Dog Socialization

I'm so sad that we only have one more week of dog socialization classes left. I have no idea what Kozmo and I will do on Wednesday evenings. I hope I don't sound like a broken record but I can't stress enough how important dog socialization is for both humans and dogs. When I first signed up to take Kozmo to dog socialization I was thinking the benefits would mainly be to get him some exercise and bring home a tired dog.

What have we learned from this blog?

A tired dog is a good dog.

The exercise is an important part of socialization but the benefits for the dogs go far beyond running off some energy. In seven short weeks Kozmo has shown huge improvements in many life skills. He better understands how to approach and play with other dogs. Kozmo is a high energy dog. He lacked a lot of socialization and when I first put him in doggy daycare he thought it was ok to greet all new dogs by biting their necks. He no longer greets new dogs this way.

Kozmo continues to struggle with recall. If he is distracted he acts as though he can't hear you. After 7 weeks of dog socialization we have seen huge progress in getting his attention and having him come to me from across the room, a room full of distractions. This isn't perfect and we still have a lot more work to get a recall you can trust every time. The safety of the socialization group being inside was a great way to work on recall without the dogs being able to run away.

Kozmo has always been a happy and friendly dog. He hasn't always understood how to greet humans. I've been working hard from day one to teach him not to jump up on people. Although he's friendly and wants to be a part of what is going on he has had problems letting strangers approach and pet him. Through dog socialization Kozmo is learning to trust and let strangers greet and pet him.

I am more excited than every for the dog park to open. Regular socialization is so good for the dogs. It's also been a very positive experience for me. I've made so many wonderful new human friends.

Below are some photos from week 7 socialization. Enjoy.

Photo by: Kaylee & Rosco P's Human

 This big orange ball actually belongs to Marcy. Kozmo went up to Marcy and dropped his tennis ball. Poor sweet Marcy then dropped her big orange ball to check out the tennis ball Kozmo was offering. Kozmo instantly ran off with Marcy's toy. Poor Marcy.

Photo by: Sunny & Marcy's human

 I love how the dogs are checking out the newest member to the group.

Photo by Kaylee & Rosco P's human

 Look how happy Kozmo is after stealing this ball from Marcy.

Photo by Kaylee & Rosco P's human

Another great action shot. Here Marcy is trying to catch Kozmo. Koz only showed an interest in his frisbee when another dog wanted the frisbee. 

Photo by Lexy's human

Look closely, Sunny has two toys in his mouth! Sunny loves his lady bug toy. Another dog had the same toy. Sunny decided they were both his. I love the expression on his face.

Photo by Lexy's Human

 The above photo is an excellent example of many things happening at once during dog socialization. Some dogs take a break and watch the activity and other dogs and humans are playing in the background.

Photo by Lexy's Human

I am so grateful that other human's take and share photos each week. I love to see the photos they take. Here Lexy's human got a great full body shot of Kozmo. He was actually standing still for a change. 

Huge Progress

I love everything about the above photo. Kozmo made friends with this human because he has a great arm and throws tennis balls much further than me. Each week Kozmo has gained a little more trust with the new human and finally at the end of week 7 Kozmo allowed his new friend to get close and pet him. You can see Kozzy's blurry tail wagging. He was very happy and relaxed and I am one proud human.

We will miss our weekly dog socialization classes but will see many of our new friends at the dog park and are forever thankful for the lessons and friends made.

Valentine Yappy Hour

The doggy socialization this past week was so much fun for humans and dogs. In the spirit of Valentine's day, humans brought food to share, each dog got a special Valentine treat, and Valentine portraits were taken of the dogs. In my last post I shared a behind the scenes look of the making of the pup-cakes.

I was really looking forward to class this week. When you live in the North East and make plans in February you never know if the weather will cooperate. As I was driving home from work it began to snow. I love snow. Kozmo loves snow. However, I am irrationally terrified to drive in the snow and it was really coming down. By the time I got home I there was 2-3 inches on the ground. I was so upset, how could the weather cancel my plans to take Kozmo to Yappy Hour!?!?!?

I didn't stay up late making pup-cakes to stay home. So I loaded up the pup-cakes, my pup, and Kozzy and I made our way to Yappy Hour. The snow was much heavier in our little village and as we got closer to our destination the snow decreased. We arrived a few minutes late and the dogs were already playing.

Kozmo bound into the room with his usual enthusiasm and was soon greeted by his friend Sunny and the other dogs. Our first order of business was the formal Valentine portrait. When it was Kozmo's turn I tried to get him to sit and stay for a photo. He was distracted and ran after tennis balls intended for other dogs, twice. We managed to get a photo of a mostly still Kozmo and he went back to running and chasing tennis balls.

