Last weekend we attended a fund raising event for H.A.R.T. (Humane Animal Rescue Team). They had a professional photographer that donated her time to take Valentine themed pictures with proceeds going to HART. I think they turned out pretty good.
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your two and four legged loved ones!!
My ‘kids’ know that when I am having yogurt, they always get to lick the empty cup. They especially like it when a large container is ready for their pre-wash cycle. They all try to shove their muzzles into the bowl at the same time and they often end up with yogurt face.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Well we finally had a nice weekend without tons of new snow or freezing temperatures. We celebrated by meeting out at Patty’s house with all of the dogs (Wally, Tango, Tilly, Hope and Bentley). The gang went for a walk in the waist deep snow desperately trying to keep to the narrow track for fear of getting stuck in the deep stuff. At some points the snow was so deep that the dogs looked like they were dog paddling in water to keep from sinking into the snow. Of course Wally found a pile of horse/cow poop to roll in and all the dogs had their fare share of “meadow muffins” to eat. The wind was incredible but at least it was a couple of degrees above zero so it wasn’t bad.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Our dogs have a really bad case of cabin fever. With the Xmas holidays and generally freezing cold weather, Tango and Don haven’t been out doing any training and it has been too miserable to take the dogs for a good off-leash run. Poor Wally has had to put up with Tango jumping on him and using him as her personal chew toy and energy release. Well all that changed on New Year’s day. We met Susan and the gang for a good romp in the snow. As you can see by the video there are a lot of smiling faces (puppy and human alike) and wagging tails. We even managed to coax little Tilly up the giant snow mound.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
On Friday morning there was a news report about hunters finding a human skull. Within hours the request came for cadaver dogs to search the surrounding area to see if more human remains could be located. Team Tango left the house very early this morning to aid in the search.
Ok, I admit it. I am a sucker for those big, sad, brown eyes. When I am leaving the house, all Wally has to do is give me the ‘look’ and I have no choice but to invite the dogs to come along. To be honest, I enjoy their company as much as they like tagging along as my co-pilots. They take turns sitting in the passenger seat and watching the world go by. They love drive-thrus and they instinctively know which ones give out dog treats. When we go to our neighbourhood Tim Hortons, all three squish on to the front seat to wait for their dog cookie or better yet a Tim-bit.
It is funny to watch drivers’ reactions as they casually look around and then discover they are being watched by Tango’s intense stare or they ooh and ahh when they see little Tilly and Wally cuddled up together. I can’t imagine my life without dogs.
Team Tango got their first call-out for a cadaver search. They were up at 04:30 Sunday morning and on the highway for the long drive to the search site. They met up with two other dog teams who had made the trip the night before. Although no human remains were found, it was a good opportunity to practice their newest profile.
Filed under Tango
Tango has another certification to add to her list. Yesterday she passed her Cadaver test. There were 3 fields set up. Two had an unknown number of samples and one had none. Don had 20 minutes to search each field. At the end he had to identify how many samples were in each field and which field had none. He was a little nervous and wanted to be very thorough so he took the full 60 minutes to complete his test (some of the more experienced handlers completed all 3 fields in 20 minutes). Our girl found every single sample and made us very proud. It is amazing to think that just a little over a month ago they started learning this new profile.
Dogs can smell things humans can’t because they have more nasal membrane than we do. We have about 65 square inches of nasal membrane, while dogs have about 900 square inches — an area that’s greater than that of a dog’s whole body. The nasal membrane is packed with olfactory receptors, specialized cells responsible for detecting scents. A German shepherd typically has about 220 million olfactory receptors, while a human has about 5 million. Experts believe that the bigger the dog and the longer her muzzle, the keener her sense of smell will be. German shepherds aren’t just better at sniffing out scents than humans are, they’re better at it than most other breeds of dogs. A terrier may only have 150 million olfactory receptors, and a dachshund has about 125 million. As human remains decay, they produce a variety of very distinct odours. The odours are like a signature, because they appear nowhere else in nature. A cadaver dog can actually detect human remains through concrete, buried underground, or at the bottom of a body of water, using its extremely well-honed nose to search for faint traces of the chemicals emitted by the human body during decomposition.
In search and rescue operations, cadaver dogs can be used to ensure that every body on the site is found, so that the family can have peace of mind and closure. A cadaver dog can also be used to search for a missing person, or for someone who is known to be dead.
