Product Review: Top Paw 3 'n' 1 Wet-Dry Glove

I was not sure how I was going to feel about this glove, but I had previously been using the Kong Zoom brush for his baths and I wasn't getting close enough to his skin. I just started using the  GNC Vitamin Enriched Natural Herbal Shampoo and I wanted the shampoo to get to his skin. The size of the bristles made it seem like I was able to wash more of his skin. It also seemed to distribute the shampoo well. Although, he is still itchy (you can't bathe dogs too often), I think this product was better than your hands, a traditional brush/zoom brush, or a wash cloth. 

Pros: the bristles allows you really work the shampoo into the dogs skin; having it on your hand allows for it to bend better to the dogs natural shape; it wasn't sharp and it helped shed some of his hair and retained it within the bristles. 

Cons: the size was too big for my hands (one size); it says you can use it to get pet fur off of furniture, in the bath, or as a regular brush, but I find that other than its use in the bath, it's not the best for the other two uses.

Positive Reinforcement vs. Negative Reinforcement

Before volunteering for Susquehanna Service Dogs, I had never considered the difference between positive and negative reinforcement. It was something that never really came up in conversation. I was always passionate about positive reinforcement for humans, but I had never considered either side for animal training. Then, I started volunteering for Susquehanna Service Dogs. They started by teaching us about associating positive behaviors with positive emotions or food. This of course would work differently based on the subject, but for the labs, it works. As they handed me this (not actually) small bundle of joy, I started to use clicker-based training and regular dog food to show him that certain behaviors were preferred. Whenever he did something that was not appropriate, I would redirect his attention with a sharp distracting noise, another command, or a toy, depending on the situation. 

Now is this just for service dogs? And my answer is no. When I picked Cash up, he rarely looked at people in the eyes and was afraid to make mistakes. His past owners laid the groundwork to his training, but whenever he does something wrong (either on purpose or unintentional), he would back up and look afraid. I knew he had been negatively trained. He was afraid of humans hurting him and he wasn't sure why he was hurt in the past. 

This is the reason why I am so supportive of clicker training. The purpose of clicker training is to associate specific behaviors with a positive memory--thus encouraging the behavior. Ignoring other behavior and encouraging the positive behavior. For Cash, I would have him on a leash and I'd talk to him and he'd look up at me (not fully at first, but I gradually increased my standards) and I'd click and treat. He started associating our interactions with a positive feeling. When he had an accident (with his body formerly in starvation mode, it happened a few times), I lowered my voice and pet him. I gave him a treat. I made sure he knew he was not in trouble. 

For cash, his behaviors that I'm trying to discourage are mostly just distraction and marking his territory. I distract him marking his territory and am working in the bathroom cue (I'm considering the bells), and I make a loud disturbance noise and keep walking when he tries to mark items. He's starting to get better with that and I am quite pleased. 

So does this mean that clicker training is the only type of training that should be used? I have no idea. I am not an expert, but the idea that a simple click whenever the dog does something correct and it's associated with a positive action. Relatively until the positive action is not needed... That means there's something there. 

If you think your shock collar works better, think again. Fear creates servitude, but no loyalty. Maybe not every dog is fearful, but if I escaped from someone that shocked me when I had no idea what I was doing wrong... I'd run like hell. It's the association and consistency that negative reinforcement is lacking. 

I recommend reading:

It not only will make you think about training dogs, but also how you interact with people. It's a great read and I highly recommend it. 

Cash's Diet So Far... And How Shelter Life Failed Him

When we first picked Cash up at the Lancaster SPCA, I knew he was underweight, but I did not realize how underweight. The next day, when we took him to see the vet, they weighed him at 50 lbs. If you do not know the average weights of labrador retrievers, the average female labs is between 55 lbs and 70 lbs and for, males between 60 lbs -80 lbs. You could see the entirety of his rib cage sticking out. When they adopted him to me, I was told to fill out some paperwork, that he should get some good food, and that the weird yellows scabs on his back would just come off with a good bath.

My experience with the Lancaster SPCA? Not very good. When he came home with me, I realized that he was not really eating. We tried everything until we decided to purée some chicken and heat it in the microwave. He loved it. I started to add different food with the chicken. I bought a dog food only food processor to grind up his dog food to add to the mixture and then finally Pedialyte. He would eat this meal up. After almost a week, I had finally moved him up to eating solid dog food. There were a few times he did throw up, but most of the time it was not food, just digestive enzymes.