My funny, furry Valentine

When I dropped off the pup-cakes I couldn't believe how many yummy treats the other humans brought to share. Kozmo's new routine during socialization is to run and run and run and then lay down with his tennis ball. Something new and wonderful happened. Kozmo let a total stranger approach him and start petting his belly. My heart melted. My sweet shelter pup has come such a long way. I was a proud human.

It's not a great photo. Heck, it's not even an ok photo. But what I was able to capture with my phone is a very special moment. Before I started coming to dog socialization a few short weeks ago Kozmo would have never, NEVER, allowed this to happen. I really enjoyed talking to this very nice couple and Kozmo really wanted to play with their dog. The two dogs played well for a few minutes, then they got a bit rough, and then as soon as someone threw a tennis ball Kozmo was distracted and onto the next thing.

As Yappy Hour was winding down I tried to make my way to the food area and try some of the many delicious looking treats available. I picked up a pretzel and stuck it in some dip, as I was putting the pretzel to my mouth I looked up to see my dog pooping on the floor! So much for dinner. By the time I was done cleaning up after Kozmo, collected his Valentine portrait, and gathered up his tennis balls, it was time to go home.

Next time there is a Yappy Hour I am going to follow the wise example set by Sunny and Marcy's human. I am going to go early, leave Koz in the car, and enjoy some food and human socialization during the little dog play group and then be able to focus all of my attention on Kozzy during the big dog hour. Kozmo and I are looking forward to the remaining two dog socialization classes. This has been a wonderful experience for dogs and humans.

Pup-cakes

Kozmo and I have been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people through dog socialization. We were really looking forward to the Valentine themed “Yappy Hour” this week. In addition to the regular hour of dog socialization, the plan was for the humans to bring food to share, special Valentine treats for the dogs, AND a special Valentine photo opportunity for the dogs!!

Seriously, how could anyone not be excited about this?

One of my first thoughts was, what should I bring? Normal people probably think of something easy or their regular specialty for covered dish occasions.  Especially when this event is on a weeknight, after work. I started thinking, what could I make that is edible for the humans but looks like a dog?

I decided the only possible solution would be to make cupcakes and decorate them to look not just like a dog, but look like Kozmo.

If you know me then you know that once I get an idea in my head I am on a mission and rationale and logic do not apply. I entered into the research phase.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time online looking at how other people decorated cupcakes to look like dogs.  It’s also worth noting that I am not a baker. I firmly believe that there are highly trained professionals who make amazing desserts and it’s much better to buy a quality dessert than for me to attempt it.

Once I attempted to bake a cake for my mom’s birthday. It was the driest cake ever and the lemon flavor was very strong. My poor mom ate a piece to be polite and started asking me how I made the cake. It was from a box. I missed the step where you add water. I screwed up a box cake.

Another time I made brownies from scratch and took them to a family party where my uncle Bob asked me just how I could make brownies that dry.  It turns out the brownies were made to perfection. I screwed up and left the pan on the over burner on an electric stove that acted as the vent for the oven while I baked something else. So the brownies actually got baked twice.

I have not attempted to bake anything in years. I'm a pretty good cook, but I do not bake. I can not explain why I decided I had to make Kozzy Kakes, but once the idea got stuck in my head there was no getting it back out again. In my research I found some of the best-looking pup-cakes used fondant icing. For some reason, fondant really intimated me. I felt like it was something professionals used.  As I got further into my research I learned fondant is not vegetarian, it contains gelatin.

I ended up with several online photos of pup-cakes that used various types of candy and icing for decoration. I wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to work but I wanted to combine a few ideas for Kozzy Kakes. I gathered my supplies.

I knew exactly what type of cupcake I wanted to bake. A very dear friend of mine is known to some as “the cupcake lady” because she makes these amazing chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese and chocolate chips in the center.  I decided this was the perfect recipe. Not only is it yummy, it’s also black and white like Koz. Making the cupcakes was easy.

Decorating the cupcakes to look like Koz or any type of dog was when my plan got a little tricky. I knew in my head what I wanted but didn’t know how to make this happen with the supplies I had on hand. I decided to use Tootsie Rolls for the ears. When melted and shaped they seemed to look like floppy ears. It took hours and I produced 3 prototypes. I was hung up on the spotted ear. Making a cupcake look like your dog is not easy.

Finally I came up with the brilliant idea that we should use part of a marshmallow to make the snouts. This simple solution changed everything.

Since it was getting close to midnight on a weeknight the I had to let go of the idea that each cupcake had to look like Kozmo and just make pup-cakes. I tried not to be a perfectionist and just created an assembly line.

What I think are pretty darn adorable (and yummy) pup-cakes for the Valentine “Yappy Hour” were successfully completed.  I think it is safe to say I was more excited than Kozmo for this week’s socialization.

