(141) How Hot is Too Hot?

It is HOT today. By 9 AM the temp registered 80 degrees in my car and by the time I left work, it was 90. Now it is 92 degrees out and heading higher. It’s so hot and with the humidity up the combination is deadly hot. The back road I travel to work is a mixture of tar and pea gravel or “chip and tar” as they say. When I drive these roads home in the afternoon I can hear the tar sticking to my tires. The corn smells so sweet right now and it’s the kind of hot that we say we can hear the corn growing. At night you almost can hear it. That’s hot! There’s been a 50% chance of rain every day this week and yesterday we did get some rain early in the day but it didn’t lower the temperature any. When I get into my car, it’s stifling hot. What did we do before air conditioners? We were hot inside and out! I can remember doing anything to keep any air moving in the house when I was younger and living in a non air conditioned house. There were never enough box fans. Even now, when I live in luxury within an air conditioned house, it doesn’t seem to be cool enough when it gets this hot.

I’ve been thinking, how hot is too hot to take the dogs on a walk? When is it too hot to let the dogs outside longer that it takes to do their business? Too hot to take them with me on a car errand? Last night when Brad got home from work, it was still light out and later in the day, about 7:00PM. We decided to take the dogs for a walk, like we normally do when we get a chance. Even at 7 at night the temperature was still in the low 80’s. We took a 45 minute walk with both sun and shady stretches. When we got home, Max and Beeker both panted hard. Beeks cooled down fairly quickly, within 15 minutes. It took Max a lot longer. Max pants by nature (I believe his vocal cords were injured at an early age by lunging with a chain around his neck…before he came to us). Still he has a difficult time cooling down with all of his long black hair and extra large body. Whenever we take him on a walk it takes him a long time to cool down. However, given the temperature and the length of the walk we may have over done it. Brad questioned me about this after we returned. I’ve been thinking about this since. How hot is too hot?

Some things seem simple enough. If its too hot to walk on the sidewalk, or road barefooted then its too hot to have your dog walk on the sidewalk or road as well. The pads on a dog’s paw are thick but can melt just the same. My sister found this out the hard way when she let JesseJames go on a long walk with her in Idaho. Jesse was so happy to be outside that he ran about. back and fourth while Juli and my mom walked a straight line. After one day Jesse had blisters on his pads and could barely walk at all. Juli had to restrict Jesse’s activity for nearly three days before the pads started to heal.

Taking a dog with you when you are running errands is not such a good idea if you need to leave him while the car and airconditioning are turned off. One website I looked at showed research that cars sitting in high temperatures even with the windows cracked still heated to the equivalent of heated ovens. (check out http://www.mydogiscool.com/x_reports.php) I know that when I open my car door on a hot day I can feel the heat escaping the moment I open the door.

Dogs can get sunburn and heat exhaustion as well. Heat exhaustion is somewhat common in dogs. Dogs cool themselves by panting but if they can not cool themselves enough they can get heat exhaustion and even develop heat stroke. Early signs of heat exhaustion are heavy panting, salivation, and rapid breathing (this sounds like a normal day for Maxie). But also fatigue, muscle tremors and staggering (not a normal day for Maxie). If heat exhaustion occurs, it is important to get the dog cooled down (with wet towels, in the shade, and small sips of cool water). Then call the Vet.

So, How hot is too hot? I’ve decided that it’s too hot for my dogs to be outside when it is too hot for me to be outside. If I want to walk around for a few minutes to check out the garden and yard, then it is okay for Beeks to run too, if he get water and shade occasionally. Then he needs to be able to cool down inside. Maxie is another story. Because he is larger, less active, has lots of long hair, he needs to be outside less, get more water, and generally lay low during the hot summer days. Oh, and lots of ice cubes. They love ice cubes. Isn’t that what they call the Dog Days of Summer?