Food Cash Would Eat The First Week*

Puréed Chicken (to a liquid) and warmed up

Ground Purina Pro Plan Focus Sensitive Skin and Stomach Formula

Pidalyte (Rite Aid Brand Equivalent) 

*It is important to note that I am not veterinarian, but I did consult with professionals and I did adapt what I was told to what Cash would eat. In addition, just like a human with an eating disorder, dogs that are/had been starving should be introduced to meals slowly. They should have small meals throughout the day so that their bodies are not trying to digest too much at once. 

Days went by and Cash would be more and more eager to eat so I decided to slowly introduce solid food into his diet and it worked. He does take longer to eat it, but it worked. He is now back on a solid diet and even though it takes him a while, he seems to be enjoying it. When he went back to the vet due to his digestion system being a little off (mostly his #2 schedule), they put him on I/D dog food for a healthy digestion system. I'm not sure if it is working since he's only been on it for a little while, but only time will tell

Now how much did he weigh at this visit? 58.7 lbs. That is a huge difference in a little more than a week. I was so excited that all the work that it was making a difference. His entire attitude had changed and you could see it in his face. When I saw him, I knew I needed him and I didn't know why, but now I know, he needed me just as I need him. 

And now for the official weigh in/weight gain photo:

Day 1 of Retraining

As some of you might know, Cash was trained in a way that causes fear in him with certain commands and he rarely looks up at you. Now that he is eating solid food, I started retraining him to reassociate the negative associations with positive ones. I started with sit and just attention. With sit, I tried using the verbal and hand signal together and then moving the food away from him as a type of 'reset,' but he must have been trained not to follow the food. I had to call him to come to me in order to get him to stand up if the command stand wouldn't work. (His ability to listen to commands comes and goes). I realized that in order to go any further with his retraining, we needed to focus on attention and associating him being an equal with me. I started with every time he looked up at me, I'd click and treat. Much like the focus problems of a puppy, he was not looking at me--in his case, he didn't feel comfortable looking up at people--almost in shame. It was similar to the two times he threw up and looked at me like I was about to hit him. I gave him a good head scratch and snuggle that time. I will most likely try to start with that next time and continue to reassociate the skills he knows with good thoughts. 

Training Thornwald taught me so much about taking care of dogs and what  capable of as a person. Cash needs me and he's capable of great things. I'm thinking that he'd be a great therapy dog for retirement homes once he reassociate said training. He smart, sweet, and lovable. 

Let's Go Out to the Dog Park!

I love the local dog park and Cash needed to go on a walk. I don't walk him every day, but he had been eating consistently and we had a lot of time to get there and back. 

We went to Beau's dream park and at first he was a little shy, but after a while he was running around and playing with all the other dogs. It was cute to see him interacting with everyone. I could not believe how easily he adapted to the park. 

It was so funny because he kept trying to catch tennis balls. At one point he captured one and layed down to guard it. 

He didn't like the sprinkler area when it was on, but people weren't turning it on anyways. The other dogs got him to drink a good amount of water, which pleased me since he was exercising. He was trying to mark quite a few things, but I'm not a fan of that particular behavior. Other than that, I got a lot of great advice and saw a lot of people I had not seen in a while. It was definitely wonderful. 

We will definitely go again this week sometime. Hopefully, he will have some more meat on his bones then. 

Being Adopted: The a Good, The Bad, and The Scary

As many people know, the Lancaster SPCA does not have a good reputation and after adopting a dog from them, I can understand why the rumors started. Cash (his name from the microchip), refuses to eat most the time and doesn't look up at you. But, he is the sweetest, kindest dog you could meet. He knows a lot of commands and when he's not too tired, he follows me around the house. 

The first night, I was able to get him to eat a cup and a half of dry food, but he threw up some of it. Yesterday, he had some chicken broth/chicken puréed to almost a liquid, threw up a little of it, but digested most of it. 

He is slowly getting more trustworthy. I might take him to play fetch somewhere safe. He probably would like that. He only looks me in the eye when I am at eye level so I wonder if he was abused. His skin/hair is in bad condition. Dry, yellow, flaky, skin, but it's getting better with some tlc that the lcspca didn't give him. I just don't understand why they didn't mention he wasn't eating nor given information on feeding him properly. It seems a tad bit dishonest. (They had him for two weeks)

Either way, I will make sure he stays healthy. I won't let the little guy down. :) The vet said 50 lbs and the pet store said 60lbs. Either way, he needs to be around 70-75. Maybe even 80 depending on how much muscle he is building.