In addition to being used to find whole bodies, cadaver dogs are also trained to react to any trace of human remains. This can be very useful in crime investigations, because a cadaver dog can indicate that a cadaver was in a particular location at one point, even if it is no longer there. They can also find traces of bodies which criminals have attempted to conceal by destroying the evidence.
Congratulations Don and Tango…..a true team!!!
I took this video in the summer but completely forgot about it until I saw a YouTube video with 3 German Shepherds in a pub in Britain. Tango loves to bite at the water coming out of the hose or sprinkler. She can do it for hours and never get bored.
Here is a link to the British YouTube video – click here. I think we are going to have to get one of those soda water sprayers to keep Tango entertained in the winter when the hoses are put away.
We have Hope with us for a short visit and sleep over. We just love it when we get the opportunity to spend some time with one of our former foster ‘kids’. Everyone two and four legged enjoys the visit. I was up bright and early his morning and took them all for a walk and then we came back and had breakfast. Sleeping beauty, aka Don, was still sound asleep so we all ran upstairs and jumped on the bed to try and wake him up. As you can tell by the picture Don is a very skilled sleeper. Even with 4 dogs in bed nothing interferes with his beauty rest…..well maybe there is a little hint of a smile on his lips.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Two legged family, Wally
I blew it. Tango didn’t wake us up last night to go potty so I thought she was on the mend…..big mistake. I went to work this morning with plans to come home around 10:00am to let her out. Well I got busy, lost track of time and didn’t get home until noon. I knew the second I opened the door and my olfactory sense kicked into overdrive it wasn’t going to be good. The poor girl had projectile diarrhea on the mat at the back door, all over the family room and even upstairs on the hallway rug. I rushed in and opened the back door to let her out and she ran past me and exploded some more. Oh but the good news doesn’t stop there. I opened Tilly’s kennel and she was all wet. Guess who else has diarrhea. She went straight into the sink for a full muzzle to tail bath…..yuk! It’s a good thing that blogs don’t come with smell-a-vision and I won’t gross you out by posting any pictures of the fall-out. On the positive side, Tilly is all soft, silky and smelling wonderful. It’s a good thing I love my ‘kids’.
I’m working at home today because poor Tango has a bad case of diarrhea. I was able to capture this cute video of Tilly trying to entice Wally to play with her. She has a chewed up straw in her mouth that she wiggles in front of his face. When she drops it he grabs it and the game is on. You can see him pushing his muzzle in her face so that she can grab the straw and the game can continue. He is just such a sweet, gentle boy when he plays with her…..I just love my golden boy! Sorry the video quality is so poor. I had to use my phone to capture the moment because my video camera was in another room and I didn’t want to take the chance of interrupting the interaction by getting up and leaving the room.
Last night Tango started training for her next level of certification. She is learning how to identify the scent of human remains. It is called cadaver training.
She did 3 trials and appeared to be getting the idea. As her training progresses she will learn to lie down when she finds this scent. They are out training again tonight.
Filed under Tango
Team Tango was at the search site until noon on Thursday when the search was called off because it was too dangerous to continue. It had been raining all morning and the trails became very muddy and slippery. Thursday night another request was made for dogs to search on Friday. Don took another vacation day and headed out to the command post at noon on Friday. Unfortunately the missing person was not located but it was an excellent opportunity for real life training for the dogs.
Tango has been taught to search for human scent. She found 2 laptop cases, a pair of rollerblades, 2 running shoes, a bicycle and last but not least….Tango’s personal favorite…a pair of men’s underwear. She came prancing out the woods with her treasure dangling out the side of her mouth. Don was particularly grateful that he was wearing leather gloves when he accepted that human scented article and told her what a good girl she was.
Filed under Tango
We took our kids and our house guest Hope for a free run. The grass was so tall that in places all I could see was the tip of Wally’s tail curled up high over his back. Forget about finding Tilly….it was impossible. She had a great time running through the grass and chasing after her much bigger buddies. I captured this cute video of everyone just being a dog and having fun….not to mention running into my camera. Check out Tilly’s giant ears flapping like wings as she runs.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Last night the local Police requested dog teams to help with a search. Don was able to take a vacation day from work and bright and early this morning he and Tango grabbed their gear and headed off to assist. Good luck and be careful.