(140) Practice Makes Perfect

I’ve been practicing with beeker to get him up on the bed when I call him. I’ve blogged before about how he has a learning disability when it comes to my verbal command or with a verbal command and hand gestures together. I can get him to come up on the bed if I stand next to him and gesture and command him to “bed up”, a few times. This is frustrating. I have to get up out of bed and almost cojore him to get up with us. I know he wants to be on the bed because he comes over and puts his head on the bed next to me, and looks up at me with his cute pleading eyes. Then he just looks at me when I call him!
So, I’ve been using treats and the rule of 10,000. I decided that I needed to work with Beeks like I would when I taught him to jump through the hula hoop. Or when we taught him to roll over. He is so food motivated that he will do what ever he needs to do to get the food. That makes him a fast learner. (Well, the fact that Max jumped up on the bed when I kept calling Beeker tell me that Beeker may not be that quick of a learner.) I also decided that I would have to break down the whole process into smaller increments. I got some sweet potato treats and cut them up into tiny bits. Then when Beeks wanted to get up on the bed (by looking forlorn at me) or when I wanted him to get up with the rest of the family (Chez, Max, Brad and Me), I used the same working and the same hand gesture every time I gave him the command. Every single time.

This is where the rule of 10,000 comes into play. Malcom Gladwell, suggests in his latest book, Outliers, that in order to be successful at any given action, the most successful person (or in this case dog) will be the one who repeats that action ad nausea. That is, in order to perfect something like playing concert piano or being successful like the Beetles or Bill Gates, the person will by the time they are successful, practiced their chosen art 10,000. Almost to the point that they will perform it over and over and will have become so familiar with it that it is more like a reflex. Some call it Flow, where the behavior or action just happens and is done without thinking about process. Really good tennis players will get into the flow mode and if they start thinking about their method they get all messed up and their timing gets out of sync.

Now Beeks and I have been practicing for a few days with this new method. I use the same words, in the same tone (Beeks Up), with the same hand gesture (hand coming down with open hand slapping the bed). At first he just looked at me, I then showed him the food treat, but didn’t say anything else. Then I said it again, in the same tone, with the same hand gesture, and he jumped up on the bed. I gave him the treat and praised him. Then I spent about 10 minutes getting him off the bed and back on the bed using this same method. The next day I did the same process but sometimes I didn’t give him a treat when he got up on the bed. I just praised him. I also stop working with him after he gets the jumping up on command correct a dozen or so times. The break helps cement the behavior in his mind because the next time he has to recall the whole sequence on his own. Now we only have 9,500 more times to practice before he has it perfect! It’s like my mother always told me and I told my kids… Practice Makes Perfect.

(139) Enjoying Life

I received a lovely box from my oldest son today. He recently returned from China and didn’t get to call me on my birthday, so he sent me a box which arrived here today. In the box were a number of wonderful surprises including some jasmine tea flowers, some biscuits an ornate comb and a cartoon. The cartoon is the one that I included for you to read. Funny Huh? On the flip side of the cartoon, was a quote by Samuel Butler- “All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it.” I think this is true. Certainly Max and Beeker know it. JesseJames is swimming daily in an Idaho lake, so he knows it. Chez has been putting a tennis ball on my bed lately so he knows it. My animal hero, Temple Grandin says that animals live in the present moment, so that means they are not lamenting because of something that happened yesterday or longing because of something tomorrow. They are thinking about what they can do right this minute and how they can have enjoyment out of it. Beeker is constantly (if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times) looking for someone or something to play with. He really enjoys everything he does. Even sleeping.
We can take a lesson from our animal compatriots. You’ve heard “Be happy don’t worry”. Or “Don’t sweat the small stuff”. “See the glass half full instead of half empty”. Yeah, we have adult responsibilities and we have timelines and everybody wants a piece of us. But… What about the in between times? What about the moment we wake up? What about all of the celebrating we don’t remember to do? Have you seen the commercial where a group is celebrating being left handed? What would happen if I started celebrating the small stuff? Like that professor I had said, “Everything in life is an opportunity”. It’s an opportunity to enjoy this life and not get dragged down by it. I sometimes get to feeling so worn out by all of the “Don’t Haves”. I don’t have enough time, money, health, patience, etc…you know. It was a secret gift to get this quote (he probably didn’t even know it was on the flip side of the cartoon), and a gift to know that I have the opportunity to look at life in a different way. In the present and enjoy each thing I do, really ENJOY it. It’s just want I’m going to do right now, today, I’m celebrating with Brad. We are celebrating our anniversary and we will really enjoy our time together, now and in the future. With our furry animal friends showing us the way.

(138) Volunteer Anyone?

