The Bavarian July Toe and Teeth Challenge - with prize drawing!

[Stacia]

I think you've inadvertently turned him into a doggie model in addition to training for doing his nails.

Absolutely, it is a stunning photo.

 

[HAH]

Well, yesterday we didn’t manage anything as we were at my mum’s until late seeing our nieces. Kipper was a darling - we were playing rounders (in a very restricted garden!) with tennis balls, Kipper was fielding, and was soooo good at swapping balls and not grabbing when the girls went to pick up - the thing I kept telling them to be careful of, as energy levels went up - so hurrah. But no teeth or nails.

Tonight we’ve done a micro session on the sofa, as I have an aching back (grrr, sciatica - I’m an AWFUL invalid) so we’ve been playing with toes in a different environment. Again, short sessions, lots of check ins but it seemed to work well.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

grrr, sciatica - I’m an AWFUL invalid

Oh, that stinks!

so we’ve been playing with toes in a different environment.

Carbon and I do a lot of 'cuddles with toe fondling' on the sofa with no treats at all. He doesn't seem to mind. He now gently hands me his paw and seems to want me to hold it, which is pretty funny. How he'll feel when I go after it with the clippers may be another story, but considering that several weeks ago he wouldn't have dreamed of offering me his precious front feet, I call it progress!

 

[snowbunny]

I've totally fallen off the bandwagon of marking my days or commenting here, but we're still plodding on! Willow is having a couple of days off because of her ouchy tail; I don't think it's a good idea to do it while she's feeling under the weather. I might grab the top of the grooming table out and do some stuff with that, though, because she LOVES that table!!
I didn't do the others' over the weekend because they weren't with me

 

[Charlie]

Just thought I would post this for those of you that use Logic Gel as I had a reply. xx


Further to your email, the ingredients for the Logic Oral Hygiene Gel are as follows:

Ingredients:

• 6 salivary enzymes - amylase, glucoamylase, glucose oxidase, potassium thiocyanate, lactoperoxidase and superoxide dismutase
• 2 antibacterial agents - lactoferrin and lysozyme
• Mild abrasives (calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and silicon dioxide).Surfactant
  Malt flavouring
  

Kind Regards

The Customer Services Team
Ceva Animal Health Ltd

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Just thought I would post this for those of you that use Logic Gel as I had a reply. xx

That's interesting - thanks, Helen.

 

[Charlie]

You're welcome, hope it helps. x

 

[snowbunny]

Thanks for that, @Charlie - most of that is on the tube already - they just didn't specify the abrasives. I'm happy with that

I tried something new with Squidge this evening in our nails session - using a nose target as a start button. She likes to lie down on the sofa to have her nails done, which isn't conducive to giving a paw, and I was trying to think how to "start button" the rear paws, anyhow. It worked really well, so I'm going to keep on with it. The great thing is that it's easy to tell where I am; if I start to get increased latency with the nose target, it means that the thing that follows (me handling the paw) is punishing that behaviour, so it gives me a really strong indicator of where we are.

 

[Charlie]

No problem. x

 

[HAH]

Tonight we picked up again after a day off, so worked round all 4 feet. We didn’t step forward much which was fine, I worked round feeling toes while holding the dremel in my other hand, and noticed that front left paw was again more sensitive than the others.
Tomorrow we’ll revisit teeth, and I’ll practice more short sessions with (hopefully) little steps forward. It’s lovely to be able to sit comfortably on the ground again - my back’s getting better

 

[HAH]

We did a bit of tooth work (just licking toothpaste off the brush, he was more familiar with it tonight) and then back on the toes. I kept reminding myself to keep it short, so 2/3 ‘presentations’ and then a break to re-set, and this worked well. Front left foot (most sensitive) was great tonight - he was happy for me to hold the dremel next to the foot while handling toes - so this is real progress. Also, he’s far more comfy with the dremel round both back feet, and were trying lying to one side for access as well as sitting up.
I’m really learning the value of taking it s-l-o-w-l-y

 

[snowbunny]

Lots of breaks is definitely the way. When I did the Cooperative Care course with Deb, we set a time for 60 seconds and that was it.

