A Dog's Life has been rehomed to Mainetoday's new pet seciton.
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When my eyes popped open on Wednesday morning, I slipped immediately into total girl mode. On my very first day at the Windham Correctional Facility as dog trainer for the Paws in Stripes program, all I could think of was "what the hell am I going to wear?"

It was while I was trying to figure out what to wear, that I was hit with a wave of panic.
Let's all take a trip back to the absolutely scariest first day of school, or perhaps a grueling job interview. Remember that deep churning pit that used to be a stomach? Your palms that sweat ice? Well then you almost know how I felt Wednesday morning when my brain tried to wrap around the fact that I was going to jail. Instead of the usual Java Jolt, I opted for calming tea, and after much deliberation, I went with black jeans, a shirt that my mother gave me, and sneakers with no makeup.

I arrived promptly at 9:15 for orientation, and filled out a fair amount of paperwork while going over all the do's and don'ts with a staff member. Clothing was discussed and I was told that what I was wearing was "perfect" and that I should never wear jeans with a white or gray shirt, or I will look too much like an inmate. I should not wear any clothes with my dog training business logo and no jewelry. Here is the best part...
Revealing clothing and the showing of cleavage was not recommended.
I looked at her mananged a nervous laugh and gave her my best,
"Well duh"!
I was told to never share personal information, and to be beware of people who may try t

Meet Princess-a 12 year old Border Collie available for adoption from New England Border Collie Rescue. After yesterday's yummy give back day at Maples I thought it fitting that I feature one of the dogs that the wonderful fundraiser will help.
You may not have known that Border Collies come in sable color. BC's come in every color and you can see great examples of coat color on Carole Presberg's on line Border Collie Museum. Carole is the former president NEBCR and a friend of mine and I can tell you, Carole knows Border Collies! Check her museum out, it is a great click.

To see more pictures of Princess, fill out an adoption application , become a volunteer, see more dogs from NEBCR, or to become a much needed foster home, click here.

Princess's Bio

You must have an approved application on file to be considered for any adoptable dog.

Disclaimer:This blog is happy to feature adoptable dogs for local rescues and shelters. I prefer to feature dogs that are having a hard time finding their forever families and are located in Maine, but his is not a hard fast rule.
Dogs are featured as a courtesy, and listings are written by the recues.

Mid afternoon today I have a date with Maple's Organics blueberry gelato. OMG is it good! 100 % of today's profits will go to New England Border Collie Rescue in Maple's very first of many "give back days."

Maple is the owner's name sake Border Collie and it is fitting that a rescue near and dear to my heart be the recipient of Maple's very first give back day. I got Charlee from NEBCR nearly 8 years ago , and I have stayed on as a volunteer ever since.
An extra special thank you to Maples for rescheduling NEBCR's day. Feb. 7th's snow storm was a very unlikely day for gelato seekers.

This blog gives Maple's Organics
151 Middle Street, Portland
the highest of all possible ratings.

Four paws off the ground!

About the photo-that's Maple!

UPDATE
Thank you Maple's! While there we finally got to meet owner Kristie. Here she is with Maple's 6 week old puppy Uno. Dont worry, pup's Mom was in the car.

Hannah, a 1 year old Great Dane and 4 month old Bayleigh take a play break during class Saturday morning.
Hannah is sweet and gentle with puppies. As a matter of fact she was voted most popluar in her doggie day care's year book.

Today we have a link to What Shamu Taught Me about a Happy Marriage, one of the The New York Times most popular articles. It is a very entertaining read on how to train your spouse -like you would an animal- using positive reinforcement.

The principles that author Amy Sutherland used in training her husband are those that I employ daily training dogs.
To include:

Use a reward that is highly motivating to the animal.
Just like in dog training the author learned about her subject, and then used methods that her husband found rewarding and motivating.

The exotic animal known as Scott is a loner, but an alpha male. So hierarchy matters, but being in a group doesn't so much. He has the balance of a gymnast, but moves slowly, especially when getting dressed. Skiing comes naturally, but being on time does not. He's an omnivore, and what a trainer would call food-driven.

In dog training these might include, food, praise, affection, toys, access to people, play other dogs, tug, or something to chase.

Reward incompatible behaviors

At home, I came up with incompatible behaviors for Scott to keep him from crowding me while I cooked. To lure him away from the stove, I piled up parsley for him to chop or cheese for him to grate at the other end of the kitchen island. Or I'd set out a bowl of chips and salsa across the room. Soon I'd done it: no more Scott hovering around me while I cooked.

Most common would be to reward sit instead of jumping, quiet instead of barking, and chill out instead of begging.