I got an email with an attachment that I want to include with this post. Chelsea (aka Squiggles mom) sent it to me. It announces the Iggy fundraiser for the Seattle area and it’s a cute poster for a worthwhile cause. Please take a look at it. Now, I understand that unless you live in the Seattle area you are unlikely to attend this fundraiser but still there is something of value to it. Chelsea and Eric are two of the most avid dog volunteers I know. This being said, I believe volunteering is an important way to give back and also to enrich a project beyond its boundaries. When people volunteer they do it because they have a passon for the project or because they want to meet others with the same passion or because they want to learn more about something. I really believe that a volunteer makes a given project better than if it were done by paid employees. Volunteers give the extra beyond the hours. I know a lot of people who volunteer. They volunteer many hours and really assist agencies and projects get things done that probably would not get done otherwise. My mother volunteers for an agency that works with developmentally disabled citizens and has volunteered so many hours that they gave her an award for it. My father has volunteered for many boards like the Blood center for many years. Chelsea volunteers for the Iggy group in her area. My oldest son volunteers at the emergency room at the hospital in Montana. I’m sure that there are many other people I know that I have left out of this list (sorry!?!) But here’s the thing. I’ve never volunteered for any agency. I’ve thought about it. I’ve fantisized about it, what it would be like, who I’d meet. So, what’s holding me back? I’m scared. This seems funny at first. If I were talking to my kids I’d laugh if they told me they were scared to volunteer. I’d buck them up.
I want to make a difference, to do a needed job that really will help an agency. I’ve got the time. I have transportation. I’m not a dummy. I know that I could do any job put before me. My list of places to volunteer is long. I’ve thought about volunteering at the local Youth Center, the Food bank, the Library, and especially the County Humane Society. But… What if they really don’t need me? What if, like my inquiry of The Humane Society, the process is so cumbersome; it’s to weed out people because everyone wants to volunteer there. I would love to give time each week but I want to do it somewhere that my three hours a week will make a difference, even if it is cleaning pet cages or shelving books, or taking out the garbage.
Having admitted to all this, there’s no excuse to not volunteer. I understand that those who volunteer get enriched more than they feel they give. So… I’ve looked up my local Humane Society and found out the process to volunteer. I will go to the volunteer orientation (in August), then to the interview with the tour (by appointment), then see what they need me to do. If it turns out that volunteers are a dime a dozen, I will look somewhere else. Its time I put my toe out there, do something worthwhile and get over myself. Okay, now that this is public knowledge, I can move on it rather than just think about it.

If anyone knows a place that needs a willing Volunteer, call me!

(137) He's a Patient Pup

Beeker is such a patient dog. Here’s why. When I get up in the morning, he is happy to see me, greets me and allows me to wake up slowly without having to rush to do something, like Maxie sometimes does (“Let me outside!”). I like to read in the mornings if I am not going to work and Beeks lets me read without interruption. Sometimes I read for hours and Beeks will just lay by the side of the bed without moving. If I get up or move to the kitchen for more coffee, he is up in a flash, ready for whatever I’m going to do, like if I need help pouring more coffee or something. Then he settles down until I move to the next activity. I realized this again this morning when I spent time reading and drinking my Saturday coffee. If Beeks were another dog or one of my children, I wouldn’t be able to finish one chapter until I was needed. The thing with dogs is that they really are able to wait. I think Beeks has trust that I will give him what he needs, including water, food, outings and adventure. I’m sure he would like more adventure in his life, what dog wouldn’t. When I finally finished reading an hour later, and got up to get dressed, he jumped up, stood by the dressing room and waited until I was done. He just waited to see if I was going to take him outside (I did) but I didn’t take him on our usual walkabout since we were going to go into Champaign to check out the garage sales. When I let him out into the garage, then outside , he ran like a greyhound, around the house, then stopped back at the garage when he figured out we were just walking around the yard. He actually looked surprised. Again, he was patient when I stopped at multiple sales. He was sitting in a heated car, windows down and I know he would have rather been home running around the yard. He didn’t complain that I didn’t stop to let him run at the dog park, and he didn’t whine to get water or a bathroom break (he got neither) but he was appreciative that he got an ice cream from Mikey D’s. He sat patiently waiting while I went inside and while it took too long to get a single item. He was patient when I stopped at the garage sale that sold only pet costumes, and he was appreciative that I didn’t but him one too. When I know its time to feed Beeker dinner (to Maxie if its 5:00 its dinner time) and I’m busy, he is patient. He waits for me to finish crafting the card I’m always working on. I know I try his patience sometimes, know that he really does need to go outside and it’s been 7 hours since I paid any attention to him. And yet, when it comes to nighttime, when I’m snuggled up in bed, I call to him to get up with me, he’s right there, happy to be with me, patient when I constantly have hot flashes and move alnight like a crazy woman. He never complains. I’d swear I’ve not heard him whine, plead, or beg for me to hurry up and get with the program.

