Doggies and Baby....

So, we have just recently found out we are expecting a baby. Yay! More babies to love and care for.... and more stress on walks! Now, instead of trying to manage the two dogs, we will have to manage two dogs and a stroller or baby in a backpack. Instead of simply putting on two halters/leashes, we will have to put on the two halters AND get the baby in the backpack or stroller. Let's hope the dogs learn some patience!!! Fun times to be had in the future.

Lana LOVES kids and babies. There are not many that really allow her to get close, but she just wants to sniff and kiss them to pieces. Ginger, on the other hand, is a little more apprehensive. She will hopefully come around. She tends to really not notice anything that is not completely relevant to her world. Even then, she tends to run into things because she does not look where she is going. She also never seems to notice people/ animals under blankets and walks right over them. (She is blonde....)

Anyway, soon after we found out, my dogs started acting differently. Lana barks like CRAZY all the time. She sits by the window and anyone who walks by, gets out of their car, or just looks out their window, she is barking. She never used to do this. Even our neighbor (after being barked at while attempting to walk the dogs) noticed. "I thought she was the one who doesn't bark..." Yea... she WAS! Enough with the protectiveness already! Ginger, on the other hand, has been more clingy. She will lay next to me, follow me, even try to come into the bathroom when I am in there. This is from the dog who doesn't even like me! (She is a daddy's little girl).

So, I started researching and this is what I found:

"Pregnancy triggers definite changes in a woman's hormone levels. Believe it or not, your dog can actually smell the difference in your body chemistry after you become pregnant. This scent change can affect your dog in different ways, such as:

• Your dog may seem a little confused by the scent change and act reluctant to be too close to you. It may take a little time for your pet to accept your new scent and realize that you are still the same person.
• Your dog, especially if she's a female, may actually respond to your new scent by acting more affectionate and protective toward you. It's almost as if she can recognize the scent is related to your condition.
• Your dog may actually remain happily oblivious to the entire change going on and continue to behave normally."

So, each of my little girls is reacting in her own way, protecting me and loving me throughout. I am SO happy they do not act like they don't know me!!!

Speaking Dog?

My dogs (well Lana at least) understand a wide range of English. I know, I know... they really understand the TONE more than the actual words. But there are many words my dogs have come to know the meaning of:

Sit
Stay
Come
Down
Walk
Poopy
Potty
Go to your bed (their beds)
Daddy
Mommy
Go lay in bed (our bed)
Off
Leave it
Car
Dog Park
Where's your toy?
Naughty
No
Catch
Dinner
Breakfast
Kisses
Cage
Cookie
Treat
Girls
Doggies
Sleepy-time
Shake
High-Five
Touch
Sit pretty
Up
Go see _______

Agility terms:
weave
target
tunnel
go walk
jump
walk it
teeter
look back
go out
wrap
go through
okay

Many of the words the dogs are still working on. Often we put "Do you want" to the beginning of the words and the girls get so excited they do not even listen to the end and are already running to get whatever it is THEY want. For example, every night at about 8:30, the girls are ready for sleep. If we are downstairs watching tv, they give us these looks, saying "Please please please can we get in bed??" When it is time to go upstairs, all we have to say is "Do you..." and they are running upstairs. We could say "Do you want a cookie?" and it would require them to do a double-take... or for us to repeat it because they have it in their mind (and routine) that is is sleepy-time.

Especially in agility, it is not as much the tone that is important, but the hand gestures. Dogs read your facial expressions, eyes, and body language before they listen to your words. It is always interesting to face a certain way and say something completely opposite. More than likely the dog is going to go where you are headed or follow your gestures. If they REALLY understand your words (most dogs really understand sit), they will follow your verbal direction. It is a really good test to see if your dog truly knows the word sit if they sit after you say the command facing away from them. Also, when training a word or object, if you stare at the object long enough, the dog will try to find what you are looking at. This allows them to better learn/ associate words because they are doing the work in learning rather than you telling them. Learning through exploration. I do find the keenness for body language extremely helpful (but at the same time difficult) in agility. I often get tongue-tied and forget the actual name of the obstacle. Lana is wonderful at reading body language (too good at times because if I make a mistake- which I ALWAYS do, she makes the mistake with me), so I do not have to shout each obstacle and baby her through the course. She follows where my body tells her to go. Now I just have to become a more effective leader so I am directing her in the right place!

I find animal language so interesting. There are a number of psychologists that study how animals communicate and learn. It is all fascinating. "Stanley Coren, a psychologist who has performed a significant amount of research on the subject of dog intelligence, suggests that average trained dogs know about 160 words [source: Coren]. Some dogs even show a vocabulary as vast as a human toddler's (See Article)." According to Stanley Coren in How to Speak Dog, a dog will listen to your words, and watch your subtle, even subconscious body language, and then add his most reasonable guess to figure out what you want him to do. Article.

Thoughts like this makes it difficult to fathom how some people continue to treat dogs like anything but part of the family. Yes, they are dogs and must be treated and trained so. However, when I hear people saying things like "Oh, its just a dog." and seeing the way dogs and other animals are treated, I cannot begin to understand how anyone can treat a dog other than part of the family. They obviously know what is going on (they know when you leave for trips, do not like to be left without you, are sensitive to changes). They have feelings (sad, anxious, happy, tired). They know how to love unconditionally. When it comes to my dogs, they are a part of my family and will always be treated as such.