Reward behaviors you want to repeat

I began thanking Scott if he threw one dirty shirt into the hamper. If he threw in two, I'd kiss him. Meanwhile, I would step over any soiled clothes on the floor without one sharp word, though I did sometimes kick them under the bed. But as he basked in my appreciation, the piles became smaller.

I was using what trainers call "approximations," rewarding the small steps toward learning a whole new behavior. You can't expect a baboon to learn to flip on command in one session, just as you can't expect an American husband to begin regularly picking up his dirty socks by praising him once for picking up a single sock.

In my Collie's case, I need Finney to be able to come to work with me, lay down and chill out for long periods of time until I need him. This is what he has been heavily rewarded for and what Finn will always readiliy "offer".

Ignore bad behavior

It was only a matter of time before he was again tearing around the house searching for his keys, at which point I said nothing and kept at what I was doing. It took a lot of discipline to maintain my calm, but results were immediate and stunning. His temper fell far shy of its usual pitch and then waned like a fast-moving storm. I felt as if I should throw him a mackerel.

For dogs this is used commonly for jumping, begging and whining.

If this blog has peaked your interest,and you want to learn to train your dog, husband, kids and even the neighbors in this manner, pick up a copy of Karen Pryor's book Don't Shoot the Dog. Karen is a former sea mammal trainer and it is she who is largely resonsible for the clicker training revolution. When I first read that book 10 years ago, I applied the postive principles to not only my x- husband but to my children as well.

My oldest son who is nearly 15 came along before I crossed over to positive training and he is still of the negative attention mind set, and to this day would prefer negative attention to none at all. My 10 year old daughter came along during my total embrace of positive training. This girl has fallen down whole flights of stairs and gotten up announcing to all "it's ok, I am fine!", even when she was not. We praised the heck out of her for being brave when she was younger.

By the time #3 came along, positive training kids was old hat to me.

Hint-tell the kids what they CAN do, not what the can't do.

I did use Karen's rules of positive reinforcement with my x- husband, much in the same way described by Amy Sutherland in her Shamu article, but their was a fly in the ointment. As those us who work with animals for any length of time learn--it is not possible to save them all. In my case I had a behavior to deal with that can not be addressed with positive reinforcement training. After all you can't ignore, or praise alternative behaviors if you don't know when someone is lying.

Today is the 6th "no school" snow day, and my three "little angels" are still sleeping, but when they wake, we will be looking for things to do.

I have replaced my dead computer with a brand spanking new laptop. Holy cow, being liberated from my cold basement, laundry room-slash-office is down right life altering! During the last snow storm, I sat on the couch with my girls on either side and we explored some fun sites together. In the interest of helping to keep you all sane, I am posting a few fun kid appropriate sites to surf today for your surfing pleasure.

Take a look at the picture of "Happy Dog" above. When the kids get up in an hour or so looking for breakfast, and things to do today, Happy Mom will smile...on the outside. On the inside she will be upset that she had to cancel two privates sessions, and most likely Finn's agility class later on tonight, and instead I will be wearing the hats of cruise director, chef and ref today.

Without further ado, here is your top three surf sites of the day-

1.) During the last storm incarceration, The girls (human) I and spent a ridiculous amount of time on line taking mind numbing quizzes. People.com has a near endless supply of mind numbing fluffy goodness. We got the highest scores guessing celebrity bodies, and oddly enough we totally tanked on celebrity dogs.

You can try your paw matching celebrity dogs to their owners here.

2. We also sent a slew of (free) doggie talking emails at the new petcentric mail site.
Think Elf Your Self meets talking email. Have your pets send spoken messages, or use the dogs and cats provided. Very cool!
Later today we will go to petcentric to send valentines.
(thanks Donna!)

3.) I can has cheezburger has added the beta version of I has a hot dog, a sister site for dogs. Go upload a photo of your dog and make your own LOL dog.

Oh Happy Dog how I commiserate with you -she writes as her fingers slip to her mouth to force a smile that she hopes will freeze there for the for duration of this storm.

Reports are coming in from many reliable sources that one or more individuals at Willard Beach have hit, kicked,and picked up and thrown dogs, and puppies.
Dog owners in each of the incidents have reported similarities.

The violence has been against woman and their dogs. There were no men present besides the offender. The dogs walked close to the individual (s?).

These violent acts have served to intimidate many dog owners and in effect many woman have stopped going to Willard Beach which appears to be the agenda of the individual(s?). One person is known to the the city council as someone who frequently complains and opposes dog access to the beach.

If you value open spaces for your dog, consider joining South Portland Dog Owners.

Sopo Dog has been an active voice for people and their dogs for the last 10 years.

If you encounter bullies at the beach you are urged to call the
The Animal control officer immediately.
The number is general dispatch from the South Portland Police Department.
SPPD's # 799-5511 or dial 911.
I just added this number to the speed dial of my cell phone, and I urge you to do the same if you walk your dogs at Willard.