Beeker has always been good at keeping himself occupied. His favorite occupation is playing with Max and Chez, either wrestling, or hiding from each other. Or he will bring out one of his many chew toys and spend time choosing one, chewing it, choosing another one, chewing, etc until they are all out and scattered all over the floor. I still haven’t taught him to put them away, a trick my sister assures me is possible. Beeks also enjoys looking outside one of our many windows to see if there is something to bark at. He waits patiently listening to see or hear of any possible change in the environment then….Whoof, Woof, Whoof. He delights in this because it always gets Maxie up and barking as well, and it fine tunes his stalking skills. It’s the barking that usually gets my attention and gets me moving to address the dogs. So maybe Beeker is especially good at being patient and getting my attention when he really needs it. Maybe he’s better at passing the blame on others like Maxie.

(136) There Once Was a Frog...

There Once was a Frog
That Sat on a Log
Along came a Dog
And ate it….

When I was a little kid, I made up this poem. Later when ever someone asked me to write a poem, or when I was put on the spot to recite a poem I would call up this little whit and recite it with self depreciation. Well, today I can say with pride… “It happens you know!”. You’ve seen pictures of the dogs run area, filled with pea gravel. It’s been working great for the dogs and for letting them out when it has just rained. The ground does not wash away like it use to and it’s easily “picked up”. You can see by the pictures that we’ve covered the cable/telephone wires coming into the house with a culvert type window covering. I don’t believe the dogs would chew the wires but more likely bump up against them or dig around the area so its best to keep them away from the area. That said there are still problems with the area.

Brad had not been out of the house for more than 20 minutes when Max came a calling, breathing his heavy breath in my face. This is his signal that he wants to go outside. I put down my book and put both dogs outside in their run. I left them outside maybe only 10 minutes tops. I got more coffee, I went to the bathroom, figured out breakfast, you know all the early morning essentials. Then I heard it. Beeks barking. Okay, that probably isn’t anything unusual but Max wasn’t barking and usually when one starts the other one is sure to follow. So….I went to the back door, opened it and Beeks came right in. This is also not unusual. I shut the door, and give Max time to realize he’s been left behind. He doesn’t come. So….I go back to the door and go out on the little back step and see Max scratching at the pea gravel like it’s dirt. I call to him and he doesn’t even look at me , he’s so intent on scratching at the rocks. I call again to him then I see it. The window covering has been ripped off and there’s dirt all over. Damn! I go and get my shoes and get to Max realizing that he has gotten another TOAD! The toad isn’t moving. I pull Max inside by his ear because he is not fazed by my calling and is trying to get back to the toad. He’s foaming at the mouth. He’s spitting and flailing foam all over the place like a rabid dog. UGH! When I have him secured in the house, I go back to see if there is any part of the toad left. The now traumatized toad is bleeding but only its right paw (flipper? flange?) has been injured, probably when Max was pulling it through the rocks. I pick it up and move it to where I have placed three other toads in recent weeks. This is the first one that Max has caught in the dog run. I can’t figure out how the stupid toads get to the culvert covered area. Yes, its moist near the cable box, there are no rocks. But the area is in the middle of the wall, far from the woods or any other vegetation. What’s with that? This must be a band of masochistic toads. Is it the same toad? Continually trying to get back to its home under the dirt? And God forbid, are there more yet to come?

I go inside, and find Max, foaming like a rabid…well dog. I see he is flipping his mouth, trying to rid himself of the toad poison. He had foam all over the kitchen floor and on the window seat. I put him in the laundry room to keep the foam in one area. He’s drunk a lot of water to get the toad poison out of his mouth. I’m hoping that he didn’t lick too much of it.

