The Second Week

Our second week together had a few speed bumps. First Etta started losing interest in working. She was more interested in playing and horsing around than siting and heeling. I immediately stopped and took a step back. I had worked with her for 10 days straight. I stopped all wok/ training right away before I burned my dog out. I felt so bad. She was just going so well it was hard to not ask for that little bit more. We went on weekend mode and only played fun games and went on walks.  Which leads us to her body. She had been showing signs of minor body soreness that I noted but took as normal for her change in routine. As soon as she started loosing focus in work activities I checked her over physically as best I could. I found her feet to be sore. Her previous hone was all grass, ours is not. This property is mostly gravel and our main play area is mulch. This is all surrounded by lava rock. First things first I asked Andrew to bring her home booties. 

 

 

These, abet cute, green and cheap did not work out for play time or much of any time. I am definitely holding on to them but they were not what we needed. Enter lots of interneting and researching and comparing. All in all we were kinda stuck with what was at the local Petco since everything cost a similar amount and ratings ran about the same. We ended up with these: 

 They are not bad. They do a great job walking around on the property and the street. They do not do a good job staying on for more then 15-20 minutes or at any speed besides walking. They do help though and she is happy wearing them. I hope her feed toughen up so this will not always be an issue.  The big highlight of our second week was on Friday night/Saturday morning I woke up at around 4 am. Etta was sitting next to me licking my arm. I realized I was low right away. ETTA WOKE ME UP! This may be her first alert! I woke Andrew and he got me juice and Etta got a half a hot dog. Super exciting! 

The First Week

 In hopes of getting the blog caught up and current rather than two weeks behind I am going to condense what I can and do highlights as nessacery. Our first week together went very well. Etta first big test was to meet the kitty. Etta had not been around cats much, if at all, and to make the situation even more exciting, the cat had only seen a couple of dogs through high windows. Etta was, as I have come to find out to be her normal; polite and tentative. The cat was deeply disappointed we would bring this thing in to her house but she handled herself surprisingly well.

We crated Etta the first night as I wasn't sure if she needed protection from Artemis (kitty), if she chewed, and how her potty manners were. Turned out there was no need and we took the crate out after a few days. The cat did enjoy ambushing the dog and smacking her through the bars. We also started switching her kibble. We have a large bag of her old food that R so graciously gave us and we are still currently switching just trying to finish what we have. Etta seemed a touch 'well padded' so we have been working on the amount of food she gets. I want her to have the correct amount but I am clicker training her and want to use her regular kibble as her common reward. Right now she is getting one cup of kibble in the morning and then two more cups are set aside for the rest of the day and anything left after training/work I give to her for dinner. We also use high value treats for introducing new behaviors or in more difficult environments, such as a park with lots of distractions. The high value we are using now is cut up hot dog. As far as training we really just wanted to see where she was at and really cement the basics in. She knows sit, stay, come, down and heel. We are still working on these as we develop our relationship and work ethic. At this point I was keeping her 90% on leash as the property is not fenced and we were told she was not car savvy. To break up the monotony we did some target training and scent training. All training sessions were kept to about a 10 minute max and 2-3 times a day. We also visited N's ranch a couple of time and got a bath! It was a big week for pup!  

 

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The Meeting

The night before going to meet Etta the husband kindly went to Petco to buy the neseities for an unknown dog that we weren't sure we were bring home. I had been told she was a 'large' dog ( cue me thinking: 80+lbs or small horse) and 'energetic' (cue me thinking: uncontrolible small horse). We bought an x-large collar, choke chain, bowls, leash, chewwie, poop bags, trainer/ treat pouch, and then some.

We only had to drive about 15-20 minutes to meet Etta. Her people were super nice and fun to talk with. We played ball with Etta for a few minutes until she decided she was done and went for the water bowl. We left her outside as we went in their lovely house to have a tour and talk some more. I paused to look outside to see what Etta dud to amuse herself while we were inside. She had set the tennis ball, that we had brought, in between Andrew's boots. I called Andrew over to look at his boots and R came running thing Etta was eating them. When everyone saw what she had done with the ball it was deemed a sign. It really was pretty cool, I wish I had a picture now. I think it was then that Etta was coming home with us. R and her husband graciously gave us a bunch of her current food, defleaed her and gave her the heart worm medicine they had for her. We broke out the collars we had bought and they fit perfect! ( I have no idea why she is probably 22" and 55 lbs). We all loaded up in the truck and headed home.

 

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The Setup

Growing up we always had dogs. As I got older and got married a wanted a dog again but the couple of times I tried it did not work out for various reasons. Then we moved to Hawaii and in to my in-laws house. We were fortunate to be able to bring our cat with us from California. We have been here three years now and have slowly been incorporating animals back in to our lives again. I wanted a dog but knew it would be a big commitment especially since although we have three acres it is not fenced. None of it, not even a yard. Also I was not sure how my father-in-law would like having a dog in the house. So I waited.

About a month or two ago I read an article about diabetic alert dogs. I started researching more about them and their training. Dangerious ideas started to form. I could train my own dog. My poor husband has been waking up multiple times every night for the past 10 years to check on me, he could finally have a break. I would be able to take the dog with me everywhere, especially important when I travel by myself. The cat could have a buddy. So many reasons this is a great idea, so I approached my husband about the idea. He was supportive, but tentative and encouraged me to keep researching. I did. I began drawing up the ideals for a dog for myself while scouring the animal shelter's website. Then by chance I mentioned the idea to my friend, N. Just so happened N had a friend looking to rehome one of her Labrador retrievers.

Enter Etta. She is a one year old chocolate lab. N's friend RM, had got Etta and her sister from a breeder on the island. Unfortunately the sisters were so obsessed with each other they were almost unmanageable. With each having to be kenneled separately, it became quite a task to offer each one enough attention.after chatting on the phone we agreed to go meet Etta on the husband's next day off.

The two biggest stipulations were A) she had to get along with the cat, tricky since the cat had never shared the house with anything but a fish, B) she must learn to alert ( in a reasonable amount of time) or she will be given back or rehomed. These rules were standing well before hearing about Etta. We looked up aptitude tests for trainability, things to look for, to avoid, anything I could look up to keep in mind when meeting new dogs. I am not a complete novice but I always feel better when it is all in the forefront of my mind.

Then we headed out about 15 minutes away to go meet Etta.

 

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Pilot

I am a type 1 diabetic. I have been since I was nine years old, so for 20+ years. I was offered the opportunity to work with a one year old female Labrador Retriever to train her as my diabetes alert dog. This is our journey.

 

 

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