Bullies at the beach and other open space issues will be addressed at the South Portland Dog Owners meeting tonight (Tuesday) 2/12/08, 6-8 p.m. at the Main Branch of the South Portland Library in the community room-downstairs.

Dog owners who do not want their open spaces to disappear are urged to attend.

Sopo Dog President Cyrstal Goodrich had this to add:

"Each individual needs to come forward and complain. This is very important if we want to show how frequent these harassing episodes are and to put a name to the problem.
Signing your name to these letters about harassment is very important
as well. City Officials will have an identity to go with the incident,
and that creates validity. We cannot be silent about these events. I
believe this is part of the reason they have continued, and in some
cases have escalated into abusive and harassing situations. If you
know who the person is who harassed you, you need to let the police
know. If you aren't sure who it was you still need to tell the
police. That way a paper trail can indicate a pattern of behavior and
lead to stopping the problem more quickly".

Sniglet contests will continue indefinitely while this blog continues it's quest for words that best describe all things doggie.

In our next contest, I am looking for the sniglet that best describes:

Drying yourself with a towel only to find that there had been dog hair on it (too late), and having the dog hair stick to your wet body.

There can be up to two winners, one for hand towels and one for bath towels. I think in houses with kids, like mine, towels are more likely to end up on the floor and then be hung back up amid a chorus of "I don't know who did that - it wasn't me(s)".
I will figure out some sort of extra credit for anyone who descibes my kid's knack of hanging up dirty towels , followed by their total denial.

About the top photo-
Connie won the first sniglet contest for submitting Etch-a Breath in the comment sectionto describe frozen dog breath on the inside of your car windshield.
As the winner, she got to post photos of her dogs. Here is what she had to say about them:
Katie is a 3-year old rough coat collie mix, rescued from animal control after being returned twice by other families. She's my son's protector, a big, bounding, furry ball of love who knows how to melt our hearts. Daisy is a 5-year old mutt (the pound said she was a shiba inu) who is my shadow, my security guard, my navigator (she knows which drive-throughs give out treats), and my buddy.

Meet Buddy, a tall, three year old, purebred 65 pound English Setter. This strong energetic boy is looking for a perfect match to bring out all his potential. Buddy came into rescue after his owner died. Clearly he was loved but he's still learning basic manners so continued positive reinforcement training will be a requirement for his adoption.

We think that Buddy would do best in a home where:
-He is the only dog. Buddy currently doesn’t interact well with all dogs. His foster parents are working on obedience and improving Buddy’s social skills.
-Buddy needs a secure fenced area. Buddy runs like the wind, searching for birds, squirrels and other critters and he is just magnificent to watch. He needs to burn off the Setter energy that we all know and love. Buddy happily amuses himself when he is outside alone, but also checks in with his foster dad or mom if we’re sitting outside. Buddy can jump high, but has never tried to scale our 5-foot wire fence.
-Someone is home during the day, or part of the day. Buddy isn’t destructive when left alone, but he may bark from missing you. This behavior has improved dramatically as Buddy has settled into his foster home and learned our routine and schedule.
-Unlike some rescue dogs who are wary of men, Buddy LOVES men. He would love to have a new Dad. Buddy has been friendly toward any strangers he has met. He greets us at the door with a stuffie toy or kong in his mouth, wagging his tail and wiggling his butt with excitement. Buddy seems to love everyone, but we will not place him with children due to his enthusiastic zest for life.

We believe that with time and attention, Buddy will make a wonderful companion. Won’t you please give this handsome boy a second look!

Disclaimer:This blog is happy to feature adoptable dogs for local rescues and shelters. I prefer to feature dogs that are having a hard time finding their forever families and are located in Maine, but his is not a hard fast rule.
Dogs are featured as a courtesy, and listings are written by the recues.
Please contact the ACES directly for more information on Buddy.

Shortly before the Buxton puppy mill seizure, I was contacted by Susan Britt at the Animal Refuge League to help out with the Paws in Stripes program at the Windham Correctional Facility.
The program has been in existence for just over 1 year and it has been a success for both the shelter dogs and the inmates. At this time they are expanding the training portion of the program and the inmates will be working with me 1x a week with the goal of the shelter dogs passing the AKC Canine Good Citizen test. This will help to make the dogs more adoptable while better utilizing the inmates training time.

Our plans were put on hold for the last six months or so, while the shelter worked tirelessly taking care of the Buxton dogs as well as two other puppy mills that were shut down.

We are now back on track and today was my second official meeting, and the first with a prison representative. My next step, is a four hour orientation at the prison, and then we will be good to go. I have been given permission to blog it. It should be noted that no tax dollars fund this program.