I looked on line to see what other people do about toad/frog and dog interactions. What I find isn’t too encouraging. Most responses say that toads are more poisonous to dogs than frogs. It’s the froth that toads secrete from their skin when they are traumatized (like being eaten). Great! Some responses say that toad froth can kill dogs in as little as 15 minutes. I’m thinking it has something to do with size of dog and type of toad. Let’s hope. Max has a hankerin for toads. He has done this before. I would think that he would learn. He likes to watch them hop and to chase them, but he first tries to catch them in his mouth. I could tell the minute I was Max foaming at the mouth that he was the culprit. Beeks was the sentry not the military force in this instance. No foaming coming from him. We will watch Max, to be sure he is Okay, does not get lethargic, although how do I tell with a Newfoundland? Isn’t that the definition of a Newfoundland?

I placed the injured toad under a bush outside the fence. (where I put the others). Its fairly far from the fenced in area (for a toad). I’m hoping it survives, but then again, Gracie has three babies to feed. I wonder if toads are poisonous to hawks.

Speaking of the hawks... Yesterday morning, Beeks was playing with Chez. Really wrestling and having a great time. Chez was attacking Beeks, and rolling around with him, when Beeks abruptly stopped and focused on the deck outside our bedroom sliding doors. His tail went straight out, and he started a slow low growl, then barked three times. All low and fairly quiet barks. I got up to see what the racquet was and there on out deck were the three juvenile hawks. One on the bench and two down on the deck. They were not three feet away from me. Of course we scared them away, but they didn’t fly far, just to the edge of the woods and yard. I loved seeing them this close. Kind of like Gracie brought the little ones for a visit.

(135) Daydream Believer...

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

Beeker is sleeping and as he gets into a deeper sleep he starts moving his paws back and forth. His eyes move quickly in the rapid eye movement that is reflective of his deep REMs sleep. He’s dreaming and I stop writing to watch his movements. What does he dream about? He’s like most dogs who dream. He sometimes gets moving his legs so quickly I know he is dreaming of chasing little animals. Other times he whimpers like he is crying, calling out for long forgotten family members. All of our pets dream in this way. One of our past Newfoundland dogs, Belle,use to get so deep into sleep she would begin to moan so low then crescendo loudly like the Tuesday Tornado warning. When we would hear her begin to moan and getting louder, we would all listen then break out laughing. She would wake disoriented, looking at us like we were aliens. Sometimes when I notice Beeker sleeping I also hear him suckling. The whole dream behavior, like sleep itself, is a strange phenomenon. We close our eyes, then fall into a deep hibernation, while our brain shows us movies of its own creation, then we wake up to act like nothing happened. Its like a computer that runs an antivirus check nightly. But I digress…

Beeks dreams most every time he sleeps. He likes to rough up his sleeping rug so that his nest is not under him but folded and bunched up on his side. Sometimes he even kicks it around the area and sleeps away from it. The rug thing I can’t figure out. I guess if he were out in the wild he would scruff up his sleeping area to make it softer but moving it completely out of the way is strange.
So what does Beeks dream about? The internet gives lots of suggestions and possible scenarios but it seems they are all just hypotheses. One site: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dogs-701/2008/10/Dog-41.htm gives reasonable scientific indicators that dogs dream but since I figure they dream like humans and other animals I’m on beyond that. The site however also gives additional sites to view so they may be more helpful. http://www.pet-tails.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=234 gives some interesting info about how a dog sleeps. If (like Beeks) a dog is curled up it probably isn’t fully relaxed and so isn’t in deep REMs sleep but in SWS (slow wave sleep). When it is very relaxed and sprawled, with legs running he is in REMS. Then again, have you ever seen a dog sleeping with its legs in the air and its back to the ground? We had a dog, Beau (the other Newfoundland Male) that use to sleep like that. Turns out dogs are smart (we knew didn’t we?). They sleep like this to cool their underbelly off. The article also says that older dogs dream more than younger dogs, so they need more time in REMs sleep to dream, AND when they get awakened in the middle of their sleep, they are more likely to be grouchy. Hence the adage, “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”. What about dogs that sleep back to back or touching each other when they sleep? They are bonding, so when your dog sleeps next to you (or our cat, Brad) it is bonding to you, likes you and wants to be near you when it sleeps.

I like to think that Beeker is plotting to create an animal haven where all of the wild animals get along and live happily ever after. He will have lots of animal friends of different species like rabbits and mice, and squirrels and fox, and hawks. What a grand world it would be. They are just outside our door and he knows them all. They are just waiting for an invitation to party! Sweet Daydream Believer and a Homecoming Beeks.