If you have any crazy ideas about how you might like to replicate these pup-cakes. I used melted Tootsie Rolls for the ears, melted Starburst for the tongues, marshmallow and Raisnettes for the nose, store bought candy eyes, and alternated between large chocolate chips and Tootsie Rolls for the spot behind the one eye. I apologize for the photo quality, all photos were taken with my phone.

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Happy Valentines Day!!

Kozmo attended a "Valentine Yappy Hour" last night. The wonderful folks from the dog park association who have been hosting the weekly doggy socialization classes decided to do something a little special for Valentine's day. An area was set up for the humans to eat and everyone brought lots of yummy food to share. Each of the dogs got a special Valentine treat. One of the highlights was a photographer was set up to capture Valentine portraits of the dogs. Stayed tuned for more photos and a special post about the pup-cakes I made for yappy hour.

Socialization continutes and agility classes start

I was so excited for dog socialization class this week. Yes, I wanted my dog to get to play with the other dogs, but I have to admit I was also excited to see some of the humans. It's funny to me how dog socialization is also socialization for the humans and how Kozmo continues to be such a great gift. If it weren't for Kozmo I wouldn't have nearly as many human interactions.

Just like Kozmo learns each week, I'm also learning so this week I felt better prepared for class. I think Koz might have remembered dog socialization from last week. As soon as we pulled in the parking lot he started to get really excited.

I'm calling this week a huge success. We stayed for the entire hour and Kozmo didn't try to hump any other dogs and he didn't poop. He had so much fun running around with the other dogs. The one thing we need to work on is Kozmo coming to me when he's off leash. Although last night in agility our trainer thinks it's because I lean over to grab his collar when he gets close. I need to stand up straight and trust him.

One of the other humans takes photos at dog socialization. I'm thrilled she shares these photos because I'm so busy focused on keeping an eye on Kozmo and making sure he doesn't get into trouble that I'm lucky if I end up with a few blurry cell phone photos at the end of the night. Below are some photos of Koz and his new doggy friends. It's so much fun to see a room full of happy dogs.

Photo by Kaylee & Roscoe P's human

Marley & Roscoe - Photo by Kaylee & Roscoe P's human

Sunny in action - Photo by Kaylee & Roscoe P's human

Sydnee - Photo by Kaylee & Roscoe P's human

Koz slowing down - Photo by Kaylee & Roscoe P's human 

 In 50 short minutes Kozmo ran and played so much that he actually got tired. He didn't want to fetch any longer. He wanted to take a tennis ball, lay down, and start removing all the fuzzy stuff from the tennis ball. He was really having fun. I don't want him to be destructive but Kaylee and Roscoe P's human made me feel much better. She told me to let him have fun. I think one of the lessons I need to learn in dog socialization is not to worry so much about Koz, he's a dog.

It was awesome to see Kozzy tired. We all know that a tired dog is a good dog. Here he is at the end of the class.

A tired dog is a good dog!

I've been looking forward to starting agility classes again. I thought for sure that with dog socialization on Wednesday Kozmo would be a good boy for agility class Thursday. I made sure I was home in time to give him a 2 mile walk before class.  We even practiced jumping on our walk. A road is closed in the park where we walk. I treat the chain across the road as a jump and make Koz practice every day.

This new session of agility class is a combination of beginning and intermediate. We have 5 dogs in class and 3 are brand new to agility. Kozmo and one other dog have some agility experience. In my naive mind I thought I did all of the right things for Kozmo to walk into this class and show the new dogs how it's done.

Remember, Kozmo's sole purpose in life seems to be to keep me humble. So we approach the jump. I sit my dog. I send him over the jump. He decides to grab his leash and start his stupid antics of showing off, playing tug with the leash and growling. How could this be? I thought we were prepared for class. Back to our seats we went to try to get Koz calm and wait for his next turn. After class, our trainer laughed at me for thinking Koz wasn't going to be wound up. He has had a month off from formal classes and he was meeting 4 brand new dogs and lots of new humans. "But he should know this," I protested. "He does" replied the all knowing trainer.

We got a second chance to redeem ourselves. The trainer asked us to start at the weave poles. We had some trouble because Koz isn't ready to be off leash. He's starting to wrap his neck around the poles. If his horrible human would break down and get a set of poles and practice at home he could do much better. We moved on to the tunnel, which is a piece of cake for Koz. This is where we identified more of my human mistakes. I was so nervous sending Koz through the tunnel off leash that as soon as he came through I was bending over to grab him before he ran around the room like a nut.

Once again, in doggy body language I'm doing the wrong thing. We already know Koz hates his neck being touched and gets a little jumpy when you try to grab him. I'm making this worse by bending over as he approaches me. So we had to do the tunnel several more times. Not because Koz doesn't know the tunnel but so I could practice standing up straight. Koz came to my hand every time.

