallway. At the end of the night, I turn the lights out and walk down the dark abyss to the bedroom (I figure, why turn a light on? I ought to learn how to navigate my own house in the dark).
Sensi always knows when its time for bed. He hops down groggily from the couch and plods along behind me.
As long as hes made it to the hallway at the same time I have, he has no problem following me as I walk down the hallway. But then, when I reach the bedroom and open the door, its another story.
I stand there with the door open, waiting for him to enter the room so I can close the door behind us.
Only, he stands there in the hallway, not moving. Why? Because my movement has stopped and he cant see anything.
Many times, I assume hes walked past me into the bedroom and close the door. Usually, I hear his nails on the wood floors backing up as the door (now moving toward him, so he can see something) swings shut.
Realizing this is whats happening, I now flick the hallway light on for a second so he can see to walk into the room.
Then its my turn to bumble around in the darkness, trying to find my way to the bed.

Every once in a while when training a dog, you have those breakthrough moments that just leave your jaw on the floor while you stare in amazement at your dog.
Last night, I had one of the those moments.
I got my dog to walk on the treadmill last night — I couldn’t have been more amazed.
Cesar Millan fans out there know what it looks like when he does it. The dog is held against his will on the treadmill, all four legs splayed out and trying with all his might to get off what must be the strangest moving floor the dog has ever seen.
Eventually, the dog gives up his struggle and learns that if he just walks, the strange moving floor isn’t so bad after all.
With my fearful but incredibly strong pit bull mix, I thought the treadmill was going to be one of the most daunting tasks I’d ever done. I figured, without a doubt, that both my husband and I would be getting one heck of a workout on the night we decided to teach Sensi about the treadmill. All things considered, I was not looking forward to it.
So, you can imagine my surprise when Sensi — encouraged by food — simply walked on the treadmill like it was no big deal.
If there was ever a case in point for positive reward training, this is it.
I’m going to explain how I did it over the course of a few blog entries.
In this blog, I’ll give some background and the basics.

Background
I set a goal for 2010 of having Sensi run on the treadmill while I shower in the morning and also run on the treadmill for 10 or 15 minutes before dinner each night. By the time this year draws to a close, I want to have accomplished that.

Basics
In January, I began exposing Sensi to the treadmill. I’d put pieces of kibble on the treadmill — while it was off, of course — and encourage him to eat the kibble from the surface of the treadmill. I gradually moved the kibble toward the front of the treadmill so that eventually, all four paws had to be on the treadmill in order for him to reach the kibble.
We did that daily.
Then, I began running on the treadmill. I kept Sensi in the room with me — that way, he got exposure and became desensitized to the sounds the treadmill makes. This also allowed for me to make some important rules about the treadmill. For instance, in the beginning, he thought it might be fun to try and bite at the treadmill’s surface while it turned — perhaps an attempt to stop its continuous loop. I scolded him for behaviors like that and, when he showed interest in joining me on the treadmill, I rewarded him. (I kept treats at my disposable in the treadmill’s cupholder, by the way). I also rewarded him for sitting nicely beside the treadmill, because I liked that behavior too.

Read more tomorrow.

Grace, 8 weeks old

All right, for those of you Dog Blog readers who double as newshounds, you may have noticed a story about the Rochester Cider Mill circulating among Southeast Michigan media outlets.
Im proud to have started off that media frenzy by first reporting on this seemingly unbelievable story. If you havent read it and are interested in finding out how growing corn and selling Christmas trees can make you a criminal, here it is: Oakland Township puts squeeze on cider mill.
So youre wondering, what in the heck does this cider mill news story have to do with dogs?
Ah, well, I have your answer.
The owner of that cider mill is Tom Barkham. Tom owns both the Paint Creek Animal Clinic and a second veterinary practice in Dryden.
Seeing as how the cider mill is closed this time of the year, and cold, the Barkhams suggested we meet at the veterinary practice in Goodison instead.
What do you know? The dog blogger winds up surrounded by dogs even when on an entirely non-dog related assignment. I do frequently wonder how I keep ending up in situations like that. Fate, I suppose. I dont mind, anyhow, so I just go with it.
"Try not to talk about dogs, Karen," I said silently to myself. "You are not here about dogs. Dont talk about dogs."
After the interview was done and I was getting ready to leave, I saw something that just made me entirely unable to hold myself back — an 8-week-old puppy!
"Puppy!" I exclaimed, looking over at the adorable little bundle of joy. "Oh, she is so precious."
"Want to adopt her? Shes a foster," said Roxanne Priest, the woman sitting with her.
I quickly whisked out my little Flipcam. "Is she really?" I asked.
I introduced myself, told her about The Dog Blog and offered to shoot a short video of the sweet little girl.