Goodbye Mr. Chips ...

Because Bear and Chip were not compatible and fought more and more as time went on, I have let Chip go to our trainer. I know he will be happy there, and we are back to being a one-dog household. It is amazingly quiet and peaceful!

I will see Chip every Saturday at the Dog Socialization Park, so this solution is a very happy one all the way around.

Blondie ... Good, Bad or Ugly?

I have begun referring to Bear as Blondie. You will understand why as you see this latest photo of him.

Another Way to Skin a Cat

Yesterday this blue mountain lion was brand new. Yes, brand new, folks. He was doomed from the moment he entered the Dog Den we call Home.

Bear eviscerated him, depositing his guts all over the living room, and he finally sucked out the brains and liver, then dropped the empty skin, inside out, back on the floor.

Both Bear and Chip made "kill" motions with the toy, shaking it from side to side. I guess if they ever run across a young raccoon or possum, I will have a time keeping them from killing it.

Brothers Relaxing

We are forming a pack here, and I am using techniques from the two trainers we have hired at different times, as well as ones I learned on The Dog Whisperer (Cesar Milan, on the National Geographic Channel).

This technique is the "bench" exercise, from Cesar Milan's TV show. Both dogs are commanded up onto the bench and told to lie down and stay. This helps them see themselves as part of the same pack.

Dog Socialization

I know this does not look like much, but this dog socialization class is really helpful to dogs with issues. The rules are different from a regular dog park. Once everyone has arrived, the gate is shut and Jason (on the right, yellow shirt) plays music and we all let our dogs off their leashes at the same time. Then the humans all walk in a circle. The dogs romp and run and hang out, and learn to be with other dogs peacably. The theory is that when the people sit around the dogs take that to mean they are establishing territories, and they start to defend the humans' spaces.

Just in case, Jason carries a long carriage whip! He has to break up the occasional fight, but mostly it is easy to do this. Bear needs an hour walk in the morning anyway, so it works out well.

Inch by Inch, Step by Step

Chip still has some training to go to make him a "good" dog.

But first ... tah dah! today he took his last antibiotic!

On Friday he gets a dose of something to kill the remaining developing heartworms. The adults were all killed two weeks ago. Then, two more weeks of being relatively quiet, then neutering, and teeth cleaning.

Then the real training begins, his socialization. We take Bear to a weekly socialization dog park. Unlike most dog parks, this one is supervised by our trainer, Jason Vasconi. He plays music and all of us wait until he says the word, then we release our dogs. The humans walk in a circle for an hour, and the dogs do what they will. The reason for the circling is that when humans stand still their dogs assume that is a territory formation, and they guard that territory. Moving humans form a large, migrating pack, and all the dogs move along with us. If there are conflicts, Jason breaks them up.

I think back to our dog Gypsy, who never got flea preventative, never got shots that I know of, lived in the back hall, roamed the neighborhood all day long on her own, and who got run over finally. I would never keep a dog in that way any more. I have come to believe dogs cannot be kept outside. They need to be with other animals and people. It is doubly hard on a dog here in a hot climate.

Bear Tonight

Bear was in a posing mood, as you can see. I will take a photo of Chip on Monday if I remember to bring my camera. Yay, Chip ... as you may already know, he has heartworms and has had to receive the arsenic treatments to kill them. His arsenic injections are finished. Now all he has to do is be a kennel potato for a month :((

He can't come home because Old Bearie will be too wild and get Chip running around like a madman in no time, so I visit Chip every day at the vet. So far I brought him a chew toy, a bed, a blanket, a stuffed squeaker toy, a Kong (which I stuffed with peanut butter flavor stuff and a liver snap). Oh and his own collar that matches Bear's