We did the jump again. Koz knows how to jump. He did the jump and came back to me. I was happy. We ended with the table. It's just a table on the agility course and you have to tell your dog to jump on the table and sit or down. Koz knows this. We practice with a big rock and benches in the park. He ended class very well. He knows agility. Now the hard work is teaching his human the right body language, patience, and recall. We both need to master this recall thing.

It's going to take a lot more work but some day I will have an agility dog. For now I have an awesome dog who makes me smile every day.

Dog Socialization Class

Does everyone remember the Doggy Dip & Dive this summer? The local group trying to raise money to build a dog park had a fund raising event at the community pool. I was so excited for Kozmo to be part of the event and then there was the little incident where he wanted to hump the cute dog Kia and made her poor human jump in the pool fully clothed. Although it makes for a fairly entertaining story and no one was hurt, as Kozmo's human I'm still a little embarrassed.

So the same group is doing a wonderful thing for dogs and having Dog Socialization Classes held in a gymnasium that also doubles as a local skating rink. Its a weekly one hour event where dogs are able to run indoors, play with other dogs, and hopefully learn valuable socialization skills. When I first saw this advertised I really wanted to take Kozmo. Although it iss a 34 mile drive one way to the park. I wasn't going to take Kozzy until I saw a facebook post from the dog park advertising the socialization classes and a photo of my sweet Kozmo taken at the Dip & Dive was this groups Facebook profile photo.

I realize this may sound crazy to non-dog people, but I left work, drove 25 miles home, packed up Kozmo and drove an additional 34 miles south to Dog Socialization Class!!

We walked into a gymnasium with 12-15 other big dogs running and playing. We saw Sonny, a dog from our agility class. Several dogs from the Dip & Dive were there including Marley, a sweet chocolate lab who can smell Kozmo's treats in my pockets and follows me around. Koz was instantly running around the room trying to take everything in at once.

Typical Kozmo wanted to run after every ball. He really doesn't understand that sometimes humans are throwing balls for their dogs and not him. On the one hand I feel bad for the other dogs because every single time Kozmo is the fastest dog and gets the ball first. On the other hand, as Kozmo's human I love to watch him run fast and am so impressed with his athletic abilities.  

I noticed one of the other dogs lifting his leg and peeing on the tunnel. For a brief moment I was really happy that my dog didn't pee on the tunnel. Not to worry, within 5 minutes it was MY dog who stopped under the basketball hoop to poop. None of the other humans seemed the least bit phased. I was embarrassed. 

Having learned from our experience at the Dip & Dive I tried to keep a close eye on Kozmo and kept calling him back to me. Clearly we need more practice and more obedience training. Once he was running with the other dogs he acted like he couldn't hear me. When I noticed Koz drinking some other dogs water I got out our water bowl and showed it to him. After some hard playing and catching Koz trying to hump a sweet little dog named Vanessa I made him take a time out. One of the lessons I learned from the Dip & Dive was to not let Koz get too tired, too over stimulated and start to lose focus. 

We stayed for 40 minutes of the hour long socialization. In 40 short minutes Kozmo managed to get into a growling thing with a Bull Dog, twice, tried to hump Vanessa and Sunny who is a male dog, pooped on the floor and deflated the large pink ball. I decided not to give him any more opportunities to get into trouble. The goal is to be allowed to go back for 7 more weeks of socialization class.

Overall, I think he did well. We need to keep working on recall and being able to get Kozmo's attention when he's really excited and off leash. Next week I will also take some balls for the other dogs. Someday Kozmo is going to grow into an awesome dog. For now, we are working really hard.

Let it snow

Finally we got a real snow!! For many years all I have ever wanted for Christmas is a set of snow shoes and a puppy. Last year my dreams came true and I got both. The only problem was that we never got any snow. For an entire year my perfectly good snow shoes remained in a box with tags on them.

I've been hoping and dreaming of lots of snow. In anticipation of my long snowy hikes and snow shoe adventures Kozmo got his very own pair of boots for Christmas. Although they look really cute they serve more of a purpose than dressing up the dog. Dogs shouldn't walk long distances in the snow without boots because the snow and ice can pack up around their pads and cause sore feet.

I wasn't sure how Koz would do with his new boots since he hates to have his feet touched. He wasn't sure what to think the first time we put his boots on. Now Kozmo seems to understand that when the other human puts on his boots we are going to go for a hike.

Below are photos from our recent snow adventures. Kozmo and I are  anxiously awaiting another big snow and even more snow adventures!

A short run through the woods without boots

The first time Kozmo tried on his boots

A happy, happy dog

A quick break to do some chewing

He's learning the boots mean he will soon be in the woods

Patiently waiting for his human to catch up

Koz loves snow so much he is smiling