Paws in Stipes was featured on 207. Click here to watch the great clip! Just give it a minute to get to the prison segment.
You can read more about the Paws in Stripes program here on the Portland Press Herald and here on the ARL web site.

As the official tester dog, Finney will get to come to.

This blog wishes Susan Britt, former director of the ARL, the very best in her new job. We were all lucky to have you here! Paws in Stripes was one of the many programs that Susan directed, and she is already sorely missed.

Victory dog, Jonny Justice

Mutts blog is continuing it's coverage on the candidates as pure bred dogs. I nearly jumped off my chair when I read that John McCain was a pug.

A pug! Mr Woestendiek you can't be serious.

The first thing that came to my mind is he sure looks like a pug, and the AKC would most likely ILP him as a pug if you sent them pictures and paid your ten dollars. But act like a pug he does not. For those that do not already know, an ILP stands for Indefinite listing privilege, and this is a hot topic for me and one that I will be visiting very soon. How many times have I been at AKC sanctioned events to see dogs who were in no way the pure bred dog breed that were supposed to representing.
I digress -more on this later in the week.

Now I ask you, does this quote from the Pug Rescue of Sacramento, sound like Mr McCain in any way? We are talking about a man who spent 5 long years as a POW?

"Pugs have been called the clowns of the dog world and were bred for one purpose, to be companion animals to humans. A Pug loves a good meal, a soft lap, and a soft pillow".

I knew immediately that there is only one dog that McCain could be and everyone I spoke to agreed.
McCain is a Pitbull.
You only have to look as far as Michael Vick, Victory Dogs, to see that. They are America's new media darlings.

What other breed could endure torture, and horrors and and come out stronger on the other side, with their mental capacities still in tact?

Have you all had a chance to see Wallace the pit who who spent the first year of his life in a shelter?

Wallace won the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge.

From Bad Rap.org web site:
"The animal that was once courageous enough to do battle with a bull or another APBT in the pit, now utilizes that same bravado to stay alive and sane in conditions where other 'softer' breeds might go insane".

Just because a dog looks a certain breed, it just doesn't make it so. You need to factor in breed traits to paint a full picture.

Still there is no denying that Senator John McCain is ILP-able as a pug.

You can call me a lot of things, but a political commentator I am not. That was until the Mutts blog on the Baltimore Sun declared that Obama was a Great Dane and Hillary a Labradoodle.

I spent the last 24 hours weighing this hefty issue.

How many of use have wondered what our dogs would be if they were people?
Charlee would most assuredly be the bitch at the beach who snarks at the teenagers for getting too close to her towel, while reading great literary works. She would be the party hard on the weekend type of girl who holds a high powered job, and makes more than a few subordinates miserable along the way. Charlee would mess with people's heads just for the sport of it, and see a shrink every week. She is a work hard, play hard kind of gal.

My daughters and I have declared Finney a science nerd, complete with calculator and a pocket protector. He would be the kind of guy who is book smart, but lacks a little in the common sense department. Not unlike my cousin who teaches at Harvard, and had three members of my family get a van to help her move her brand new couch on a Saturday morning, only to find the couch was too big to fit up the stairs. Finney would be the guy that everyone liked in high school, but no one dated and everyone wanted to marry at the high school reunion. Slow bloomer type.

But what of our candidates? In group class last night I asked a long time Dane owner what she thought about Obama being a member of her breed. Quote, "well that must have been written by a man." Laugh out loud to that one! Why yes it was written by a man. She went on to tell me that Danes are too silly and would have little interest in politics. Agreed.
I was thinking Pointer, a hard working dog, but I hadn't really hit it on the head quite yet.

So I asked the class what about Hillary as doodle? They all agreed that was in insult to her. I was thinking terrier, or even standard poodle, but still the fit on both candidates, just wasn't quite right.

So....are you ready for this...I consulted the all powerful all knowing on line CATS The (C)anine (A)lgorithmic (T)ransfer (S)ystem, What breed of dog are you game from the movie Gone to the Dogs. They were dead on when they pegged me as a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog three years ago. Smart, more mellow than the other herding breeds and great with kids.

Oh I thought, this is genius.
I painstakingly filled in question after question and Hillary is a
Pyrenean Shepherd
"This adaptive dog wants to, and can, do all the jobs on the field".
Yup I thought, dead on.

So it was with a light heart that I plugged in Obama's info and he came out a Kuvasz. What?!? A WHITE guardian dog?!? Well that was close but no cigar . So I pondered this dilemma more and more and it hit me at about 3 am. this morning.
Why on earth would Obama be a pure bred dog in the first place.

He is an "All American" pure and simple.

Speaking of voting. Dont forget to vote for your favorite blogger at the Portland Phoenix

Posted by Nancy Freedman-Smith at 08:32 AM
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