I find with Willow it’s far more productive if I use reset “cookies” (I hate that Americanism) off the sofa regularly. She’s so funny, because she will try her hardest not to get off, and she makes herself so long

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

“cookies” (I hate that Americanism)

Is that tossing the treat away from the sofa so she goes to get it and then bringing her back again to restart?

And in defence of the Americanism, for us a 'biscuit' is a completely different thing than what it's used for in the UK, so we had to come up with a different word, right?

 

[HAH]

a 'biscuit' is a completely different thing than what it's used for in the UK

That’s clearly a scone (or dumpling if in stew), no?

 

[HAH]

I really like the idea of a timer, I’ll definitely adopt that.

I find with Willow it’s far more productive if I use reset “cookies”

We’re doing this, but moving kibble is apparently The Best Game Ever so Kipper gets all quivery anticipating the ‘break’ and launches himself off the cushion which is a useful metric actually, if he returns with the same enthusiasm he’s happy.

@Emily_Babbelhund this is how we’re ‘resetting’, although not ‘bringing back to start again’ as much as staying in place (me sitting next to the cushion for us) and letting the dog decide to return. You being there is enough of an indication you want to continue.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

That’s clearly a scone (or dumpling if in stew), no?

Looks the same, tastes different. A lot heavier and doughier than a scone. You can eat biscuits with butter and jam (like a scone) for breakfast or with gravy and fried chicken for dinner. Not really my cup of tea but really popular in the US southeast.

 

[snowbunny]

It's more that they use "cookie" for everything in dog training. A bit of liver is a cookie... okaaaaaaay
But, "reset treat" doesn't roll off the tongue in the same way as "reset cookie" does, so I find myself saying it!

which is a useful metric actually, if he returns with the same enthusiasm he’s happy

Exactly! You don't have to actually toss the treat if that makes him too excited, you could just lure him off slowly.

@Emily_Babbelhund this is how we’re ‘resetting’, although not ‘bringing back to start again’ as much as staying in place (me sitting next to the cushion for us) and letting the dog decide to return. You being there is enough of an indication you want to continue.

This. You get the dog out of "the position", which gives them a psychological break, like a shake off. You don't lure or encourage them back, you just see what they do. If you've paid in enough to the position, and the dog hasn't had too much (which is totally cool for them to say) then they'll pop back up when they're ready to continue.

If they choose not to, have a break for a few minutes and then start off with paying in to the position again. What I do is lure the dog onto the sofa, table or whatever, feed ten treats (one after the other, not all together) then lure them off, feed the treat out of position, lure back up, ten treats etc etc. Quite quickly, you have a dog who rushes back to the position after having their one treat off it.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

You get the dog out of "the position", which gives them a psychological break, like a shake off. You don't lure or encourage them back, you just see what they do. If you've paid in enough to the position, and the dog hasn't had too much (which is totally cool for them to say) then they'll pop back up when they're ready to continue.

Thanks, this is actually something I discussed with our SD trainer yesterday, just phrased in a different way. It's helpful for me to see it here as sometimes things don't sink in the first time around!

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

It's more that they use "cookie" for everything in dog training. A bit of liver is a cookie... okaaaaaaay

It's true that we tend to use the word "cookie" to just mean "any treat" in dog training. I hadn't even thought about it, but I'm SO guilty of this!

 

[Emily]

Looks the same, tastes different. A lot heavier and doughier than a scone. You can eat biscuits with butter and jam (like a scone) for breakfast or with gravy and fried chicken for dinner. Not really my cup of tea but really popular in the US southeast.

They are so weird!

The other night we ordered Nathan grilled chicken tenders for dinner and the choice of side was biscuit, apple slices, yoghurt or fries. Weird.