Filed under Tango
They did it. Don and Tango passed all their certification tests. It was a long and challenging day but definitely worth it (to read the blow by blow details see the post below). They are now certified in 5 profiles:
Filed under Tango
We were up at 6am this morning to get Tango fed and Don off to his certification test. Unfortunately it is raining and there isn’t much air movement which will make it very tough for the dogs. The testing started at 8am and Don had strict instructions to phone me as soon as he completed each of the five tests. I still hadn’t heard from him by 09:30 so I texted him to see what was happening. Unfortunately things are moving slowly and he hasn’t even started his first test yet. The poor guy is soaking wet and he still has the whole day ahead of him.
11:00 – just got an update. They have competed the large article test and they passed. One down and 4 to go.
2:45pm – They just finished their small article search. This is the one we were the most concerned about. We know that she will find the articles but she doesn’t always lie down when she does. She did it! She found all 4 articles. Next comes the people search.
3pm – Obedience test completed. The wind has picked up so that is going to help. Don’s clothes are starting to dry out. He had to stop and drain his boots and ring out his socks.
3:15 – Person search done. Yippee! Four profiles completed so there is just alleys left. They are leaving the field and heading to a residential area for the last test.
4:28 – Alleys….passed. It’s official….Team Tango is certified for another year!!!
Filed under Tango
It doesn’t matter where I go in the house, all the dogs have to come with me. My sewing room floor is covered with dog treats, toys and of course fabric and thread scraps. Every so often someone gets bored and lets me know……”hey Mom…..we need a little attention here”. It was Tilly’s turn today. She kept sitting in front of me with her rib bone in her mouth…..very cute. I happened to have my cell phone with me so I was able to capture this quick video. If you look on the wall behind Wally, you will see my Bargello quilt starting to take shape.
For the last 3 nights we have had thunder storms. In our house that is not a good thing. Things started to change last summer. When Tango would sense a storm coming, she would start pacing, licking and looking very anxious. Once the thunder and lightening started then all she wanted to do was sit on top of me. That’s 65 lbs of solid puppy on my chest or head. It appears that she is more anxious this year than last. I can feel her crawling up on the foot of the bed very quietly and carefully because she knows she isn’t supposed to be on the bed unless she is invited. As the thunder and lightning intensifies she gets closer and closer to me…..and then its “I don’t care if you know that I am on the bed…..I need my Mommy!!!!!!”. Poor girl. I don’t want to baby or caudle her because that will only teach her that there really is something to be afraid off.
It was the same with our first Shepherd Tasha. As she aged she became more and more frightened. It was a blessing when she went deaf because she would sleep through most storms. The good news is that Wally and Tilly don’t have any fear…..they just want to get their beauty rest. Let’s hope tonight will be storm free so that I can catch up on my beauty sleep too!
On the weekend we brought our ‘kids’ over to Susan’s house and they had a fun play date with Hope. She was so excited to see them that she was doing laps in the backyard. For a puppy who had several homes and a bit of a rough start in life…..she is doing so well. She is quite the flirt and she just loves men. As soon as Don sat on the swing she was right up there beside him. Susan says she never jumps up there normally. Here is a short video of all the ‘kids’ together.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Two legged family, Wally
It is the classic good news….bad news story. We got a phone call at 6am this morning. The Sergeant scheduled to do the certification tests today got called out on a Police call so he had to cancel. The tests will be rescheduled for some time in July. Having a little extra time to polish up all the different profiles and to work on Tango’s obedience is not necessarily a bad thing but everyone was all psyched up for today. I guess that means I can put Don to work in the yard today…..bonus!!!
Filed under Tango
Don and Tango have their certification test on Saturday. For the last couple of weeks they have been out training 5-6 times a week to make sure they are ready. Last night they worked on searching alleys. It was a particularly tough test for Tango because there was virtually no air movement. Instead of smelling an article many feet away and zoning in on the scent, she had to be almost on top of it before she could smell it. She got a real surprise when she found a hidden hammer just as a dog on the other side of the fence starting barking and charging the fence. Even with all the challenges, she managed to find all of her articles.
Filed under Tango
This morning I am dropping Tilly off at our Vet’s office so that she can be spayed. I was hoping to wait until she was 6 months old (she is 5.5 months) but our boy Wally has been telling us for the last few weeks that she is starting to become a young woman and is close to coming into heat. The boy’s nose…knows. He has alerted to a female in heat up to a month before it starts and he has never been wrong so we have learned to trust his nose. Hopefully she won’t have to wear one of those cones on her head to stop her from licking her belly. I think she would find it very stressful.
Tilly’s long coat has just started to show promise but I guess we will have to start back at square one because they will likely be shaving the long hair on the side of her belly. When I go back this afternoon, I will be bringing Tango with me so that she can get her annual exam and shots. We need to provide proof that she is a healthy dog before she can qualify for her RCMP certification in a couple of weeks.
Three friends and I are in Calgary to attended the CAPPDT (Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers) conference. We arrived yesterday at noon, hit a few local quilt stores and then settled into our hotel rooms. I am really looking forward to hearing such experts as Jennifer and Steve White and of course the guru Karen Pryor speak. I have been awake since 5am and now I am waiting for the others to surface so that we can walk the dogs before the first session begins at 9am.
This is the first time Don has been left alone with the 4-legged kids and he knows I am a little worried. He sent me these picture to show me that everything is ok at home.
Back in April of 2004 a generous breeder from California donated two of her German Shepherd puppies to a guide dog school. They were given the names Tango and Cash and we were chosen to foster and train Tango for a year. Every week we got together with Tango’s brother Cash to attend training classes and to socialize them at off-leash parks. Cash was great with people but he had a bit of a dog aggression problem so he was eliminated from the program. He was adopted by a couple, Judy and Bob, who loved German Shepherds and had recently lost their beloved dog Laser. Judy has MS and she was hoping that Cash would be able to assist her around the farm. Tango made it to the second phase of training but it quickly became clear to everyone that she was a very high energy girl and not suited to be a guide dog. We were given the opportunity to adopt her and become her forever home. Over the years I often thought about Tango’s brother and hoped that he was living a wonderful life in the country.
Well, we no longer have to wonder about Cash. About a month ago I was contacted by Judy. Poor Cash had some serious health issues and she wanted to let me know about them so that I could get Tango checked out by our Vet. A few days ago we drove up to their farm to meet them and to reunite Tango and Cash. Except for the 40lb weight difference it was like we were looking at Tango’s twin. Their markings, colouration and even their vocalizations were identical. As we began talking we quickly discovered how similar their personalities are too. They both love people, especially kids and they are both very talkative. All four of us just couldn’t stop talking about how much alike they were. We had a wonderful visit and we look forward to getting together with them again very soon.
Judy with Cash and Tango
Don and Cash
Tango and Cash (8 months old)
Filed under Tango, Two legged family
We’ve had Hope as our houseguest for the last 2 nights. She was one of our foster puppies in 2008-2009 so she is well known to Wally and Tango. She loved playing with little Tilly but she was a little rough……I guess she has never had any experience playing with a small puppy. Everyone survived and a good time was had by all. Hope was very good a remembering the house rule for only going potty in the restricted zone but she either completely forgot or ignored the rule of no swimming in the pond. Thank goodness we hadn’t moved the fish outside yet.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
I don’t know what it is about Tango and Tilly but it seems like every time I find the two snuggling together they are in some weird position. First it was Tilly sleeping with her muzzle parked right up against Tango’s butt and now this. Tilly’s neck is sandwiched between Tango’s two back legs…..like she is in a wrestling death grip choke hold…..only she is peacefully asleep. Strange but true?!?
We went for an off-leash run with Susan, David and Hope this past weekend. There were so many gopher holes in the field it was like walking an obstacle course. I was concerned that one of the dogs would hurt themselves and possibly break a leg while they were running around and playing. Wally, who is not normally a high prey drive dog, was fascinated with some of the holes and began digging in them. I got a good group picture at the end. You can see how tired the dogs are with their giant pink tongues hanging out while they were panting profusely.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Two legged family, Wally
I love weekend mornings. I’m always the first 2 legged member of the family to wake up. As soon as I am starting to stir Tango is right there waiting to say good morning. I just need to snap my fingers or whisper ‘OK’ and she is on the bed in a microsecond. She loves her morning cuddles and she is so anxious to plant a kiss on my face that I often end up with a french kiss. Wally is more like Don…..not a morning person. It takes him a while to stretch and slowly come to consciousness and then as he approaches the bed you can hear the loud thumping of his tail against the mattress. Wally is a ‘spooner’…..he just loves to mould his body to mine and snuggle in close. Our little Tilly prefers to get as close to your face as possible. She will sleep draped across my neck or mouth.
If I get up for a potty break, by the time I come back Tilly has staked a claim on Don’s neck and the big ‘kids’have taken over my side of the bed.
Life In The Dog House 